By Zephyria 
The very next day.
Less than thirty minutes after the Imperial Conference began, Shayden placed a hand on my shoulder.
Holding a drink each, we sat on a suitable bench. As it turned out, it was only about 50 meters away from where Bill Brown had been crying yesterday.
Only after sitting down did he offer a belated greeting.
“It’s been a while, Mika.”
“Yes, it has.”
A strange silence fell between us.
Though I was accustomed to conversations that got straight to the point, I waited patiently as Shayden didn’t immediately speak. Thinking back, it had been a long time since he and I had been out like this, just the two of us. Was it around the time I sparred with Spiritus? We had gathered with other friends after I returned once before, but Shayden always left early.
That’s just how life is. We grow close, then distant, and then meet again after being apart.
But aren’t friends people you’re happy to see again, even if you can’t meet for a long time due to being busy?
Like the others, Shayden’s youthful face remained unchanged. His fluffy red hair and his sharp, cat-like eyes were the same as they were in the Academy days. Looking at his profile, I felt as if I had returned to childhood.
He took a couple of sips of his drink, just enough to wet his lips, and then cupped the glass in both hands. Why was he taking so long to say whatever he wanted to say? Was it something difficult, or something uncomfortable? Knowing the Peng family was involved, anything would be hard to hear, so I was worried.
After about half an hour, Shayden nudged my arm with his elbow.
“Are you happy?”
“Of course.”
“Ah, then that’s good.”
He hadn’t changed at all, still acting like my guardian.
It wasn’t just me who found it suddenly amusing. We both chuckled a few times before bursting into laughter. After laughing for a while, it became easier to ask what I was curious about. But before asking about the Peng family, I inquired about his well-being.
“Have you been well?”
“Me?”
“Yes, you. I see the others from time to time, but I haven’t heard from you at all.”
“Me… I’ve been well.”
Looking at him, he shrugged his shoulders with a laugh, much like mine. Knowing he was teasing, I nudged his shoulder. Only then did I get a proper answer.
“I’ve been at the House of Rose. As soon as my father heard about your disappearance, he insisted I come back immediately. I was already in the process of preparing to inherit the Count’s title, so I’ve been busy with that.”
“Mm.”
“Leading the Knights is one thing, but the House of Rose is one of the coastal territories, directly bordering Valentia’s lands. I’ve been getting practical lessons in management and territory administration, interacting with the candidates for Duke, and hearing about you…”
“Mmm.”
“And that’s how I ended up interacting with Young Master Bill Brown frequently.”
He looked completely drained, tilting his glass again. Even though I knew it was lemonade in the glass held by a child, I found myself wondering if he was drinking something alcoholic.
This time too, he only wet his lips and set the glass down. Shayden’s gaze was fixed on the lemonade glass. I held my breath, watching him stare into the glass, less than a handspan deep, as if it were a deep well.
“I… I heard about your past life a bit earlier, you know.”
“Hm? Ah, yes. But what does that have to do with Bill Brown going mad?”
“I don’t know that either.”
“Huh?”
“It hasn’t been that long since Young Master Brown went crazy. It was around mid-February this year.”
“…February?”
“Yes. You said you defeated the Ninth God around that time, didn’t you?”
“…”
Surprisingly, something clicked.
The white eyeball inside the Ninth God’s origin. The white chessboard where countless souls wandered. Hadn’t I, on that day, shattered the Ninth God’s greed, which I instinctively disliked, along with its origin?
Memories imprinted on the soul could be separated and stored individually. Oasis had once stored and returned fragments of my memory. It seemed the soul that had been held by the Ninth God and then released had returned to find its owner.
Shayden looked at me quietly, then nodded as if he had expected it.
“Looks like you’ve got something in mind.”
“Uh-huh… It seems related to me…”
“Yes, anyway, around that time, Young Master Bill Brown started acting erratically. I heard through the grapevine that it seemed related to you, so I went to find him and mentioned your past life’s name, and he calmed down a bit.”
“…And? So?”
“And then I heard various things…”
“…Mm.”
“And we got a bit closer, and now we’re like this.”
“Mm?”
I hadn’t heard any explanation.
Shayden leaned back on the bench, his arms resting on the backrest, and looked up at the sky with a hollow laugh. I counted the freckles scattered on his cheeks, waiting for his next words.
Indeed, Shayden began to explain in a calm tone.
“You always had… quite a few devoted fans, didn’t you?”
“…Me?”
“Uh-huh. I heard Young Master Bill Brown called you… well, something about being brothers etched into his soul, but it didn’t seem like you were romantically involved in the past.”
“Naturally.”
