Chapter 219 - <26>
"What kind of person was Asagi?"
When asked, Orphe didn't answer, instead taking a sip of his tea.
"His face and voice were the same as Ritz's, but his personality couldn't have been, could it?"
At Edward's final question, Orphe at last opened his mouth.
"His personality was the complete opposite, with one exception. There was no one as intelligent or as much of a perfectionist as Asagi."
"Then what was that one exception?"
"...The depth of his love, I suppose. To Asagi, Eneonea was everything."
With that, Orphe brought the tea to his lips again, his expression somber. This tea had been prepared by Ark, as Franz was still too distraught. It tasted surprisingly identical to Franz's. Edward, too, brought his cup to his lips as he recalled the images from the vision.
He really did look just like Ritz.
And the man who looked just like Ritz had killed his lover with his own hands. If backed into a corner, would Ritz do the same? The thought struck him as absurd.
He knew Ritz well. And because he knew him, he knew for a fact that would never happen. Edward also had an inkling of what was troubling Orphe, who didn't know Ritz nearly as well.
He had said he wanted to see a happy ending. But because he knew of Asagi and Eneonea's tragedy, he was now worried that Ritz and Anna would repeat the same tragic history.
"There's no need to worry."
At his words, Orphe raised his head.
"About what, King Edward?"
"About Ritz and Anna. Ritz's personality is the complete opposite of that Asagi fellow. Even if he were pushed into the same situation as Asagi and Eneonea, he would never lay a hand on Anna."
"...But if he were cornered..."
"If it came to that, he would probably protect her even if it meant eradicating every last person in the world. That's the kind of man he is. And Anna would never accept death. She's a girl who can sacrifice herself for others, but she could never bring herself to kill herself for her own sake. You had her placed in that orphanage so she would become that kind of person, didn't you?"
As if some truth were reflected in his teacup, Orphe, who had been staring into it, timidly raised his head to confirm.
"Is that the kind of girl she is?"
"Yes."
"Is that how she was raised?"
"It is. Because those two are who they are, you may yet be able to see a happy ending."
With that, Edward fell silent. It was less a prediction and more of a wish.
He had noticed that Ritz was in love with Anna even before Ritz himself had. After the assassination attempt, Ritz had moped around Edward's place for two weeks, saying he found it hard to face Anna, and Edward realized it was because he was completely conscious of her. By then, Ritz was already unable to imagine a future without Anna.
And he had also been the first to notice that Anna, though unconsciously, was always following Ritz with her eyes. Edward didn't know at what point her admiration and trust had turned into love, but Anna had eyes only for Ritz.
If the two of them could live together, perhaps Ritz—the wayward younger brother he had once taken in and would now be leaving behind—could finally accept himself and truly live. He prayed for it with all his heart.
Slowly, the clock in the center of the room chimed six. Several hours had already passed since Ritz had left the underground area. Worrying wouldn't change anything; from here on, it was a matter between the two of them, and no one else could interfere.
He glanced at Franz, who was still slumped over the table. He had been in that state ever since they left the underground.
He seemed to have received quite a shock from the fact that Anna was an artificially created being, but judging from the one question he'd asked before collapsing onto the table, there was no need to worry.
Franz had asked, "What should I say to Anna?" The question was tinged with the emotion of wondering how he could make her realize that he wasn't avoiding her.
In his own way, he was thinking about Anna.
Compared to Ritz, Franz was a normal person. So it would likely take him longer than Ritz—who would choose Anna even if it meant destroying the world—to easily shake off his own physiological revulsion.
Franz had certainly felt a momentary aversion, but after Ritz had so readily accepted Anna and left the room, it seemed a battle had been waging in his heart between his feelings for his comrade and that revulsion.
For a while, he hadn't spoken a word, simply staring at the [Cradle]. After that, however, he had bombarded Ark with questions. He likely wanted to be convinced by logic. For Franz, there was a part of him that could grasp reality better by internalizing logic rather than emotion.
Several hours had passed since then, and in the end, his feelings for his companion seemed to have won out.
But on top of that, Franz needed time to completely bury it in the depths of his heart and suppress his emotions. Even as he lay slumped over, Franz's mind was likely filled with what he should say to Anna first.
