SALP Chapter 6

The man who resembled Vigo found her room without wandering and entered. He laid her back down on the bed and pressed her shoulder down lightly.

"Stay put."

His expression and tone were stiff, like a command. A voice as large and unfamiliar as his body had become. Even the chubby cheeks were gone, making her suddenly uncertain whether this was him. He was a man with no trace of the boy in her memory who'd peeped and cheeped like something newly hatched.

"Don't wander around on your own. Stay here."

Right, now that she looked properly, this man was taller and more solidly built than even the knight who'd hit Lanthe.

Could the small, adorable Vigo really change this much just by aging ten years?

"Are you listening?"

The fierce man's body cast a dark shadow over her. Looking more Penmarkian than anyone, he stared down at her and spoke with intimidating force.

"Yeah."

Lanthe answered without meaning to. Just like Vigo always used to. She nodded obediently without thinking. The shoulder held by his large hand burned as though scorched. From her chest where his piercing gaze touched, heat was spreading.

"I'll come back."

"Yeah."

"Don't come outside."

He left after receiving only one-sided promises, striding away without looking back at her.

Left alone, she stared at the ceiling in a dazed mood.

"Stay put."

Such an arrogant way of speaking. Had he mistaken her for someone else?

'Lanthe. You alright?'

No. It wasn't a mistake. He knew my name. It really was Vigo.

She got down from the bed unsteadily. She started to look for him, then hesitated and turned toward the tightly shut window instead.

The window was too small and high to look outside properly. Still, she released the latch and pushed up the leather-covered shutter.

Orange skylight spread into the room, casting hazy sunset across her face. Whoosh—ice-cold wind rushed in. Lanthe folded her arms around herself.

"Where on earth are we, Vigo..."

A fierce wind she'd never felt in her life was blowing. A wind that carried the faint scent of snow, brought by the season of water.

Nina returned with another servant. The older female servant only set down a tray with a meal and washing water before leaving, and only Nina remained in the room to keep Lanthe company.

"Can I call you sis? I like to call people I like sis even if they're not my real sister."

"What's sis?" 

"You don't even know what sis means?"

Hehe—she laughed easily. Like young Lanthe used to, she seemed to enjoy teasing people. Perhaps that's why they quickly became friendly after just a few words.

"But where is this?"

"Eltzweig Castle. It's the castle where the lord who rules Hermea lives. Hermea is a really good place."

"Eltzweig? Hermea?"

She didn't know where those were even after hearing the names. She'd learned a bit about Penmarkian geography in Newbella, but all she'd picked up were the major fortresses and Newbella's location.

"Our lord discovered you drowning in the water and rescued you. He's Hermea's seventh lord."

Nina said proudly, chest puffed out.

"The lord?"

"Yes. Didn't you meet the lord earlier too, sis? When I went to his office to find him, only Sir Warner was there. He said the lord had gone to see you."

The lord came to see me?

Lanthe just blinked in confusion.

"The only one who came here was Vigo..."

At her murmur, Nina grinned widely.

"Oh my. You even know our lord's name."

"Vigo is... your lord?"

"I knew you two must know each other. I thought so when the lord carried you here and kept calling your name."

Vigo is the lord of this place.

And how had he rescued her from drowning in Newbella's lake? It was full of questions.

"How do you and the lord know each other, Lanthe sis?"

Nina asked, barely containing her smile behind her hands.

"Are you lovers?"

Her bright hazel eyes sparkled with curiosity.

Despite her confusion, Lanthe's heart softened at Nina's charming gestures and she managed a bitter smile.

"It's not like that."

"Aw, you're lying. You and the lord are both so pretty, so you must have met when you were young and fallen for each other. Am I right?"

"No. You're wrong."

"Then how did you two meet?"

"We played together when we were little, but we separated a long time ago. It was when I was younger than you, Nina, that we knew each other."

Actually, they'd been best friends from their hometown, her favorite friend—but she felt hesitant to say that.

Because Vigo seemed completely different from back then. His status, his position, his body, and maybe even his personality a little...

"Ah-ha. So it's like a first love?"

Nina didn't give up and kept guessing with a grin. The little thing—what could she know, giggling like that? Her face was cute.

"I wonder? Nina, you must have someone you like. You seem very interested in that kind of relationship."

"N-no I don't! I don't have anyone I like!"

Her face turned red and she flailed around too much—it seemed she'd been hit right on target.

