[SCR] 9 – A Bad Premonition

♔ 2 – The Passion of Reunion♔

At dusk, the reddish sunlight illuminated the fields across the road as far as the eye could see.　Nothing could be seen but a few houses. A sense of relief washed over her every time she saw them. They reminded her of people’s lives remaining unchanged for hundreds of years.

“This is fine,” Idyllia said and got out of the rattling street carriage.

“Thank you for your help. Thank you,” When she thanked him, the gentleman astride the horse broke his composure.

“Oh, no. God will be pleased I can be of your service.”

　When she tried to pay for the ride, the coachman, upon seeing the clothes Idyllia wore, insisted on it to be complimentary. The unadorned grey cloak and the white veil that covered her hair were the mark of a nun or equivalent.　Having seen the carriage off, Idyllia walked a short distance along the street before turning into a side street.　The narrow road wound endlessly between fields. At the end of the road, there was an old building, larger than a house. It was a convent that had been here for hundreds of years.　The endless fields and vegetable gardens were all the convent’s land, except for a large road running through the middle. Around the convent, nuns with baskets and burlap sacks in their hands could be seen scurrying about.　One of them, Lilia, who was the same age as her, came out onto a side street with her work gear in hand.

“Welcome back. Are you running errands for the abbess again?”

“Yes.”

“You always have to travel so far all the time, don’t you?”

“It’s no big matter. I don’t mind going from place to place.”

　The monastery had various tasks to maintain its self-sufficiency.

　One of them was to deliver letters and verbal advice on administration to various quarters. Idyllia was valued because an understanding of etiquette was required, and blue upbringing taught this.　Even though she was blue-born, which negated any duty other than prayer at the cathedral, Idyllia still volunteered to work.

She wanted to be engaged in hard labour. It was no exaggeration to say that this was why she came here.　Idyllia passed through the gates of the convent with a deep sense of guilt that she would not be able to atone for even if it took her the rest of her life.

(Silvio──)

That name was still all Idyllia has ever known.　Five years had passed since that incident. Her heart was gutted by the wounds of losing him and still rawly bled.　After the incident, she lived for a while in a state of despondency and weeping.　As the months passed, the pain never healed and she could not accept the reality of his absence.　There was a gaping hole in the world, and no matter who she was with or what she did, she was just sad.　She was so sad that she lost her soul into despair, but her heart and breathing never stopped. It was strange.

When she realised that all the reality surrounding her was bothering her and that all she was looking at was death, she felt she couldn’t go on like this. And she chose to abandon her mundane life…

"What's wrong?"

　Lilia's voice snapped Idyllia out of her reverie.

"...... No. It's nothing."

　Reflexively shaking her head, she tilted her head slightly.

"You often look at me like that, your eyes looking somewhere that isn't here."

“Is that so?”

"Don't you realise?　You look so lonely."

"I didn't mean to. ......"

"Is it hard for you to live here?"

"No way!　I want to live here for the rest of my life,” When she replied forcefully, Lilia laughed happily.

"Good!　I'm sure dinner tonight will be delicious. We got a lot of salt as a donation."

"That's something to look forward to."

　Idyllia also smiled at her partner.　It was a smile made consciously.　Since the incident five years ago, Idyllia's heart had always been closed to deep sadness.　Nevertheless, there was a peace of mind in the life of the monastery. Even arguments were rare, and there were no people to fight or quarrel with.

(That's enough. I don't need money or power. ......)

As long as she could live quietly in memory of Silvio, that was all that mattered to her.　For Idyllia, who only wished for this, life here was comfortable.

"Hey, what is that ......?"

　Lilia said when they were almost at the monastery gate.　Across the field - beyond the horizon - a large number of people appeared. While they looked at them approaching from the distance, they heard commotion as they came closer.　As the nuns in the field looked on, a group of warhorses, cloaked in a cloud of dust, appeared, advancing in an orderly fashion. There were hundreds, maybe more.　The military banner they carried was that of the neighbouring country Mediolam. Idyllia had a bad premonition.