Volume 4, 102 [Recollections Lost To Memory]

Volume 4, Chapter 102 [Recollections Lost To Memory]

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――Finding the seal turned out to be a lot easier than expected.

[Emilia: So... this is the “Seel”?]

Young Emilia, seeing the strange object before her, blinked her amethyst eyes and tilted her head.

In front of Emilia’s eyes, deep in the depths of the depths of the forest, was a peculiar door standing in the middle of a clearing surrounded by trees.

Though it was certainly a door, it wasn’t connected to any building, and even when she circled behind it, there was nothing there. It was merely a door standing in the middle of the forest towering over the young Emilia.

[Emilia: Why doesn’t it fall over......?]

Finding this strange, she pushed on the door, but it neither opened nor moved an inch. Naturally, Emilia’s scrawny arms weren’t strong enough to topple it, and the door effortlessly withstood her push as it would a light breeze.

The double-door seemed to be made of wood, but its cold touch was closer to that of ice. The feel of its surface was smooth, inexplicably like polished stone.

In the center of the double-door was an ancient lock with a keyhole as wide as Emilia’s palm. She couldn’t imagine who could fit a key that big inside their pockets.

[Emilia: Weird......]

Tapping the door with the back of her hand, she confirmed that despite its hardness, the noise it made was dull. So now that she actually found it, what does it mean? Emilia tilted her head.

[Emilia: Say... what could it be...?]

[――――]

The dim specks of light circled around Emilia’s head as she sought their advice.

Since encountering them in the Princess Room, Emilia had been confiding in the fairies of the forest, and when she told them she wanted to find the “Seel”, they found this place in no time.

Though they were the ones who led her here, they didn’t seem to know the seal’s significance either.

And even if they did know, they couldn’t speak, so they’d still have no way of communicating it to Emilia.

[Emilia: Don’t know... so boring. But at least I found it. Clap clap clap]

Clapping her hands applauding herself, Emilia gave a big nod and looked the seal over front and back.

Now, if they ever find out that she was slipping out of the Princess Room, she’ll have her trump card ready. On the off-chance that mommy Fortuna and the adults catch onto Emilia’s great escapes, she’ll tell them she knows about the seal, and although she doesn’t really understand how, that’ll probably put them on equal footing.

Not that she could remember what compelled her to come up with this plan in the first place.

[Emilia: Hmpf. It’s all Mommy Fortuna and everyone’s fault. It’s all Geuse’s fault]

Remembering that tall, black-robed man, Emilia stuck out her tongue in his absence.

He was the only person other than Emilia who could elicit that secret expression from Fortuna. Although she knew he wasn’t a bad person, he was her enemy nonetheless.

So far, she had never faced him directly, but should Fortuna ever present her with an opportunity to meet him, Emilia was determined to give his feet a good stomping.

[Emilia: The fairies’ll fly at his face, then when he’s confused, I’ll stomp at his feet. And I’ll stomp with both feet at once. And I’ll stomp with my heels...... but that’ll probably hurt, I better use my toes]

Even in war, she didn’t forget to insert a wisp of kindness into her ruthless plans.

Having the fairies watch for any signs of the enemy while she brooded on her cold-blooded battleplans, Emilia left the forests’ depths and began sneaking back to the village.

Unlike when she was slipping out of the Princess Room, this was Emilia’s free play-time. Fortuna would be away at this hour, checking on the Boundaries in the forest, leaving the elderly and children Emilia’s age in the village.

The elders couldn’t follow Emilia on her great adventures, and, for some reason, the children would always avoid coming near her. This did make Emilia feel a little lonely, but whenever she felt this way, Fortuna would put all her energy into playing with her to help her forget all about it. And so, it didn’t bother her too much that she couldn’t play with the other children.

[Emilia: And I bet I’m the only one who knows about the “Seel”]

She alone knew something that nobody else did.

With that petty sense of superiority propping up Emilia’s petty sense of self-importance, she pumped out her chest and pressed on towards the village with the fairies leading the way.

Her destination was home. Today, she’ll draw to her heart’s content and run her brush all over the abnormally large stack of paper mommy Fortuna had prepared for her.

[Emilia: The artist feels like drawing a red sky, and a white forest today. ――?]

While miming the motion of slapping paint onto her canvas, Emilia suddenly noticed the fairies’ movements becoming irregular. [Huh~?], she squinted one eye, following their movements as they veered off the path and disappeared into the bushes.

[Emilia: I sense trouble’s afoot......!]

[Emilia: It’s alright, Geuse. It’s alright. Everything’s alright]

[Geuse: ――――hk]

Consolingly, Emilia patted Geuse’s head.

A quake shocked through his body as Emilia held the downcast Geuse against her little chest. His sobs transmitted into her bosom, their heat passing into her body.

She had been planning to stomp on his toes before, but somehow, they wound up here.

What an impossible guy. What a hopeless enemy. How could she bring herself to do something awful to someone who’s crying? Surely, Fortuna would forgive her and understand that there was no helping it.

[Emilia: It’s too lonely to cry all by yourself]

Once Geuse finishes crying, they’ll return to the village hand in hand.

And she’ll have no choice but to tell mommy Fortuna.

About her stroll in the depths of the forest, and about the grown-up who was crying.

Because once two people have shared a secret together, they are no longer enemies, but something like friends.

※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※

――Leaning against the hard surface at her back, Emilia returned from her momentary lapse of consciousness.

She shook her head, passed her fingers through her silver hair, and grimaced at the shrill, incessant ringing in her ears.

What was that brief dream she just had?

Those scenes never existed in Emilia’s memory. At least they shouldn’t have.

Yet that unfamiliar sight had burst out as if she had actually witnessed it before. The cast were all people she knew, and she herself definitely participated in the production, but the scenes they were performing were entirely unknown to her.

She knew Fortuna, knew Geuse, knew the fairies, and knew her young self.

But she did not remember those scenes, those unknown episodes, nor those conversations absent from her memory.

Spattering, overflowing, images Emilia could not recognize.

The Seal-Door. Her escapes from the Princess Room. The fairies’ guidance. Geuse and his black-robes’ true identities. Fortuna’s last words to Emilia.

[Emilia: ――Aah, hhk]

A sudden, splitting pain sliced into Emilia’s brain.

Roughly wiping her tears with her sleeve, the pale skin around her eyes swelled red as she sighed.

Ever since her contract with Puck terminated, those memories have been surfacing one after another in Emilia’s mind. She had absolutely no idea what they meant.

But she knew they weren’t just meaningless, baseless delusions.

In fact, the core of Emilia’s heart was neither rejecting nor distancing itself from those memories.

Because she did know. Deep in Emilia’s heart, she knew those scenes.

Does that mean those scenes really happened? And, if so, why weren’t they in Emilia’s head before?

The past she had witnessed in her Trial――

――The memory of the forest buried in snow, where the insults and malice Fortuna flung upon her made her want to shriek and scream: Something decisively linking to that moment was missing from Emilia’s memory.

Was that missing link hidden somewhere in this sea of memories?

If it was, then Emilia would have to delve deeper, to scour the depths until she has found what had drowned there.

[Emilia: Have to...... find it fast......]

Her head was aching. Her body was heavy. Her vision was failing, and her every muscle was sapped of strength.

But still, Emilia must lean against the wall, prop herself back up, and keep going.

Slowly, steadily, dragging her heavy body, heading deeper and deeper into the darkness, on the verge of tears and alone, she pressed on.

All alone.

-=Chapter 102 End=-