Rhapsody of the Sunset-Kissed Greenhouse | Chapter 4

[healingbonds]

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The next morning, as I’m getting ready for the day, a timid knock at my door greets me.

Heathcliff: Good morning, Sir Sage.

Akira: Good morning. Did something happen?

Heathcliff: No, nothing at all. I just thought that sleeping in an unfamiliar place might leave you feeling uneasy, so....

Akira: Heath....
(I’m sure he’s worried about making progress with his magic, but he still thought about me....)

My heart grows warm at his kindness. I recall what Cain and Faust said last night.
Heathcliff is sensitive, earnest, and very kind. That’s why he notices when others are lonely, and does what he can to comfort them.

Akira: Thank you. I slept very well last night.
The dry flowers over there smelled so nice....

Heathcliff looks to my bedside and nods.

Heathcliff: Their fragrance helps you get a good night’s rest. We considered planting some in the orangery once.

Akira: The orangery.... The greenhouse in the courtyard, right?
Shino mentioned that it was your favorite place, Heath. Is that true?

Heathcliff: Um, well....

Heathcliff hesitates, a quiet smile upon his lips, before nodding slowly.

Heathcliff: It was a quiet place that put me at ease, so I spent a lot of time there as a child.
The rays of a gentle sunset would pour in from the big windows, and.... I enjoyed reading books there all alone.

I’ve never been in the orangery, but strangely enough, I can easily imagine the peaceful bliss of a young Heathcliff blanketed by the evening’s warm rays.

Akira: So it was still an orangery back then.

Heathcliff: Yes. I took care of a single tree. A little orange tree.

His quiet gaze grows distant.

Heathcliff: A noble on friendly terms with our family sent it as a gift, but it just wouldn’t take root... So I got worried and checked on it all the time.
Until I met Shino, I didn’t really have anyone I could call a friend. That’s why, back then, I thought of the orange tree like a friend.....
I pretended there was someone really there; I read books to him and spoke to him. ....It’s a little embarrassing.

Akira: I don’t think so — that’s a lovely memory.
Where is that tree now? Did you transplant it somewhere....?

Heathcliff meekly shakes his head, and his gaze falls to the floor like a drooping flower.

Heathcliff: ....It’s no longer around. Because it wilted a while ago, and got chopped down.

Akira: Eh......

We’re interrupted by rapid footsteps followed by a fierce knocking on the door.

Cain: Akira! Are you in here!?

Akira & Heathcliff: Cain?

Cain: That voice — so Heath is with you.
Great. Can both of you come with me? Shino’s in trouble.

Heathcliff: Shino is!?

Akira: What happened?

Cain: He collapsed in front of the orangery. One of the maids found him by chance just moments ago.

✦✧☾✧✦

We rush to the guest lounge where Shino was taken.

Nero: Heath. Mister Sage.

Arthur & Riquet: ...........

The wizards notified of the situation had already gathered in the room. Shino lies on the bed, eyes closed.
He doesn’t seem hurt; it looks like he’s just asleep.

Heathcliff: Shino.....!

Akira: Shino, are you okay!?

Shino: .............

Shino’s eyes remain closed, his body deathly still.

Heathcliff: Shino....?

Riquet: He’s been like this the whole time. No matter how many times we say his name, he won’t respond......

Arthur: There are no visible wounds on his body, yet he won’t regain consciousness.

Nero: Oz and Faust are checking the orangery right now.

Heathcliff: No way.... Shino, what happened?
Wake up, Shino. Shino.......

Shino: ................

Heathcliff grips Shino’s hand and repeats his name over and over again. But he shows no sign of waking from his slumber: his eyelids are as still as stone.
He looks completely different from the usual lively Shino; I feel like I’m gazing at a well-made doll.

Heathcliff: How did this happen......

Heathcliff’s voice trembles, and Nero quietly strokes his back.

Nero: ....Let’s wait for Faust and Oz to get back for now.

It doesn’t take them long to arrive. The wizards watching over Shino rush towards them impatiently.

Cain: Faust, Oz, did you come up with anything!?

Riquet: Was there a dangerous magic tool in the orangery?

Arthur: Or a poisonous plant so powerful that it would render one unconscious?

Faust and Oz respond to the rain of questions by shaking their heads.

Faust: No......

Oz: We looked through the orangery, but could not find anything dangerous that required our attention.

Akira: Huh....? Then why did Shino....?

Faust takes a small box out of his jacket.

Cain: What’s that?



Faust: It’s a magic tool known as the miniature garden of memories. We found it in the orangery.

Riquet: The miniature garden of memories....?

Faust: When you infuse it with magic, the box will accurately reproduce a location within your mind.
It’s essentially a toy; nothing you would need to be wary of. Even now, I can only sense a faint trace of magic.
But....

Faust tilts the miniature garden so that we can see what’s inside.

Heathcliff: .......!

I sense Heathcliff swallowing his breath right next to me.
There are two boyish dolls in the miniature garden. One has golden hair; the other, hair like night. In the center, a tree blossoms with oranges.

Akira: (....An orange tree....?)

Heathcliff told me about an orange tree just this morning.
I take a careful look at the walls of the miniature garden, and realize that the large windows, along with the colors and patterns of brick, are familiar.
They remind me of the orangery in the courtyard.

Akira: (Is the miniature garden recreating the orangery...? And these two dolls....)

Cain: ....Hey, don’t you think these dolls look like Heath and Shino?

Arthur & Riquet: ..........

The silence says it all: everyone here must be thinking the same thing. Nero furrows his brows and looks to Faust.

Nero: Hey, don’t tell me Shino....

Faust: Yes. I sense Shino’s presence trapped within this box.

All: !

Riquet: But Shino is right here?

Oz: That is just his body. His spirit is not with us.

Akira: Shino’s spirit....

Arthur: So that’s why he won’t open his eyes.

Cain: But why’d this happen to Shino? That tool’s basically a toy, right? It shouldn’t be a threat.

Faust: That’s precisely why it’s bizarre.
Shino has particularly powerful magic among the young wizards; I can’t imagine him being trapped by a magic tool of this level.
And even if he were caught off guard and sucked in, he should be plenty capable of escaping on his own.

Nero: Which means the problem isn’t so much the tool itself, but.....

Faust: There’s a good chance it’s something else.

Arthur & Riquet & Cain: .............

Heathcliff: .............

Chapter 3 << | index | >> Chapter 5