"Water or wine?"
When Shiomi asked this, Aesc was casually wrapped in a blanket, sitting on the large bed in the bedchamber.
"Water." Aesc waved her hand lightly, fanning herself. "I feel a bit parched."
"That's to be expected..." Shiomi handed her a cup of clear, sweet water.
Aesc lowered her gaze, looking at her bare legs. Her feet rested on the soft carpet beside the bed—the plush texture was so yielding her toes almost sank into it, sending her thoughts briefly adrift.
"My husband truly makes no pretense, like a beast that hasn't eaten in ages." Aesc tipped her head back and drained the cup.
The cool water soothed her dry throat.
"This time we were apart for three whole months, you know—three entire months." Shiomi raised three fingers, his tone open and unguarded.
"You weren't thinking about these things the whole time on the battlefield, were you?" Aesc asked.
"That would be rather strange." Shiomi waved his hands in denial. "Even I wouldn't go that far."
Aesc held out her empty cup toward him. "Another."
Shiomi picked up the jug and refilled it for her.
"More and more fairies are trying to enter Londinium lately—to become its subjects." Aesc gazed absently out the window. The city below still glowed brightly, but the faint light at the edge of the sky already heralded the coming dawn. "They're fairies from all the different clans."
"Ignore them." Shiomi shook his head.
"If you leave it be, their admiration for Londinium will eventually turn into resentment," Aesc said after a moment's thought. "Are you deliberately trying to force the fairies to reveal their true nature?"
"No. I simply believe that as the number of fairies increases, the cost of governing the city will soar." Shiomi reached out and brushed away the damp strands of hair clinging to her forehead. "Londinium's current prosperity and stability exist only because the number of fairies is limited, and humans remain the majority."
Aesc thought for a moment. "Then you intend to maintain this policy without wavering?"
"Hard to say." Shiomi shook his head.
"Hmm?"
"When the autumn campaign ends, whether I wish it or not, my coronation as King of Britannia in Londinium will be inevitable," Shiomi said. "Dragging things out any longer will only create unnecessary complications."
"So you mean—" Aesc understood immediately. "Once the coronation date is set, fairies from across Britannia will flood here. It'll be impossible to keep enforcing the ban."
She shook her head again. "No… we could still issue a strict order forbidding foreign fairies from attending the coronation. But that would be no different from driving them out by force."
The inherently unruly fairies would only find new excuses, transforming themselves into yet another opposition faction.
"No. Think of it as giving them a chance," Shiomi said, shaking his head. "The Beast God's remains within the Great Hollow, the ceaseless disasters—all of it declares the original sin of Britannia's fairies."
He met her gaze. "The fairies' continued existence, coupled with their refusal to acknowledge that sin, is the true source of Britannia's unending calamities."
"My husband means—"
"If the fairies of Britannia can accept the millennial kingdom we've built in Londinium, allow its peace to spread across the island, and begin to face and acknowledge their ancestors' mistakes, it might not be such a bad thing," Shiomi said calmly.
By then, Aesc's mission—'to correct Britannia's wrongs'—could finally be fulfilled.
But Aesc knew well that what he described was the best possible ideal.
"Allowing the fairies to pour into Londinium, yet not truly trusting them?" Aesc set down her cup and sank softly onto the bed.
Her long hair, fading to icy blue at the ends, spilled across her chest.
"No. Trust will still be given—but that trust comes with conditions," Shiomi said. "You should know this well. Back when the clans were moving toward unity, both Wind and Wing wavered again and again. If they hadn't realized their own helplessness before the Great Calamity, they never would have accepted the union."
"Fickle," Aesc said, fully understanding.
The fairies only ever trusted their own judgments and whims. When they followed someone's orders, it was only because they didn't know what else to do—and someone happened to be there to tell them. The moment they believed they could handle things on their own, they'd throw away everything that came before and act however they pleased.
If the clans were forbidden from fighting each other, they would simply slaughter the humans and fairies who had left their clans.
If peace meant the absence of war, then peace itself was far too dull.
...
Reasons like these—great or small, however petty—were the driving force behind the fairies' selfish and lawless behavior.
"What if... things take the worst possible turn?" Aesc asked quietly.
Shiomi exhaled a long breath. "You wouldn't want to know."
"..." Aesc suddenly felt cold.
She could hardly imagine what it would be like if the ideal she had spent a thousand years building with her own hands were to crumble again. Between the two of them, who would be unable to accept it? Who would burn with greater rage?
The answer was painfully clear, yet Aesc prayed it would never come to pass.
She wrapped her arms around Shiomi from behind, pressing her face to his shoulder. The warmth of their skin against each other gradually eased her mind.
"Sorry for making you uneasy," Shiomi murmured.
"It's not your fault. It's simply a trial we must face because of what we've done," Aesc replied softly. "I'm just worried you've grown too attached to Londinium."
"What's that supposed to mean? Don't you have feelings for Londinium too?" Shiomi asked, pulling her closer.
"Actually, more than Londinium, what I care about is Britannia itself." Then, with deliberate emphasis, she added, "Of course, more than Britannia, I care about you."
"No wonder you're always hinting that I should become King of Britannia sooner. So that's the reason?" Shiomi asked.
"That's not what I meant." Aesc gave his chest a light, reproachful slap. "Maybe I'm colder than you think, my husband. As long as Britannia continues to exist, I don't really care whether it's ruled by fairies or humans."
"I know."
"I know you know."
"...Don't twist the conversation into something strange." Shiomi frowned, feigning irritation. "If my wife keeps being so improper, her husband might just have to punish her."
Aesc suddenly pushed him down onto the bed.
"What kind of punishment? Let's hear it."
"Making sure you can't get out of bed for the next few days." Shiomi rolled over, turning the tables in an instant.
"Think you can manage that? If you can, then try."
She raised her hand, tracing the familiar lines of his face—the same as when they first met—her fingers slipping into his sweat-damp hair.
"Don't regret it."
"...Hmm~."
...