The letter Baldes had given her remained folded inside the sleeve of Viola's robe. The restrictions on her travels were listed in meticulous detail. She could not go north. She could not approach the Twilight Wall. If there were any signs of holy art runaway, permission would be revoked immediately—each time she recalled that fine handwriting, a dull heaviness seeped into the depths of her chest. And yet, permission was permission. This morning, Viola was setting out on her first "overnight journey." The great gates of the royal capital Soleille closed behind them with a sound. "[gentle]Are you cold?" Rei spoke from beside her. His golden short hair caught the morning light, and those azure eyes glanced briefly at Viola to confirm she was alright. That straightforward gaze had not changed—not when he made his marriage vow in the great hall, not when they walked through the market. It never wavered. "[gentle]I'm fine, thank you." As they reached the main road, the sky suddenly opened up. Without the stone walls of the temple, was the sky always this vast?—she thought it every time. The earth beneath her feet had a softness different from cobblestone. It was slightly damp. It smelled of grass. The word "outdoors" that she had read in books was entering her body again as a sensation. Rei walked beside Viola the entire way. Each time they passed through villages along the road, farmers holding tools waved. Children ran toward them. Rei answered each greeting and explained things to Viola. That field was wheat, the harvest was in autumn, that water wheel used a tributary of the Mileune River—his way of speaking was brief and declarative, but his tone of voice was gentle. Viola's tension gradually eased. But—once, when a traveling merchant asked Viola for directions, Rei naturally inserted himself between them. Without a word, without changing his expression, he simply stepped in. The merchant looked slightly surprised, asked Rei for directions instead, and then left. Viola saw the swiftness of that movement. *He was protecting me*—that's what she thought. But the coldness in those eyes when he had kept the knight at a distance on the way back from the market surfaced again in the corner of her mind. *(…Which one is the real you?)* The question remained unanswered as the ridge of a mountain came into view in the distance. The Rontia Mountain Range—part of the main spine that ran north and south across the Eldina continent. As they drew closer to the foothills, the road narrowed. The trees grew taller. The air became slightly colder. --- She heard the voice where the mountain path curved along the rocky face. "Someone—please, help us!" A woman's voice. Tense, but desperate. Rei stopped in an instant. Viola stopped at the same time. Behind the rocks, a person lay collapsed. A middle-aged man lay on the ground, and beside him a woman who appeared to be his wife and two small children huddled together. Cloth was wrapped around the man's side and shoulder. Blood was seeping through. A sword wound. "Bandits—we were attacked by bandits." Rei's hand was already on the holy sword Carrion. "[serious]Viola, I'm counting on you." The words were brief. That was all it took for her to understand everything. Viola immediately knelt beside the man. She held her right palm over the wound. The stigma glowed. The next moment—pain came. The sensation of a blade entering flesh. A dull, heavy, tearing pain flowed into Viola's right side. She bit down on her back teeth. Her lips nearly split from the inside. But she did not move her hand. She maintained the light. She flattened her emotions. She accepted only the pain and let it flow through her. Behind her, there was a metallic clang. She had no time to turn around. But she heard it—the sound of a sword cutting through air, heavy footsteps, then the angry shout of what must have been a bandit, and a short impact sound. Silence. Another sword sound. Silence again. It repeated, and then everything stopped. She felt the man's wound closing. The pain faded. The light settled. Viola exhaled deeply. Her hands trembled slightly. There was still a dull residual ache around her right side. "[gentle]You'll be alright now." The wife touched her husband while crying. The children peered at their father's face. The man opened his eyes. "[gentle]Any injuries?" Rei was standing right behind her. The holy sword was sheathed. The bandits were gone. Whether they had fled or retreated—either way, they were no longer here. Viola shook her head. "[gentle]I'm fine." Rei's azure eyes looked at Viola's right hand. The fingertips, slightly reddened. His face seemed about to say something, but he said nothing. In that silence, Viola was thinking of something entirely different from the hesitation she had felt a moment before. While Rei had been driving off the bandits, she had felt his presence the entire time, close to her. Standing behind her. Guarding the retreat. So that Viola could concentrate on healing. *This person truly does not hesitate when it comes to protecting others*—when she thought that, something in the depths of her chest took on a quiet, certain form. --- When the sun began to set, they pitched a tent on the mountainside. Rei was in charge of starting the fire. He gathered branches, used flint, and worked methodically. The lack of hesitation in his hands was the same as in battle. The fire started in no time. The mountain nights were cold, so the warmth near the flames was welcome. For a while, the two of them watched the flames together. Looking down from the middle of the Rontia Mountain Range, the lights of Soleille were visible far to the south, small and distant. The city with the white marble temple. The place where she had been born and lived her entire life. This was the first time she had seen it from so far away. It was small. As vast