“Look! The Silvia flowers are still here…”
Tears welled up in Rubica’s eyes. It was good that such a terrible war was never going to break out, but her time at the abbey was one of the dear memories of her life. Going back there made her realize something. It was time to let go of all those hard but worthwhile days.
“Here.”
Edgar took out a handkerchief and tried to hand it to her, but then he tumbled and ended up pulling her arm to him.
“Hey! What do you think you are doing? Get away from her, now!”
An angry voice interrupted them. It was a girl wearing the clothes of a novice, and she was looking at them with her hands on her waist. It seemed she thought Edgar was trying to hurt Rubica.
“She is my wife.”
Edgar tried to explain, but the girl didn’t lower her guard. She continued, even angrier than before, “It doesn’t matter if she really is your wife or not. What matters is that she is crying, and you look quite threatening.”
Then, she asked quite kindly to Rubica, “Is this man really your husband?”
She had stopped crying in surprise and nodded. But the girl was still looking suspicious, so Rubica opened her mouth to explain, but then her eyes widened.
“Priestess… Lefena?”
She hadn’t been able to recognize her at first as she had no wrinkles on her face and was a lot thinner, but her strong eyes and stubborn lips indicated that she had to be Lefena. Moreover, she was right, for the girl blinked.
“Do you know me?”
“Oh, yes. We’ve met a long time ago.”
Lefena tried hard to recall her, but she was sure she had never seen this lady before. She wouldn’t have forgotten such an elegant woman with red eyes.
“Um, my husband was just trying to hand me his handkerchief, but then he tumbled over a jagged stone.”
“Did he? Then I apologize.”
Lefena cleanly apologized as soon as she heard Rubica’s explanation. She was strict, but she always kept her rules. Edgar was quite surprised to see her bow so deeply to him. Rubica’s exclamation had made him remember her as well, but he never imagined he would ever get an apology from her.
“No, you did the right thing as a priestess.”
He was so shocked that he addressed her as he had done before. Lefena looked at him. She also thought she had been right, but in such a case, most people got mad at her for being accused wrongly. Lefena decided she quite liked the couple, so she volunteered to guide them to the abbey’s entrance.
“I, I am not a priestess yet, so you don’t have to call me one. Actually, I’ve already failed the test twice… so I don’t even know if I’ll ever become one.”
Lefena whispered so at the entrance. Her red cheeks made Rubica want to laugh, but she just took her hand instead.
“You will make it, you will become a great and brilliant priestess.”
Then, she went back to the carriage with Edgar, feeling quite good. The sadness she had had when she arrived was now gone. It was as if she had the clouds of a warm spring’s day in her heart.
“Edgar, when we first went in, I didn’t know what to do because everything looked so different. But after I met Lefena, I’ve realized that even if most of the world changes, some things will never change.”
He quietly nodded, knowing what she was feeling.
Many had changed. The place she remembered now didn’t exist. The time she remembered now didn’t exist. However, there was one thing that hadn’t changed, a person. Priestess Lefena was still there.
‘And Angela…’
Her cousin, who should have died by now, was living on. She even looked quite happy when she came to visit her at Claymore. Rubica’s memories, the place she had protected, her encounters with others, they were now all gone like illusions, but they were not completely gone. Somewhere in the world, all those people she had met had to be diligently living their own lives.
She looked at the man next to her. He had taken out his blueprint for the weaving machine and was taking a look at it. Lately, he had been working on improving his weaving machine to enable them to make even thinner and more delicate laces. In living diligently, no man excelled like her own husband. She was grateful that he was by her side.
“Edgar, I think we should go home now.”
He smiled as if he had been waiting for her to say it.
“There are many people waiting for the next announcement of your secret boutique. I heard society is in a panic because of Madam Berry’s sudden disappearance.”
“Oh, then we must go back quickly before they find out who she is!”
She said playfully and kissed his forehead. She was going to live on, as diligent as him. She wasn’t capable of making great inventions like him, instead, she could find beauty for people. Moreover, she liked that the work was secretive. Just like only a few, including Edgar, knew she had saved the world, not everything had to be known by the world.
Whether the world knows about it or not, she will live on, for her life and joys, right where she belongs.