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---
Link had spent twelve minutes reading the first line.
Not twelve minutes studying the page.
Not twelve minutes interpreting an especially complicated concept.
Twelve minutes reading the first line.
The book lay open upon the garden table. It was thick, heavy, and bound in brown leather, with a golden illustration of several circles connected around a lagmite.
The title occupied almost half the cover.
Link had spent another five minutes deciphering it.
Or believed he had deciphered it.
Fundamental Principles of Conduction, Activation, and Regulation in Magical Mechanisms.
At least, that was what he hoped it said.
It could also have said:
Fundamental Principles for Setting Fire to a Noble Residence Without Assuming Legal Responsibility.
Lugunican writing continued discovering new ways to humiliate him.
Link traced the first line with one finger.
"Every… mechanism…"
Luci floated beside his head.
"Enchanted," he continued. "Requires a…"
The following character resembled a window crushed by a horse.
Link compared the word with the sheet of symbols Ram had prepared for him.
It was not there.
He consulted the small dictionary Subaru used while studying.
Nothing.
He returned to the line.
"Requires a…"
Luci descended upon the page and released a flash.
"You cannot read it either."
The small sphere blinked again.
"Making the page brighter does not change the letters."
Luci intensified her glow.
Link closed his eyes.
Breathed.
Then opened them again.
"Every enchanted mechanism requires a… sou… source?"
Luci spun around herself.
Link smiled.
"Source. Good."
He leaned closer again.
"Every enchanted mechanism requires a source, a…"
The next word possessed too many strokes.
Link attempted to divide it.
It did not work.
He stared at it for so long that it stopped resembling a word. It became only a collection of lines someone had assembled to punish him.
He moved to the second line.
Worse.
He returned to the first.
"Source, path, command, and output," a childish voice said behind him. "The sentence says every enchanted mechanism requires a source, a path, a command, and an output, I suppose."
Link did not turn.
He remained staring at the book.
"I knew that."
"No."
"I was verifying it."
"For twelve minutes."
Link slowly turned his head.
Beatrice stood several steps away, embracing another book against her chest. Her pink dress remained immaculate, her twin drills fell along both sides of her face, and the expression with which she regarded him suggested disappointment could become an academic discipline.
"How long have you been standing there?" Link asked.
"Long enough."
"That is not an amount."
"Betty does not take orders from someone defeated by a single line of text."
Link returned his gaze to the page.
"The writing in this kingdom is unnecessarily complicated."
"It is normal writing."
"Subjective."
"Petra can read it."
"Petra is a dangerous anomaly."
"Petra is twelve."
"Exactly. She has a twelve-year advantage."
Beatrice narrowed her eyes.
Link pointed toward the chair opposite him.
"Since you are already here…"
"No."
"I did not even ask."
"Betty knows the question."
"It could have been about ice cream."
Beatrice stopped.
Link saw it.
A tiny pause.
Enough.
"I can make vanilla," he said. "Or chocolate. I could even attempt to mix fruit."
"That is bribery."
"It is privately funded education."
"You do not understand half of that sentence."
"Yes, I do."
"Explain it."
Link opened his mouth.
Then closed it.
Beatrice continued walking.
Link abandoned the chair.
He caught up with her in three steps.
"Beatrice."
"No."
"Only the first page."
"No."
"Half."
"No."
"The illustration."
"No."
"An oral explanation."
"Learn to read."
"I am learning."
"Faster."
Beatrice continued forward.
Link moved in front of her.
She changed direction.
So did he.
Beatrice turned again.
Link copied her.
The small spirit stopped.
"Move."
"I need to understand how magical objects work."
"You need to understand how letters work."
"One can help with the other."
"Not when that one thing is constructing more objects that breathe fire."
Link pressed his hands together.
"They do not all need to breathe fire."
Beatrice looked at him.
"Most."
"That is irrelevant."
She attempted to move around him.
Link dropped to his knees.
Beatrice became still.
"I beg you."
"Stand up."
"One lesson."
"You are dirtying your trousers."
"I will make ice cream."
"No."
"Two flavors."
"No."
"Three."
Beatrice tightened her hold upon the book.
"Betty will not allow herself to be manipulated by quantities."
"Vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry."
"Four."
Link raised his head.
"What?"
"Four flavors."
"Accepted."
"Betty has not finished. You will read one page per day, copy every term Betty indicates, and test no circuit, lagmite, spell, structure, idea, or stupidity without supervision."
Link hesitated.
Beatrice raised one eyebrow.
"Accepted," he said.
"Without crossing your fingers."
Link removed his hands from behind his back.
"Accepted."
"And you will not use Luci to circumvent the condition."
The small sphere hid behind Link.
"Accepted."
"Nor claim it was not magic, but a demonstration."
"That eliminates many possibilities."
"Link."
"Accepted."
Beatrice pointed toward the table.
"Sit."
Link stood immediately.
"I always knew you possessed a heart."
"Betty can still leave you illiterate."
