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Since the very ancient time, there is no flower blossom on the Rayfalke Spiritcrest. Ah no, there is one, one that no mortal eyes can see, lonely and obstinately growing on the top of the Spiritcrest.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsfGJId7sNG
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Edna POV(a certain future time from Velvet POV in the previous chapter)
I used to be free, but I was imprisoned. I imprisoned myself in the Rayfalke Spiritcrest, waited day after day for my brother who was not returning.
Now I am imprisoned, but my mind is free. No one can twist the resolution of Earth Seraphim easily, it is the firmness in our perseverance make us an Earth Seraph. However, I know two people who made an earth seraph felt impressed, one is the Shepherd traveled with me, another one is the Lord of Calamity sailed with my brother.
As I witnessed how Sorey came along the way, my brother, Eizen also witnessed Velvet went through messes in the journey. I can only imagine it is a hard journey as she was being with Reaper Eizen. A lot of frustration along the way, they stand up again after they bear it. The strength possessed on the person we agree with is the reason why we will like the human being that we have been watching.
I don’t hate people who my brother likes, because our taste is probably similar. The so-called Lord of Calamity succeeded in getting him home once. That was why I didn’t hate her even if I haven’t met her yet. Probably, there is also gratefulness in it, after all, she made my stubborn brother come home to see me once.
I remember in that time when I was in a different cage from here, and I was in a cage without walls set by myself. I was waiting for Eizen, even though I knew he would not come back, I keep waiting. He would send a lot of letters and souvenirs to me, wanting to compensate my loneliness, but none of it can.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFnYaBYGtqW
The only thing I want is he can be with me, just that.
However, it seems like a miracle happened one day.
*16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgKWJIXbrLK
That day, everything just like normal, I sit on the top of the Spiritcrest, overlook the earth. Normally, no one pays here a visit, except the Turtlez. I expected no more sound of steps other from Turtlez and me around the hill Spiritcrest, but something has changed since one day. Eizen came.
“Eizen!” I exclaimed at the moment I saw him, and I ran to him without a doubt. If this is a dream, I hope it will never end. I hugged when I met him again, hugged so tightly to ensure his existence, I am in reality and he is here.
“It’s been a while, Edna.” He answered, pat my head while I was hugging him. If it is permitted, I would like not to release him, but I knew he would be troubled, so I released him at last.
“Have you...been well?” It had been a really long time since Eizen left, and I am sure he felt a bit guilty when he asked me about my recent condition.
“Do I look well?” I wanted to complain that I am not well without him but I didn’t. He would be troubled if I did. And I am actually being ‘fine’ and safe as long as I stay in the Rayfalke Spiritcrest. Still, I want to be a bit sarcastic when he left so long, so instead of complaining, I answer him with a question.
“Yes.”
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“............” Sure, I hide it too well from Eizen, don’t want him to notice, and don’t want him to worry. I look well to my brother as long as I act like I am fine. My brother is an idiot when it comes to me.
“.............” Eizen didn’t say anything then. Maybe he didn’t plan to stay so long as he always afraid his Reaper curse will affect me. I wonder if he is gonna say bye to me in the next second.
“It has been long enough. I want to hear the stories you bring.” It is the first time, I am not able to hold back myself, I detained him for a moment by a request. Guessed it will be a long moment for him to finish telling all the stories.
“........Right. It would take time. Let’s take the moment with the palmier together.” Eizen can never refuse my request, he accepted. He suggested and took out his prepared palmier from his black coat, it is the reason I sensed a nostalgic scent from Eizen apart from his own body odor.
“Great.” It must be another enjoyable time for me, Eizen’s palmier always tastes good to me, and my brother will maintain the taste nearly unchanged by completely identical choices in ingredients. Of course, it is because I enjoy the moment with him, that’s a thing he never understands.
Brewed with mellow, thick and fragrant black tea, with Eizen’s palmier as tea dessert, a tea party with only brother and me started.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcndq41utcN
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“ I land on tails, I’ll flip it to heads on my own.” My brother intimating Velvet's tone in front of me, admiring the one who is the first one able to turn his cursed vessel to the head side.
That was a long time visit from the last visit, Eizen visited me just after a few months from the letter about the lord of Calamity and her company, but the visit still very surprising and precious to me.
