TYND 95

TL: Motokare

“I used to just watch from far away whenever everyone was laughing and chatting, but I’d go back alone… But today I talked so much with everyone. They gave me presents… told me they were glad to meet me. They even complained about how Master never even mentioned me once… They asked me to take good care of you as well… They’re all such good people… It would’ve been nice if Ken was here too.”

“Is that so?”

“It’s wonderful. I’m so happy… If someone had told the old me this would happen, I’d never have believed them… This is a secret, but Meleena told me to let her know if you ever scare me. They were all really kind…”

“Are they?”

Rothy excitedly rambled on, following his stream of consciousness, then pulled Chi-chi into arms and started rolling around on the bed.

Scree…

Chi-chi, already worn out from being on guard around strangers all day, pitifully stretched its front paws towards Theon. But he ignored those beady eyes pleading to be saved and simply watched Rothy, and when the boy neared the far end of the massive bed, Theon quickly supported him with an arm so Rothy rolled straight into his embrace.

The boy looked up and grinned, earning a smile in return. He reached out to stroke Theon’s face, and Theon leant down so Rothy could reach him more comfortably. 

“You know… Theon, you downed all that booze and you’re not even drunk.”

“I didn’t down anything.”

“You did… you drank my share too…”

“Were you wanting to drink?”

“I don’t know… I honestly don’t know…”

“Wine…!”

“Not happening.”

“Your Grace, this wine’s practically a fruit drink. Your spouse wants to try it too, so why not allow just one glass?”

“Absolutely not.”

Though Theon had personally poured fruit wine for the young squires while on the battlefield, he wouldn’t let Rothy touch even a drop.

“It’s fine. I won’t drink any. I didn’t want it anyway…”

Rothy said this, but his eyes betrayed his longing, revealing he actually did want some. Theon wanted to give Rothy everything he wanted, but this was the one thing he didn’t allow.

“It’s late. Time to sleep.”

Theon laid Rothy down on the bed. He was a bit worried, to be honest. Today was supposed to be the night Rothy slept in the consort’s bedchamber. He seemed to have forgotten in all the excitement and good mood, but what if he remembered? Luckily, Rothy didn’t seem to have any plans to go back to his own room.

Theon pulled the duvet up to his chest and swept back those snowy-white bangs before kissing his round forehead.

He had a slight fever. 

When Theon pressed the back of his hand to his cheek, it was burning hot. Granted, he’d been soaking in warm water for ages earlier. But when Rothy hadn’t come out of the bath, he’d gone to check and found him nodding off and slipping under the water, so he’d to fish him out. Was that enough to make him this warm, though? One of Theon’s eyebrows climbed mountain-high as he worried whether Rothy’s fever had spiked again. 

“Rothy.”

“Mhm.”

“Who gave you alcohol behind my back?”

“Someone gave it to me, but I didn’t drink it…”

“Who gave it to you?”

“Dierm……”

While Theon quietly plotted his revenge, Rothy nuzzled his face against his large palm.

“But I didn’t drink any, This is just… a fever. You know I always run hot since… there’s a magic stone inside me.”

“Yes, I know.”

“But are you going to stop me from drinking even when I’m an adult…?”

“I’d prefer it if you didn’t.”

“Hmm… If you don’t want me to, I won’t. It’s not like I really want to anyway…”

“You should sleep now.”

“You should sleep too…”

Rothy patted the spot beside him, and Theon climbed up with a smile as the boy wriggled bit by bit into his arms. Holding him close, he felt the warm, soft weight against him, and soon an exhausted Rothy drifted off to sleep.

Chi-chi took its cue to escape and curled up beside Rothy’s head. When Theon tried moving the weasel to the cradle on the bedside table, it hissed in annoyance and scrambled straight back.

He gave up trying to move Chi-chi and eased himself up so Rothy wouldn’t notice. The boy was incredibly sensitive, so he had to move quietly while holding his breath.

“……”

Theon managed to slip out of bed without waking him but paused before leaving. He sat on the edge and looked down at Rothy, who was sleeping peacefully.

He let his fingers drift through the white hair, brushed the soft cheeks, and toyed lightly with an earlobe.

When his touch reached the plump lips, Rothy’s lashes fluttered and his eyelids lifted, revealing drowsy emerald-green eyes.

“Theon?”

“Mhm.”

“Why’re you up…? Come on, let’s sleep…”

“Alright.”

Rothy grabbed Theon’s hand and pulled, but it was so weak it felt like a tiny bird trying to tug his finger with its little beak. Accepting the faint tug, he let it pull him back down onto the bed. After Rothy fell asleep once more, he quietly escaped, this time without waking him.

