Chapter 293

Chapter 293: Chapter 293

Rayleigh knew what she was asking.

He had saved her without expecting compensation.

He had saved Ardi long before that.

There had been many occasions when he had stepped into someone else’s problem even when walking away would have been easier.

He had never thought of himself as a hero, and he still didn’t.

"If somebody is going to die in front of me and helping them isn’t going to destroy my own life, I’ll probably help."

Syr waited.

Rayleigh shrugged. "That’s about it. I don’t need a philosophy for everything."

"Most people like having noble reasons."

"Most people like sounding better than they are."

The answer made her quiet for several seconds.

Rayleigh returned to his meal and gave her enough time to think about whatever she had been trying to learn.

When Syr spoke again, her voice was lighter. "So if I were in danger again, you’d save me?"

"If I reasonably could."

"What if it were very dangerous?"

"I’d evaluate the situation."

"What if—"

Rayleigh pointed a piece of bread at her. "You’re trying to negotiate the terms of a hypothetical rescue now."

Syr laughed and raised both hands in surrender. "All right. I’ll stop."

"Good."

She behaved herself for almost an entire minute.

Then she looked toward his empty plate. "You ate everything."

"I was hungry."

"You always say that as if enjoying my food would be embarrassing."

"It was good."

Syr blinked.

Rayleigh reached for his cup. "You wanted me to say it, didn’t you? The food was good."

Her smile returned, noticeably warmer. "Yes."

"That was easier than whatever complicated strategy you were preparing."

"I wasn’t preparing anything."

Rayleigh looked at her, and Syr calmly took another bite.

Neither of them insulted the other’s intelligence by arguing about it.

...

Her break should have ended several minutes earlier, but Mia had not called her back yet.

Rayleigh noticed, and he suspected Syr noticed him noticing, though neither mentioned it.

Instead, Syr looked through the nearby window toward the western streets, where the last daylight was beginning to disappear behind Orario’s walls.

"Are you busy tomorrow?"

Rayleigh immediately became cautious. "Why?"

"That’s not an answer."

"It is when you’re asking."

Syr sighed, although she looked more amused than offended. "I have part of the afternoon free. There’s a small market near the western wall that only opens every few days, and I’ve wanted to visit for a while."

Rayleigh waited for the rest, but there wasn’t one.

"You want me to carry your shopping?"

"I can carry my own things."

"Protection?"

"It’s inside Orario."

"Then why me?"

Syr looked directly at him. "Because I want you to come with me."

That was simple enough that Rayleigh briefly had no response.

Syr did not look away or hide the request beneath a joke.

For all the things he knew about the woman sitting across from him, the invitation itself felt strangely straightforward, and that was probably why it worked better than anything complicated would have.

Rayleigh leaned back.

He had promised himself a week without another crisis, and going to a market with a waitress technically qualified. The fact that the waitress happened to be Freya was a separate problem.

’This is obviously dangerous.’

He looked at Syr.

She waited.

’Still less dangerous than the thirty-ninth floor.’

That was a terrible standard, but it was the one his life had given him.

"What time?"

Syr’s expression brightened immediately. "After lunch."

"I’ll meet you here."

"You’re agreeing?" she asked, something pleased creeping into her voice.

"I just asked what time."

"I wanted confirmation."

"Then yes."

Syr smiled with enough satisfaction that Rayleigh immediately wondered whether he should reconsider.

He didn’t.

The decision had already been made.

...

Rayleigh left the Hostess of Fertility after paying for the meal despite Syr’s attempt to tell him she had invited him and therefore should cover part of it, but he refused.

That particular argument ended when Mia took the money from his hand herself and told Syr to stop bothering customers who actually paid their bills.

Rayleigh liked Mia.

He was halfway down the street when he realized he had agreed to spend an afternoon alone with Freya.

He stopped walking as people moved around him.

Rayleigh looked toward the evening sky.

’That may have been stupid.’

Shinsō remained silent at his waist.

"You could have warned me."

The Zanpakutō did nothing.

"Useless."

He continued home.

...

Much later, Freya stood beside the enormous window overlooking Orario.

There was no wine in her hand tonight; she simply watched the city below while remembering the meal.

Rayleigh had returned.

Nobody had summoned him.

Ottar had not approached him, Allen had not watched him, and none of her children had arranged the encounter.

He had become hungry, looked at all the restaurants available in Orario and chosen the Hostess of Fertility himself.

Exactly as she had wanted.

She had kept her promise as well: Freya had not used Charm.

She had not pressed against his soul or tried to force open the strange defense surrounding it.

There had been no need. Her eyes could already see enough.

Something had changed: another blade had joined the others.

Six presences now rested around Rayleigh’s soul, each distinct, each connected to him in a way that still fascinated her.

The newest felt narrow and unnervingly quiet compared with the others, its presence giving Freya the impression of a weapon that preferred ending a fight before its victim understood that one had begun.

Yet the blades were still not what held most of her attention, for behind them, the other presence remained.

The second heartbeat.

Faint, steady, connected to Rayleigh without belonging to him.

She still could not identify it, and tonight she had deliberately refrained from pushing hard enough to learn more.

That restraint surprised even her.

Ottar stood several steps behind her.

"He returned."

Freya smiled. "Yes."

"You expected him to."

"I hoped he would."

She turned away from the window. "And tomorrow he’s coming back again."

Ottar said nothing, although his gaze shifted slightly.

Freya understood the question. "No escort. No watchers. I already gave that order, and it hasn’t changed."

"If there is danger?"

"Then I will deal with it."

Ottar accepted the answer.

Freya walked toward her room, already considering the ordinary clothes Syr would wear tomorrow.

There would be no Charm, no Familia pressure and no hidden army waiting around the corner.

For once, she intended to do something that should have been simple for anyone else in the world: spend an afternoon with a man she found interesting.

Whether Freya herself was capable of keeping something that simple remained to be seen.