It felt like eternity had passed with Tiel when Kaze woke up. The first thing he found was himself lying in Lunaria's bed in a slightly shifted position than the night before. He took some time to adjust his body to catch up with his mind, which had worked at hyper speed as though he hadn't slept the whole night although his body did.
The next thing he knew was Lunaria, who was supposedly by his side, had been gone. This wasn't a cause for concern, because he could vaguely hear the door to her bathroom swinging open. Even when his girlfriend was gone, the feeling of her weight resting on his arm didn't disappear like a phantom Lunaria was still lying on him. This was also partly because he was half-awake from trying to catch up on his talk with Tiel in his mind that prevented him from processing the real world.
"Oh, did I cause you to wake up? I'm sorry," Lunaria apologised when she noticed Kaze had woken up as she headed back to bed. "We still have a bit of time before needing to get ready for school, so you can continue sleeping for a bit longer."
Climbing back to the bed, she slipped back to his side and snuggled him once more. Kaze's stiff face instantly melted into a smile at how cute Lunaria was when her actions showed how attached to him she was.
"What if I said that I want to get up now?"
"That's fine too. Back in Tristania, you would wake up early to train from time to time. There are also times where I'm forced to wake up earlier than usual, so I understand if you choose to get out of bed."
"… On second thought, I want to cuddle with you longer…"
"Mm~"
Kaze turned his body to his side so he could hug Lunaria back. At the same time, this caused him to bury his face into her bosom, something that was done rather frequently as he enjoyed the comfort her chest brought him. Lunaria let out a soft purr when her body got squeezed by Kaze hugging her, giving her great amount of pleasure internally. Having her lover rely on her that much was always something she loved and wanted to happen, so she was obviously going to take advantage of that.
It wasn't till another half an hour passed that the two decided it was time to get ready for their final day at Leiscatie Academy. Between their morning cuddles and light kisses here and there, Kaze and Lunaria got ready with their school uniform after a quick bath together. They then headed to the dining room where breakfast was served by maids of the palace to dine with their friends and the rulers of the nation, like they had in the past week.
The only difference this time was instead of it being a merry breakfast like usual, everyone had a slightly tense and excited mood since this was their last day at the academy. While this meant farewell for a long time with their new friends, it also hyped them for what would come later. The last day was meant to be a celebration, according to the schedule, even though it had not stated what sort of celebration was being made.
'If only they knew what would happen tonight,' Kaze thought to himself, knowing that the news of everything regarding Czech to be told by Reginsleif later during dinner would break his friends.
"Good morning," Sera greeted Kaze, walking past him. "Why are you standing at the doorway by yourself? Are you waiting for someone?"
"Morning Sera. I just didn't want to sit down and have a short walk before breakfast is served," Kaze explained to the elf. "Sorry if that sounds weird."
"Hmm, it does sound weird, but it's understandable," Sera giggled. "Do you mean you feel sore from constantly sitting down that you want to move about more? If that is the case, then I get it. For a second there, I thought you had an argument with Lunaria from how deep in thought you were that I had to call out to you twice before I got your attention."
"S-Sorry, I have a lot on my mind at the moment," Kaze looked away guiltily from Sera's bright smile. "It's about today and all."
"Yeah I get that. It is a pity that we won't be able to return to Aravel anytime soon," Sera sighed, taking the time to talk to him when the others hadn't arrived. "For you, at least. Rena, Shoko and I would be able to travel freely as Lunaria's aide."
"I'm jealous of that," Kaze admitted. "The rest of us don't have that privilege."
"You would if you become engaged with Lunaria," Sera stated politely. "I certainly don't want you to rush into an engagement if you think you are not ready, but it is a fact. Being engaged with a royal is politically beneficial for a variety of reasons, including a 'free pass' to travel between nations."
