She thought she had misheard. Even so, she thought she had been instilling quite healthy living habits in Cider Claiborne while living at Glailly House.
"You're going to pull an all-nighter? Again? No, how much do you even sleep when you do sleep...!"
Cider, who had placed the wing back on the stand, replied. As if it really didn't matter at all.
"Even if I went ho leaving this when completion is right around the corner, I wouldn't be able to sleep a wink."
Even if he died, it wouldn't be today. Cider hid the words he couldn't bring himself to say. But today, his shaless attitude didn't work well either.
"So you're determined to pull an all-nighter? Can't you just do it tomorrow?"
"I appreciate the concern, but think about the cipher. We don't have ti right now."
It was true they didn't have ti, but that didn't an Cider didn't even have the luxury of getting a good night's sleep. However, looking at Cider's expression as he gazed at the chanical device under the wing, there seed to be no way to stop him. Then, in that case...
"Um, then should I stay here too?"
"You too?"
His tone suggested he hadn't thought of it at all, so Esperanza unconsciously drew her toes together and answered as quickly as a shot.
"I won't be much help though. I'll just keep you company so you won't be bored while the machines are working. You know, elderly noble ladies sotis hire companions. If I have nothing to do, I can train."
Even after saying it, it didn't seem like a very convincing answer. Esperanza slumped her shoulders. Her cheeks felt hot.
Fine, whatever happens, happens. Anyway, whether Esperanza was there or not, this man would be buried in chanical devices all night without the ntal capacity for a single conversation.
"...Never mind if you don't want to."
Cider burst into laughter. He finally couldn't resist and pinched Esperanza's cheek. The lips that had been rushing toward her as if to pour down stopped just a knuckle's distance away. His eyes narrowed as he looked down at her eyelids that trembled without pulling away.
"I appreciate it, but you're a distraction to my concentration."
A bit slower than before, this ti the lips that lightly touched her cheek slowly fell away. The gaze that was entangled even more deeply lingered wistfully around each other's eyes. Both knew well what they wanted. They just didn't say it aloud. And what wasn't spoken couldn't be had.
"You concentrate just fine when I'm around."
Esperanza complained belatedly. Cider lowered his voice slightly and spoke as if whispering a secret.
"Esperanza, I've never properly concentrated even once when you're next to ."
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"I can't concentrate."
Esperanza, lying on the bed with the cipher interpretation, said as if letting out a breath. There was no one to hear. Annie had already turned off the lights and closed the windows before returning to her own room, so Esperanza was alone in this large bedroom.
While Cider Claiborne was conducting all-night research to secure Esperanza's mobility, Esperanza was also pondering if there was any more information to extract from this cipher.
There definitely seed to be sothing related to pirates around this ti... so that was...
"Ah, Paolun pirates!"
Right!
It was good that she had thought that far. But she couldn't rember when and what had happened. It was natural too. It was sothing that happened before the ga even opened, and it wasn't particularly important. But if Esperanza knew about it, it was at least not a small incident.
Actually, not being able to rember wasn't just a matter of mory. Usually when trying to recall sothing forgotten, one pieces together the puzzle bit by bit by recalling events before and after. But that work yielded no results at all.
This was all because of Cider Claiborne. Because Cider had kissed Esperanza. It was just her cheek, but they both knew. If he hadn't stopped at that mont, they would have kissed on the lips, and Esperanza wouldn't have refused. They knew but didn't do it, and they knew well why they didn't do it.
Recalling the smile from the mont his lips slid to her cheek made her heart feel like it was floating. Esperanza, who had buried her face in the pillow, sighed.
By now Cider would be frantically finishing up his research. He had said he wouldn't be able to sleep if he didn't do research. And now, Esperanza was also unable to sleep. Even though she clearly knew what Cider was doing, the thought of wanting to go see him directly made it impossible to concentrate on the cipher in her hand at all.
Wanting to see him. When they had been together until just a while ago.
'What exactly did you do to ?'
It was just a kiss that pressed lips to her cheek, just that kind of kiss, and she wasn't even an adolescent girl losing sleep over just that.
If she wanted to see him, she could run to him right now, and if she wanted to be together, she could do that. Cider didn't seem like he would chase Esperanza away. But to take one more step forward in this awkward relationship, there was a question she had to ask.
That she ca not from 13 years in the future of this world that he knew, but from a completely different world, and that she had to return to that world. Would he really be okay knowing that?
And the reason she ca from that world to this world was...
A ga.
That was the problem. If it had been a mystical reason that made her fall into this world across dinsions and even ti slip, Esperanza could have confessed everything the mont she thought of Cider as a friend. But a ga was entertainnt, and entertainnt was illusion. That's why she couldn't bring herself to say it.
But Cider not knowing wasn't such a big problem. The bigger problem lay in what Cider already knew. Wherever she went, Esperanza would eventually have to return ho. Cider knew that ending and was even helping Esperanza return.