Watching Nina unconvincingly deny it made Lanthe smile as she recalled the distant past. When she and Vigo had been as young as Nina.

Vigo had been a shy child who blushed easily too.

A kind but somehow different child.

A child who'd been taken in.

Vigo had grown up believing the woman over fifty, Alina, was his birth mother, but everyone in the village including Lanthe knew he was adopted.

It was a village where no one persecuted orphans, yet there were still some who quietly avoided Vigo. Probably because his dark hair was a feature Raphlishians didn't have.

A child with blood from the outside world mixed in.

What had happened to his birth parents? That witch who took Vigo away—hadn't she actually been his birth mother from Penmark?

"By the way, Newbella's soldiers haven't been lurking around here, have they?"

When Lanthe asked worriedly as the thought occurred to her, Nina tilted her head.

"Newbella?"

"Yeah. They might come here and cause trouble because of me."

"Is that those Northern Sea outsiders? Did they bully you too, sis?"

"Newbella is in the southern region. Is this place far from Newbella?"

Nina frowned as though she'd heard something strange.

"This is the northern tip. The lord rescued you when you were drowning in the Northern Sea."

"I was drowning where?"

Lanthe couldn't hide her shock as she asked again.

"The Northern Sea? You mean Oden's Mediterranean Sea?"

She'd learned about it. It had been one of the things Newbellans taught her most diligently. Because it was connected to what they wanted from her.

"That's the Mediterranean Sea, right. We just call it the Northern Sea since it's north of us."

Her heart sank.

The Northern Sea. The Penmarkian name for the Mediterranean Sea that divided the Oden continent into Raphlang in the north and Penmark in the south.

And the name Raphlishians gave it was... Lake Eründel.

"I was... there?"

Lanthe asked hoarsely.

Nina nodded carefully, sensing something was wrong.

"That's what the lord said. That Lanthe sis was floating in the Northern Sea. That you might freeze to death. So I thought you'd been bullied by the Baikans too. They're bad people who do banditry and piracy."

Lanthe couldn't say anything and squeezed her eyes shut. Her mouth had gone dry.

She who had jumped into a southern lake had been discovered in the Northern Sea.

Lake Eründel. The lake where an angel was said to sleep. Having drifted all the way to the lake where Raphlang's guardian angel slept...

And she'd met Vigo.

"Are you alright, Lanthe sis?"

A small, warm hand touched the back of Lanthe's hand.

"It must have been scary, right? The pirates threw you in the sea, didn't they? But don't worry. Our lord probably punished them. Those bad people will never come near you again."

At her clumsy attempt at comfort, Lanthe looked at her with moist eyes.

"Right. I thought I was done for after meeting bad people..."

"It's alright now. The lord will protect Lanthe sis."

She'd heard the same words from Fiarelle once.

Of course, hearing them from Nina felt completely different.

"Our lord is really strong—he saved my dad before too. My dad was crossing the mountains with the reindeer when he met Baikans and almost got in big trouble, but the lord happened to find him and saved him."

Little Nina's words felt much more reliable.

"I see. Your father too..."

"Yes. It's safe here, so you can relax."

Watching Nina emphasize it again and again, clearly very proud of her home and lord, Lanthe smiled quietly.

Had there really been an angel? And had it brought her to Vigo?

Actually, Vigo seemed to have a completely different atmosphere from when he was little, which made her secretly anxious. His words telling her not to go outside made her wonder if this was a dangerous place too.

But maybe he just said that because he was worried about me. They say boys change so much when they become adults you can't recognize them...

"Want to take a walk in the garden with me to refresh yourself? You'll sleep better at night."

"Hmm. Should I?"

When she hesitated, remembering his request not to go outside, Nina flexed her thin arm to make a muscle.

"Trust me. The lord trusted my abilities and left Lanthe sis in my care."

"Vigo left me in your care?"

Giggle—she laughed.

"That's right. I know the castle inside and out. You shouldn't overdo it, sis, so I'll guide you on a short walking route."

"Alright. I'm counting on you then."

Lanthe took Nina's small hand and got down from the bed.

The place Vigo ruled. The place the angel had brought her. A place where innocent, kind girls like the children of Roas welcomed her.

Thinking of it that way, warm relief washed over her. Nina's cheerful smile gave her strength, and for the first time in a long while, Lanthe strolled through the garden with light steps.

He came to find Lanthe again the next afternoon.