“Yes, yes. I know. Don’t be so serious. Anyway, I didn’t understand half of it myself. All I mean is, since then, I’ve been managing him to a similar extent as your fans. Comforting him when he cried, stopping him when he tried to stalk you, and so on.”
“He tried to stalk me?”
“Honestly, I didn’t think he could succeed. He’s just… a bothersome type.”
“Mm.”
He was indeed a bothersome… person.
Even after everything was over, he still popped up unexpectedly. He hadn’t changed, whether in his past or present life.
Still, the Peng family member was steadfast and honest. He wasn’t bad at skills either; if he had remembered sooner, I might have taken him along on long journeys. It’s a shame.
It was also quite amusing.
“Still, I managed to calm him down well yesterday, so you won’t have to worry about him for a while.”
“Mmm… Yes. Thank you.”
“Haha, it’s nothing. Coming this far, I just feel like this is my destiny.”
“Destiny?”
“…Speaking of which, it’s been a while since we talked like this. In our first year, you were so small you looked like you might shatter if handled carelessly, but now… Every time I see you… it’s truly… amazing.”
Why was he changing the subject?
However, he was always a remarkably intelligent child. He must have his reasons, so I didn’t press further.
Soon, stories from our Academy days became the topic of conversation.
The day Shayden and I first argued, the classes we took together, the well-being of each professor, stories about seniors and juniors we knew, doodles in textbooks, exam scores, graduation…
And even when we first met at five years old.
“Now… I just feel so fortunate about everything. That I met you when I was very young, that we were assigned adjacent seats at the Academy entrance ceremony, everything included.”
“Why?”
“Well.”
“…”
“Thinking back, even if it hadn’t been you, I don’t think I would have died that day. There were many ten-year-olds, so they wouldn’t have just watched helplessly. Summoning one or two servants is no trouble, and children usually have adults nearby to help them.”
“…”
“But back then… I was ashamed to be a child in front of you, who was several times braver than me, even though you were younger. I felt so wronged that I thought I absolutely had to help you someday. Just like you helped me. I wonder if I wanted to help you, or if I wanted to win…”
“…”
“That’s why, perhaps. When I found out you entered the Academy in the same year as me, I felt like I had the whole world.”
Shayden chuckled softly and murmured in a low voice,
“You’ve grown up so well, Mikael. Whoever raised you.”
I couldn’t deny his contribution. I nodded obediently and replied,
“You raised me.”
“You know that?”
“Of course.”
“Ahaha!”
Shayden laughed with a remarkably innocent expression. He patted my shoulder a couple of times with affection.
“Are you going straight on your honeymoon?”
“Hmm? I think so, as soon as Ruben is ready.”
“If you see anything nice while you’re traveling, buy me a gift too.”
“Alright.”
“Something expensive.”
“Haha, yes, I will.”
After we finished our drinks, he suggested we go inside, and I readily agreed. Still, I thought it was wonderful to be able to gather busy friends under the guise of the Imperial Conference.
❖ ❖ ❖
Once the Imperial Conference, scheduled for three days, concluded, I became incredibly busy.
There were different ceremonial robes for the wedding, the procession, and the reception. All three were white, but upon closer inspection, they had slight differences. At most, the difference was one or two vertical pleats, but even that significantly altered the silhouette.
It wasn’t just about trying on and adjusting robes and jewelry.
I learned the proper sequence of etiquette for the wedding ceremony, wrote out the vows, and then memorized them. There was a rule that the vows written at this time could not be shown to Rubel beforehand, so I relied on my mother-in-law to write them out character by character and learned the gestures and movements.
“When the ceremony begins, more than anything else, I want you to manage your expression well. You must look as if you are completely immersed in love, happier than anyone in the world. Even with a normal marriage, people talk if the groom’s expression isn’t good on the day…”
“Like this?”
“No, that looks like you’re about to go to war.”
“…Mm.”
“And that’s too melancholic.”
“Ugh-mm.”
“…Just, when His Majesty enters, look only at him.”
“Yes.”
Learning the gestures, posture, and how many steps to take to stand before the officiant wasn’t difficult. The problems always arose from the most trivial things. Ornaments made of flowers, the walking speed that allows you to savor the gaze of those around you during the procession, the correct direction of your gaze.
I was fortunate to have good stamina. I could repeat the same task dozens or hundreds of times without getting tired. Seeing my mother-in-law’s bloodshot eyes, I worried, but when she told me to do it properly, I behaved myself.
However, my perceptiveness grew, and I was glad that Ruben and my mother-in-law had similar tastes, but I kept that thought to myself and didn’t voice it.