"Hmm... is it raining outside?"
Before opening her eyes, Aesc heard the soft patter of rain against the window.
For a fleeting moment, she thought she was back in northern Orkney, but clear reality soon returned. She sat up, wrapping her pale arms around the quilt.
"Yes. It started before dawn... According to the familiars' observations, the rain this time covers all of Britannia north of Manchester." Shiomi crossed the room slowly toward her. "I suppose the northern fairies' march will be delayed."
That was certain.
It was said that Mab had raised an army of humans, but she hadn't abandoned the power of the fairies. And a fairy army, more than a human one, would be easily hindered by the weather.
"I see. Then our own departure will be delayed as well," said Aesc.
"My guess is the rain will stop sometime after noon." Shiomi handed her the cup in his hand. "Setting out then won't be too late."
Aesc reached out and accepted it. Inside was something called hot cocoa—one of the plants Shiomi had introduced to Britannia through his power. It had become a beloved delicacy among the island's fairies.
Such simple pleasures were key to winning over the Wing Clan and the Wind Clan to join the Clan Alliance.
Of equal importance was the strong liquor Shiomi had created, brewed and distilled four times. Each of these things offered the fairies a fresh experience, effectively drawing them closer.
Even the naturally capricious fairies could be guided in their preferences through controlled production and trade.
On a slightly chilly afternoon after rain, Aesc loved a warm drink like this.
But when she took the cup, the quilt slipped from her arms, and her flawless, pale body was exposed to the room's air. The dim light from the candles seemed to grow brighter.
"The great Savior, sitting there half-naked—that's hardly proper," Shiomi teased from the bedside.
Aesc held the cup calmly and replied, "If you put it that way, then the great Sage wandering around the room completely naked isn't proper either."
They both laughed.
"The bathwater's ready. Once you finish that, take a bath. You're all sweaty and sticky—getting dressed like that won't feel good," Shiomi said.
"How considerate." Aesc nodded.
After finishing the hot cocoa, Shiomi carried her into the bathroom, and they soaked together in the tub. After washing away the sweat, he reached out and lifted a strand of her long hair floating on the warm water.
Aesc's hair was golden. When they had first met in the Land of Rain, she had looked almost identical to Artoria Pendragon.
But as years passed, some of those golden strands had gradually turned icy blue, setting her apart from Artoria—just as Shiomi had known she would become.
"What is it?" Aesc asked, not quite understanding.
"Nothing. I was just thinking how fast time flies…" Shiomi's voice turned distant. "Your hair's changed color too."
"Probably the result of ringing the Pilgrim's Bell," Aesc replied, unconcerned.
It had been nearly 1,700 years since the Mirror Clan rang their bell. Under Shiomi's direction, they had allied with three clans and gained access to the Pilgrim's Bells of Earth, Wind, and Wing.
Now, only the Fang Clan's Pilgrim's Bell remained unstruck.
For fairies, hair color reflected a fundamental transformation of Mana. Having grown stronger after ringing five Pilgrim's Bells, Aesc hadn't paid much attention to such unconscious changes.
"I can tell." Shiomi gazed at her eyes from the side, his voice soft as silk. "Two thousand years have passed, and yet your eyes are still as clear as ever."
Two thousand years—within Proper Human History, that span was long enough to encompass the entire era after the Age of Gods withdrew from the surface, an age vast and grand as a flowing river.
Countless heroes had risen and fallen, each carving their own legends.
But here, on this fairy-inhabited island of Britannia, Shiomi had only come to understand the true nature of the fairies—how to control them, not how to befriend them. Fairies worthy of trust were few indeed.
"Compared to that, your eyes seem to carry far more weariness now," Aesc said, scooping a handful of hot water and letting it run down along her collarbone. "Though the air between us hasn't changed since the day we first met."
"As long as I look at you, I feel I haven't aged at all," Shiomi said, slipping an arm around her waist with playful affection.
"That's rather nice, then." Aesc smiled faintly and stroked her belly. "But after all these years… maybe it's time we had a child?"
Fairies and humans rarely conceived naturally. Many fairies kept humans merely as playthings for their amusement—imitations of human indulgence, nothing more.
To truly bear a child would require magical assistance.
And more importantly, a child born of fairy and human blood meant a weakened lineage—neither as powerful as a fairy, nor free from the frailties of humanity.
In this Britannia, such a being would undoubtedly be shunned by all sides.
"Why bring that up all of a sudden?" Shiomi asked, his tone revealing genuine curiosity.
"I heard that Queen Mab seems to have a human lover," Aesc explained. "If she ends up having a child before us, it'd feel like losing."
"Really now…" Shiomi sighed helplessly.
Over the past seventeen centuries, he and Aesc had visited Edinburgh many times, though their last visit had been two hundred years ago.
Since then, Mab and Aesc had grown closer—but their competitive natures made them rivals more than friends.
Their rivalry extended beyond the creation of an ideal Britannia to even matters of love. Mab had once boasted that she would find a human lover better than Aesc's husband.
"But that's all talk. Britannia still isn't ready to accept children born of humans and fairies—even if the human happens to be you." Aesc knew this well, so she wasn't in any hurry.
After all, they had time—plenty of it. There was no need to rush.
Suddenly, noise erupted from the streets outside, like an argument breaking out, loud enough to reach even the bath.
"And that's exactly why Manchester is such a headache…" Shiomi muttered.
"With all the clans active here, conflicts are bound to happen," Aesc said as she rose from the tub. "As my husband would say, this city is quite… diverse."
After dressing quickly, Aesc took on the calm authority of a savior resolving disputes and headed out with Shiomi to the street.
There, they found Grímr—who was supposed to remain in Manchester—arguing with a small fairy.
Barely fifty or sixty centimeters tall, the creature was quick, powerful, and... astonishingly short-tempered.
...
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