Episode One

“You already know I’ve been looking into Sion’s condition, don’t you, Selene?”

“I do. Sion mentioned it before. Thank you — I know you’re busy.”

“Don’t worry about it. So, here’s the thing.”

It was about my condition after all. I’d had a vague sense of it the moment she arrived with a Magic Association envelope.

“I went through all kinds of documents and asked everyone I could think of, and found absolutely nothing.”

“So I thought, nothing to lose, and wrote to the person inside the Association who knows the most about mana.”

She paused and brought the cup to her lips.

“The person inside the Association who knows the most about mana… do you mean Research Director Clovis?”

Selene blinked and murmured it quietly. Even I had heard that name.

“Exactly — you know your stuff, Selene. Clovis is the top of the mana research field. Simply put, probably the person in all of Edelcia who understands mana best.”

“And they wrote back asking to meet you both. That’s what this is.”

I took the envelope she held out, and looked up.

“Selene, come here.”

I called to Selene sitting across from me. This wasn’t only my problem, and I wanted her to see it too. And reading it alone felt, honestly, a little frightening.

When Selene came to my side, I reached for the envelope. All I had to do was take out a single sheet of paper — and yet with hands that were trembling, even something that simple wouldn’t cooperate.

“It’s all right. I’m here.”

Selene rested a hand gently on my shoulder, and something of the anxiety in me eased.

I gave a small nod and drew the letter from the envelope.

Come to the Association together at noon in two days. If that isn’t possible, the matter will be dropped. In elegant, accomplished handwriting, the message stated only what was necessary.

“Two days from now, at the Magic Association. Selene, that day would you be able to—”

“Of course. I’ll come with you.”

Before I had finished, she answered in a firm, steady voice.

“I won’t let a chance like this go by. Sion, I’ll do everything I can.”

Her hands closed around mine, tight. My pulse quickened.

“…Thank you.”

I smiled, a little shy, and turned toward Rizett beside me.

She had set aside her usual brightness and was watching me warmly, eyes gentle and soft. Selene and Rizett. It struck me now, belatedly, how much warmth I had around me.

“Rizett, truly, thank you. Going this far for someone like me.”

“And, um…”

I had to say thank you, at least. I opened my mouth thinking that, but only ordinary words came to me, and I felt ashamed of myself.

“I’ll repay you properly. I promise.”

What came out was plain and unadorned. Even so I wanted the feeling to reach her, and I bowed my head low.

Everything she had given me was more than I could take in. I didn’t have to think of what to give back right now. Something would come, surely.

“From me as well. Truly, thank you, for Sion’s sake. I can’t do anything for her right now, but even so—”

It must have been too much to bear, the heavy atmosphere between us, because Rizett scraped her chair back and stood up.

“Oh, enough! Both of you, heads up. I did this because I wanted to. And Selene, don’t make that face either.”

“All I did was write a letter. And I don’t like saying this, but we don’t even know yet if it’ll lead anywhere.”

She sat back down, looking a little awkward, and pushed the chair back into place.

“Even so. The fact that you worked so hard for me — that’s what makes me happy.”

“And,” I went on, drawing one breath. I didn’t have to say this right now, but the words came out before I could stop them.

“Selene, thank you too, for always being there for me. I really do depend on you so much.”

I laughed a little to soften the embarrassment of saying something so sincere, and Selene’s eyes went wide for a moment, and she turned her back to us.

“Selene?”

I called her name, but she kept her back turned and didn’t look around.

“Selene is happy too, you know. She’s been watching over Sion far more carefully than I ever have.”

Rizett looked between us with a quiet smile. I glanced at her, then turned my eyes back to Selene’s back.

At home she could be cold, and we argued often enough. I wouldn’t say things between us were particularly bad, but whether I’d say she cared for me — I genuinely wasn’t sure.

The memory of last night surfaced for just a moment, and I washed it down with the tea in my hand.

Rizett ran her fingers gently through my messy hair and continued, quietly.

“I know the two of you have been close for so long that it’s easy to take for granted. But—”

“Staying with you and not going anywhere, being by your side all this time — that’s no small thing, you know.”

Rizett’s words echoed through my head.

From childhood until now, always. Selene had never once complained about being with me. So I’d taken it as given — that she would simply be there. That was what I had always assumed.

But perhaps there were things she wanted to do, places she wanted to go, that weren’t here. Perhaps she had been holding those things in, to stay with me.

I had always thought of myself as the one who was bound to her. But perhaps I had also been binding Selene to—

“Sion? What is it?”

Rizett gave me a puzzled look as I sat there lost in thought.

I’d almost let myself sink, when Rizett had just brought good news. I caught myself and quickly looked up, and in that same moment a clear, quiet voice reached my ear.

“I’m going to stay with you. Whether that condition is cured or not.”

“So you don’t need to think strange things. I’m looking forward to the Association, aren’t you?”

Guided by the warm hand resting on my cheek, I looked up. What filled my sight was Selene’s face, opening into a bloom-smile.

I found I couldn’t look away from her, as though I’d been caught.

I like this face, the face she makes when she smiles like that. I could look at it forever. A feeling I didn’t recognise rose from somewhere without warning, and something deep in my chest began to stir.

It stirred, but—

No. Now isn’t the time to be sitting with some incomprehensible feeling I can’t make sense of. Focus on what’s in front of me, and think again once things have settled.

I told myself that firmly and turned my eyes back to the two of them.

“…Um. Selene, Rizett. Truly — thank you, both of you.”

I dabbed quietly at the edge of my blurring vision and tucked the letter back into the envelope.

“Not at all! I’ll come and collect you from here on the day — the Association is big and complicated and you’ll get lost without me.”

“You’re busy enough already. We should be fine on our own.”

Selene answered quickly, flustered.

“You two have no idea how big and exhausting the Association is — that’s why you can say that. I’m completely fine, don’t worry about it!”

Rizett jumped up cheerfully and began happily rummaging through the kitchen. A beat behind, Selene stood and followed, pointing out the teas and bread she liked. I watched their lively backs vaguely and let out a small breath, quietly enough not to be noticed.

If Edelcia’s foremost expert on mana could tell me something about my condition, perhaps there was a path forward. And I had Selene, and Rizett.

Two days from now should be something to look forward to. That’s what I knew I ought to feel.

And yet the thought of being given the answer I least wanted to hear, by the person who understood mana best in all the land — if every way out were closed off at once, what would become of me.

That unwelcome feeling was seeping quietly into the corner of my mind.