"I am sitting."
Beatrice did not read the entire book.
She claimed doing so would inflict irreversible damage upon her dignity.
Instead, she took a clean sheet and drew four circles.
They were not perfect.
Link decided not to mention it.
Inside the first, she wrote:
Source.
Inside the second:
Path.
Inside the third:
Command.
Inside the fourth:
Output.
"A magical artifact does not think," she explained. "Nor does it imagine. It only repeats a function someone previously established."
Link contemplated the circles.
"Like a machine."
"Betty does not know what you understand by machine."
"Something constructed to perform a task."
"Then yes."
Beatrice pointed toward the first circle.
"The source provides energy. It can be the user's mana, a charged lagmite, an incorporated reserve, or something more complex."
She moved to the second.
"The path conducts that energy. Engravings, compatible materials, channels, circles, or an internal structure."
Then the third.
"The command determines when it occurs. Contact, a specific amount of mana, a word, pressure, temperature, or some particular condition."
Finally, the fourth.
"The output is the result. Light, heat, movement, a barrier, or a stored spell."
Link raised one hand.
"Explosion?"
"No."
"It was an academic question."
"The answer remains no."
Link took another sheet.
He copied the four terms.
Source was too large.
Path appeared tilted.
Command lost one stroke.
Output occupied the entire lower half of the page.
Beatrice studied the result.
"Betty has seen cries for help written with greater elegance."
"It is understandable."
"Unfortunately."
Link rested the tip of the pen upon the first circle.
"The Charmander possessed a lagmite as its source."
"Correct."
"The channels I made inside the stone were the path."
"Defective, but yes."
"The command was my mana."
"Your mana activated the stone. The intensity determined how much heat it released."
"And the output was the mouth."
"And the arm."
Link smiled.
"Then I constructed something correctly."
"You constructed something that set your hair on fire."
"It worked."
"In a hostile manner."
"It worked hostily."
Beatrice closed her eyes.
"The primary problem was that you did not calculate the pressure or create a stable discharge route. The lagmite released more heat than the channel could conduct and expelled everything through the available opening."
"The mouth."
"Your face."
"The mouth pointed at my face."
"The artifact made a reasonable decision, I suppose."
Link ignored the comment.
He drew a fifth circle beside the others.
"Can a limit be added?"
Beatrice opened her eyes.
"Yes."
"A condition causing it to stop receiving mana after a certain quantity?"
"Yes."
"Or dividing the flow?"
"Yes."
"Storing it first and releasing it afterward?"
"Yes."
"Releasing it from a distance?"
"Depending upon the artifact."
Link stopped writing.
Luci floated slightly closer.
Beatrice saw something ignite behind his brown eyes.
Not the kakugan.
Worse.
Enthusiasm.
"No," she said.
"I did not say anything."
"You thought about Explosion."
"I was thinking academically."
"Your academic face is identical to the one you wore before creating a crater."
Link placed one hand upon the book.
"If an artifact could store the spell away from the user, the recoil would not—"
The edge of Beatrice's book struck his forehead.
"No."
"But—"
Another strike.
"No."
"It could be safer."
A third strike.
"I understand!"
Beatrice stopped hitting him.
"You do not understand. You merely learned to become quiet."
Link rubbed his forehead.
Rem arrived in the garden at that moment, carrying a tray of tea.
Her steps slowed when she found Link sitting opposite Beatrice, surrounded by drawings, circles, and pages covered by handwriting that appeared to have survived an earthquake.
"What are you studying?"
"Disaster prevention," Beatrice said.
"Magical mechanisms," Link corrected.
"They are the same when you are involved."
Rem set down the tray.
Her gaze stopped upon the four circles.
Then upon a side note Link had attempted to conceal beneath his hand.
REMOTE EXPLOSION — NO RECOIL.
Rem looked at him.
Link covered the entire phrase.
"It was a discarded hypothesis."
"The ink is fresh."
"I discarded it recently."
"Betty discarded it," Beatrice clarified.
Rem served the tea.
She gave the first cup to Beatrice.
Then another to Link.
Their fingers did not touch.
Both noticed.
Since the morning Ram had discovered them sleeping together, their conversations had acquired a strange caution.
Not distance.
Something worse.
Awareness.
Link remembered Rem's warmth against his chest.
Rem remembered choosing to remain.
Neither had clearly mentioned it.
Subaru had.
Repeatedly.
Ram had reduced the frequency through verbal violence.
Rem observed the book.
"Link can barely read it."
"I read the first line."
"Betty read it," Beatrice said.
"I recognized several words."
"Two."
"Several begins at two."
Rem sat upon a third chair.
"Why do you wish to learn about magical mechanisms?"
Link looked at the cup.
He could answer with the lagmite.
With the Charmander.
With the possibility of creating useful tools for the garden, the kitchen, or future expeditions.
All were true.
They were not the entire truth.
"Because possessing a great deal of mana is useless if every idea ends in brute force."
Rem waited.
