Side Story 9: The Lady and Her Knight (III)

Hearing Anakin’s words, his master bowed her head and burst out laughing. Then, he slowly lifted her up. And Anakin will not forget the sight that followed until the moment he dies.

The dark clouds that had been thick these days gradually cleared. The bright sunlight pierced between them as if it had waited. Only her eyes, like blazing flames, were as black as they were then.. His master quietly said,

“I won’t run away, Anakin.”

It was as if someone did it.

The wave was so wild that it swallowed sailors in the blink of an eye no matter how hard one tried to keep his balance. Persistent waves never missed their prey. Before he even let out one single cold breath in his chest, in an instant, it grabbed the sailor and pulled him into the abyss….

Anakin grinded his teeth.

All the pain and sorrow could not stop his master. Even if the day came when her original form was shattered beyond recognition, even then, all her fragments were strong and dazzling.

Such a person chose him. She named him, called him, and gave him faith, a future and kisses. How could he not fall in love with her?

The shadow that once engulfed the boy burned. Even the wooden sword that remained in the corner of his chest crumbled.

He didn’t know why he had to live, but he believed that if he lived he would find it. And finally, at that moment, Anakin realised the most glorious and blissful truth.

The reason why he had been keeping his life so far was to meet her and be abandoned.

Even if he got lost, he was born for her  steps that would never stop wandering.

After his master’s visit to the Imperial Palace, Anakin became even busier. This was because he had to find out the identity of the sacrifice ‘tears’ to return.

However, after the wrong ones had already been removed by the witch, there were no significant stories or rumours among the tales related to tears. ‘Things with a metaphorical meaning or substance’ was an overly abstract clue.

“Don’t try too hard to find it. I’ll find out when the time comes, so it’ll work out somehow later.”

His master said it calmly, but…… Still, Anakin went to Kynthia just in case. Kynthia, who opened the door with a knock, looked at Anakin with a tired face.

“I couldn’t find it. No, does it make sense to just say the words and find it in the first place?”

“…Ask the witch or something like that.”

“I asked! Did you ask me to do it? ……Anyway, she’s like a ghost. Isn’t she a ghost, not a witch?”

Anakin sighed in response to Kynthia’s answer. He thought it was too obvious because she was a witch who was subtly friendly to Kynthia. He put a bag of money in Kynthia’s palm as he reached out and said,

“Just in case, get a coachman.”

“Why a coachman? Are you going to run away?”

“Just. Just in case.”

His master said she wouldn’t run away, but judging from past experience, he didn’t know what would happen.

Of course, no matter what happened, her decision would come first, but Anakin just…… He wanted to increase the number of choices as much as possible. Then she could choose the lesser evil, not the worst.

“Well, I don’t know why you want a coachman, but I’m slowly giving up on tears. Shouldn’t you look for it in the Imperial Library, not in the back alley?”

“We can’t enter the library.”

He stroked Kynthia’s hair once and went back to the mansion.

And the day came faster than Anakin thought.

One night when his master was screaming out of breath, she called Anakin. Anakin covered his master’s eyes without a word, and she cried for a while then finally whispered to him.

“Pack up, Anakin.”

He packed some things and left the mansion in a hurry. When he knocked on the door of Kynthia’s house, Kynthia, who just woke up, yawned and told him to wait inside the house for a while. Soon after, the child returned with a man.

“Are you Anakin? I’ve been waiting.”

The coachman glanced at his hooded master and guided them into the carriage without asking anything. It was not desirable to put his master in a box that was uncomfortable and stinky, but there was no other way. As he kept looking back because he was worried, the coachman said to reassure him.

“There’s always a carriage with trash passing by at this time, so the guard probably won’t check it separately. I’ll run as soon as I get out of sight.”

Upon arriving at the gate, the guard stopped the carriage. When the coachman answered the formal question that it was trash, another guard next to him winked at him.

Then, contrary to expectations, he instructed them to open the box. Even in an unexpected situation, the coachman got off without hesitation and opened another box to confirm it.

“Do I have to open another one? It will smell bad.”

“… It’s done.”

He pretended to be calm, but the coachman’s hand shook again. It was fortunate that the coachman could not be seen from where the guards were standing.

