The tip of the old man’s pen touched the surface of the relic:
"When he said goodbye to , it was in the spring of a fine weather evening, the third year since our first eting. The sunset that evening was truly brilliant. He held my hand as we walked through the village, inviting to join him at the top of the bell tower to tell sothing very important. It’s so nostalgic, even after all these years, I still rember the warmth of his palm that day. I rember us climbing the bell tower’s steps, embracing on the top floor of the bell tower in our hotown, looking out the window at the distant sunset..."
The bell tower’s surroundings remained unchanged, but the brilliant orange-red sunshine was now pouring in from all the windows. The sunlight, even more glaring than the campfire, made Shard and Miss Higgins instinctively squint, then smile as they embraced the warm light.
They both stood up and walked to the window to look outside. Under the resplendent sunset, a fertile village lay in the valley basin, smoke rose lazily, dogs barked from the corners of the village, villagers carrying farming tools returned ho, and children joyfully ran along the village paths—a very heartwarming scene.
Footsteps ca from the staircase, and Shard and Miss Higgins turned to look. Sure enough, they saw a young girl holding hands with a young man with a longsword at his waist coming up together.
Both of their faces were flushed red by the sunset, even their hair and clothes took on a red hue.
They embraced at the west-facing window, gazing together at the sunset’s afterglow. Suddenly, the young man from behind embraced the young girl, who gently pushed her lover, her blushing ears almost translucent in the brilliant sunset.
"So romantic... if only it were two girls."
Shard heard Miss Higgins mutter, then heard the words of the young couple in Mrs. Miles’ mory:
"Sarah, I... I’m leaving our hotown. No, please listen to , I want to go to the battlefield to achieve rit and then return with honor to marry you."
The blonde young man who spoke tightly hugged his lover, the ordinary-looking but gentle Miss Sarah Miles pursed her lips and asked softly:
"Marry ?"
"Yes, my knight title cos from my father, everything I have is from him. I don’t yet have the capability to make you my wife, please wait for . This war not involving witches will end soon. At most one year, I will return, bringing military honors and the lord’s reward, making you my wife."
After speaking, he joked:
"Maybe by the ti I return, you’ve awakened as a witch and abandoned ."
"No, Richard, please don’t say that. I will always wait for you, waiting for you to co back..."
The young girl turned around, wrapped her arms around her lover’s neck, and embraced him again.
Shard saw Miss Higgins shake her head at Mrs. Miles’ youthful words. She didn’t believe anyone could escape the influence of a witch’s curse. And indeed, Mrs. Miles never beca a witch.
"I kept my promise, always waiting for him to return."
The embracing young couple remained silent for a long while, as if rging into the evening sunset, becoming an eternal scenic painting. The old man by the campfire slowly uttered, contrary to Shard and Miss Higgins, who were watching the scene, she had her back to the embracing couple; she didn’t need to turn around, the picture had long been engraved in her heart:
"I waited and waited, until wrinkles crawled on my cheeks, until my hair turned frost-white. I waited until the village fell into decline after a plague, until the lord was murdered by his son, and then a new lord took over. I kept waiting for him to return, believing he would surely co back..."
Shard’s sighs concluded the old man’s words. This mory was not yet over, and the young couple, while embracing, made each other promises:
"I will always wait for you, you must hurry, or I will grow old."
"I will, next spring, in this sa season, wait here at the highest point to be the first to see return with the horse."
"I will prepare garlands woven with parsley, sage, rosemary, and thy for you. I’ll wait for you here."
The two young hearts moved closer; eyes looking into eyes, noses touching. Against the sunset backdrop, they kissed, making Miss Higgins shake her head again:
"I don’t like these stories with tragic endings, even if the story is interesting and moving in the middle, I don’t like it at all... Madam, is that tower, oh, I an the bell tower in your mory of your hotown, still standing?"
