36 Moving Forward

“…Deepest apologies. It appears the incident has been officially processed as not having reached the level of an assault on the venue.”

I gave a small nod in response to the report from the Imperial Knight, who had been on standby as temporary security.

Well, it was as expected.

The attackers hadn’t even touched Emilia, nor had they touched me as her guardian. There were no deaths and no serious injuries.

The fact that the security plan was leaked is a problem for the knight order on the security side; it is irrelevant to the administrative priests and the royalty stationed in the hall. All the more so since the attack was prevented before it could happen, there is no grounds for a decision to cancel or postpone.

“Emilia-sama.”

“—Ye-yes. I am fine.”

Emilia, whose complexion was still poor, nevertheless stated this firmly.

With the minimal time remaining, there was no time to explain the circumstances, yet she seemed to have tucked the confusion and fear away within her heart.

In a state of extreme tension, the throat can stiffen, making it impossible to produce a voice.

Sensing some discomfort, Emilia spent the moments right before returning to the hall warming her throat with hot water and repeatedly testing her vocalization with low tones.

Even when Stefania’s presentation began in the hall separated by a single wall, Emilia did not falter.

…I could hear melodic progressions similar to what I had been composing halfway through, but Emilia, focused on adjusting her throat, showed no sign of even listening to Stefania’s piece.

On my end, Latka and Teera hurriedly straightened the disheveled parts of my attire, and by the time the song ended, I had managed to finish my preparations.

“Emilia-sama, it is time.”

When I called out to her, Emilia nodded silently and fixed her gaze steadily upon the door leading to the hall.

—The crystalline stillness in her eyes was like nothing else.

Come to think of it, I recalled now that there were many capture targets who fell for her after seeing Emilia’s face when she had made up her mind.

To be able to take the hand of an Emilia wearing this expression—it is, indeed, quite an honor.

I escorted Emilia onto the stage.

Cheers.

According to the plan, Emilia was supposed to smile at the audience, but her current determined expression was somewhat serene, even mystical.

If anything, it matched the atmosphere of the outfit perfectly, highlighting the presence of the girl known as Emilia to the utmost degree.

On the stage, I, too, was merely one of the supporting elements.

“…I believe in you. I know you can do this as usual.”

At the end of the escort, I whispered an encouragement that would normally make me feel self-conscious.

If a single line like this could improve Emilia’s state, I would spout them as much as necessary.

“I will show you that I can do even better than usual.”

There wasn’t even unnecessary strain in Emilia’s reply; she was remarkably reassuring.

I bowed my head to the back of her hand and then let go.

—The song Emilia composed is not particularly fast in tempo.

Starting with a quiet trill and connecting to a slow melody using wide arpeggios, the prelude was peaceful yet thick with tension, lonely yet beautiful.

It was the melody of the Caloe River, which flows east from the Red Mountains of Amon Caran to the Sea of Permigran, dividing the continent into north and south.

In ancient times, the Kusha Fema purified themselves there, and in the distant past, it was a great river that connected Arksia, Altras, Lindal, and the southern nations as a canal.

Now, with the ruins of collapsed checkpoints in numerous places and the decrease in water volume due to flood control works by various countries, ships no longer pass through; the former glory recorded in books is now nowhere to be seen.

If Rachel hadn’t changed the tuplets into chords and then rearranged the piece to be played with broken chords, it would have been a calm song for my hands as well.

I desperately managed the series of notes that were as flowing as a harp.

Since I was using the pedal to let the notes resonate, the song would be over if I missed even one.

Once that difficult pass was cleared, the singing began, and the music settled slightly into standard chords.

Emilia’s opening notes, placed softly upon the accompaniment, were high and spread gracefully throughout the entire hall.

The lyrics followed the road along the Caloe River, tracing it west and further west.

Motif-wise, it was based on the legend of Shanak, where they protected the young Priestess Kusha Fema—known as the “Moving Forward of Shanak”—and fled to the west. Inwardly, it was a song of the journey of Emilia, whose person had been handed over to Arksia, on a path from which she could never turn back.

The middle section turned dark, reflecting the anxiety regarding the journey’s end and the feeling of only letting things go; my accompaniment mixed right-hand arpeggios with octave playing in the low register.

A solo song consisting of a series of soft high notes that could easily become lonely.

Like the horse that stays by Shanak’s side until the very end, I provided the accompaniment to support it.

Eventually, Shanak reaches a land of rest.

In the final section, the left hand returned to wide, peaceful arpeggios while picking up low notes; the left hand then crossed over the right hand, which was progressing through chords, to mingle in sparkling high tones.

—Ah, but this part. For Emilia, this is still a story of the future.

Damn. The slow tempo makes it harder.

Even though it is busy with many notes, the relaxed style means even a small flaw stands out.

Carefully, meticulously, I aligned the grains of sound and built them up note by note.

Emilia’s delicate voice undulated like ears of wheat swaying in the wind, falling silent while leaving a resonance that felt as if it were melting into the air.

The postlude was short.

I reduced the number of notes at once, taking charge of the song’s finale strictly as a background element so as not to spoil Emilia’s resonance.

—The moment I lifted my fingers from the last key, I felt a sudden shortness of breath and hurriedly took a deep breath.

Toward the end, I had been so focused I apparently forgot to breathe.

While quietly regulating my breathing so as not to be noticed, I stepped off the stage with Emilia.

Instantly, the hall was enveloped in applause so loud I thought the air might burst.

Emilia took my hand slightly, a bashful smile on her face as she said something, but even with my sharp ears, I couldn’t pick up her voice at all amidst this thunderous cheering and applause.

I don’t know what she’s saying… but well, this is Emilia.

She’s likely expressing gratitude or joy.

Since I couldn’t hear whatever she said, I had no choice but to return a smile.

As a bonus, I pretended to fix her hair ornament while giving her that head-patting thing Latka is so obsessed with. It was my way of showing respect and appreciation for Emilia’s “action following her words” by doing even better than usual…

A hand reached out from the side, grabbed my wrist, and brushed it away.

Grace, his face taut, moved his lips to clearly signal me to hand over the escort.

End of 259