He ran so fast, the coachman completely stopped the carriage and took out his master. Perhaps because she was trapped for a long time, she looked pale. The coachman, who released the link between the carriage and the horse, said.

“That’s all I’ve been told about. I’ll tell you— the two of you have to go on your own from here.”

It was fortunate that there was only one luggage bag.

Anakin put her in front of him and he grabbed the reins tightly.

It bothered him that the guards exchanged glances. He had to stay away from the capital even a little bit, because no matter who gave the order, the pursuers might follow.

He didn’t know what a “Real Sword Master” would be like. Because he had never been one. At least Anakin couldn’t hear all the signs and sounds, but could only feel those while paying attention and being focused..

When his master heard his explanation, she said it was cute, saying it was like a ‘radio’ that matched frequencies.

That was not the point. After Anakin recognized the possibility of a chaser, he looked to see if anyone was chasing them, and sure enough, someone was really following them.

When he told his master that, she told him not to kill him for now.

However, in order not to attract attention anyway, minimal disguise was essential. They sold the scraps they brought to buy a variety of clothes, and they didn’t wear the same clothes twice just in case.

Usually, they pretended to be siblings or couples, but sometimes Anakin dressed as a woman and his master dressed as a man.

After putting a corset on Anakin, she tightened the string tightly and enjoyed the process of turning his complexion pale.

No matter how thin he was, Anakin’s back was naturally bent because his ribs and stomach were tightened.

This made him look much smaller, and hardly anyone would have noticed that he was quite tall unless he was standing next to them.

His master, put wooden insoles in her shoes to increase her height and foot size, darkened her complexion, painted freckles and hid her hair under a hat, making her look like a boy who had not managed to go through puberty.

After looking at herself for a while, she tied a scarf instead of the usual choker to hide Anakin’s Adam’s apple.

When he couldn’t take his eyes off the choker with anxious eyes, she patted him on the back with confidence.

“I’ll give it back to you. Since no one can recognize me now.”

Looking back at the necklace in his hand, Anakin grabbed it tightly and hid it in his arms so that he wouldn’t lose it.

As close to the heart as possible.

While running away, they talked more than usual. Of course, most were discussions on how to live in the future.

At first, she suggested that they become a teacher and a hunter. It was a sword, not a bow, that Anakin had been holding all his life, so of course he had never hunted before. But if he couldn’t hit it with a bow, he could catch it with a trap.

Then his master said she might not be able to teach writing. So then they could sell what Anakin knitted.

“Or, you can plough someone else’s field and get paid… If there is an inn, it wouldn’t be bad for me to help out for a while. I don’t know about Eris, but I’ve done a lot of things..”

She wanted to become a musician, she said. She even suggested that she could try pretending to be a witch since they left for the ‘Land of the Barbarians’. Unlike himself, his master had a lot of things she wanted to do.

It didn’t matter what kind of life she wanted. No, in fact, there was nothing more to ask for. Because Anakin himself existed in every future his master painted.

Anakin watched her side silently, feeling regretful as the border gates were closed by a short margin.

How much longer could they endure while stepping on each other’s shadows? Anakin killed the chaser and then fiddled with the choker again.

In the time spent together, she often thought of something else. Even when staring at Anakin, sometimes his master’s eyes were out of focus. She tried to hide it from him, but she would still cry quietly. She stopped talking more and more.

The longing and anxiety that came every moment were disturbing her. Nevertheless, when Anakin reached out, she held his hand tightly and smiled at any time.

The fact that his master was struggling made him sad.

That he couldn’t give her the confidence that she would be happy.

The only thing he was born with was a sword. Neither wealth nor comfort could be promised. Unfortunately, the only thing he could offer to his master was himself.

But even if he was the most powerful man in the country, not much would have changed. Anakin wouldn’t have chosen even if he was given a choice.

“We have to live happily ever after. Right?”

“Yes, I’m sure we will be happy.”

He wouldn’t have held her to stay with him, saying he would make her happy.

It was just his own greed, not his master’s. Anakin raised the corners of his lips to support her resolution. Her eyes became clearer and the steps taken were strengthened.

“We’ll be happy.”

Ah. Deep and dark in you, when you dip your feet in my love.