“What is it that you wanted to ask me?”

The person Theon was meeting late at night behind Rothy’s back was none other than Romerie. 

“I’m curious about Your Holiness’s divine ability of future prophecy.”

“You didn’t acknowledge these prophecies as divine revelations before. Have you finally found faith?”

“Back then, I didn’t realise Seará was watching over us.”

“And what made you realise now?”

Theon held out the wristwatch, and Romerie’s eyes widened.

“Isn’t this the watch you always wore? Why’re you—”

“This was recently identified as a tremuhle.”

He gave Romerie a condensed version of what had happened. Ken Bane had tried to assassinate the archmage Rothy, so they’d intervened in Givarche’s succession war as payback, but he’d actually been consumed by Schrain, the tenth fallen, and the fallen had revealed that this watch was the tremuhle that a fallen archduke had lost. 

He didn’t mention the living magic stone.

“Oh dear… Have you informed the Grand Temple?” 

“I have.”

“Have they decided to pursue it immediately?”

“We’ve decided to wait for the Collector.”

“You made the right decision. If we use this tremuhle to lure the Collector and then kill them, or rather, send them back to eternal darkness, it’d be a greater accomplishment than ending the Human-Demon War.”

Romerie made the sign of the cross once before speaking.

“If Your Grace had prayed in the chapel earlier, you’d have found out about tremuhle sooner. The war could’ve gone differently then.”

“The future I see isn’t like your oracle, Your Holiness. It won’t help with the war.”

“What is it you see?”

It was always in bed, tangled up with a grown Rothy, having hard, heated sex. How could he possibly say that? He gave a roundabout answer instead.

“I see scenes of happy times with my spouse.”

“Your spouse… you mean Lord Rothy, the disciple of Lord Yolone?”

Theon nodded.

“My, how curious. That Seará would go as far as to take a tremuhle from an ‘Archduke’ just for the sake of your union. Come to think of it, the union of an Aura Master and archmage is a first in Araxys’s history. It appears Seará was waiting for sword and magic to unite.”

Romerie interpreted things generously enough that Theon didn’t have to make excuses.

“So, I understand your circumstances, but what exactly do you want to know about my prophecies?”

“I understand Your Holiness also sees the future through dreams.”

“That’s right.”

“Is it possible to communicate with the future? What method do you use?”

“Ah… so Your Grace wants to have a conversation with someone in the future.”

Romerie let out a sigh.

“I’m guessing you’ve tried and it hasn’t gone well?”

“As soon as I attempt to speak through my future self, I wake up from the dream.”

Theon had succeeded just once in borrowing his future self to ask Rothy why he had no scars. But before he could get an answer, he was ejected from the dream. After that, not once did it allow questions. He’d be expelled from the dream the second he opened his mouth. 

“The tremuhle’s resisting then…”

Romerie paused with her cold teacup in hand, then started talking.

“Before I answer, I’ll be honest with you. I can’t receive prophecies anymore. After the war ended, the divine took back my abilities. I’ve got divine power left, but I can’t see the future now.”

Theon was somewhat surprised. He’d never heard anything about her abilities disappearing. Solten must’ve kept it tightly under wraps, but Romerie trusted him enough to tell him so easily.

“That’s unfortunate. I’m sorry to hear that.”

“It means Seará’s judged that Araxys doesn’t require future prophecies anymore, so it’s something to celebrate.”

To Theon, hearing that the saint had lost her divine abilities sounded similar to an aura knight losing their aura or a mage losing their magic. But Romerie looked relieved, like she didn’t have any regrets.

“Who is it you want to communicate with in the future? Lord Rothy?”

“Yes.”

Romerie smiled softly.

“Divine artefacts, the tremuhles specifically, it’s both a natural object and an incredibly precise machine. Consider them as an elevator powered by magitool.”

“……”

“Let’s say an elevator’s got a weight limit of one hundred and fifty kilograms, and if you go over that limit, it breaks down and can’t operate anymore. Your Grace speaking through a future body is just like exceeding that weight limit.”

“You’re saying it’d cause the tremuhle to malfunction.”

“Exactly. Communicating with a future existence would be the very act that causes the breakdown. Try to do something the tremuhle won’t allow, and it might be destroyed completely, never to be used again. You’ve already attempted it several times, so there mightn’t be much left now.”

“……”

“However, if Your Grace has a reason you must communicate with future existences… if you absolutely have to have that conversation even if it means risking the tremuhle’s destruction…”

And what came next was a suggestion Theon had never even considered.