The old woman gently shook her head while looking at the words she had written:
"Every spring, I would wait in that bell tower in the best sunshine. I waited for 12 years, only to see the plague co, and the surviving villagers leave. I had to move with my family but would return to my hotown every spring, waiting a whole day in the tower. In the 23rd year after he left, that bell tower, unmaintained, collapsed in a sumr storm. So, year after year, I took my woven garland to wait in the ruins... year after year, watching the sun rise and set, watching the wind, frost, rain, and snow..."
The young witch suddenly rembered an earlier matter:
"Garland? Are you talking about the garland that the King didn’t let you carry when we set out?"
Then she turned to explain to Shard:
"In a place like Black Mist Camp, His Majesty foresaw that even the most beautiful flowers would wilt imdiately."
Shard nodded and then showed concern about the story’s continuation:
"Madam, when exactly did you resolve to co to the dangerous region where we are now?"
"I waited for him my whole life, thinking there was no hope left. But, unexpectedly, in the spring about 7 years ago, while waiting again at the Bell Tower Ruins in my hotown, I didn’t wait for him, but instead a girl riding a blue Chocobo arrived. She told that my mother’s younger brother’s daughter had just established a nation at the desert’s edge on the Western Continent. She had many forr enemies and dared not seek us out, but now she has defeated all her adversaries and wants to take to enjoy life’s pleasures."
"I truly envy you, cough, I an, you’re really lucky."
Miss Higgins remarked, and Shard gazed at the young couple still wrapped in kisses, their mories frozen:
"That was seven years ago?"
The elder sighed amidst the crackling of the campfire:
"My cousin and I were not familiar at first, and even after all these years, I continued to hope he would return on his own to keep his promise, so I didn’t let her help . Still, every spring I returned to wait with the girl, and my cousin waited with . She advised to find him myself if he wouldn’t appear. She tried divination, among other thods, but none succeeded. Recently, my health has deteriorated, and not even she can help live a normal life for a few more years, which led to the plan to co here."
Shard and Miss Higgins both had expressions of understanding. The youthful witch seed unaware that such a story lay within:
"Indeed, if even His Majesty’s divination couldn’t locate Mr. Richard Knight Jackman, seeking assistance here seems the only option. Is the mory ending here? Did the gentleman return?"
She asked curiously, while Shard looked around, yet saw no soul appearing here, only the frozen landscape reminiscent of an oil painting mory scene lingering.
He contemplated before coming up with an idea:
"Mrs. Miles, please don’t remain seated, stand up. Yes, say that na again, carefully."
Miss Higgins quickly approached to support the elderly lady. Rising by the campfire, Mrs. Miles ticulously adjusted her attire:
"Richard Knight Jackman."
She tried calling, Miss Higgins swiftly turned to the staircase, but still, no one was there. Shard noticed the young man’s fingers move while he embraced his beloved.
"Richard Knight Jackman."
The elder called out again and, as if realizing sothing, she looked toward the Bell Tower window at the young man in the sunset mory.
The young girl he was holding had vanished. After the second call, he’d lowered his arms, facing the sunset with his back to the three behind him.
Miss Higgins looked on with overwhelming excitent, fueled by witnessing a wonderful story and from the joy that this cursed journey had finally reached its end. Even Shard smiled, having just endured the most torturous mont since arriving in this world, and now seeing this heartwarming story brought him joy naturally.
"Richard Knight Jackman."
Mrs. Miles called the na for the third ti, releasing Miss Higgins before incredulously stepping forward. The one who had turned his back on the three now slowly turned to look at her.
Their eyes locked, still beneath the brilliant spring sunset, still the youthful blond youth. Yet she now bore a head of white hair, and her face was lined with wrinkles. Yet nothing seed dramatically altered—the young man who spun around was stunned to see her, then rapidly recognized who it was:
"Sarah!"
"Richard!"
The two stretched out their arms and embraced tightly, both Mrs. Miles and the young Richard were in tears:
"I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I returned too late, I returned too late."
He was no longer rely an entity within the relic’s manifested mory—both Shard and Miss Higgins could discern he truly was the soul being sought.
"However..."
Shard sniffed slightly:
"Why does it sll like sulfur?"
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