North x Northwest

It was a cool evening. Ed looked down at the Devito Harbour from the terrace, pondering over his conversation with Captain Long. 

‘Long has leadership among his junior officers and is actively trying to stay on good terms with me, so I believe he’ll do well in shaping public opinion. This could help alleviate the dissatisfaction of the officers for the time being.’ 

As a salty hill breeze ruffled his hair, Ed’s shirt puffed up lightly on his back. Setting his wine glass down on the terrace railing, he tried to get a gauge on how far his movements have become known to the outside world. 

‘Although my residence is strictly controlled, I can’t closely monitor the outside world because I’ve been so busy that I’m basically locked inside this whole time. The reason for my stealthy movements even within Roahn is simple. It’s because the Duke of Mireille’s henchmen are probably spying from somewhere right now. If my arrival had been made known, they would undoubtedly have started their search for Liloa… According to current reports, the Visha returned without the Admiral. However, even asking petty officers for information would yield enough suspicious traces… I still have no idea why Mireille is suddenly looking for Liloa. After all, I had little chance of leaving her bedside, so I didn’t have the time to think about it.’

The night wind blew softly into his complicated mind and the glass that he set on the railing rattled. In the distance, the sound of waves hitting onshore could be heard. The port, covered with insidious darkness, hid black shadows everywhere. Ed had no idea who among them would set up an ambush or how involved they would be.

‘I want to tell Liloa everything so I won’t have to worry about this alone. But Liloa deliberately avoids personal conversations after our encounter in the music room… She even acts indifferently as if we never kissed in the first place… All that comes out of her mouth now has something to do with Gualtiero. Whenever I try to bring up a different topic, she only responds that I should tell her later…’ 

Ed didn’t know why Lil was behaving that way. 

‘Perhaps she fears that the more we express our feelings for each other, the more we would be wasting time.’ 

Nevertheless, he had no intention of forcing her to look at herself first. 

‘If Liloa wants me to wait, I’ll wait.’

Raising his head and glancing up at the sky, Ed observed the bright moon ahead of him and the dense stars shining brightly around it. Such a clandestine view reminded him of Panichi’s night sky. It was the time when his sympathy towards Lil overflowed like pouring stars, in the midst of the canvas of the night that glowed with his desire to understand Lil, confidence that he could understand her, and expectation that she would eventually accept his awe*.

He dared to be sure that not even Lil would ever forget the sky of that very night. And because he wanted Lil’s immeasurably brilliant light to continue shining inside her, Ed decided to delay discussing personal matters until later.

***

As in many mansions, after dinner time passed and the servants came to clean up, a period of peace came around. The Retiro residence was no exception. When the maids made the bed and left, Lil pretended to lie down silently but threw the blanket off as soon as the sound of their footsteps receded.

She then put her slippers on and went to the window. Opening the curtains wide, Lil welcomed the chilly draft emitting from the cold window. No matter how much she has been advised to rest, her body was too restless to stay still the entire night. Till now, the only exercise she got throughout the day was circling the garden with Levi, so the only way she could further strengthen her body was to do it without Levi’s knowledge. Of course, she intended to do just enough to avoid going overboard. 

Lil grabbed the girder between the bed’s posts and pulled herself up. She rested her chin on the crossbeam before lowering her body again. Thanks to solely eating vegetable stew and soup the whole time, her hungry abdominal muscles began shaking and eventually gave way. Her bony arms trembled, but the tension in her muscles was evident as she moved. Lil wanted to draw herself up one more time before calling it a day…

“Ack…”

Startled, Lil’s hands let go of the girder and she fell horizontally onto the bed. For a moment, she felt like not only her body but her heart had fallen too. Lil eventually lifted her thrashing upper body and placed a hand on her thumping chest.

The source of her shock was the man standing outside of the window. As Lil was pondering where he suddenly came from, the man folded his hands in two half circles, put them on the glass of the window and shoved his face between them. Apart from his eyes, her uninvited guest didn’t move. He was clearly searching for something. It took Lil a moment to realise he probably couldn’t see the bed from the outside. With his back against the moon, he appeared like a dark figure, but she obviously knew who it was.

Lil walked to the window. When Ed finally saw her, he enthusiastically waved his hand. But because Lil grabbed the curtains on either side of the window and closed them tightly, the bright smile on his face quickly disappeared.

Lil was about to turn around and go back to bed, when…

 – Knock! Knock! – 

“…”

 – Knock! Knock! Knock! Knock! –

The sound of knocking on the glass became annoying really quick. In addition, it sounded persistent, like it wouldn’t go away unless she confronted him herself. So in the end, Lil went back to the window and pulled back the curtain a little. She expected him to look dejected, but Ed appeared rather confident. 

‘What’s he pointing at with his finger?’  

