Episode 2: “First Customer”
“Is what’s written on this flyer true?”
The moment their eyes met, the gentleman said this in a haughty tone. In his hand was one of the flyers Yuria had distributed around town a few days earlier.
“…Y-yes, it’s true.”
It had been a while since she’d talked to anyone besides Yuria, and it made her tense. Fiine wasn’t good at talking to people to begin with.
“I’ll pay whatever it costs.”
“Th-thank you very much, um, that is…”
At the edge of her vision, Yuria clenched both fists — you can do this!
“For now, could you tell us more about the details? Y-you could sit on that sofa, if you like.”
She pointed a trembling hand toward the sofa, and the gentleman sat down at once.
(Probably a noble… but he hasn’t brought any attendants. This is definitely someone with circumstances. Well, almost everyone who comes to a shop like this probably has circumstances.)
Fiine took a seat across from him. Yuria brought over two cups of tea, but the gentleman spoke before he’d even reached for his cup.
“I am Heinz von Haydn. Head of the Haydn Marquessate.”
“Eep—!”
The sound slipped out before she could stop it, and Heinz shot her a glare.
The Haydn Marquessate was quite the prestigious house. They held territory in the south, rich land known for its thriving agriculture — tomatoes, if she remembered correctly, were their signature product.
(I figured the price would bring in people of a certain standing, but a marquess, right from the start…)
While Fiine’s eyes darted around uneasily, Heinz produced three photographs from inside his coat. A close-up, a wider shot, a full-body portrait — the framing differed, but all three showed the same young girl.
“This is Christa. My daughter.”
“Your daughter…”
The girl had flaxen hair and indigo eyes, and wore a smile bright enough to dazzle. She looked to be around five or six. Her expression was quite different, but her face closely resembled Heinz’s own.
“She died of an epidemic illness half a year ago.”
Beneath the flatness of his tone, an unwiped grief remained. As Fiine slowly moved her gaze up to his face, she noticed the deep shadows under his eyes.
That wasn’t all. His makeup seemed to be covering it up somewhat, but his face was noticeably gaunt as well. Half a year, it seemed, wasn’t enough time to heal the wound of a daughter’s death.
“You truly can make my daughter, correct?”
“…Yes. Though it won’t be the real thing.”
Heinz drew in a deep breath. He closed his eyes once, then slowly opened them again.
“That’s fine. Come to my estate as soon as you’re ready.”
“To your estate?”
“Yes. …Since our daughter died, my wife hasn’t left the manor. Do something about it.”
With that, Heinz pulled a leather pouch from his coat and set ten gold coins on the table.
(Even if you tell me to ‘do something about it,’ I wonder if this will really be all right…)
All Fiine could do was create the magic doll. What happened after that was the wife’s own matter.
She glanced back at Yuria, who stood waiting behind her. Yuria had opened her notebook and was checking the schedule — despite the shop having only just opened, with absolutely nothing booked ahead.
“Lord Heinz. We could depart as early as tomorrow morning — how would that suit you?”
At Yuria’s question, Heinz nodded immediately.
“I’ll come by carriage to collect you tomorrow at first light.”
After stating the exact time, Heinz left the shop.
◆
“Yuria, you really didn’t have to make it tomorrow…”
“We’ve got no other work lined up anyway, so sooner’s better.”
“B-but…”
“Besides, that man looked pretty desperate.”
As she spoke, Yuria stepped outside the shop and hung a sign reading “Closed” on the door. She locked it and drew the curtains shut.
“Never expected an out-of-town request right after opening. Let’s call it a day and start packing.”
“…Okay.”
The magic doll shop Lux would take on off-site requests for an additional travel fee — a policy Yuria had put in place with people like Heinz’s wife in mind, those unable to leave their homes.
What the shop provided customers was a custom-made magic doll, crafted by the proprietress herself, Fiine.
Doll though it was called, in appearance it was flawlessly human. It even had body warmth. But it couldn’t eat, and it couldn’t relieve itself. Its defining feature was that it lasted only a single day.
Any longer than that, and Fiine’s magic wouldn’t hold out — and besides, it would go against the very purpose of Lux, which was to offer “one day to redo a farewell.”
“Hey, Yuria.”
“What?”
“…Do you think this’ll be all right?”
“Oh, come on! We finally got a request, and all you can do is look anxious. Keep your head down like that and your left eye’s going to disappear too.”
“It’d be fine even if both eyes were hidden, honestly…”
Her vision wasn’t completely blocked either way, and she could sense magic well enough not to walk into people. Before she’d met Yuria, she used to hide both eyes behind her bangs as a matter of course.
“No way. Not when it matches my hair color so nicely.”
“Chin up,” Yuria said, lifting Fiine’s face by the jaw. Reflected in Yuria’s eyes was Fiine’s pink left eye.
“I believe in you, Fiine. So it’s going to be fine. I promise.”