"I know my own body better than anyone. All these years of research — they've left me thoroughly hollowed out."
Decades devoted to the study of Ether science had left Old Master Timefield severely ravaged by Ether Corruption, giving rise to a host of complications.
"Back then, I had hoped that the boy Leon would carry on my work — that I could retire early and rest easy. I never imagined things would end the way they did."
The "Leon" the old master spoke of was Alice's father: Leonel Timefield, the former head of the Timefield family.
"He had an accident on his way back from the Glimmerstone-Merke research facility — a car crash, they said. Ha. As if something like that could ever be a coincidence. And Leonel's body — it was beyond recognition. Whatever happened to him before he died, it was unspeakably cruel."
"The Timefield family may be one of New Eridu's great houses, but we have never been in any position to contend with the true powers of this city. A single minor subsidiary under TOPS — Glimmerstone-Merke — had the head of our family assassinated, and walked away without so much as a consequence."
With every word, the grief in the old master's chest grew heavier — and then the coughing returned.
"Cough, cough, cough — when it comes down to it, they simply knew we had no backing. The Timefield family is nothing but a soft target, easy to push around."
The Timefield family, for all its standing as one of New Eridu's great noble houses, was affiliated with neither TOPS nor the city's municipal apparatus — it had always maintained a carefully neutral position.
In ordinary times, the family's successive patriarchs had each been voices of considerable authority in the field of Ether science, and that — combined with their reputation among the common people — had been enough to discourage most from making enemies of them.
But the moment someone's bottom line was crossed, the Timefield family was nothing more than a gilded canary: pretty enough to look at, and just as easy to cage.
"So — beyond reputation and wealth, what the Timefield family needs most going forward is strength and connections."
Having said that much, Old Master Timefield drew a slow breath and closed his eyes — as though wrestling with something inside himself — before finally speaking again, his voice tinged with a quiet despondency.
"Alice is still too young. These past years, I have done everything I can to cultivate her education — academically and in terms of her own abilities — but she is not yet at a level that commands respect from the people who matter."
Thinking on it, he found his mind drifting to the head of the Hoshimi family, a house not unlike the Timefields in many ways. That one, at the very least, had never given anyone cause to question her strength.
"My days are numbered. If, after I am gone, this family ultimately falls to Alice — how long could she hold on, really?"
It was only at this point that Arnold felt the full picture click into place — everything, at last, making sense.
"So that is why you chose Young Master Geno?"
"Yes. The boy Geno — I haven't known him long, but he's always given me a feeling of genuine warmth. And in his dealings with others, there's not a scrap of pretense to him. Refreshingly candid. But most importantly… he can fight."
Old Master Timefield paused, thinking of Geno's frankly extraordinary combat ability — then of his identity as an Ethereal — and in the end simply shook his head.
"And that young girl called Twiggy — the techniques she commands will one day send ripples across all of New Eridu."
Old Master Timefield gazed out the window. A full moon was rising slowly, casting its light across the whole of the night sky — a vision, he thought, of what the future of the Timefield family might yet become.
His eyes brightened for a moment with something like wonder. It would be an age of dazzling stars.
A pity he wouldn't live to see it.
"…So your intention is to use Young Master Geno as the means to bind Miss Twiggy to the Timefield ship?"
Faced with Arnold's conjecture, Old Master Timefield offered no denial.
"As a pioneer of the new age, what she lacks is a vessel she can actually command. Timefield suits that purpose perfectly. And with her at the helm, this ship will at least have a place in the era to come."
Old Master Timefield had thought it through clearly: secure Geno, and Twiggy would follow. With both strength and influence locked in as a double guarantee, the Timefield family would be able to travel far further than it ever could alone.
And even if both of them ultimately failed to deliver, there was still the municipal Mayflower family as a final safety net — ready to absorb them and hold them safe.
With the full weight of everything the Timefield family had to offer, serving as a client house beneath the Mayflowers would be more than sufficient.
At that point, the ship might reach its end — but it would become a supply for a far greater vessel, rather than be torn to splinters by greedy pirates.
"And — the young lady herself…?"
The moon outside drifted gradually behind a veil of clouds. When the butler suddenly brought up the old master's only true granddaughter, Old Master Timefield's eyes dimmed once more.
"Ah… in all of this, the one I have done the greatest disservice to is none other than Alice, I'm afraid."
His every arrangement had been perfectly lawful, and every one of them a sound investment with no losing outcome.
But what woman, one had to ask, would willingly share her husband?
Not that it would matter much, if Alice felt nothing for Geno in the first place. In that case, as the rightful young lady of the Timefield family — and given Geno's character — she would always be treated with the care and respect owed to a beloved younger sister. He had no doubt of that.
But the trouble was, the two of them had feelings for each other. The blockhead that was Geno didn't seem to have noticed — but how could something like that escape a man as canny as the old master?
And that was precisely why he had not dissolved the engagement. Because if that bond were severed, Alice's hopes would grow even slimmer.
As patriarch, it was his duty to think of the family's stability and the safety of the generations to come. As a grandfather, the happiness of his granddaughter was something he was not willing to abandon.
He could not be purely rational — but neither could he act on feeling alone. That contradiction gnawed at him, and with it, his illness had only grown worse.
In the end, all he could do was hope — that children and grandchildren would find their own fortune.
"Haah~ cough, cough…"
"My lord…"
Two long sighs, and then the room settled once more into silence.
What neither of them knew was that just outside the door, a pair of small ears had quietly taken in every last word of the story.
-----
Geno's place.
After a long-overdue moment of closeness with Twiggy, he stepped into the bathroom to clean himself up.
He stood before the full-length mirror, looking at his own reflection — indistinguishable from any human — and said nothing. His face was perfectly blank.
Then, on a whim, he tried to remove the bracelet from his wrist. The moment he loosened it even slightly, a crushing pressure flooded his entire body.
It was the kind of agony that comes from exhaling every last breath of air from your lungs while trapped in a vacuum — a complete and suffocating emptiness.
Geno's face flushed a vivid, alarming red, and his body began to show signs of disintegration.
Instinct took over. He snapped the bracelet back into place. He looked at himself — the cleaning he'd just done, completely wasted — and said nothing at all. He simply turned around, walked back into the bathroom, and cleaned himself up again.
____
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