Lil followed his fingertip and lowered her eyes.

There was a silver tray in his other hand. When Ed lifted the dome-shaped lid, thick meat, drenched in a delectable-looking sauce, revealed its majesty. In an instant, Lil’s mouth began to water and she swallowed her breath with a gulp. She then raised her eyes and glared at Ed, who was, predictably, looking at her triumphantly. 

Even though Lil furrowed her brows, she did unlock the latch.  

“…I heard from Levi that you’re going crazy for some meat.”

Ed came inside after answering a question that wasn’t even asked. Lil sighed and trudged after Ed toward the table. It was hard for her to admit that she was a human trying to fill her stomach by selling her pride. But, the smell of the meat that was emanating from the tray was driving her crazy. 

Lil stared at the dishes Ed had set down on the table with greedy eyes.

‘If I ate all of that, I feel like I would get a surge of energy right away.’

Ed took out the tableware and muttered.

“…Actually, Levi changed your diet beginning today, so there was supposedly meat for dinner. But the kitchen staff made a mistake and your former menu was prepared again…”

“…What?!”

“..!”

Lil slammed the table and inwardly cursed the faceless and nameless chef. Startled by Lil’s suddenly outburst, Ed flinched his shoulders and looked her way.

“Then why did you come through the window? I thought you were trying to sneak it in.”

“I don’t want this to reach Levi’s ears. Otherwise, it will be annoying.”

Ed took out a chair and sat Lil down. When she received the knife and fork handed to her by him, she became extremely hungry, like a person who hasn’t eaten in days. She then cut the meat in a hurry and placed it in her mouth. Lil was as overjoyed as someone who had finally tasted water while on the verge of dying from dehydration, at the same time, she was reminded of having endured a multi-month journey while subsisting solely on dry bread, which elevated her mood even more. Lil savoured the meat on her tongue and eagerly munched it in her mouth as she listened to Ed explaining it was easy to digest due to it being a finely minced meat roast. Nevertheless, Ed didn’t miss a beat when he nagged her about chewing it thoroughly.

“Quite the nagging”

“…”

Chewing and swallowing the asparagus in her mouth, she asked.

“What are you going to do?”

“The situation isn’t easy.”

“Tell me about it.”

“So far, opinions have been divided. Julio’s group claims that they’re from the League of Southern Pirates, so at this point, the side that wants to clear the South is the most dominant, especially with some officers dead and many injured. However, I just found out the real motivation behind their standpoint. It’s been hard to commission navy soldiers nowadays because there’s nothing to defeat in the Anatole Sea anymore, so officers who want to be promoted are turning their eyes to the South.”

Lil, who grabbed her forehead, let out a sigh.

“Julio, that guy… until the very end…”

“On the other hand, we have a prudent minority. Those are the ones who think the Bell Rock is a real merchant ship that, on paper, belongs to Viscount Noirmont. And the Viscount’s influence cannot be ignored even within the Navy. But the problem is Julio. He’s openly declaring that they’re part of the League. Reasonable suspicion could arise from this and if it leads to a full-fledged investigation, the identities of all the crew members will be revealed, right?”

“But why hasn’t a trial been held yet?”

“Sagastar… is delaying it.”

Lil seemed to hear his teeth grinding when he pronounced ‘Sagastar’. It bothered her. She knew that Ed wouldn’t have let Sagastar get away with it. And obviously, because she had almost died she wasn’t very pleased with him either. But the fact he was hated by his superior because of a personal grudge involving her, was another matter.

“So, he’s intentionally procrastinating?”

“…”

Ed didn’t respond, but it was a clear affirmation. 

‘I have no clue if Sagastar told Ed of my identity or not. Maybe Ed already knows who I am. It doesn’t matter though. It’s something to talk about later. The Bell Rock crew is about to be executed at the soonest possible time, so it doesn’t matter whether Ed knows my real name or not.’ 

Lil, lost in thought, was turning the fork between her fingers. 

‘No matter how much I think about it, there’s only one solution.’  

Lil muttered as she stabbed the last piece of meat with her fork.

“…I’ll have to break them out…”

“That’s an interesting idea.”

 – – – – –

References:

…Such a clandestine view reminded him of Panichi’s night sky. It was the time when his sympathy towards Lil overflowed like pouring stars, in the midst of the canvas of the night that glowed with his desire to understand Lil, confidence that he could understand her, and expectation that she would eventually accept his awe.

= Chapter 76, when the drunk Lil told him about her “farmer’s desire” to create a society where no abuse can thrive. And Ed said, “That’s why you created Bell Rock”. Saving her crew means saving the Bell Rock, so it also means saving the society she tried hard to create and maintain, and therefore preserving her ideals (or that immeasurable light within her).