Faintest of hints

“Sleep well… Sorry to have bothered you…” I rubbed the dragon's nose.

In front of us was his headーwhich was roughly the size of a mountain. It was so massive that we were like small ants in comparison to its nose. Yet despite that, he bowed his head to me…

Leaning closer, I whispered. “I hope to meet you again soon… But please don’t wake up okay…?”

I let go of my hand and lowered my head out of respectーturning the other way as Marieka looked to me.

“ーAre we going now?” She asked.

“Mhm. We have one more village till we get to the capital, we’re gonna be camping out in the forest… It should take us about a week.”

“Okay.” She gazed at the mountain dragon one last time. “....To think the hero had probably done the same as you, Eilise.”

“...You mean, scratch his nose and comfort him?”

“No…. To meet another hero, which could explain why he’d bow to you… But that’s just my assumption.”

“Listen Marieka. I’m no hero… Back in Friedenswald, If it hadn’t been for you guys I would’ve….” Stopping, I swallowed my words and clenched my fist. “ーNevermind… Sorry, let’s keep moving.”

Taking a step forward, Marieka reached for my hand to stop me in place.

Confused, I turned to my shoulder and saw her expression… She was hurt, as if she was trying to cover it and yet, I fully understood what the look of her face meant.

She catches on quickly.

“Ahaha… You figured it out…?” I chuckled.

“....I didn’t want you to distance yourself from meーfrom us. So this whole time I… Said nothing.”

I lowered my gaze, and began to remember what had been in my head for long… about the words of me being selfishーwas due to my inability to create magic for others, that they began to think I never cared for them nor my kingdom.

Self preservation is what they say.

It’s hard to live up to their expectations, but regardless, they never really cared. Which led me to believe that being a Pointed hat, required you to be a perfect being to please their eyes… So I only ever cared to fulfill my duties and didn’t bother to be the true hero....

My jaw tightened, shaking my head. No… It’s different now. It’s different. The past is the past… I’ve already decided to take a step forward… I don’t want to let this go to waste…

“ーAhaha. Sorry for worrying you Marieka.” I gently wiggled my arm off from her grasp. “But… I’m okay now… I’ve made up my mind… To start letting go of what I’ve shouldered in the past. And instead, I’ll be more truthful to myself..”

Marieka’s eyes opened, she tried her best to smileーunsure whether or not I was really telling the truth.

Without a choice, I tried to convince her by gently hitting her shoulder. “See? I punched you. Old me would’ve never done that. Right?”

“....Mmm, I guess…” She averted her gaze.

Then I went to Annaliese and gave her the same treatment. “You too. Of course.”

“Haha~~~, that’s funny, Mistress Eilise.”

“Well, sorry to have brought the mood down you two… Let’s uhm, keep going yeah?” I cleared my throat. “Also, no training session Marieka… I was thinking of letting you rest.”

It took awhile for her to respond, before sluggishly raising her arm in the air. “H… hooray… I guess.”

I smiled, yawning. “Now that we’re all set, let's test out the spell you acquired shall we…?”

⇔ ⇔ ⇔ ⇔

“ーI’m surprised… It really was effective… It’s almost as if Astrid was still here hunting for us…” Annaliese exhaled.

“You’re making it sound like she’s dead or something…” I raised my finger, lifting the pot over the fire using magic and kneeling down. “It’s been a while since I’ve last cooked… Like five months ago before Marieka had found me.”

“Really…? Has it really been that long Mistress Eilise…?”

I scoffed. “I guess… Regardless, I’m hungry.”

Putting the ingredients together, I slowly stirred the soup as it began to cookーits aroma lingering along the air and the light from the fire illuminated our camping spot and gave us warmth.

“The binding spell really did wonders… It’s very practical…” I yawned, looking over Marieka who was buried in her blanket. “Marieka, the food’s almost ready.”

…

No response from her. I tilted my head. “...Uhm, she drained her reservoir, it seems.” I exhaled.

It can’t be helped that Marieka did capture at least three boars, but unfortunately all of them broke free from the binding four times… Turns out when using binding magic, you can’t use it efficiently without prior training.

I feel like we shouldn’t have skipped the session… That’s a shame… it is what it is…

Taking the ladle off the pot, I summoned three bowls including its utensils and distributed the soup in allーpassing it to Annaliese, and leaving the other one on the ground beside Marieka.

I took my ration and stepped back from the fire to sit down on my blanket, breathing heavily from the cold. I blew on the soup and took a scoop to drink.

And my first reaction was as expected.

“Mmm… Tastes just the same as before… Like how I used to cook it…” I proudly muttered to myself.

“ーMistress Eilise… You’re an amazing cook…” Annaliese on the other side complimented me.

“Are you flattering me or…”

“No! I’m being truthful here Mistress Eilise! It’s delicious… I wonder why you’ve never cooked back then…”

“Because I trusted you to handle the cooking. But if by chance you cooked like Marieka… I probably would’ve taken over… No offence to you…”

“Ahaha, It’s okay Mistress Eilise. But not to worry, I taught myself how to cook!”

“I had a hunch that you did of course… Oh, and I'm only taking over temporarily, I’ll let you handle the rations along the journey again.”

She scoffed. “I understand. A shame that Marieka’s asleep… The soup won't taste good once it goes cold…”

“ーI’ll heat it again for her. For now, I want her to calm down…” I narrowed my eyes. “....She’s too concerned for me, which I find worrying if it ever affects her mental health…”

I placed my bowl down on the ground, gazing over Marieka. “I do wish she’d enjoy the journey and not mind me much. Because that’s how I can cope with everything, just seeing you two happy and enjoying your lives is already enough for me.”

Scoffing, my eyes glistened before I quickly wiped my tears.

“Sorry again Annaliese, I hope you enjoyed the food… We’ll set out full speed tomorrow so you two can get a proper cozy rest at an inn.”

“Please!! Don’t apologize Mistress Eilise…! I’m just glad that I met Marieka during my visit at Ryven last year. If not for her… I wouldn’t have met you.”

I cleared my throat. “Oh well… I just hope Marieka’s okay tomorrow… We’ll be nearing our journey after all.”

Annaliese shrugged. “....It is unfortunate, but. I’m very happy, Mistress Eilise! To have traveled with you…”

I smiled. “Then, that’s good to hear… But like what you’ve said to Astrid, save that for Brynheint… Okay?”

Standing up, I took my bowl to grab seconds. “You want more? Annaliese…?”

“Mhm, later please!”

“Alright~~,” I took the ladle and scooped myself a bowl.

Behind meーunaware, Marieka had been awake the whole time, who heard the entire conversation…

Underneath her blanket, she tucked herself and sulked underneath.

“You dummy…” Marieka muttered quietly.