Link continued:
"Roswaal can accomplish with one hand what I require horns, kagunes, and a ridiculous phrase to achieve. Puck alters temperature without destroying the place. Beatrice can place a spell inside a stone and use it when she needs it."
"Betty can do many things you would not achieve even if you learned to read correctly."
"Thank you."
Link held the cup between both hands.
"I do not want the only answer my magic possesses to be making something larger."
Rem looked at the hidden note.
"Although you were designing another Explosion."
"I am undergoing personal growth."
"A slow process," Beatrice said.
Link drank his tea.
Rem observed his fingers.
The way he loosened his grip before breaking the cup.
His measured breathing.
The small movement of Luci approaching his shoulder.
"Learning is a good decision," she said.
Link raised his gaze.
"Does that mean you support my project?"
"It means Rem supports the lessons."
"And the project?"
"No."
"Betrayal."
"Link has not said what it is yet."
"Exactly. You rejected it without knowing."
"Rem learned from Ram."
Beatrice took another biscuit from the tray.
"At last, someone uses a proper education, I suppose."
Link sighed.
Rem lowered her gaze to hide a smile.
The lesson ended before lunch.
Beatrice took the book with her.
Link protested.
She reminded him that the condition for teaching him included not allowing him to study only the portions he could transform into weaponry. Before leaving, she placed a wooden board, several pieces of charcoal, and one simple instruction upon the table:
Draw a circuit capable of producing light.
Without fire.
Without heat.
Without lagmites.
Without Explosion.
Link asked what part of the exercise was supposed to be exciting.
The door closed in his face.
The remainder of the day passed without incident.
He worked in the garden.
Fed the Wolgarms.
Practiced several characters with Ram and received seven red corrections within a six-word sentence.
Ate with everyone else.
Avoided asking Rem why, since Ram's discovery, they appeared to watch one another too carefully and look away just before the other noticed.
Subaru noticed.
He enjoyed noticing far too much.
Link seriously considered using him as experimental material for the burning-chair spell Ram had erased from the notebook.
He did not.
That was evidence of growth.
When the mansion began becoming silent, Link entered his room.
He sat upon the bed.
Looked at the board.
Then the window.
Luci floated before him.
"No."
The sphere tilted.
"I am not testing anything."
Luci remained still.
"I only want to look at the stars while I think."
The small light became slightly red.
"That is offensive. I am capable of thinking without creating explosions."
More red.
Link picked up the board.
"One minimal test."
Luci flew out through the window.
"That counts as authorization."
The night was clear.
Stars covered the sky with a density his world rarely permitted near a city. There were no electric lights spreading across the horizon. Only the mansion's darkened windows, the moon, and the small magical stones placed beside the pathways.
Link crossed the garden toward an open area.
He lay upon the grass.
The earth retained some of the day's warmth. The scent of flowers mingled with damp vegetation and the distant wood of the Wolgarm enclosure.
Luci descended upon his chest.
Link placed one hand behind his head.
"Today, I did nothing stupid."
The spirit flashed.
"Nothing too stupid."
Another.
"The skirt incident does not count. That happened yesterday."
Luci rose several centimeters.
"It was a legitimate dispute."
The light rotated.
"The chair spell was useful."
Luci descended again.
"Ram does not understand art."
Silence.
"Or innovation."
More silence.
"Or the importance of a good explosion."
Luci glowed strongly.
Link smiled.
"You understand."
He raised one hand toward the sky.
Opened his fingers.
Mana responded immediately.
A small spark appeared above his palm.
Red at first.
Then orange.
Link concentrated more energy.
The flame acquired a blue center and began slowly rotating. It was not a complete spell. Only fire gathered into a single point, fed by a minimal fraction of his reserves.
"I could launch it upward," he murmured.
Luci moved away from his chest.
"Not toward the mansion. Upward."
The spirit blinked.
Link observed the sky.
"A small explosion."
Luci rose until she floated before his face.
"Relatively small."
The light intensified.
"Not like the first."
Another flash.
"Nor like Al Goa."
Luci remained still.
Link enlarged the sphere.
The fire rotated faster.
The idea was simple.
Compress.
Launch.
Release the energy far above the ground.
A flower of fire across the night sky.
It would not create another crater.
Probably.
The word formed within his mind.
Explosion.
A smile began appearing.
Then he looked toward the mansion's windows.
All were dark.
Rem slept.
Or should have been sleeping.
He might also awaken Emilia, Subaru, Ram, Beatrice, Roswaal, Puck, and probably half the village if he calculated the power incorrectly.
Ram would cross out an entire section of his notebook.
Beatrice would throw him through a door.
Rem would look at him in that silent manner far worse than a scolding.
The sphere continued rotating.
Link closed his fingers.
The fire went out.
A small column of smoke escaped between his knuckles.
"Tomorrow," he said.
Luci descended.
"Somewhere farther away."
The spirit settled upon his chest again.
"With supervision."
Luci glowed.
"Not Ram."
Another flash.
