Chapter 251: Wish

***Final Arc, One Who Obtain Happiness, Chapter 251 Wish***

The room was minimally furnished, plus shelves and a desk――a little furniture and a canopied bed.

An old woman sat on a chair by the window, looking through a stack of documents and squinting at the sunlight streaming in from outside the window.

Her face was still beautiful and graceful even in her old age.

Her slim, slender body didn't look like that of the highest-ranking military officer in the kingdom who once controlled all of the Continental Army――a marshal, yet a hint of its dignity remained.

Faded strands of white intertwined with her golden hair, resembling silver.

Her face was extremely calm, as if she had completely accepted the fact that death was nearby.

Then there was a knock on the door, and she smiled and said "Come in".

Guided by the faint yet clear sound, a young girl peeked in.

Her silver hair was tied into two buns, wearing an apron dress.

She carried a tray with a teapot and cookies. Gazing at the elderly woman, she said

"Krische's back, Selene."

She called out the old woman's name in a voice that rang like a bell.

"Welcome back Krische. That was quick."

Selene Christand looked at the cookies Krische had brought and smiled bitterly, while Krische was trotting to her side.

After placing the cookies and pot on the table, Krische approached her face and kissed her.

"...It's a daily routine, but still, I never imagined I'd still be kissed after I got so many wrinkles"

Selene Christand exasperated by the girl's greeting, which was still the same even now.

"Ehehe, Selene is Selene."

Krische replied naturally, her smile radiating happiness

"...Really, you're still an idiot huh."

She pinched Krische's cheek and told Krische that she wanted it straight today.

Krische replied, acting servant-like, "Understood".

The sound of tea being poured quietly echoed, and Selene listened to it as she looked out the window.

For a while, an unnatural silence filled the room.

The sound of birds chirping and the rustling of curtains.

A cool breeze blew in from outside the window――then Selene suddenly spoke.

"It's an immense thing, the eternity you wished for."

The voice was a little hoarse, but clear.

"It sounds good, and very beautiful. A peaceful and tranquil utopia that could certainly be called a paradise. ...But stability means refusing change."

――It's not the way people live, Selene continued.

"Me, you, Kreschenta, and everyone else. Don't you think we've changed a lot compared to when we met?"

"...Yes. Maybe things have changed."

"A lot of things have happened. Happy things, fun things, sad things, painful things...I think that's what life is."

The old woman looked at the girl.

Considering her apparent age, they looked like a grandmother and her granddaughter.

"Experience various things, learn, overcome things――experience something new and change. It is normal for people's hearts to change, and in a sense, eternal stability may be the same as death."

Explaining as if she was admonishing her

"Every day's food, the never-changing scenery. If one were asked if a bird kept in a cage is happy, surely no one would be able to answer with certainty. In other words, stability is stagnation, and the price is freedom of mind. ...Wings that fly in the sky."

While listening to the chirping of birds echoing from outside the window.

"Your birdcage is a closed cage of self-righteousness. ...My opinion remains the same as in the past. I guess Kalua and the others also refused it huh."

"......yes"

"It's a normal thing. The only birds that willingly go into a cage are the really weird ones. I think you're starting to realize that now."

Selene chuckled and sipped the tea, moistening her lips.

Krische lowered her eyes at those words.

Even she understood, vaguely.

The eternity she desired was self-centered, and at the very least, no sane person would wish for it.

Everyone respected the end of life as something that must be accepted someday.

That was an incomprehensible emotion to Krische.

"...Is Krische, childish?"

"That's right. To be honest, I didn't expect you to be this much of a child."

When Selene said this exasperated, Krische grabbed her skirt tightly.

"I thought maybe you would grow up a little more over the next few decades...but I expected too much. I'm sure you'll continue to be like that from now on too."

Selene put her hand on the girl's cheek.

The old woman's slightly calloused hand caressed her tender cheek.

"...?"

"My opinion is the same as before, and you are still an idiot and a child, and the things that have not changed will remain the same."

When she looked up, the old woman stared at the little girl with a troubled smile.

Her gray hair had increased, her wrinkles had increased, and even though she had grown old, she still had the same expression as Krische's older sister.

"But you can do whatever you want. ...No matter what choices you make or how selfish you are, I'm still your sister after all. I'll, properly, look after the stupid you."

"that...mean..."

She pinched Krische's cheek who was about to say something.

Playing with her soft cheeks, she suddenly felt nostalgic for her past.

"I thought about it carefully. No matter how much I try to reason and feel, it's probably because of your stupid nature that I love, just like Bery."

Her eyes narrowed and said, 'It's the seeds that make the flowers bloom'.

"It seems like things have changed, also not. I'm still stubborn and you're still an idiot. Kreschenta is still as bossy as ever, and Bery is cunning and stubborn until the end. ...Fufu, if things that change are the essence of a person, then perhaps things that don't change can also be called the essence of a person.''

If only she had been a little more understanding.

If Kreschenta were a little more honest.