At once, Kaze's heart tightened from Sera's words. The reason for his reaction, though not visible externally, was obviously regarding his separation with Lunaria due to the complicated circumstance that had developed between Aravel and Czech. It felt uncomfortable to know that anything reminding him of his imminent separation from Lunaria would make him react this way, almost like a lurch that causes discomfort to arise in his stomach.
Sera didn't seem to notice any irregularity from Kaze as she spoke, the topic gradually shifting towards asking about Lunaria. As someone who had been close friends with Lunaria for many years now, Sera wanted to know if she was alright. Lunaria hadn't really had time to get together with them in recent weeks, so it definitely got Sera curious about her friend's wellbeing. There was no one better to ask than Kaze, who was Lunaria's lover and together with her all the time.
Thankfully, this allowed Kaze to stop thinking about the bad things and focused on the good part, which was talking about Lunaria. Whether he admitted it or not, it was clear Kaze was deeply in love with the dragonkin princess and constantly thinking about what's best for her. Sera could tell that much based on the way Kaze told her about Lunaria with each question she asked, something that put her heart at ease knowing her friend was properly looked after.
Following this was breakfast before departure. Together with the princesses, the human group made their final walk to the academy with lingering memories of the past 4 days. Knowing that this was going to be the last time they ever see their new friends in Aravel, it was a bittersweet moment for each of them.
Upon arriving at Leiscatie Academy, they split up into their own groups for the last time and went to class together. Noel and Luniel were with Kaze as usual, the trio heading to the location where their class with Lune-sensei was.
"I don't think I will be able to forget my experience here in Leiscatie," Noel told the two as they were walking. "We met so many people and learnt a lot in the past few days, it feels unreal to me to know that today is the end of it."
"Indeed. Another two days later, you will be leaving Aravel," Luniel grinned. "How do you feel?"
"Err, reluctant to be honest. This break has been much needed and I really don't want it to end anytime soon," Noel admitted with a slightly nervous smile on her face. "I'm going to make sure to enjoy the rest of our time here before we have to leave."
"What about you Kaze? Sad that you won't get to see Lunatea-nee and the rest often?" Luniel carefully phrased her question with an assuming stance that Lunaria would be returning to Aravel with them, since Noel was listening. "I can't imagine what Lunatea-nee and Lucentia-nee will do to get your attention~"
"Please don't remind me of that," Kaze pressed the bridge of his nose in frustration. "I would feel sad about being unable to see you and them too, thank you very much."
Arriving at their class, they found their classmates to be in a more relaxed mood compared to the rest of the days where they normally had class. This was because in coherent with their national visitors' last day in Leiscatie, there would be no class in place of multiple events occurring throughout the day. It allowed the students who were in some way related to the visitors to relax and not worry about studying or classes. It also provided them with more opportunity to interact with their new friends before they left Aravel.
As soon as the students in class realized Kaze and Noel had arrived with Luniel, most of them approached the two with the intention of squeezing in as much interaction time as possible for everyone to talk to their guests. Unfortunately, this was cut short when Lune-sensei arrived, meaning that they had to start the first activity of the day according to their schedule.
"Lune-sensei, before we begin, is it possible that we have some time put aside for enabling us to interact with Kaze and Noel?" Kaguya raised her hand to ask the question. "I think most of us want to speak with them before they leave."
"Don't worry, that is already accounted for in the schedule," Lune-sensei gave the class an understanding smile. "Even I want to get to know my students more, no matter how long they have been with me. The first activity of the day will be a simple quiz with fun questions. With a time limit for everyone to answer the specific questions, I will handpick or have students volunteer to tell us their answers as a way to get to know each other. However, it's a given that our three guests MUST answer each question."
With Kaze groaning at Lune-sensei's words, the rest of the class cheered on the executive decision to enable Kaze, Noel and Luniel to answer every question asked. Even Noel and Luniel accepted the choice to do so happily, leaving Kaze to be the odd one out. It seemed like no matter the circumstance, Kaze didn't want to be the centre of attention. This was exactly the reaction the class wanted to see, being the unwillingness to answer said questions, causing people like Yumi to smirk mischievously at him.