"Not Beatrice either."
Luci insisted.
"Fine. Someone capable of preventing me from dying."
"That reduces the available options considerably."
The voice came from behind him.
Link closed his eyes.
"I knew you were awake."
Rem approached along the path.
She was not wearing her uniform.
She wore the same pale-blue dress she had used during her days of rest. A white shawl covered her shoulders. Her hair was loose without the maid's headpiece, although the ornament remained near her fringe.
Link observed her.
"How long have you been standing there?"
"Since 'small explosion.'"
"I did not launch anything."
"Rem saw."
"That should count in my favor."
"It does."
She stopped beside him.
Link sat up.
"Did I wake you?"
"No."
"Then why did you come outside?"
Rem looked at the empty place upon the grass.
Link moved aside to make room.
She sat.
Not too close.
Not far away either.
Luci left Link's chest and floated between them. Then she moved toward a flowerbed, as though understanding that her presence was no longer necessary.
"Little traitor," Link murmured.
Rem followed the spirit with her gaze.
"Luci appears intelligent."
"She hides whenever she senses danger."
"Then perhaps Rem should follow her."
Link looked at her.
Rem smiled faintly.
The silence of the night returned.
It was not uncomfortable.
It was expectant.
Link rested his arms upon his knees.
"About yesterday morning…"
Rem lowered her gaze toward her hands.
"Yes."
"I did not intend to hold you that way."
"Link was sleeping."
"That does not make it less strange."
"Rem could have moved away."
Link stopped looking at the garden.
Rem held her own fingers.
"Then why didn't you?"
She did not answer immediately.
The wind moved her hair.
Link waited.
"Because Rem did not want to," she finally said.
The words were quiet.
Clear.
There was no other way to interpret them.
Link's heart struck once, hard.
"Oh."
Rem slightly raised her gaze.
"'Oh'?"
"I did not prepare an intelligent response."
"You usually answer even when you do not possess one."
"This time, I wished to try something new."
A small laugh escaped Rem.
Link smiled.
The tension eased slightly.
"I did not want you to move away either," he admitted.
"Link was asleep."
"My arm had opinions."
Rem smiled again.
Link observed the sky.
"But I do not want you to believe you must do something because I said that I love you."
Her smile disappeared.
"Rem does not believe that."
"Nor because I protected you."
"No."
"Nor because of what happened in the forest."
"Link."
He closed his mouth.
Rem held his gaze.
"Rem did not come to discuss yesterday."
The change in tone was slight.
Enough.
Link adjusted his position upon the grass.
"All right."
Rem breathed slowly.
Her hands closed around the fabric of her dress.
"In the forest, Link said he would accept Rem's guilt."
"Yes."
"Even though he did not know what she had done."
"I thought I did not need to know."
"You did."
Link frowned.
"Why?"
"Because Rem cannot accept her feelings while hiding the reason she hates herself."
The word remained between them.
Hates.
Not guilt.
Not regret.
Rem did not soften her expression.
Link stopped attempting to anticipate what she intended to say.
"I am listening."
Rem looked toward the mansion.
Ram's room occupied one of the upper floors. The window remained dark.
"Rem and nee-sama were born inside an Oni village."
Link did not speak.
"Oni were normally born with two horns. Twins were different. Each received one."
Rem's fingers unconsciously touched her forehead.
"The village considered them incomplete. A disgrace. When we were born, they decided they should kill us."
The kagunes stirred beneath Link's back.
They did not appear.
"But nee-sama manifested her power," Rem continued. "Even though she possessed only one horn, she was stronger than many adults. That is why they allowed us to live."
Link looked toward the mansion's silhouette.
He imagined Ram as a child.
He barely needed to imagine in order to hear a proud voice emerging from a tiny body.
"Everyone admired nee-sama," Rem said. "They praised her. They said she had been born with the power that should have belonged to two people. That she was special."
Her expression displayed no resentment.
That had occurred too long ago.
The wound remained somewhere else.
"And you?" Link asked.
Rem lowered her gaze.
"Rem was the other twin."
The answer was simple.
Cruel because of it.
"She attempted to reach her. Trained. Learned. Repeated everything nee-sama did. But it was never enough."
"Rem…"
"Nee-sama never treated Rem badly."
Link remained silent.
"She protected her. Helped her. When Rem failed, nee-sama said she could try again. Whenever someone mocked her, she stopped them. She was a wonderful sister."
Her voice began losing stability.
"That made it worse."
Link understood.
He did not say she should not have felt that way.
"If nee-sama had been cruel, Rem could have hated her. But she was always kind. Always ahead. Always better."
Rem placed one hand against her chest.
"Rem began to think there was no reason to make an effort. That nee-sama could do everything. That Rem was unnecessary."
The night appeared colder.
Link did not interrupt.
"Then they came."
She did not immediately need to explain who.
Her body changed before her voice did.
Shoulders tightening.
Fingers closing.
"The Witch Cult attacked the village."