If only Bery were a little more accepting of being spoiled by others.

Just as Selene hated her own stubbornness, she didn't like all of it.

If she were to look for flaws, she could find any number of them――but all of them included what made Krische, Kreschenta, and Bery.

"...Even then I still love all of you, there's nothing I can do about it. Playing with words is Berry's domain, but in the end, I guess love isn't that simple and trivial."

Pinching the girl's cheek, stretching it, then running her hand through the girl's hair.

The girl's silver hair was as smooth as water, with no rips in it, giving it a distorted sense of perfection.

She was so perfect that it was as if she just jumped out of a tale.

Yet there was nothing but irrationality around her, hence distortion.

But still, her soul was unclouded, forever.

"...What you decide to do is up to you. I'll leave it to you. Even if my life ends today or tomorrow, I won't regret it, and even if I have to deal with you idiots forever from now on, I also won't regret it."

The girl was clearly distorted as a human.

But maybe that was why.

Selene Christand was captured by her.

"I'm also an idiot for spoiling you like this. ...Do whatever you like."

――Just simply, that distorted beauty.

"Selene..."

Krische looked at Selene's face and smiled.

She caressed her cheek and held her cheek softly between her fingers.

"......yes"

Krische looked happily, joyfully.

With her usual smile.

Staring back at her and smiling bitterly, Selene said to her.

"If I had to be greedy, I want to complain about many things to Bery."

She had a deliberately displeased look on her face.

"It's mostly you that bothers me, and it's mostly Bery's fault that you're such an idiot. Thanks to you, I've been so busy in the decades since you came that I haven't had the slightest free time."

"...Selene would creates work for herself if there's no work, so Krische doesn't think all of it is Krische's fault though"

"Don't talk back"

"Uuuh..."

Selene laughed as she pinched and pulled Krische's cheeks with her fingers

In front of Krische's line of sight was a bundle of documents――a document containing Alberinea's strategy and tactics, one of the documents in the military staff department.

After handing over her field marshal position to Nozan's eldest son, she continued to write down various military documents for posterity.

Selene knew that she was a person who did not possess extraordinary talent.

But she had come to think that there were things she could do precisely because of that.

Rounding off the edges of this distorted genius――and making others more familiar with her with that, was something she understood better than anyone else could do, and it was something only she could do.

"Axle oil."

"...?"

"Gateal Gorton's axle is coated with oil to reduce friction, right? I think little things like that are quite important."

"It's Gatan-Goton, unya"

"Either one is fine."

――Where she found meaning in her life.

Can she be proud of it?

In the end, it all comes down to that.

Some dedicate their lives to valor and honor; others to baking delicious bread.

It was pointless to compete to see who was better.

If you can pour your heart and soul into something that you find valuable, no matter what it is, you can call it a fruitful life.

The answer was right in front of her.

The girl didn't wish for even a fragment of what she excelled at, but only for the latter.

Spending time in her estate as a servant was far more important to her than being a hero who left her name in history, and that was everything.

Even though she was stronger than anyone else, she uses knives rather than swords.

She devoted herself more to cleaning the estate than to sweeping away enemy forces.

It might have seemed foolish and absurd to others, but perhaps that was okay.

The girl was content with it, and that was her happiness.

That's what she believed finding meaning in life was all about.

It wasn't about what you were good at or not good at, but about what you found meaning in.

The stupidest girl in the world was only pursuing her own happiness more than anyone else.

Comical, clumsy, and awkward.

But before she knew it, her own obsessions seemed more absurd.

――In the end, she thought that everything was fine.

But Selene always wanted something from someone who was ahead of her.

Without realizing there were various other things, she narrowed her vision to just that.

"...Words and names are trivial things. I'll call them what I like, so Jara Gasha is Jareia Gashea, and Gatan-goton is Gateal Gorton...understand?"

"Uuuh..."

Pulling at her dissatisfied cheeks with both hands.

Everything was trivial――love, for example, was just a word.

It was a mistake in the first place to try to talk about it in terms of superiority or inferiority.

Even though she had gotten so old, Bery was still a significant and enviable presence to her.

But even with that in mind, Selene loved Krische, and she loved Bery.

Those feelings couldn't be compared to anything else and were unique to Selene.

She had no choice but to accept these mixed feelings, and that was just what she, her existence, was capable of.

"Fufu"

Love, after all, is self-righteous.

The only important thing is whether or not she herself can accept it.

"...I love you, Krische."

Beauty and ugliness are just a matter of taste.

If they could accept each other, there was no greater satisfaction.

"Hg, ehehe, Krische too."

The feeling of lips pressed against her was the same as it had been for decades.

The meaning and the emotions contained within it have remained the same for decades.

It probably took time to realize that, she thought.

"...Really, what an idiot."

How many times had she repeated such words?

If the girl was an idiot, she too must be a helpless idiot for loving her.

――But how wonderful it was to be able to think that that was okay.

"Hmm...delicious."

