Wishing You All the Best on This Blooming Summer Night’s Journey Chapter 8

[xuebingcode]

Chapter 8

Riquet: …Oh, wait. Since you’re here Mitile, I’ll go and do this now.

Mitile: Hey, that’s the flower pot from Dr. Figaro…! Riquet, you’ve found your ‘moment’.

Riquet: Yes! Although I’m not as eloquent as Prince Arthur…

Going on an adventure with you guys and laughing lots today made me think that this must be the right moment for me.

Mitile, will you watch over me?

Mitile: Of course!

Riquet: Okay…Sanretea Edif!

I did it! I bloomed a healthy yellow flower!

Mitile: It’s so tall and spectacular, like the sun! The leaves are green and the stem is thick…this is a beautiful flower, Riquet! 

Riquet: Heehee. Thank you!

Alright Mitile, next is you!

Mitile: Bwuh?

Riquet: Today you went on an adventure with me, and you got that red cloth–the King of Water’s cloak.

Even Oz and the other teachers said that it was a rare and powerful item. Wouldn’t you say this is the right moment?

Mitile: …You, do have a point…

Snow: Hum hum, I see…it is as Arthur says. This cloth here belongs to the King of Water. 

White: There is no mistaking it. It’s the cloak its younger form carries. Mayhaps it was using it as a little bag. 

Arthur: I knew it. I thought I felt another strong presence of magic, different from you two.

Akira: Then the duckling we met yesterday was the King of Water in its child form.

Mitile: I figured it must’ve been a magic animal, but I didn’t think it would turn out to be the King…

Faust: Once it spreads its wings, they let go of the symbol of their youth, the red cloak. That might’ve been why it was on the lake.

Oz: It is a rare and powerful item. You are lucky to have it.

Mitile: T-Thank you.

Snow: Still…this is the first I’ve ever seen a King of Water use their red cloak to store toys. 

White: A leaf boat, curly twigs, and to top it off, funnily shaped rocks. Ohohoho, it’s like a child’s treasure box.

Shylock: It is a late bloomer for a King of Water. Its tastes and habits may be different to what we normally know.

Mitile: …Why did the King of Water play around like that, and collect treasures in its cloak.

Riquet: Hm?

Mitile: I told you about how the King of Water was playing with the leaf boat when we first met, yeah?

…For 220 years it stayed as a child. Normally it would have been able to grow its wings by then, but it never, never turned into an adult…

Not even the next day, or the day after, or even the next many long years. Like it would never ever…

Riquet: …

Mitile: If it was me, I would never ever be in the mood to play with a leaf boat! I’d be so frustrated, and sad, and distressed!

Riquet, don’t you feel the same?

Riquet: …Well, I…do understand, yes.

Mitile: You do?

Riquet: This study meet is unlike anything I’ve ever experienced. It’s been a special and fun time for me.

But I know Mitile, that even though you’re having fun, you don’t feel as special about it as I do.

Ever since you were little, you had been to sleepovers with Figaro or Lennox and others like it was normal. 

Mitile: …

Riquet: I’m a righteous wizard that has been blessed with the privilege to be born under the guidance of God. Except…

I find myself wondering sometimes, what it’s like to be like you, being born in a place where sleepovers are common.

To not have to think, whenever I stare at the treasures I’ve collected, about whether I’ll be able to take them with me or not when I leave the manor one day…

Mitile: Riquet…I…

…

Riquet: Oh…why are you holding my hand? 

Mitile: …’Cuz I wanted to…do you hate it?

Riquet: I love it. I think I wanted you to hold it too. Hehe, your hand is warm…

Mitile: …Riquet. Why do you think the King of Water spent its time playing and gathering treasures?

Riquet: I…believe that it simply thought it was fun to do so. It’s fun, but someday it might not be able to do it anymore…

So maybe that’s why it was gathering so many things it liked in that cloak before it could outgrow it. 

Mitile: …

…Riquet, I…I think I’ll wait on blooming my flower for now. 

Riquet: …You don’t think now is the right moment.

Mitile: Yeah. Not now. 

Riquet: …I understand. The thought of you and I sharing the same moment made me happy…

but now I’m looking forward to the moment you think is right!

Mitile: …! Yeah, you better look forward to it!

Faust: The Sage and the kids have fallen asleep.

