Ch#117
* * *
A few days later.
On Rudville's desk sat a plate of scones that had become quite skillfully made.
This time, the flour was properly baked through, and the shapes had improved a bit.
He picked them up absentmindedly, unconsciously, and ate them.
"Tasty?"
"Yeah, I can feel your skills improving."
Rudville praised her as usual.
Treating her like a child.
It was then.
"Did you know... I put poison in them?"
At the sudden words, he raised his head.
Odellie stood at the door. Her hands clutching the hem of her skirt tightly.
Rudville furrowed his brow slightly.
"...What?"
She averted her gaze awkwardly somewhere and said,
"A poison... that makes you fall for me."
"...".
"...".
Rudville couldn't say a word.
Because he had no idea how to react.
Odellie's face gradually turned bright red...
"...Anyway! Next time, I'll make them even prettier!"
With those words, she turned and ran out.
The study door slammed shut with a bang.
He was dumbfounded.
Rudville stared blankly at the remaining scone on the plate, then let out an incredulous laugh.
* * *
After that day, Odellie hovered noticeably around Rudville.
When asked, she always turned her head away, saying, "Just bored."
But that was an obvious lie anyone could see.
She would sneakily leave books or blankets near the study, replace the ink bottle with a new one before it ran out.
Occasionally, she'd snatch reports from the administrative officer and organize them instead.
Sometimes she'd visit the kitchen to request dishes Rudville liked, or while he was out, sprinkle aroma oil on his pillow and flee.
And under that pillow was always a small note.
<Mood-boosting spell>
1. Look in the mirror.
2. Confirm your very handsome face.
3. Feel a bit better.
"...".
The absurd notes continued every night.
If you open this note, you'll have a day full of happy things.
If you don't? Who knows. Figure it out yourself.
If you don't laugh, the day gets 3 points.
One laugh is 7 points, two laughs make a perfect 10.
Today, there are two chances to laugh planned.
1. When looking in the mirror
2. When eating the scones from Odellie
-The note fairy-
I'll admit I liked you first.
But you'll end up liking me even more.
You'll regret treating me like a kid later.
'...Odellie.'
You'll regret writing these notes every night, all by yourself.
Imagining a more grown Odellie kicking off the covers in embarrassment someday, a laugh escaped him.
That endearing, clumsy first love was so cute.
Lovable.
And... once again, you fall in love with me.
That thought made his chest ache suddenly.
One day, Rudville quietly watched Odellie trying to leave a note and flee.
"Eek!"
Spotting the boy leaning against the wall, Odellie jumped like a startled rabbit.
"Wh-what, since when have you...!"
"Odellie."
Rudville, looking down at her flustering for a moment, asked.
"What if the same time keeps repeating over and over? What do you think that would be like?"
"Huh?"
"You keep dying, I keep dying, living the same time over and over... Do you think a life like that would have meaning?"
At the unexpected question, Odellie widened her eyes.
What kind of question was this?
She didn't fully understand the meaning of his words.
But that voice carried deep fatigue, and his eyes were like a child lost in profound darkness.
That much she could tell.
You've been tired and suffering for so long.
Odellie gazed at him silently for a few seconds before quietly asking.
"Is Rudville there too?"
"...Yeah, I'm there too."
She tilted her head.
And, a little later.
"Then it seems okay."
She smiled brightly.
That smile held no shadow of the past, no fear of unknown death, no lonely resignation of solitude.
Right now, this moment.
The living today.
A pure, warm face beholding only that.
"...You've been through a lot."
The words slipped from Rudville's mouth unbidden.
"You've hurt so much. Even repeating that, is it okay?"
Odellie tilted her head for a moment.
Gazing at Rudville's expression, as if gauging his inner thoughts.
Why did he speak of 'time loops' while mentioning only her painful memories?
Of course, it had been hard.
Excruciatingly painful.
But Odellie knew.
Clearer, kinder memories had overshadowed all those moments.
Because of the hands that carefully applied ointment to her wounds, she believed it wasn't everything.
"Ru."
Before he could raise his head, a spirited voice reached him first.
"I'm really happy right now."
Rudville felt his heart sink.
Because the dying Odellie in his memories had said the exact same thing.
But it was clearly different from then.
She was alive.
And smiling.
The girl blushed under the fireplace light, smiling radiantly.
"It's the first time I've felt glad to be alive."
Her death and her current smile overlapped on the same words.
In that instant, something crumbled away.
Fatigue, helplessness, long-accumulated emptiness.
Unaware of anything, she pierced through and tore down his walls.
'...Why.'
She knows nothing.
How long he had endured while broken.
How he had withstood profound darkness with the desperate conviction to save her.
But now, she embraced him warmly.
With an innocent smile.
With pure affection.
And with those words: because it's you.
"Meeting you, I think I was really lucky."
So lightly.
Those words pierced Rudville's heart.
And became an unchanging landmark for him.
Odellie was saving him with warmth, just as he had desperately tried to protect her.
And surely, she would continue to do so.
* * *
Meanwhile, around the time Rudville was lost and wandering somewhere in his memories.
"Why..."
Under faint light, Odellie sat quietly by his side.
She carefully placed her hand on his forehead.
His breathing had stabilized now, and no traces of the perfume remained.
Yet his eyelids remained firmly shut.
Odellie bowed her head silently.
She gently stroked his disheveled hair with her fingertips.
Slowly caressing his cheek, she whispered.
"...Please, wake up."
With reddened eyes, she gazed at Rudville desperately.
It had already been half a month since he lost consciousness.