To Edward, the wait was agonizingly long, but to Franz, it was probably not nearly enough time to think.
"Was I wrong?"
Orphe eventually murmured.
"I can't say. They are the ones who will decide."
"They... you mean them?"
"There is no other way."
Just as he muttered it to himself, Ark's voice echoed.
"They have returned."
Franz shot up as if jolted. The sound of the front door opening and closing was followed by the dining room door opening. The two who entered, chatting cheerfully, stopped in their tracks before the assembled three.
"Oh. Is it time for dinner already?"
Anna asked, her eyes wide, as if nothing had happened at all. Her utterly normal tone made Franz, who had been bracing himself, slump over with a dejected look. Ritz frowned at the subtle difference in their moods.
"What are you guys doing? All gathered here."
"What are we doing, you ask..."
Franz sighed softly. He looked as though all his tense deliberation had just been rendered completely pointless. But behind that, a look of undisguised relief flickered.
"Ritz."
When Edward called his name, his eyes met Ritz's directly. Ritz gave a nod so small that only Edward would notice. Though his eyes held a faint glimmer of confidence, they clearly said, We're okay. It seemed Edward's troublesome little brother had grown up a bit.
"Anna, welcome back."
He deliberately spoke gently to Anna, who let her gaze wander for a moment as if in thought. He could tell she was worried about what he was thinking, so he smiled kindly to convey that she could act as she always had. At that, Anna beamed with delight.
"I'm home, Ed-san."
Seeing the happy Anna and the bashful Ritz, a mischievous impulse stirred within him.
"Did this lout do anything improper to you?"
"Improper?"
Anna blinked, looking perplexed.
"Ed!"
An agitated Ritz shouted.
"He has no self-control, you know."
As he said it teasingly, Ritz pouted like a child.
"Don't talk about me like I'm some kind of beast. I'd like to think I know my limits."
"Oh, am I mistaken? There was that time you took advantage of her while she was sleeping, wasn't there?"
When he hinted at the time Ritz had silently kissed a sleeping Anna in Roshozu, Ritz gnashed his teeth in frustration.
"Dammit, you old geezer."
Just as Ritz said that, Anna asked curiously.
"What do you mean by 'improper'?"
Anna tilted her head, her face a picture of pure, devastating innocence.
"Ritz didn't do anything improper to me."
"Is that so?"
"He did give me lots and lots of kisses, though. They felt really good. Right?"
"Wha—y-you, you idiot!"
"Eh? Oh? Was I not supposed to say that?"
"Of course not, you idiot!"
Seeing Ritz in a complete panic, he couldn't help but burst out laughing. Beside him, Franz sighed with a thoroughly fed-up expression and turned away.
"The one who calls someone an idiot is the real idiot!"
"Gah! That's not what I mean!"
"Then why did you call me an idiot? If you don't tell me why I can't say it, I won't understand!"
"Because it's not something you say in a place like this...!"
Even as they made a ruckus, he could see their gazes flickering toward Franz. It seemed the two of them had decided to come back with a cheerful attitude. They knew Franz's personality well.
Anna cast a worried glance at Franz, then a faint one at Edward. When he gave a small nod, Anna looked up at Ritz with relief and cheerfully continued speaking.
"Ehh? So what kind of place is okay? If it's just the two of us, will you give me gentle kisses while talking softly, like you did before?"
"Please stop... The image I've built up is crumbling..."
Despite whatever they might have planned beforehand, Anna's words were so over the top that Ritz groaned as if genuinely clutching his head. As the two continued their uproar, Franz let out a huge sigh.
"That's enough of the comedy routine."
At his calm tone, Ritz fell silent, a troubled expression lingering on his lips as he looked at Franz. Anna smiled, but her eyes held a hint of concern as she watched him. Franz ignored Ritz and stared back at Anna with his usual deadpan expression.
Wordlessly, the two of them just stared at each other. Anna seemed to be searching for any fear of her within Franz, while Franz seemed to be looking at Anna to gauge how he himself felt.
After a moment, Franz let out a deep breath.
"...I understand."