Shylock: Hmhm. They need to have a good night’s rest for tomorrow night, so it’s all according to plan.

Twins in the Painting: Hngggh…

Snow: Phew, we’re out! Ah, the time is ripe! What fun, what fun!

White: Anyhoo, today sure sent us into a panic when Mitile picked up that cloak of the King.

I nearly thought they’d caught onto us about Shylock’s class tomorrow!

Faust: If it’s Arthur, he may have connected the dots…what do you think, Oz?

Oz: There’s a chance he might’ve picked up on it. At the very least, he must have noticed by now that the King of Water is soon to evolve. 

Snow: If he has found out, he may also be keeping quiet for us too. Because that is the kind of sweet and thoughtful boy he is. 

Oz: Yeah. He didn’t mention anything for the rest of the day, and instead swam in the lake with the Sage and watched fish. 

Shylock: I saw their happy smiles earlier from this window. Being able to focus on what’s in front of them and have fun is one of a Central wizard’s charming points. 

White: By the way, I am quite worried about Mitile. Even when he was playing with Riquet, he seemed rather out of it. It did look to me like he was still having fun though.

Oz: …Arthur told me that he was under pressure. And because he understands that feeling, he wanted to give him his space. 

Faust: Makes sense…well, it’s not like I’ve never felt that pressure before.

When I was Mitile’s age, I was full of myself, thinking things like “I’m not a child” despite my lack of experience and ability.

I couldn’t even imagine what the grown-up me a few years away would be like.

And because our thoughts about the future are infinite, it felt like I was forever stuck where I was in life.

Snow: I get it…you young’uns have a way with words. 

Faust: Uh, I’m past the age for that, don’t you think…I’m over 400 years old.

White: So young!! Right, you’re only 400, 400 years old!

Snow: We are so terribly sorry to keep you up this late. If you’re feeling sleepy, Faust, you may head to bed.

Faust: Hey, are you making fun of me?

Shylock: Hmhmhm, it’s just nostalgic. It is hard for those who’ve lived a thousand or even two thousand years to clearly remember their younger days. 

The pressures we had, the joys we felt…they are no longer ours. They are treasures that the younger generations can hold. 

As an adult, there are times where we want to comfort them and tell them to take it slow, but we know that deep down they themselves don’t wish for that.

Our only job is to watch over them. So that when it’s their turn to reflect on their younger days, they may see their past pains as precious memories.

White: That’s true…

The time you have to happily laugh innocently is limited after all. Especially those kids…

Oz: …Kids?

Faust: Ah…you mean Mitile, Riquet, and Arthur. Arthur is a political face, so it’s easy for him to see the dirt of the country.

Shylock: And Riquet prides himself on guiding humans, while Mitile was raised with the sense that wizards are meant to help others….so he feels he can’t stay a child forever.

White: …Ohohoho. That’s what I meant. I want to cherish the time they have as innocent youth. 

Snow: After chatting for so long, my throat has gotten parched. Shall we have a nightly teatime?

Shylock: You can’t go wrong with tea, but I have something better to whip up for us.

Inviebelle. 

This here is the meaning of the adult way of fun.

Snow: It’s Sangria!

White: Your homemade flavoured wine!

Shylock: I started making it yesterday. The flavour’s a touch too strong for the kids, so we will be the ones to enjoy it.

Oz: …Nice scent.

Faust: Yeah. The right amount of spice too.

Shylock: …Well then.

To the King of Water. And, to our young wizards. 

Everyone: Cheers.

The next night. When Shylock came to call us for his class, it was almost deep in the night. 

The time that we would already be fast asleep by now. Hearts beating a mile a minute at the unusual class, we all stood in front of the Lake of Young Hearts.

Mitile: Are we having class by the lake?

Riquet: If it’s a lesson that we have to do at this time only, is it a specific ritual?

The lake in the dead of the night was lukewarm, and mysteriously silent. Shylock grinned mischievously at the pair who tilted their heads in wonder.

Shylock: Indeed it is. Rather than a lesson, I would describe it as a field trip or survey though…

If I must name it, then it’s a sight that is beautiful, brilliant, and unlike anything else in this world.

Or you could call it the continuation of Faust’s class.

Akira: You mean…

The water at our feet slightly rippled. 

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