as it had seemed, from here it was no larger than a thumb. "[serious]…Do you remember the day I drew Carrion?" His voice was quiet. Viola turned to face him. Rei continued speaking while looking at the fire. "[serious]The moment the sword came free from the pedestal, light poured out. Incredible light. Everyone around me cried out. I alone—couldn't say anything." The flames wavered. The wood crackled. "[serious]The sword fit in my hand. The moment I felt its weight, it felt like the entire world was placed on my shoulders. The expectations of everyone in the nation. Voices telling me to defeat the demon lord. I was truly afraid." Viola said nothing. She could not. "[serious]But I didn't want to run away. I thought someone had to protect everyone. That's all it was." The last words were quieter than quiet. Viola looked down at her own right hand while watching the flames. The stigma glowed faintly. From the moment she was born as a saint in the temple, she had carried the weight of the world's balance. Not chosen by anyone, only because a mark of light had appeared on her right hand. She had been told to suppress her emotions. Told not to love. For eighteen years, she had done so. There was someone here who knew that same weight. That fact seeped slowly into her chest. Before she knew it, Viola had reached out her hand. She touched the back of Rei's hand gently. Rei's movement stopped. Viola stopped as well. Only the sound of the fire continued. Rei slowly turned his face toward her. Those azure eyes widened. His cheeks—were red. A color that was not from the flames was there. The silence between them conveyed something deeper than words. That was the moment. A faint light seeped from Viola's fingertips. The light of Soleia holy art—pale, white, wavering in a way beyond her control. A sign of runaway. When emotions wavered, her power became unstable. She knew that. But until this very moment, she had not realized how greatly her chest was moving. Viola quickly withdrew her hand. The light vanished. Rei did not notice. With his red face, he simply averted his gaze to the starry sky, looking a little embarrassed. Viola placed her own hand on her lap. Her fingertips were still warm—the warmth of Rei's hand lingered there. And at the same time, the depths of her chest were terribly afraid. *(When my heart wavers, my power becomes unstable.)* The words Baldes had spoken repeated in her mind. You must correct the disturbance of your emotions. Even knowing that, tonight Viola had no desire whatsoever to stop that "disturbance." --- Deep in the night, after the campfire had settled, Rei slept inside the tent. Viola could not sleep. She looked up at the sky. So many stars. Far more than above the royal capital. Without the city lights, the night sky was deeper. The air of the Rontia Mountain Range was cold, and her breath turned white. She hugged her knees and draped a blanket over her shoulders. For a while, there was silence. Then—she heard it. A melody, or rather a sensation. Coming on the wind from the north. Low and sorrowful, tightening her chest. The same sound she had heard in the back garden of the temple in Soleille. But tonight it was not coming from the temple. She was in the mountains. And yet it reached her. Viola placed her right hand on her chest. The warmth from when she had held Rei's hand was still there. A certain sensation. And—this melody piercing her chest. They were entirely different kinds of things. Neither was a lie. Both came from within her. The warmth toward Rei, and something toward this melody. That "something" had no name. She did not yet know toward whom it was directed. Without knowing, it was here—moving certainly in the depths of Viola's chest. Viola hugged her knees again. The melody quietly faded into the distance. Neither emotion had yielded an answer tonight. --- On the return journey the next day, when they had passed through the mountain path and come near the northern edge of the Rontia Mountain Range, Viola's eyes stopped. The color of the distant sky was different in one place. The Twilight Wall—the great barrier erected after the Twilight War. A band of pale purple light stretched across the northern part of the continent. Two hundred sixty kilometers northeast of the royal capital Soleille, beyond the frontier city of Rivaldo and another twenty kilometers north. In that light, a thin line ran. A crack. So thin that perhaps one person could pass through. But it was certainly there. Within the pale purple band, like a wound, the light was broken. Viola stopped walking. She had read about it in books. The Twilight Wall was a barrier erected in exchange for a saint's life. If the wall decayed, humans and demons alike might fall together—. This had to be reported. To Baldes. To the Council of Elders. Immediately. The moment she thought that, Rei, who had been walking ahead, turned around. His face was beaming. "[excited]How was it? Your first night outdoors." There was no reservation in his smile. Where had the red face from last night's campfire gone? The Rei before her now was bright as always. "[excited]Let's come again sometime. Definitely." Before that smile, Viola could not open her mouth. She was about to mention the crack in the wall. But Rei's smile swallowed her words. She could not speak of last night's melody either. Could not speak of the holy art nearly running away. And—could not speak of that crack. Viola simply nodded. "[gentle]…Yes, that would be nice." She made a smile. Lifting the corners of her lips, narrowing her eyes slightly. She had practiced it for eighteen years. How to appear calm. How to keep her emotions locked inside. Rei turned forward and began walking. Following a step behind his back, Viola carried three secrets in her chest. The stigma on her right palm wavered so faintly that no one could see it.