Link felt an unpleasant taste in his mouth.
"There was fire. Screaming. Blood. The adults fought. Nee-sama as well."
Rem closed her eye.
"Rem was afraid."
The wind moved the leaves.
"She could not move."
Her voice broke.
"Nee-sama returned for her."
Link looked at her hands.
He did not take them yet.
Rem needed to speak.
"She fought to protect Rem. She was injured. She had used too much power. Even so, she came back."
Her lips trembled.
"And then…"
The hand upon her forehead closed.
"They cut off her horn."
Link stopped breathing for an instant.
He had seen Ram's forehead.
He had never asked.
He had accepted the existence of an Oni without a horn as another of the many things he did not understand about that world.
Now he knew.
"When she fell," Rem continued, "the power disappeared. Nee-sama stopped being the village prodigy."
Tears began traveling down her face.
She did not wipe them away.
"And Rem felt relieved."
Link remained still.
Rem opened her eye.
She looked directly at him.
She refused to hide within the ground or the mansion.
"She was happy."
The words emerged broken.
"For one instant, she was happy that nee-sama had lost the thing that made her superior."
Link maintained her gaze.
Rem waited.
She did not know for what.
Disgust.
A question.
A retreat.
Link did none of them.
"Afterward, Roswaal-sama arrived," she said. "He saved us. But nee-sama's horn could not be restored."
Her gaze descended.
"Without it, her body cannot absorb mana as it once did. Roswaal-sama must give it to her directly."
Link thought about Ram's nighttime absences.
Her exhaustion.
The way Roswaal summoned her.
He said nothing.
This was not the moment.
"Rem kept her horn," she continued. "Nee-sama lost hers while protecting her. And Rem… Rem was happy."
She wiped the tears with the back of one hand.
More appeared.
"That is why she decided to replace her."
"Replace Ram?"
"To live the life she would have possessed. Do what she could no longer do. Become her horn."
Link remembered the battle.
The way Rem had thrown herself into the forest alone.
The almost desperate need to be useful.
It was not merely duty.
It was a sentence.
"Rem's horn belongs to nee-sama," she said. "Her work. Her strength. Everything she can do."
Link looked toward the place where it remained hidden beneath her forehead.
"And whenever she fails," Rem continued, "she remembers that instant. Because perhaps that happiness was her true heart."
The final word was barely voiced.
Link lowered his gaze.
He did not answer immediately.
Rem interpreted the silence.
Her fingers began releasing the dress.
"Rem understands if Link—"
"No."
She stopped.
Link raised one hand.
He did not touch her.
"Do not finish that sentence."
"But…"
"I need to think, not escape."
Rem remained silent.
Link looked toward the sky again.
He had said he would accept her guilt.
It had been easy to say when he did not know its shape.
Now he did.
He would not pretend it was not unpleasant.
A child had felt relief when her sister was mutilated.
It was a horrible truth.
It was also a truth that had lasted only an instant.
"Did you want Ram to die?" he asked.
Rem's eye widened.
"No!"
"Did you want her to suffer?"
"Never."
"Did you want her to lose her horn before the attack?"
"No."
"Then you were not happy about her pain."
Rem lowered her gaze.
"She was happy about the loss."
"You felt relieved because something that had crushed you for years disappeared."
"That does not make it right."
"No."
Rem looked at him.
Link did not withdraw the word.
"It was a horrible thought," he said. "I will not say it was beautiful or that you should feel proud."
Tears continued falling.
"But I will not pretend that one second inside the mind of a frightened child matters more than everything you did afterward."
"You do not understand."
"Then correct me."
Rem attempted to answer.
She could not find the words.
"Ram lost her horn protecting you," Link continued. "You felt relief. Then you remained beside her. Worked for her. Cared for her. You have spent years trying to repay a debt no one demanded."
"Nee-sama lost—"
"I am not saying you should forget what she did."
Link finally took one of her hands.
Rem permitted the contact.
"I am saying you allowed that instant to decide the rest of your life."
"It was the right thing."
"For whom?"
"For nee-sama."
"Did Ram ask you to stop being Rem?"
She remained silent.
"Did she ask you to live as her replacement?"
"No."
"Did she ask for your horn?"
"She did not need to ask."
"That does not answer the question."
Rem attempted to withdraw her hand.
Link did not tighten his grip.
He merely kept his fingers open.
She ultimately left it there.
"I cannot order you to forgive yourself," Link said. "Nor will I say I understand your entire life because I heard one story tonight."
Rem raised her gaze.
"But I can tell you what I see."
He turned completely toward her.
"I see Rem."
Her breathing stopped.
"Not the inferior twin. Not Ram's replacement. Not a walking horn wearing a uniform."
Link gently touched her fingers.
"The woman who cooks better than anyone in this mansion. The one capable of lifting a mace heavier than Subaru."
"That is not difficult."
"Do not ruin my speech."
A broken laugh mingled with the tears.