"Fufun, Krische tried mixing dried Nirkana with today's cookies. It might be a little too sweet but――"

It was sweet enough to give her heartburn, with just a touch of sourness mixed in.

The cookies tasted like everything Selene had experienced.

It towers above the earth and radiates enormous magical power.

It was like a tower of blades rising up into the sky.

Its inner walls were beginning to be eroded by the brown and green of the trees rising above the earth.

The lower level looks more like a forest, and the trees take in the nutrients from the magical energy that passes through the inside of the hedgerows, and begin to fuse with the walls of the tower.

Rather than calling it a tower, it would be more suitable to be called a large tree.

With the outer walls displaying the majestic appearance of a beautiful white tower, it was akin to an eggshell.

A mysterious pinnacle that feeds on the world itself and stretches into the sky.

――If one were to properly name it, it would be correct to call it the World Tree.

At its top, there was a girl looking at the blue light.

Her pale red dress fluttered even though there was no wind, and her golden hair sparkled in red, taking on a purple hue against the blue light.

Countless patterns filled the surrounding space, and blue curves danced around it――like flowing from blue radiation to the sky.

As if covering the stars themselves.

Her breath was like the very air itself.

Her fingertips controlled the universe, and her eyes could see everything in this world.

If it was a king who rules the country and enacts the laws, then the being who controls the universe and creates the laws should be called a god.

She was no longer threatened by skirmishes between countries.

Even ancient dragons with tremendous power were like fossils that once flourished in a distant day.

――Everything the girl had ever wanted, she had it in the palm of her hand.

"...What is it, Anne?"

In a voice like the tinkling of bells, the girl asked.

It was a beautiful voice that was clear without being harsh, and seemed to fill the wide space just by uttering it.

"No, as always, you look beautiful."

When asked, the old servant answered with a smile.

She shook her black hair, which was mostly gray.

The girl――Kreschenta turned around, exasperated and went to her.

The old woman――Anne looked at Kreschenta, then narrowed her eyes at the projection of blue light.

"...It's always a surprising sight. I never thought U would be in a place like this when I was working in the royal territory."

"It's just like a fairy tale", Anne said with a wry smile.

"It's reality", Kreschenta replied dissatisfied.

"This is the seventy-third time we've had a similar exchange. Even if you look like that, you still do the same thing, you haven't changed at all."

"The feeling of excitement doesn't change that much no matter how old you are."

"...It's just you."

With her hands on her hips, Kreschenta looked up at Anne and glared at her.

She then sighed quietly.

"Fufu, but Your Majesty is no different....Maybe humans are actually like that."

"More than just a human, I'm actually a god. Please don't mix me with you."

"...Certainly, from the perspective of the people, Your Majesty might be such a precious existence."

Anne nodded with a solemn look on her face, deep in thought.

She then gave another soft smile.

"For me, it's still the same as it was in the past. When I think of now as a process, it's even more so."

"...?"

"I think stories of someone reaching into the realm of gods for the sake of their beloved, seems more beautiful and filled with love than any other story."

Kreschenta furrowed her brow.

"...Who are you talking about?"

"Perhaps it's about the person Her Majesty the Queen just thought."

She said happily and closed her eyes.

"I believe that there are some things in this world that cannot be undone. But the opposite is also true."

"I don't really care about Argan-sama."

"I think trying not to care is the same as being aware. It might be presumptuous, but that is what I am most like."

"――For the first time in a while, Her Majesty mentioned Argan-sama's name."

Anne stated, and Kreschenta averted her gaze.

"In the end, I spent most of my life in Christand. I have no regrets. I'm content with how things are now, and even at this age, I'm happy every day."

She continued, smiling quietly.

"If I were to ask myself when I was the happiest, it would have to be several decades ago when Argan-sama was in good health. I've always been clumsy, but the mansion was always lively...and above all, Your Majesty seemed to be happier than she was now.''

"...I'm tired of it. What do you want to say?"

Anne folded her skirt and crouched down in front of Crescenta, and she peered into her beautiful face.

"If I may be selfish... I would like to see such Your Majesty again."

"...You, a servant, demanding something from me, the queen?"

"Your Majesty always says to speak up rather than remain silent."

'Please forgive this incompetent servant', Anne reached out to her and caressed her white cheek.

Kreschenta just watched it, then averted her gaze.

"...How pointless. My goals have all already been fulfilled."

"......yes"

"Besides, you talk as if you're not clumsy anymore. Shouldn't you put more effort into serving your master before making demands?"

"...I have no words to answer."

Anne stood up with an embarrassed wry smile, bowing her head.

"Please forgive my rudeness, Your Majesty....I am old now, so I just wanted to reiterate this."

"...Really, what a bad servant. I'm going home."

'Yes', Arne nodded, then said.

"...I'm sure Argan-sama――"

"Enough of that talk. ...Can't you even walk in silence?"

With those words cutting off the conversation.

Anne bowed her head silently and followed Kreschenta

Behind them――as the two boarded the magical elevator, a pillar of light enveloped everything in the world.