Without explaining what he understood, Franz nodded.
"So you've decided, then."
Franz asked Anna in his usual concise manner. Edward and Ritz, who had been with him for two years, understood what he meant. Franz was asking if she had decided to leave this mountain with Ritz and return to Sears.
As if it were the most natural thing in the world, Anna smiled and nodded quietly.
"Yes."
"I see. Well then, you should write a letter to Connie sometime."
"Is it... okay?"
Even though I'm not human.
Franz seemed to have properly sensed the true meaning hidden behind her words. The Franz from when they first met probably wouldn't have sensed anything. But now, he was capable of considering others.
The one who had grown the most on this journey was none other than Franz.
"It's fine."
"But..."
Franz looked straight at the troubled-looking Anna and declared.
"You're so completely normal, it's anticlimactic."
That was likely Franz's true feeling. If the two had returned with somber expressions, Franz surely wouldn't have been able to say a thing. But because they were acting so completely normal, he was able to take that step forward easily. Franz didn't seem to realize it, but Ritz and Anna's strategy had been a success.
"Artis, um..."
Anna quietly approached Orphe, who had been sitting in silence this whole time.
"I..."
As Anna trailed off, searching for the right words, Orphe looked up and smiled gently.
"You don't have to worry about me."
"But Artis, you'll be all alone..."
Orphe smiled gently at Anna's murmur.
"I'm not alone. Ark is here, and so is T. Besides, Kuchiba is eagerly waiting to talk to me."
"Artis..."
"And a hundred years from now, when I wake from my sleep, I might live in that place in Saradio again. If I do, Karl and Ciela might come to visit, and maybe you all will, too. I'll only be there for a year, but we might meet by chance. The more possibilities there are, the more I can look forward to them as I sleep. So, I'm surprisingly happy, you see."
Looking truly happy, Orphe gently stroked Anna's head. It was a calm, gentle gesture, like that of a real father.
"Be happy. My beloved child, Anna."
"Artis..."
Patting the speechless Anna's shoulder, Orphe stood up.
"Well then, shall we have a welcome party, for real this time? Ark, please prepare a feast."
"Understood."
As Ark readily accepted, Anna spoke up.
"Oh, I'll help too, Ark. You're not good with things like decorations, right?"
"Thank you very much."
Anna began to patter out of the room. Franz stood up to follow.
"I'll go too. I know this house like the back of my hand."
"Okay!"
After the two left, Orphe turned to face Ritz.
"I'm counting on you to take care of her. Please make her happy."
Ritz nodded at the quiet, yet heartfelt sentiment.
"Yeah. But I'm the one who's going to be made happy. Both of us wish to make each other happy."
Ritz's gaze turned quietly toward the direction Anna had left.
"I can't condone everything you've done—messing with people's destinies, recreating life from nothing. Because that's making light of a single human being's existence."
Ritz stated it quietly, like a condemnation. Orphe's expression hardened. He seemed prepared to be harshly judged and blamed for his sins by Ritz and Anna. But Ritz let his shoulders relax with a soft sigh and murmured.
"But I'm grateful to you."
Ritz looked straight at Orphe.
"You brought me and her together. I'm not alone anymore."
"Ritz-kun..."
"Thank you for letting her destiny intertwine with mine."
Speechless, Orphe watched as Ritz gave a slight bow and left the room to follow Anna and Franz. After a moment of stunned silence, Orphe groaned, his voice trembling as he whispered.
"King Edward, will you hear me out?"
It was a pleading voice, yet weak, as if confessing something.
"Am I a worthy audience?"
"...I can only speak to you. I can't tell Franz, or those two."
Looking at Orphe, he could see his eyes reflecting the anguish deep within his soul. Edward realized that Orphe had likely chosen the person with the shortest lifespan remaining—someone who would take his secret to the grave—as his confessor, and gave a quiet nod.
"I can only listen."
"That's enough."
Taking a small breath, Orphe began to speak.
"When Asagi killed Eneonea and used her to create the higher races, he resurrected her with her memories intact. I don't know if that was something Eneonea herself wished for, or if Asagi succumbed to his own loneliness."
