North x Northwest

When Lil found herself beside the edge of the road, she stopped walking and took out a map from her bosom. The moment a cart loaded with seafood passed by, giving off a fresh, fishy smell, she looked around her. 

Due to it being lunchtime, the market was overflowing with people. 

‘About three out of ten passersby are in uniform. Seeing that the men all have a lady hanging on their arm, it looks like they’re going out to eat with their lover.’

Lil, on the other hand, pulled her hat down like some kind of thief.

‘As expected, it’s a market that doesn’t need additional security.’

Lil walked according to the map. After finding a suitable sword at the blacksmith and a gun from an arms dealer, she intended to head for Gualtiero. She did so in preparation for the night of the jailbreak, Lil wanted to familiarise herself with the various routes. When she was suddenly reminded of the one-week deadline, her pace sped up unknowingly. And because she had left her horse in a nearby stable, she hurried her feet instead.

Someone seemed to be following her since a while ago.

Lil rubbed the nape of her tickling neck. Every time she changed directions, the shadow she saw from the corner of her eye did the same. Lil then calmly picked a quiet alley and entered. It was a space behind a restaurant devoid of people where wooden boxes were piled up everywhere. She quickly picked up a pebble from one of the piles of dry straw that covered the floor and let the man approach her. 

‘One, two, three…’

“Why are you following me?!”

Lil threw a stone at the head that peeped into the alley.

“Ack!”

A familiar voice burst out and the man clasped his head. 

‘The stone merely brushed his leather hat, so his reaction is rather exaggerated.’

Lil squatted behind a wooden crate and began throwing more and more stones overhead.

“Go back now! Get lost!”

“Why are you throwing stones?”

“For you to get out of here!”

The more the voice ignored her, the more stones Lil kept throwing. But before long, stones were fired from his side as well.

“When are you coming back?”

Because Lil was still hiding behind a crate, the direct line of aim towards her was blocked off. In contrast, Lil only had to only slightly lift her butt to attack in return. This fact left her laughing in a mocking way. However, from some point onward, a stone slammed into her side and in an instant, more stones started to hit her thigh and shoulder. It was when Ed began throwing his stones towards the wall on the other side of Lil, causing them to bounce off the wall and rush at her. 

Lil eventually had to jump up.

“You sneaky man!”

“Who’s to say!”

“Die!”

“What time are you coming back!”

Ed attempted to block the stones by leaning close to the pile of straw. He had to, because Lil started to shout while throwing away the remaining stones she was holding.

“I won’t go back! Not in forever!”

Five or six stones drew parabolic lines at once.

“Ack!”

Lil, who launched the stones with her eyes closed, instantaneously opened them as soon as she heard the scream. Ed wasn’t seen behind the pile of straw anymore. When Lil moved away from the wooden crate, she witnessed a sprawling body on the floor of the alley. Walking a little closer, she recognised Ed, lying down with his eyes closed and his hat below his shoulders.

Lil pursed her lips and muttered to herself.

“…This is the same guy who can take on a couple of strong men alone…”

Without a sound, she straightened herself and exited the alley. 

‘I obviously threw a fair amount of stones in a row, but it’s ridiculous to think he got hit by all of them. He’s faking an injury again because I told him I’m not coming back. If I attend to him and fall for his tricks, I bet he’ll just get up and laugh at me until he’s out of breath… Despicable guy…’

Lil snorted and shook off her sand-stained hands.

Entering the noisy boulevard again, she looked around for the blacksmith’s sign. However, as soon as she treaded a short distance to familiarise herself with the route again, she felt someone’s presence behind her once more. 

Lil hurriedly hid in one of the alleys nearby and suddenly jumped out in a fit of frustration. A man’s shadow was indeed in front of her. 

‘Why on earth does Ed keep following me? And why does he have to hide?’ 

Lil raised her chin and shot at her follower.