Link continued:
"The one who scolds Beatrice because she allows dust to accumulate inside the Library. The one who does not know how to rest. The one who watched me for three days while pretending she was only walking. The one who faced me when I was prepared to burn something that depended upon me."
Rem's cheeks colored beneath the tears.
"The one who could have escaped my arms and chose to remain until dawn."
"Link."
"All of that is you. Not Ram."
Rem lowered her gaze toward their joined hands.
"Nee-sama would have done everything better."
"Ram cannot cook as well as you."
"Before losing her horn…"
"I do not know that Ram."
Rem became still.
The sentence resonated somewhere deep.
Link knew only the woman who insulted him, concealed weakness, and used charcoal as a weapon.
The present Ram.
Not the child idealized by the village.
"I know the Ram who fainted while attempting to prove she needed no help," he said. "The one who strikes me with my notebook. The one who loves you so much that she distrusts anyone who approaches."
Rem closed her fingers around his hand.
"And I know you."
The tears continued.
But her face no longer appeared to be collapsing.
"I will not ask you to stop being Ram's horn," Link said.
Rem looked up.
"If that means supporting her, protecting her, and sharing her burden, I will not attempt to take it away."
He gently released her hand.
Then raised both of hers toward his forehead.
Mana responded.
Two points burned beneath his skin.
The horns appeared.
The first emerged above the right side.
The second above the left.
Dark.
Curved.
Crossed by reddish lines glowing faintly beneath the moonlight.
The surrounding grass bent as they began absorbing a small amount of ambient mana.
Rem stared at them.
Link still was not accustomed to displaying them outside battle.
He did not hide them.
He took Rem's hands.
Raised them.
Placed one upon each horn.
She held her breath.
The contact was more intense than Link had expected.
A warm current traveled down his forehead and across his back. The horns were magical organs, sensitive to mana and to the emotions accompanying it. He could feel Rem's caution in the way her fingers barely brushed their surfaces.
He did not remove her hands.
"You possess one horn," Link said. "And you chose to use it for Ram."
Rem looked at him between them.
"I possess two."
His fingers gently closed around her wrists.
"They will be for you."
Her blue eye opened.
"No."
Link blinked.
"That answer was quick."
"You cannot give away your horns."
"I am not going to tear them off."
"Then do not say something like that."
"Listen."
Rem attempted to remove her hands.
Link did not force her to keep them there.
Even so, she left them upon the horns.
"I cannot give you what Ram lost," he said. "Nor can I replace what you did for her."
The red light beneath the horns increased slightly.
"But I can use these for you."
"Link…"
"If you need mana, use mine. If you need strength, ask me. If you become lost, I will search for you. If you insist upon carrying everything alone, I will pursue you until you allow me to share it."
Rem slowly shook her head.
"I do not deserve…"
"Do not decide for me what I deserve again."
The statement was firm.
Not harsh.
"You are not Ram's replacement. And I do not want to become yours."
Link inclined his forehead toward her.
Rem's fingers slid across the surface of his horns.
"I want to stand beside you."
The distance between them diminished.
"Your horn can continue belonging to your sister."
Link's voice became quieter.
"My two will belong to Rem."
The tears returned with greater force.
Rem lowered her head.
Her shoulders trembled.
Link released her wrists.
He did not immediately embrace her.
He waited.
Rem moved first.
Her forehead gently struck Link's chest.
Her fingers left his horns and closed upon his shirt.
Link wrapped his arms around her back.
Not like in the bedroom.
Not asleep.
Conscious of every centimeter.
Rem cried against him.
Without apologizing.
Without attempting to conceal the sound.
Link rested his cheek upon her hair.
Luci floated several meters away, motionless between the flowers.
"Link is unfair," Rem murmured.
"I am told that often."
"You speak as though it were simple."
"It is not."
"You say Rem should live for herself."
"Yes."
"But you offer your horns as though they belong to you."
Link looked down.
"Technically, they do."
Rem struck his chest without much force.
"Do not joke."
"Sorry."
The embrace tightened.
"I cannot promise that tomorrow you will stop feeling guilty," he said. "Nor that you will never compare yourself with Ram again."
"Then what changes?"
"That you now have someone willing to remind you how unbearable you become whenever you do."
Rem lifted her face.
"Rem is not unbearable."
"You attempted to work during your vacation."
"Link attempted to administer the entire mansion."
"That is unrelated."
"You nearly burned your Wolgarms."
"I already apologized to them."
"And you write destructive spells."
"Creative freedom."
"You cling to nee-sama's skirt."
"Protection of property."
Rem looked at him.
Link maintained the expression for several seconds.
Both smiled.
Rem's laughter appeared between the remains of her crying.
Link raised one hand and wiped a wet trail from her cheek with his thumb.
The gesture stopped the laughter.
Rem watched him.
The night appeared to recover all its silence.
Link once again felt the beating inside his chest.
Faster.
It was not fear of a Mabeast.
Or Elsa.
Or an uncontrolled explosion.
This was worse.
He could not regenerate from an incorrect answer.