Resting his elbows on the table and clasping his hands in front of his face, Orphe closed his eyes as if gazing into the darkness sleeping deep within him.
"The resurrected Eneonea had long, golden curls, translucent white skin, and green eyes. It seems Asagi, like me, couldn't recreate her to look exactly the same as she once had."
That description Orphe gave was the exact same image of the Goddess Eneonea that the humans revered.
"Then the image of the goddess passed down on the continent is..."
"That's right. The second Eneonea. We knew about the plan to exterminate humanity that Eneonea had been pursuing. So we felt it was wrong for her to become an object of faith for the people. That's why we made the second Eneonea the image of the goddess. The second Eneonea worked with Asagi to regenerate the higher races and bring them down to the continent. But once Asagi no longer needed Eneonea's memories, he sealed them away. Without her memories, without her name, she appeared before me in a childlike form due to some accident. I..."
Orphe, his eyes shut tight, groaned as he contorted his face in pain.
"Not realizing who she was, I fell in love with the second Eneonea."
Edward drew in a sharp, quiet breath.
"Then Anna is..."
"I created her from the hair of the second Eneonea, whom I loved. She is the third Eneonea."
Creating a replica of the woman he loved and presenting her to a man who looked just like her former lover. Unable to comprehend Orphe's contradiction, he frowned, and Orphe opened his eyes.
"Do you find it strange?"
"I do."
"But I had no other choice. The second Eneonea, whose memories were sealed despite possessing them, chose to break her own seal and die with Asagi the moment he chose death before her eyes. She chose Asagi, not me. And the two of them went somewhere beyond my reach."
Orphe groaned, his face contorted in an expression that was neither crying nor laughing.
"What I thought and wished for when I found Ritz-kun was true. But I am ugly. It's also true that I used Ritz-kun as an excuse to myself as a reason to resurrect Eneonea."
As he watched in silence, Orphe continued to string words together as if desperately seeking something.
"If she had chosen me instead of Ritz-kun, and had remained here with me, I would have been fine with that. If, over a long time, she had come to see me again, I would have been fine with that too."
After saying this in a voice full of anguish, Orphe bit his lip for a while.
Edward quietly gazed toward the door the three had left through. He felt as if he could see the happy figures of the three of them. After a moment, Orphe let out a small sigh.
"I thought that's what I wanted, but when Anna chose Ritz-kun, and Ritz-kun came to love her, I felt a profound sense of relief. I was so happy I could have cried. The moment I saw them so happy together, I was finally able to lay down the burden in my heart. Ah, now I can be free. Now the chain of sorrow from Asagi and Eneonea can be broken."
Orphe then smiled sadly.
"And then I realized. I realized that I love Anna, the third Eneonea, with all my heart, as if she were the child of myself and the second. Recreating the person you loved didn't mean they became the person you loved. Even I didn't realize it until the moment Anna left my side."
Having finished his story, Orphe raised his head and looked intently at Edward. Edward quietly met his gaze.
"Will I... be forgiven?"
At the quiet words, Edward simply looked out the window.
"Having created a person for my own sake, can I be forgiven?"
Edward was not a god. He was not in a position to forgive a person's sins. But this much he could say.
"If those children are happy, perhaps that alone will be your forgiveness."
If he is forgiven by the life that was his sin, then there is no one else to condemn him.
"Ah..."
Orphe covered his face with both hands. A trembling, sigh-like voice escaped him.
"O God, O God, with thy divine will, grant forgiveness to this sinful soul..."
At Orphe's quiet murmur, Edward stood up and looked out the window. A sky filled with a terrifying number of stars stretched out before him.
"Are you not God?"
The spirit user who exists in the lofty God's Garden, alone, with eternal life.
"I am merely a human being, obligated to become God."
Orphe said it quietly, without self-deprecation or self-pity.
"Then is there no God?"
If he, who created this world and exists as its omniscient God, is not God, then there is no God in this world.
He shifted his gaze from the starry sky back into the room, and the man called God, fingers laced on the table, smiled back at him.
"God exists. Within the shining sun, within the blowing wind, within the falling rain, within the blazing fire, within the earth that nurtures life, and within the gentle night."
