FNIY

Episode 3

Once the Haenel family sent their reply accepting the proposal, things progressed at lightning speed. The Gracus family soon sent numerous gifts to Hebe under the guise of a dowry. Dresses, jewelry, and other items were all precious and magnificent, but Hebe grew weary of unpacking them; she only checked the larger items and paid little attention to the rest.

After the messenger traveled back and forth a few more times, Hebe’s travel arrangements were finalized. She would take a carriage to the border, where a woman named Mrs. Clemens would meet her and take her the rest of the way.

Once the other arrangements were mostly settled, Hebe sent word to Anke to meet her. When she told him she had to go visit a distant relative living in Divenia, Anke showed a look of surprise.

「Do you really have to leave right now?」

「That relative wants me to come as soon as possible.」

Hebe felt a surge of guilt for using a fabricated excuse, following her mother’s advice that it would be best not to let others know the truth. She didn’t want to lie to her childhood friend, Anke. After agonizing with a troubled expression, Anke tentatively suggested that they could just get married and go together.

「I’m not in a position to get married right now. That relative wants me to come immediately. The situation is a bit complicated.」

「What kind of situation?」

「It’s like a promise made between our families. I’m sorry I can’t tell you the details.」

Once she mentioned it was a family matter, Anke stopped prying. Hebe patted the back of Anke’s hand.

「I’ll have to stay there for a long time, so I don’t think I can keep my promise to marry you. I’m sorry.」

「How long is ‘a long time’?」

「As far as I know, ten years.」

「Ten years…」

Ten years is not a short time. She couldn’t let Anke waste those years. Hebe expressed her intention to give up on the marriage, wishing for her childhood friend’s happiness. Anke asked for some time to think and left. Hebe expected him to cancel the marriage and held no further expectations.

However, when Anke came to see Hebe the next day, he had a determined look in his eyes.

「Hebe, I’ll wait until you return.」

「You’ll wait? Anke, think carefully. It’s ten years.」

「I can just work hard during that time. In ten years, I’ll have taken over the family business and be settled.」

Anke gave Hebe a silver brooch, asking her not to forget him. Hebe hesitated before pinning the brooch to her chest. If Anke truly waited for her, she thought she should marry him when she returned in ten years.

「Even so, ten years is long, Anke. If you meet someone else during that time, I won’t blame you.」

「Don’t worry about things like that and just go.」

Anke gave a thin smile and kissed Hebe’s cheek. Hebe thought he was truly kind and gave him a tight hug.

「I’ll write to you when I get there.」

「I heard Divenia is a cold country. Take care of yourself and stay healthy.」

Hebe wanted to cherish the memory of Anke at this moment. Leaving behind a childhood friend who had shown her both friendship and love to go marry a man—even if he was just a child—from another family made her feel like a very wicked person.

For a moment, she felt the impulse to confess everything to Anke. But then she thought of her guilt-ridden mother, her bedridden father, and the God watching from above, and she kept her mouth shut.

「I’m leaving now.」

When it was time to depart, Hebe checked if her luggage was packed well and went out to board the carriage. Before she stepped inside, she looked back to see her mother following her with a strained smile.

「Please take care of yourself.」

Her mother had been unable to sleep properly due to her worry for her daughter. Could a daughter who had lived in a mild island nation endure ten years in a barren land where only snow, wind, and a cloudy sun existed?

「I’ll write to you as soon as I arrive.」

「Yes, I’ll be waiting.」

Forgetting the awkwardness that had existed while preparing for Divenia, Hebe embraced her mother. The fact that she wouldn’t see her mother for ten years if they parted now hit her poignantly.

As Hebe got into the carriage, her mother reached out toward her seat. Hebe leaned her face out of the window. When her mother placed her hand on Hebe’s forehead, a warm sensation spread. Hebe realized that she was bestowing a faint blessing. As a priestess related by blood to Kalia, her mother possessed a small amount of divine power.

Hebe fell into thought as she watched the scenery pass by the window. What would the people of the new family be like? I hope my Divenian is understood well. I hope someone there can speak Irenian. Between the anticipation and fear of a new life and the realization of leaving home, Hebe was soon overcome with fatigue.