"Rem."
"Yes."
"I love you."
She closed her eyes for an instant.
Link continued before his courage disappeared.
"I already told you. But I want to say it without blood, without a forest, and without something attempting to eat us."
Rem smiled gently.
"That is an improvement."
"I cannot guarantee future confessions will be this peaceful."
"Rem knows."
"I do not want you to be with me because I protected you."
"She is not."
"Nor because I promised to help you with Ram."
"Nor that."
"Nor because you believe you owe me compensation for something."
"Link."
"I need to say it."
She waited.
"I want you to choose me."
Rem's smile became sad.
Not from rejection.
Because she understood the weight hidden within the request.
"Not as a servant. Not as someone I protected. Not as anyone's replacement."
Link's fingers caressed her cheek.
"As Rem."
She placed one hand over his.
"Then listen."
Link stopped speaking.
"Rem loves Link."
The world produced no special effect.
No fire appeared.
The flowers did not glow.
The sky did not respond.
Link's heart did.
"Not from gratitude," she continued. "Not because he saved her in the forest. Not because he is strong."
A small smile appeared.
"Although he is absurdly strong."
"Thank you."
"Do not interrupt."
"Sorry."
"Rem loves the man who argues with vegetables, stares too long at flames, and gives strange names to spells before learning them."
Link opened his mouth.
Rem gently squeezed his cheek.
"Do not interrupt."
He obeyed.
"She loves the man who protects Subaru while complaining about him. The one who treats Beatrice-sama as a child and as someone capable of destroying him at the same time. The one who does not retreat when nee-sama insults him."
"I cling to her skirt."
"That reduces your appeal slightly."
"Fair."
"Link."
He fell silent again.
Rem moved her hand from his cheek to his chest.
"She loves the man who saw her horn and did not call her a monster. Who searched for her when she returned to the forest alone and asked her to come back alive. The one who protected her even after losing control, and afterward accepted that he also needed protection."
Her voice trembled.
"She loves the man who worked until he destroyed himself because he wanted to grant her rest, even though he did not know how to do it healthily. The one who heard Rem's worst part and did not pretend it was not horrible, but also refused to let it become the only thing she was."
Her fingers closed upon his shirt.
"She loves the man who offered two horns to someone who still does not know what to do with her own."
Link covered her hand.
"You do not need to decide now what to do with them."
"Rem already decided."
"What?"
She moved slightly closer.
"She will take care of them."
Link blinked.
"That was not one of the options."
"It is now."
"They are rather durable."
"Link says that about his body as well."
"Good argument."
The horns remained visible.
Rem raised one hand and touched the right horn again.
The contact caused Link's shoulders to tense.
She noticed.
"Are they sensitive?"
"A little."
"It does not appear to be a little."
"This is the first time someone has touched them this way."
"Nee-sama never…?"
"Ram struck them with a tray."
Rem removed her hand.
"That was different."
"Very."
Their closeness changed.
It did not disappear.
It became more conscious.
Link looked at her lips.
Rem noticed.
Her fingers tightened upon his shirt.
"Rem."
"Yes."
"Do you want to be with me?"
She had already said she loved him.
Even so, Link needed to hear the complete choice.
"As my partner?" he added.
The blush spread across Rem's face again.
She did not look away.
"Yes."
The answer was not a whisper.
"Rem wants to be Link's partner."
Something inside him relaxed.
Not everything.
Perhaps never everything.
Enough.
Link smiled.
"Then we are together."
"Yes."
"Truly."
"Yes."
"You are not affected by alcohol."
Rem frowned.
"No."
"You are not asleep."
"Link."
"I was only verifying."
She gently struck his chest again.
Link caught her hand before she could withdraw it.
"May I kiss you?"
Rem became still.
She had not expected the question.
Link did not know whether he should have asked differently.
"You do not have to—"
"Yes."
The word stopped him.
Rem slightly raised her face.
Her eye closed.
Link inclined his head.
The first contact was barely a brush.
Soft.
Too brief.
Link moved back several centimeters to inspect her expression.
Rem opened her eye.
She appeared as surprised as he was.
"Was it bad?" he asked.
Rem shook her head.
"May I do it again?"
She did not respond with words.
She gripped his shirt.
Pulled him closer.
The second kiss lasted longer.
There was no hurry.
Link kept one hand upon her cheek and the other around her waist. Rem placed both hands upon his chest. Their lips moved with a caution that gradually disappeared.
The mana around his horns reacted.
A warm current traveled through the air.
Several small lights appeared between the flowers.
Not fire.
Luci.
The spirit circled around them, leaving behind a luminous trail.
Link pulled away.
"Luci."
The light stopped in front of them.
"Privacy."
Luci shone brightly.
Rem hid her face against Link's chest while laughing.
"She is happy."
"She can be happy farther away."
The spirit descended onto Rem's head.
Link stared at her.
Luci appeared to have deliberately settled upon her hair.
"Complete betrayal."