That is why he likes to travel with humans, always give him a surprise. I didn't understand him at that time but only after traveling with Sorey, I think I knew it now. It is not only negative things appear in humans, not just selfish, greedy, jealous and angry, but also sincere, kindness and selfless.
However, in other words, without those kind-heart idiots, the villain can’t exist that long, when they can’t use people for something when the world loses the boundary of light and darkness.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4dHAQ47Xu3
My brother talked a lot about Velvet Crowe and her companion. So far that I have memorized about Velvet and her companion by the time he talked about them. I can't ignore them and I know my brother must like them a lot.
Very strange that Velvet has become the second person I familiar with apart from my brother. Somehow like I was forced to be familiar with Velvet even when I haven't met her. Since I will read each letter from my brother, I can't ignore his words about Velvet.
If I was asked to evaluate Velvet Crowe, I would say she is either a good person or a bad person. She does things for her own goods no matter what brings, like the Calamity. Normally she cares none of the things in the surrounding, she won’t do good or harm to them if not necessary; but when it comes to what she cares, she will do everything for it, Everything, even if it cost herself.
According to my brother’s words, she pretended to be emotionless but actually, she is the most emotional person for people she cared for.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwVA1kWkHht
It is the emotion that turned her a daemon, a lord of Calamity.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX2o2O61mu3
It is the emotion made her a better person, even when she is a mess to the world.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2ANIf0Wc0k
It is the emotion made she decided to give the world a hope after brought all the disasters to it.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvW0qS6npGF
It is the emotion that made her human.
It is all well described in my brother’s letter and his talk to me in person. The message about her never stops even after Velvet’s disappearance. I guess she is another person that Eizen cared that much.
I don’t really hate her or dislike her, but say, a little bit like her after hearing such annoying texts about Velvet all the time and after seeing her in person.
We are both the selfish kind, that the first thing connects us together apart from having been with Eizen, which makes me being able to relate myself to her. After meeting Velvet, I realized we are somehow similar as we both waited for our family, we treasured our family.
She is also similar to my brother. Always a cold, indifferent look, but value her family very much, she will do anything for them. Sometimes she is acting like a sister, well, later I knew, she was indeed a sister. Cold but tender, alike to my brother, and not like she is over-relying on the seraphim, all the more reasons to be a human I don’t hate.
She stubbornly fights the fate again and again around the Reaper, even if she was called as the Calamity. That’s why I have the feeling that she is ‘appropriate’ to Eizen.
“In early time, she was blinded by vengeance, nothing stops her hatred towards Artorius. Even after a great fall, she never gave up. That’s what the idiot impressed me. Never give up and never treat my curse as a thing.” Eizen proudly stated his memory to Velvet, the memory to an idiot.
“......Even if herself that cracked, never stopped her steps towards.” Then the sentence was stated proudly but also soft and sad in the end. He saw all Velvet’s weak moments in the journey, cruel enough to cause him to feel painful and sorry to her, but he chose not to say a word, only stand beside her to see.
“.......I am glad that she didn’t turn you into a dragon.” I expressed my relieve on that. After all, Eizen always stays around the sources of malevolence.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5S5IG7ldgV
“Don’t worry. I will take care of myself and if you are talking about the Daemon and the Lord of Calamity. I will say they are very tender, especially the Lord. They always keep a distance to avoid the marak in the team turned into a dragon.”
“Which is why you all like a family despite different in species.” I sightly expressed my envy. I am glad that Eizen is glad around humans and seems found an interested person, but it is lonely to wait for a brother who nearly never returns.
“....umm…” Eizen wryly smiled, he totally got the hidden message, to treat other friends as a family but ‘abandoned’ his true sister.
“You are forever my only and true little sister.” Eizen firmly ensured.
“......I know, you idiot.” I sighed and then asked: “....Where is she? I mean Velvet.”
“....God knows, she may be sleeping in the underground, in the center of the planet, and dreaming a peaceful dream. There may be somewhere we won’t be able to access it. Just don’t know if I got a chance to meet her again.” He tried to say calmly. Indeed, he acted calm like a stone, but deep down, he has a heart and I knew he was sad. Who won’t be sad after seeing two of his dear friends died or disappeared.