“Hey! Why do you keep…”

Of course, she assumed it was Ed. However, this man’s clothes were different from what Ed wore. On her way to see the man’s face, her eyes passed a stylish green velvet justaucorps and a black cravat. It was an unfamiliar outfit. Eventually, Lil was met with a pair of shady eyes under a colourful hat.

“…Cesar?”

***

Ed opened one eye. 

‘I thought she just stepped out to get me some medicine, but she completely abandoned me. Now, this alley is only filled with noisy children and cries of soliciting customers…’ 

Ed jumped up and looked around him. Lil was nowhere to be seen.

‘I guess she can’t be fooled anymore.’

“Hmm…”

Ed laughed, admiring Lil’s growing skills of perception.

“Then it can’t be helped.”

Having followed her from his residence to the market, Ed became sure that she wasn’t being tailed. Still, he wasn’t relieved. 

‘It’s possible that the Duke of Mireille doesn’t know of Liloa’s presence yet, or no one might’ve recognized her because she isn’t wearing a dress.’

Ed pasted a fake white beard and white sideburns on his face. 

‘I’ll have to pry Mireille’s potential movements as planned.’

Ed had already informed the security forces, but because they had nothing to report yet, he decided to proceed directly.

‘I need to figure out where Mireille’s base is and how he’s going to move. Of course, knowing their purpose is crucial too, but I won’t find that out unless I sit right in front of them and prod for answers.’

Ed took out the paper handed over to him this morning by his butler Grits. It was a list of hotels and villas reserved for a certain period of time.

“This is a lot.”

Ed folded the paper impatiently and changed his mind. 

‘There are also four buildings operated by Garni in Roahn. It would be much more efficient to look around there first.’

***

“…Cesar?”

When Lil lifted her head further, sunlight shone under the brim of her hat. 

‘I followed because I thought I saw a familiar back, but seeing Liloa, my hunch was indeed right.’

Cesar immediately grabbed her wrist after seeing her face and his heart started to beat painfully. The more his heart pounded, the hotter it became until he felt like burning. And as Cesar’s lingering feelings piled up with the ashes, he was unable to remain calm, even though he first thought he could.

“Liloa.”

“How…”

Startled, Lil stepped back, leaving only her awkwardly clenched wrist in the place between the two of them. When she looked down at her wrist that was being held, Cesar let go. Contrary to his expectations, Lil didn’t hide her hands behind her back or clasp her wrists in displeasure and he was relieved by her small but positive reaction.

“…When did you wake up?..”

“…How are you here?”

Their questions were ambiguous. They were basically asking each other how she didn’t die and why he stayed in Roahn instead of returning to his manor.

“Do you want to find a place we could go in and talk?”

They weren’t supposed to be talking about any of this out in the open anyway. They were standing near a fancy restaurant, so carriages came and went. In addition, they were in the middle of the boulevard, so there was a lot of distraction. Cesar led Lil to a nearby restaurant. Lil, however, first looked around for a moment, before pushing her hat down and followed him.  

Cesar eventually glanced back at Lil. 

‘Despite the fact that she’s following closely, it feels unfamiliar. It’s awkward that I’m now walking in front of someone who I’ve never walked apart from before… To be honest, I just want to hold her hand and walk with her, side by side… It’s a strange kind of agony to have to hesitate to do what I’ve naturally done. I used to interlock our fingers and observe her gait. And had a lot of fun doing it… I did it even though I knew she wouldn’t trip or lose her way. In addition, Liloa always argued that she didn’t need the support because she wasn’t a kid and wasn’t wearing her high heels. She never really liked my methods of caring for her, so when she strongly expressed her desire to not let me do the things I wanted, I quickly ran out of things he could do for her… I wanted to give her my all, but I didn’t know how because I’d been rejected so many times. At the same time, I didn’t want to give up. I knew that once I let go of her first, she would never hold out her hand to me herself. That’s why I made sure to never hint about a possible end of our relationship, not by mistake and not in a fit of anger… Looking back on it, it was only natural. Because if it was Liloa, she could easily say she didn’t need me any longer and simply walk away…’