When they met at the halfway point between Iren and Divenia, Mrs. Clemens openly disapproved of Hebe’s attire. According to Divenian standards, the clothes Hebe wore were considered frivolously thin and airy. When Mrs. Clemens asked why she hadn’t worn the dresses she received as part of her dowry, Hebe made an excuse.

“The clothes were so heavy and had so many decorations that it was hard to move in them.”

“You are about to become a citizen of our country, so you must get used to such things.”

Sighing, Mrs. Clemens personally changed Hebe’s clothes. Hebe stood stiffly while the woman’s rough hands rolled up her long golden-brown hair, covered it with a veil, and placed a hat on top.

“Tell me if there is any discomfort.”

“My head… the pins are so tight it hurts.”

“This isn’t even tight. It will loosen as you wear it.”

Mrs. Clemens pushed Hebe’s discarded Irenian dress into a corner as if it were a worthless object. Hebe took advantage of a moment when the woman wasn’t looking to pack the trunk containing her Irenian clothes separately. Judging by Mrs. Clemens’s demeanor, she seemed capable of burning anything related to Iren.

The real journey began once they transferred to the carriage sent by the Gracus family. At first, Hebe looked at the foreign scenery with curiosity, but as the hours in the carriage grew longer, she gradually felt bored.

Whenever they arrived at an inn to rest, she would go to the room Mrs. Clemens provided and either write letters to her mother or sink into thought. Occasionally, when she opened the window for a change of pace, the sounds of Divenian with its strong accent could be heard from all directions.

Unlike the Irenians, who spoke in a soft, flowing manner, Divenians pronounced every word with sharp breaks. Hebe spent most of her time drafting letters to her mother and Anke to soothe her boredom.

In the dead of night after sunset, the back alleys of Iren were just beginning their day. As Anke walked down a narrow path, a black cat crossed his path. Startled, Anke stopped and stepped into a puddle.

「Ah, man.」

He sighed and shook out his wet shoes. When he opened the door to his regular tavern, the boisterous voices of the crowd washed over him at once.

「You’re late.」

One of the group already there welcomed him. Most were children of families who, like Anke’s, ran merchant groups.

「I got a bit lost finding my way.」

「That’s why you should’ve come out to drink more often. It’s been a while.」

「Yeah, it’s been a while.」

「We gathered here to comfort you after being dumped, so how can the guest of honor be late?」

「I told you, I wasn’t dumped.」

Anke gave a bitter smile and pulled a glass toward him on the table. He took a sip of the alcohol and sighed.

「Ten years from now, huh.」

「Is your fiancée a woman worth waiting that long for?」

「Of course. Hebe is a good woman.」

「Did you say she went abroad? What if she changes her mind while living there?」

Anke smiled awkwardly at his friend’s question.

「No way. We promised to wait for each other, just as I’m waiting for her.」

「If it were me, I’d just give up.」

「I actually think it’s for the best that Hebe and I are apart. We can both work and save money for ten years. If we get married when we’re well-prepared, we’ll be able to live more stably.」

「Did she say she was going to look after a relative?」

「Yeah. She said it was a family promise.」

Anke accepted the drink his friend offered.

「Well then, shall we toast to Anke Guichard, who will wait for his fiancée with a pious heart for ten years?」

The friends snickered and raised their glasses all at once. Anke also smiled and raised his glass. By now, Hebe must have crossed the border.

「I wonder if she’ll endure well…?」

Anke muttered, his eyes narrowing slightly.

「I should get going. Thanks for inviting me today.」

As the drinking session reached its peak, Anke stood up.

「It’s not even midnight yet. Drink a bit more before you go.」

「No. I need to send a confirmation letter to the border to see if Hebe arrived safely.」

「Loyal already, aren’t we?」

「I wonder how much he’ll be whipped after they marry?」

Leaving behind his friends’ jeers, Anke exited the tavern.

It was late, past midnight, when the carriage arrived in front of a gray castle. After crossing the moat, a massive iron gate greeted them. Recognizing the Gracus family carriage, the gatekeeper opened it immediately. Peering out the window, Hebe saw white flames burning in the lamps hanging on both sides of the gate.

White fire?