Chapter 11
As Daisy spoke in a calm, almost nostalgic voice, recalling a distant memory, a thought suddenly occurred to Aaron. What had she looked like that night at the festival? Surely she hadn’t been dressed in that dreary gray robe she wore now.
Then what had she been wearing? Had she worn a dress like any other young woman?
No… During the Harvest Eve Festival, most people wore clothing they could move around in comfortably. Something like a ruffled skirt that fell just below the knees.
He imagined her with a scarf tied around her head, carrying a basket of flowers in one hand, handing blossoms to the young men dancing joyfully around the towering bonfire.
Aaron himself had once received flowers during the Harvest Eve Festival.
Well, he received them every year.
But there was one year he remembered especially well.
A young girl carrying a flower basket had tripped while running. He had helped her to her feet. All of the flowers had been crushed, and the girl’s eyes had filled with tears.
It was obvious no boy would choose the ruined flowers. So Aaron had picked up one that was still intact and accepted it from her before asking her to dance.
That was the custom of the festival. Any boy who received a flower from a girl was expected to share a dance with her.
The memory had faded with time, but he still remembered taking the girl’s hand as she looked ready to burst into tears and dancing with her until the music ended.
He thought he had even brushed away the tears clinging to the corners of her eyes with his fingertips before the dance was over.
The details were hazy now. But there had been days like that once.
“You danced at the festival, didn’t you?”
Aaron asked.
“Don’t tell me you just stood there watching before going straight back. That would be unbearably dull.”
Feigning horror, he dramatically clutched his head with both hands as though he couldn’t imagine anything more tragic.
Watching his exaggerated performance, Daisy let out a small laugh.
Aaron found the little dimple that appeared when Daisy smiled undeniably adorable. Calling the Grand Archmage adorable might well have been disrespectful.
Even so… She was adorable.
“Fortunately, I met a kind young boy, so I did get to dance. That was the first and the last dance of my life.”
“You never went to another festival after that?”
“I was caught after sneaking out to attend that one and was severely reprimanded. Afterward, I was forbidden from leaving the tower.”
“Until when?”
“Until I became the Grand Archmage. Until no one was in a position to tell me what I could or couldn’t do.”
Aaron couldn’t imagine how unbearably long those years must have been.
Just how much of her freedom had this charming young Grand Archmage been forced to sacrifice?
Was she truly free now? Could she finally go wherever she pleased?
“So are you free now?”
“More than I used to be.”
“Then have you ever thought about going to the Harvest Eve Festival again…?”
“Even if I went, I don’t think I’d ever meet that boy again. So no. I haven’t thought about going back.”
Aaron blinked. Surely that boy wasn’t the only man in the world. The world was vast. There were countless men.
“Personally, I think you should reconsider, Lady Freyan… no, Lady Daisy. You should start attending the Harvest Eve Festival again, or at least the royal balls and banquets. I think you deserve the chance to meet someone special.”
“When people hear the word wizard, they grow frightened and keep their distance. Do you really think someone like me could ever meet a good man?”
“…”
Aaron fell silent.
After all, it had been he who, just the night before, had mocked wizards at the royal ball, calling them wart-covered old crones a hundred years of age.
Granted, he was beginning to regret that now.
“Besides…”
Daisy climbed into the roofless carriage with a faint smile. For some reason, that smile looked unbearably lonely to Aaron.
“I’m not the sort of person who scatters love and affection everywhere, unlike some people.”
She looked ahead as she spoke.
“One dance with a single person is enough for me.”
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