Third Arc: Fortieth Chapter

"Glad it reached you safely. Will you open it?"

At Michael's urging, Anje opened the black-cloth parcel, and inside was a small glass vial holding a liquid. The vial was deep green, engraved with a distinctive bird design. It was beautiful enough that the bottle alone looked valuable.

"A lovely bottle, but... what's inside?"

Ignoring my tilted head, Anje's eyes went wide with shock.

"This is the antidote...! But how?!"

"What... really?! Thank goodness...! Oh, Michael! With this you're saved...!"

Just when I'd nearly sunk into despair, sure we would never get it. Tears of relief burst from my eyes all at once. Anje must have felt the same. She clutched the vial and sank down as if her strength had drained away.

"Thank goodness... oh, thank goodness..."

Crying like children, Anje and I held each other. Maybe because all the nerves that had been strung tight went slack at once, the tears wouldn't stop.

"Cough... haha... Based on the information you gave, Remias drew me a map. If the 'what' and the 'where' are known, there's nothing my ninja can't fetch."

Coughing as he spoke, Michael pushed himself up in the bed.

I hurried to stand and support his back, rubbing it, but there was a word I couldn't let slide.

"N-ninja...?"

I badly want to hear the details. No, this isn't the time.

"Yeah. My own personal ninja slipped into Lyonetta's bedroom during the earlier fuss and brought it back for me. Very capable, he is! Haha!"

"Surely not... Master Hattori..."

"Hold on. What is that name."

No good, I can't hold it in! Ngh...!

That swirly-cheeked one? Is it him? A cute little cartoon character with dead eyes floats up into my head, so it does.

But Anje ignored my turmoil, her cheeks faintly flushed, her eyes sparkling.

What's with that reaction? Is this world's Hattori some absolute stunner? Not the whisker-cheeked sort?

"You know him well!"

"Ah, yes... he was my idol! The lovely ninja, Master Hattori... I went to his concert!"

"Haha! He'll be pleased too!"

"A concert?! A ninja?! Not hiding from the world in the least! There's far too much to pick apart! Hey, Anje! Doesn't that name feel odd to you at all?!"

I asked, all but tearing my hair out, but Anje only tilted her head, blank.

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"I mean, he's that cartoon ninja, isn't he?!"

"Ninjas have always been Hattori since the old days, haven't they? Even I know of Hattori Hanzo, you know?"

Saying so, Anje puffed out her cheeks cutely and added under her breath, "I did play as him in that warriors game..."

No, what even is a warriors game.

Strange. We're not connecting.

Calm down. Calm down, Cosette. Yes, this feeling I know so well. This is.

"A generation gap!"

I covered my face with both hands and looked up at the ceiling.

"Um, sorry to break up the fun, buuut."

"Oh, sorry, Michael! I just remembered my own (mental) age for a moment there."

I'm a fresh, spry sixteen now, so it shouldn't matter, but somehow it stung. Grrgh.

"Yeah. I don't quite follow, but... anyway, can I have that medicine?"

"Oh, sorry! Here!"

Snapping back to herself, Anje hurriedly handed Michael the vial. Of course I was just as guilty, but getting the antidote had made us feel as if Michael were already cured.

Michael tipped the vial back in one go and swallowed with a small gulp of his throat.

"Ugh, foul!"

"They say good medicine tastes bitter. You'll surely feel better soon! Oh, I'm so glad...! Ah! Is there any water?"

Wiping the tears at the corners of my eyes, I looked around the room, but there was nothing like a water jug on the bedside chest. Until now I'd had no room to look the place over, but it must be a long-unused room. It had been given a token cleaning, but looking closely it was a little dusty.

"Well, they're not that kind. We are locked up, after all."

"I'll go look for some!"

Maybe feeling bad about being slow to hand over the medicine, Anje spun on her heel and trotted off to the adjoining room.

"Michael, how is it? It may not work right away, but... any easier?"

Supporting his back, I slowly laid him down on the bed as I asked. He really had been pushing himself. Big beads of sweat stood on his brow, and his breathing had gone ragged again.

"Haha... yeah, I can't say I don't feel a little better. And if the healing goddess, my Venus, radiant sunshine honey Cosette stays by my side..."

"You have a fever. You should sleep a little."

"J-just a bit more! Let me say a little more!"

"Haah... honestly, always joking. But I'm relieved you're livelier than I thought."

As I sighed, oh dear, Michael smiled happily. That smile was so very happy, so sweet it looked ready to melt, that despite myself I blushed.

"Wh-what is it?"

"Nothing... I was just thinking you really did worry about me."

"O-of course I did! Anyone would!"

"Haha... yeah. No, no. It's not a matter of course. Normally you don't truly worry over someone you met less than a month ago."

"That's not true. Everyone worries about you. Elliot too."

"Elliot's my brother. Normally people don't wear themselves out for a near-stranger they just met. Much less risk their life sneaking into a noble's mansion."

That might be so. But if there's a way to help, I'd sneak in any number of times. Though in the end, whether my actions were any use is doubtful.

As I looked down and fell silent, Michael suddenly pulled me close. Caught off guard by a strength you'd never expect from a sick man, I was hugged tight against his surprisingly broad chest.

"M-Michael?! Let go..."

"My eye was right after all. Cosette, I take back my last proposal."

"Huh...?"

The sudden proposal at Remie's wedding. I'd wanted it withdrawn, and yet somehow I felt let down, and it startled me at myself.

Michael drew back a little, cupped my cheeks in both hands, and gazed straight into my wavering eyes.

"Let me ask you again. Lady Cosette Edelweiss. I love you from the bottom of my heart. Please be the companion of my life."

"Mich... ael...!"

Michael's obsidian eyes shone in the dim room. Caught by the strange, trembling color deep within them, I couldn't move a muscle, as if bound in place.