The first question asked was relatively simple: to list their name, age, occupation and their background. Kaze started first by default, introducing himself accordingly and accepting any questions his fellow classmates had. When one of the dragonkins asked why he only had a single word for a name, he roughly explained about himself being an orphan and his upbringing in the countryside. Unexpectedly, some of his classmates gave him looks of sympathy upon realizing Kaze had never experienced the 'warmth' of a family, even though it was explained by him that he considered his friends and peers at the church where he grew up as one.
Noel briefly talked about her life as the daughter of the nation's Commander of the royal guards and King's knights. Her father's work had influenced her to be a swordswoman, as they knew from the duel she had with Kaze two days ago. It was also where she began her first step in developing her interest, learning to meet with people of great importance, being admitted to good schools, having opportunities others don't, and eventually ending up as friends with Yuuji till now. Noel's story was one of a unique perspective as she grew up in between of elite and commoner. Most soldiers and guards were commoners in the first place, so for her to divulge in the elite of being associated with the royalties via her father while at the same time coming from a middle-class background was something unachievable by normal people.
Luniel's turn came and went without much time wasted. There wasn't much she could say that was already known by her classmates. As a princess who spends time around normal people via her research hobby-job, she was already well-known enough along with the rest of her sisters that there was not much clarifying needed. Thus, the role of introduction was given to a few other students before the next question came.
The same format repeated throughout the rest of the questions. With the occasional laughter and jokes that flew across the classroom, it was interesting to note that everyone here had their own background and story to tell despite growing up in an enclosed nation. Kaguya, for example, shared in one of the questions that she actually never wanted to attend school out of spite for spending time endlessly when one could learn by themselves to attain knowledge. It was very unlike the prim and disciplined Kaguya that Kaze and Noel knew, a fact that once again reminded Kaze how everyone had a backstory and life of their own that did not necessarily reflect their current self.
As with Yumi, it was interesting to hear her rather random answers to certain questions, even if it was not directly related to who she was as a person. When she was chosen to give her answer regarding a question of whether she would choose to only be able to eat or drink for eternity, she chose the drinking option where most people chose eating. For dragonkins, eating was much more crucial to their survival than drinking since one could argue that you 'drink' through the fluids already soaked in the food, but you can't drink 'food' unless it has been chopped to shreds and mixed in water. Yumi preferred drinking over the logic that 'she could live without eating meat but can't live without drinking due to the conveniency of water instantly making one full just by drinking'. Needless to say, it got half the class in a fury of laughter and confusion at her weird opinion that even Lune-sensei joined in to comment on her eating habits.
"Now then, the next question: Given the chance to restart life from the beginning, would you have chosen to live the same life you had or do something different? What would it be and why?" Lune-sensei asked. "Keep in mind that you don't have to share if it makes you uncomfortable. Shall we have Luniel?"
"Yes~ In my opinion, I would like to live the same life I had as I would now if given a second chance," Luniel answered aloud without hesitation. "But if its regarding things that I regret not changing in this life, I don't think I will want it to be switched even then. I have learnt that sometimes things happen for a reason, whether fortunate or unfortunate. That's because from the things mentioned, we manage to lose things we cherish, but gain new things to care for. Trading one for the other is something that has always happened in life, where we get only one choice between multiple."
Immediately, Kaze felt like Luniel's reply was a very vague way of saying: "If given the choice to stop Lunaria from suffering the same depression, I would have allowed it to happen again. That's because from Lunaria suffering, she has learnt to grow stronger as a person and met new people she could rely on." That hit home hard, such that Kaze cringed a little from how cheesy it sounded and how true it resonated with him. Having been with Lunaria through the thick and thin in recent months, it was hard to describe how exactly he felt with Luniel's answer.