“....I see.” I turned my back to Eizen, not to see his face. Something bad happened, so she was not able to escape from my brother’s curse finally. I knew the end of Velvet in her journey a little bit of time after this visit.
She was an idiot, to fulfill her aim at any cost that never wants to involve others in her pain or despair. She was somehow the savior but no one will see her that way, either herself.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOJeZjW401R
She was an idiot sacrifice herself and saved her team and the world but that seems the only choice to her if she wanted to protect the one she loved.
“What’s the reason for your sudden visit?” I thought he was not going to visit me but continue his trip.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ26HgfGbS4l
“A promise,” Eizen answered in a serious tone.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLSercpjXzA
“What do you mean?”16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmD7dOOiEiP
“The Lord of Calamity asked me to go visit you after the journey. I answered with an invitation to her to visit you together, but she avoided to answer and just told me to go visit you.” So Velvet knew herself has no way to end well in the beginning.
“In fact, sometimes she was mad at me for leaving you that long time. Said, a terrible brother. She told me to cherish my own family when I still have the chance.” Eizen gave a wry smile.
“Very accurate, I should say, but why would she care?”
“Maybe she had a terrible brother too.”
“A Lord of Calamity, huh?”
“Yep, a Lord of Calamity who has sympathy towards some complete strangers.” Sounded like nothing more but a normal human.
“.....That again shows the awfulness of human.” To push one like Velvet to become a Lord of Calamity and blame all on her.
“.........I hope you see the sea one day. It is cruel and terrifying when it comes with storms, but also wide, mysterious and peaceful. You may always find something new in it.”
“Maybe, one day.”
“...Yeah...one day….” We both knew it is a fake promise, he would never agree to bring me towards danger.
To think of the words he told me to praise the amaze of the ocean, I found it ridiculous at first. An Earth Seraphim who destinate to be drowning in water love the sea, while the sea is such dangerous things to him. Similar to human, he likes human, although human always releases malevolence that toxic to Seraphim, obviously dangerous to him. I understand most of them now, that he hoped me to understand more about humans and seeing positive things from humans too.
“......here a present for you.” he took out a box decorated with ribbon and opened it. It contained a ribbon with a pink flower.
“.....It is beautiful. Clearly not chosen by you. Thanks to the one for me, I like it.” One thing I doubted that it was not his usual sense of present choice, but I didn’t ask who was the one who bought it.
“......Glad that you like it. I will thank her if I get a chance to meet her again.” Eizen smiled and watched far away in the sky, at that moment, I felt that it is Velvet the one who choose it.
“Does the flower have a name? It is not like the Edna flowers you had shown me.”
“It is Princessia, meaning the bond between humans, an irreplaceable treasure. It is fragile to stand alone, but it stays strong when they grow in a group. Even the lord of Calamity liked them.”
“Bond between human……”
“Not just human, I think it means the bond between entities, like you and me.”
I laughed, Eizen is not good at words but he will say things like this which makes me happy.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡemIh7CS9Ei
Maybe the present is not truly from him, but it included his meaning in it.
“I should go now.”
“Someone is waiting for you? I see. Would you like to introduce her before leaving?”
“huh?” Eizen turned his head and see the redhead behind him.
“S...Sorry. Did I disturb you two?” She said in a nervous tone. I am a bit disappointed that she was not Velvet, but I didn’t complain, after all, Velvet had no choice.
“No, not at all, anything?” Eizen answered indifferently.
“...No…..just be curious about Eizen’s sister…She is cute…”
“Oh?~” I teased.
“Of course she is cute, she is my sister.” My silly brother defended for my cuteness
“Hum, sorry to be impolite. I shall introduce myself. I am Eleanor Hume, the former praetor of Abbey, I traveled with Eizen.”
“And I say, the new Shepherd of this Age.”
“Ei...Eizen!!It is not!! I...I just…”
“It is just like that to me and I am not blaming you. You will be a good Shepherd.”
“Is...Is that so….I think I am still not mature enough though….thanks.”
“A Shepherd traveled with a Lord of Calamity…...Interesting. If you are a Shepherd, you must have a Malak assistant, right?”
“....Actually, no.”
“What?”16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdKZx72FOS7
“Malak avoid forming pact after the event. I don’t want to force them to form a pact, because I realized that we both have a soul.”