Rem raised one hand to touch her.
"She is beautiful."
"Five minutes ago, she was my friend."
Luci flashed.
"Yes, I know she is prettier."
Rem laughed again.
Link watched her.
He could not remember seeing that expression for so long.
Without guilt.
Without comparison.
Without the uniform.
Only Rem sitting beside him beneath the night sky, a spirit upon her head and her eye still wet.
Link hid his horns.
The red lines disappeared.
Rem touched the place one had occupied.
"Why did you hide them?"
"I thought we had finished the ceremonial portion."
"Rem did not say she disliked them."
Link felt warmth travel up his neck.
"Oh."
She smiled.
"That answer again."
"I still have not prepared intelligent responses."
"Rem prefers the normal ones."
"You are going to be very disappointed during this relationship."
"She knows."
Link lay upon the grass again.
Rem watched him.
He extended one hand.
"Do you want to remain?"
She looked toward the mansion.
"Nee-sama will wake early."
"That does not answer."
Rem took his hand.
She lay beside him.
Not on top of him.
Her head rested upon his shoulder. Link placed one arm around her and pulled the shawl over both of them.
Luci settled upon his chest.
The stars remained above.
For several minutes, neither spoke.
"What changes now?" Rem asked.
"I can hold your hand without claiming it is a magical experiment."
He interlaced his fingers with hers.
"That did not stop you before."
"Now I possess authorization."
"From whom?"
"My partner."
Rem squeezed his hand.
"Anything else?"
Link thought.
"You can enter my room without inventing inspections."
"Rem did not invent them."
"Of course."
"Link left the door open."
"I can also enter yours."
Rem raised her head.
"No."
"It was a theoretical question."
"Nee-sama sleeps there."
"Then absolutely not."
Rem returned to his shoulder.
"You will have to tell her."
"Ram?"
"Yes."
Link looked toward the dark windows.
"We could keep it secret for several years."
"Nee-sama will discover it tomorrow."
"Why?"
Rem raised their joined hands.
"Because Link will not want to release her."
He looked at their fingers.
"Good point."
"Also because Rem does not want to hide it."
The answer produced a different warmth.
"Then we will tell her."
"Together."
"I am not doing it alone."
Rem smiled against his shoulder.
He had learned something.
"And Subaru?" she asked.
"He probably already suspects."
"Emilia-sama."
"She will be happy."
"Beatrice-sama."
"She will say it is irritating."
"Puck."
"He will attempt to give advice."
"Roswaal-sama."
Link thought longer.
"He will smile in a manner that makes me regret telling him."
"Probably."
Silence returned.
Link looked at the sky.
"I still want to launch Explosion."
Rem raised her head.
"No."
"Tomorrow."
"No."
"Far from the mansion."
"With Beatrice-sama."
"It is cruel to transform our first night as partners into a magical negotiation."
"Rem is protecting the relationship's future."
"Then with Beatrice."
"And nee-sama."
Link closed his eyes.
"The relationship is over. It was beautiful while it lasted."
Rem sat up.
"It is over?"
"That was a joke."
"It was not funny."
"A little."
She leaned upon one elbow.
"Then Rem will return."
Link closed his arm around her waist.
"No."
"Link just ended the relationship."
"I withdraw the statement."
"Too late."
Rem attempted to move away.
She did not use her real strength.
Neither did Link.
He held her while she concealed a smile.
"I officially retract it."
"Rem will have to consider the matter."
"I will give you a spell."
"Nee-sama controls them."
"I will write one for you."
"Rem will learn to read it."
"That is a threat."
"Correct."
Link pulled her close again.
Rem stopped pretending she wanted to leave.
"Then write one that does not explode."
"That limits my emotions too much."
"It can create warmth."
"Pocket warmth?"
"Do not call a romantic spell that."
"Domestic Sun."
"Worse."
"Crimson Heart."
Rem considered it.
"It still sounds dangerous."
"Everything connected to me will appear dangerous to you."
"Link nearly launched Explosion beside the mansion."
"I stopped."
"To avoid awakening Rem."
"Yes."
She lowered her gaze.
"Then perhaps the name does not matter."
"That is the most beautiful thing you have said to me."
"Rem just confessed that she loves you."
"This was close."
She struck him again.
Link laughed.
Not too loudly.
The mansion continued sleeping.
No one opened a window.
No one appeared with charcoal.
No spell illuminated the sky.
There was no crater.
Only two people lying in the garden, one small light above their joined hands, and a strange promise between three horns.
Rem had offered hers for years in order to become what Ram had lost.
Link could not return it.
Nor could he erase the instant that haunted her.
But he possessed two horns.
Two hands.
Far too much mana.
And a life that, for the first time since arriving in Lugunica, he did not intend to use solely to die for someone.
He also wanted to live beside her.
Rem closed her eye upon his shoulder.
"Link."
"Yes?"
"Rem is happy."
He observed the stars.
Gently squeezed her hand.
"So am I."
This time, neither needed to say anything more.