"You mean the spirits?"
"Yes. And between chance and inevitability."
"Between chance and inevitability?"
"Chance is also the work of God. Inevitability is born from God's work. The destiny born there may itself be God."
With that, Orphe gave a quiet laugh.
"Perhaps we living beings called humans are eternal clowns, destined to dance forever in the palm of God's hand."
If chance is God, then all futures lie in the palm of God's hand. And yet, people still look to the future and begin to walk.
"King Edward. I may yet work my will upon the prosperous Yuresla in the future. Don't you think it wise to nip the seeds of disaster in the bud?"
At the sudden question, Edward chuckled.
"Do you wish for me to kill you?"
"...Perhaps I would be supremely happy if I could die now."
The man who said this and raised his head was half-serious. But the other half of him understood well that his fate was not to be so. Even if Edward were to kill him here and now, he would immediately become another version of himself with his memories intact. He could not die.
Edward chuckled, then deliberately slapped his hip where no weapon was worn.
"Unfortunately, I'm unarmed."
"I see. That's a shame."
Orphe responded to Edward's jest with a lightheartedness of his own. Edward smiled at Orphe.
"Killing you here and now might be the best course of action, but I, too, have learned too much. I cannot cut you down here."
"Are you sure about that?"
"I am. If the Clan of Darkness should extend its hand to my kingdom by the will of God, then one who carries my blood or one who inherits my will shall protect my kingdom."
"Even no matter what means we may employ?"
"Yes."
"...I see. I'm relieved to hear that."
Orphe smiled serenely.
"Please protect it, King Edward. Once you leave this garden, I plan to go to sleep. I have been awake for too long this time."
After all, I've been awake for a hundred years, Orphe said with a laugh.
"Then you will wake in a hundred years' time."
"Yes, that's right. I should not be able to see you or Franz ever again. But I will descend upon the land of Yuresla once more as the Light Spirit King. Please protect that beautiful land until then."
"Of course. Yuresla is my country, after all."
"Yes. It is the country of you humans."
Orphe smiled calmly. There, indeed, was a man with the perspective of a god who saw all things. Letting out a quiet breath, Edward asked.
"While you sleep, who will play the part of God?"
A hundred-year absence could bring about a great change in the world.
"Ark will read my memories and play the part of God. For God is eternal."
"Can you not have Ark play the part of God forever?"
"No. Ark is a machine. It can become distorted over long periods of time. That is why I am absolutely necessary. But perhaps the problem in my judgment arises during the ten years I am awake every century because I am human. Moegi two hundred years ago, Taisha one hundred years ago, and Anna today... If my heart had been something other than human, if I had been a machine like Ark, things might have been much easier."
He nodded, understanding the weight of what Orphe carried. What Edward had protected was the single kingdom of Yuresla. But what he protected was all of life.
Quietly sitting in his chair, he brought the cold tea to his lips, just as Anna burst into the room.
"Ed-san, Ark is amazing! He can make all sorts of dishes I've never seen before!"
He smiled back at the genuinely cheerful Anna.
"That's wonderful."
"It is! Ritz is trying to make him cook every single one. Franz told me to go get you because it's getting out of hand!"
"...What a handful. He's not a child."
As he stood up again with a wry smile, Anna took his hand.
"You pick something you like too, Ed-san!"
"...Won't that just make it even more out of hand?"
Franz peeked out from behind Anna.
"...Master."
"What is it?"
"Ark is saying something complicated and seems to be in trouble..."
"...Hmm. So even Ark can be troubled."
"Don't blame me if Ritz breaks him."
Orphe laughed cheerfully.
"Now that's something I'd like to see. Alright, I'll go have a look, too."
The rising Orphe patted Franz's shoulder. Franz, who had been terrified by the truth of Orphe and Anna's origins, froze for a split second, but then shrugged as if nothing had happened.
"Ed-san, let's go!"
Looking into Anna's utterly unwavering eyes, Edward smiled.
"Indeed."
O God of chance and inevitability, who exists above all living things. I pray that happiness may be upon these children I love.
His own lifespan was probably twenty years at most.
He sincerely hoped he could leave something for them in some form before then.