“.......Then I will introduce my friend to you.”
“.......Really?!Thank you! Why would you be so kind to me?”
“ You are my brother’s friend, and he trusts you, so I will lend a hand. I would introduce Lailah to you later.”
“Lailah? who is it?”
“It would be super boring if I just waiting for you or your letters all the time. Mao-boy sent Lailah to meet me, pretty considerate, isn’t he?” I teased.
“Tch!”
“Mao-boy?”
“The short form of Maotelus boy.”
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“Be seeing you then.”
“...Sure.”
Then Eizen was gone again, days remained calm and silent, despite a little change in geometry and an episode of a temporary visit from Eleanor and Lailah. She said, “ It is alone to be lone, so I would visit you in my spare time, that is just my willfulness.”.
I haven’t directly accepted the offer but I acquiesced.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvAIiVklSox
One thing I agree with my brother, I felt the time flow lively when I have someone company to have a conversation.
Eleanor had not noticed the princessia ribbon on my left leg, clearly, the present is not from her but from others. Just a guess, maybe it is from Velvet. We chatted things about the journey and human society. I will ask for more detail of the journey from Eizen and also grew frustration towards humans when hearing more stories of the human society from Eleanor.
Though Eleanor is not a bad person, she is passionate and eager to work hard, a typical excellent student, I continued to lose faith in humanity because of her. I saw she fatigued sometimes to tackle all kinds of stuff from human, I wonder if anyone works with her. If all human does is blaming all wrong on a person and relying everything on a person, then they are surely ugly and hopeless creature.
It was a short period, the lively conversation continued until a day I found Eleanor stopped visiting me but only Lailah. The answer was obvious.
I knew human’s fragile and short-life nature, she must be dead.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡldCmpDVey2
I honestly grew not much feeling on Eleanor, just a little disappointment for her death.
She had a pure heart to help all human, marak, and Daemon live peacefully together one day but seems her vision was not achieved even she cost her life. I had seen much more death of humans before, she is only one of them who interact relatively frequent to me.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1cNLnptJta
*
I still not fully understood how is the feeling of my brother to continue writing more about his journey and Velvet after Velvet had disappeared long ago. Remembering the first I found her name on a letter, my brother started that she was a Lord of Calamity in the letter. I was shocked by that, thinking that ‘What was Eizen thinking? Traveling with a Lord of Calamity?!’ and thinking my brother got controlled or something else when I read it. Until now I become so familiar to her without even actually meet with her in the first place.
My brother just let Velvet lived in his letter and in my memory, telling me to take care of her if I ever have a chance to meet her while knowing his doom would come soon. I haven’t known her well and still not familiar with her, but if Eizen cared her that much, she must not be a bad person and I will try to care about her.
I am well aware that there is word should be spoken before anything too late but I will call it still an early state. A human who is able to travel with my brother with the Reaper curse such a long time, she must be tough enough to encounter horrible fate. Somehow I believe that she will take action to resist if she encounters the fate.
Pathetic that I can’t do anything now, not if I keep trapping in this anti-seraphic-arte room, seems there is a kind of seraphic artes to resist and limit my power in the room. It was the worst moment to meet an enemy in strength like a Lord of Calamity and got caught. I wonder if Velvet is going to do something for us, I have seen her concern towards us in this. I don’t know if she cared, but I can be sure that once she thinks someone is important, she will not betray.
Sigh again for my pathetic state, then the door suddenly burst off, an old face appeared surprised me.
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A.N.
Edna has complained so few parts she plays in the recent chapters so I let her show up in this chapter.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZGwPsuPAgA
(Somehow, I write them both being trapped so that I can play the memory clips.)
Edna’s memory is not much related to the plot( but to dilute the sadness I brought), it is a more detailed version of Eizen and Edna last meeting that mentioned in Ch17, maybe the last scene is more important to the plot.
Probably no one will guess the person who comes rescue as there may not be enough hints. I just write the memory it to support background information of the past events and hope to supplement more reasons for Edna’s feelings and concerns towards Velvet, although there may not be a good characterization of Eizen and Edna. Well, I would like to link everything together.
Remind again that this part(the last scene) is a bit future time from Sorey and Velvet clip in Chapter 26, but it gives hope, to say that Edna will be rescued!
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