She couldn't understand why he wanted to tie this relationship into a knot when both the one leaving and the one staying would only be sad. Cider's words to pretend not to know were considerate, but ultimately beca poison. While desperately trying to look away, unable to even ask, swaying, even pretending not to know beca useless as things reached that stage.
"So really. Why?"
The question that had risen to her throat finally burst out. Esperanza jumped up from the bed. If she couldn't pretend not to know until the end, she had no choice but to face it head-on.
She roughly stuffed the cipher into her pocket and ran down to the kitchen. The hem of her nightgown covered by a thick shawl wrapped around her legs.
The ti it took to heat milk in the empty kitchen and take out cookies from the cupboard was less than 10 minutes. Esperanza, who had dissolved a spoonful of honey in the milk and put it in her inventory, ca down through the window as usual, then walked as if waiting for the sun to rise, and gradually began to run. When she reached the forest, she had magic power swirling around her feet.
The laboratory deep in the forest was quiet, subrged in darkness. The horse Cider had ridden was dozing in the stable, and dim light flowed from the study on the second floor.
There it is.
She stepped on protruding bricks and climbed the wall. Brick fragnts crumbled and rolled down from under her feet.
Sitting on the window fra, she could see Cider's back through the curtains. He was kneeling on one knee in front of the stand with the large wing set up, apparently changing parts. The broad, straight back wrapped in a white shirt slowly rose.
She thought she'd been caught. Even though there was no reason for it, Esperanza held her breath and watched Cider. He headed to the desk, scribbled sothing in a notebook, then returned to the machine.
Even though it was just his back, she could feel intense imrsion. Imrsion where other thoughts, fear of failure, even himself didn't matter. Exactly what Esperanza felt in battle. His profile, briefly revealed, wore a faint smile.
As she watched that sight with her head leaning against the window fra, she thought she didn't want to break his concentration. It seed like it would be okay if ti stopped like this. She was as imrsed in watching him as Cider was imrsed in his research. It seed like it would be okay not to ask questions.
Actually, she knew. No matter how important a question was, having sothing to ask wouldn't make her run to this remote forest laboratory in the middle of the night. She smiled bitterly while covering with one hand the cheek where lips had touched during the day.
The machines would spark and clatter to a stop constantly. Regardless, Cider didn't stop his work. Esperanza could only blankly watch as his perfectly stretched body got up from his position without a single complaint, noted what appeared to be experintal results in his notebook, and repeatedly inserted new parts.
Cider wasn't shaken at all by those countless failures and maintained thorough concentration. He didn't even seem to hear the sound of Esperanza quietly placing the milk glass on the table and returning to the window fra, not lifting his head even once.
Cold wind swept through her hair. The air in the room, mixed with paper and dust, ink, and faint tallic slls, was slightly humid due to steam. She carefully exhaled in rhythm with the regular machine sounds. The window beca foggy then clear. When the machine sound briefly stopped, Esperanza also held her breath and covered her mouth with her knees.
When she ca here, she hadn't intended to just watch, but she didn't want to be caught having secretly watched for so long.
The machine that had briefly stopped soon began turning again with the sound of gears clashing. Esperanza deeply exhaled the breath she had been holding. And when she turned her head again, their eyes t through the slightly open window.
"I thought you were there."
Gray eyes that shone even more clearly at night narrowed with amusent.
"How long have you known?"
"I just found out."
Right, if he had known earlier, Esperanza would have noticed first.
"You should have co in."
"...You were concentrating."
Cider answered with a laughing voice while slightly wrinkling his nose bridge.
"Since when have you cared about such things?"
"Well, that's true, but."
Esperanza, who had nothing to say, closed her mouth.
"When did you co?"
"Not long ago."
Actually, she had no idea how long it had been. She had lost track of ti watching Cider imrsed in his research while holding her breath. She had no intention of telling this story though. As if he hadn't expected an answer anyway, Cider shrugged as if he'd believe her.
"Couldn't sleep? Did you need company?"
Instead of asking "why did you co," Cider said that. The mont she heard those words, strength left her shoulders that she hadn't realized were tense. Esperanza, sitting with her knees together, also smiled softly and answered.
"I guess so."
When laughter returned to Esperanza's cheeks, Cider also smiled back.
"Actually, there are various reasons, but you were concentrating so much I couldn't call out to you."
"There's sothing that won't get solved. I caught a clue, so it seems like it'll sohow be resolved by dawn today."
What Esperanza had seen was only Cider breaking and bursting machines, but if he said so, then it must be so.
"So, what was the urgent matter that made you run here in the middle of the night?"
I wanted to see you.
"I had sothing to say."
Cider's lips drew a diagonal line. With an expression that looked even arrogant, he looked down and asked again.
"Is that all?"
"...For now."
"So that's why you won't co in?"
"Sothing like that."
She shouldn't say it was because she was embarrassed. Saying that would be even more embarrassing.
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