"Oh? Given the chance, I think most people here would have chosen to restart, don't you think?" Lune-sensei challenged Luniel. "If it is as you said that there are things you knew you would have avoided, don't you think choosing to avoid it would provide a better result?"
"Yes, but that would mean leading to another possibly bad scenario, wouldn't it?" Luniel shrugged. "An example I can think of is when I spilt my drink on my research paper a few months back. If that didn't happen, which unfortunate costed me hours of my time to rewrite it, I might never have made progress on the research since I discovered a fatal mistake while rewriting that helped improve the overall quality. As I can see, our actions have desirable and undesirable effects, whether we choose one or the other. Knowing that, I want to say I will choose this life again, without any regret for knowing the good and bad."
"… Very interesting take, Luniel," Lune-sensei nodded approvingly. "What do you think, Noel?"
"I agree with Luniel's understanding, but my option would be yes, I would like you make a few changes," Noel stood up to deliver her answer. "There are times where I wished I would have a second chance because I know that I could have done better, such as during sword trainings where I was a second too late and delivering the best result possible. From Luniel's point of view, she is looking at how mistakes have helped to provide solutions. My reason for saying yes relies more on the fact I rather have a chance to correct a complicated scenario or result without changing the entire outcome of the situation."
"How would you know that your actions wouldn't have repercussions then? Like if you chose a to eat bread for breakfast the first time and regretted going to class on an empty stomach, and redid your choice to eat more but that only caused you another problem worse than the bread option, would that not bother you?"
"Maybe it does, maybe it won't. As Luniel had said: whatever choice I make has an outcome I may or may not like. In the end, it's about making a choice, is it not? While the universe has a way of playing things out against your expectation, I want to believe that we are in control most of the time. We have the power to make a change and choose something we know is right, to prevent a bad outcome."
"Heh~ I like the way you think Noel. To regret or not, that is the question. Kaze, any thoughts?" Lune-sensei turned to the only human male in class, waiting for his answer.
Kaze gradually got to his feet, everyone staring at him while waiting for him to speak. It took a while before Kaze was able to make a choice, almost as though he was uncertain about himself.
"I… would choose to not make any changes," Kaze stated his answer. "I don't think the current life I have is worth correcting if given a second chance."
"Really? Based on what I know, Czech has suffered in the hands of the devil attack, has it not?" Lune-sensei asked. "If you have the chance to reduce the number of casualties present, would you not have done something?"
"… Maybe its best that nothing happens," Kaze muttered, his head falling low. "As far as changing the past and present goes, I do have a lot of things that I want to change. With the Czech attack, I do feel pity for the victims involved that have been at the mercy of the devils. Time and time again, it has pained me that I could do nothing when the attack happened. But… even if the ability to redo things, I don't think I would have been able to do anything as the person I am. What could I have done to reduce the casualty count or prevent the attack? At most, realistically speaking, I would have been killed. I would know, since I fought the devil before."
The classroom became pin-drop silence at Kaze's words. It was never public knowledge who was directly involved in the attack due to the entire situation being mostly confidential as the rulers of their nation were there. For Kaze, one of the visitors of their nation, to confess aloud that he had personally fought with the devils, was basically exposing to the public about the losses suffered and how bad the situation was then. Even Lune-sensei, the instigator, felt nervous about approaching this topic as it could very well mean exposing secrets not meant to be known to the public.
At this point, it was too late to stop Kaze from speaking. Allowing him to recall the desperation he felt at the time was like a tipping point.
"I don't know how many nights have gone by where I have not thought of the day it happened," Kaze recited softly. "Even till this day, it pains me to know what they have done to people because of their own goals. If not for my own negligence, would it have prevented anything? My answer is no. Even if I knew the attack was coming, even if I were able to predict the future from my own experience, I don't have the strength to stop an event as big as the devil attack. Lune-sensei, you're right. I would have done something if I could, but what could my influence have done? Would that have deterred the devils from attacking? At the very least, it would warn the citizens and that's it. You can't change something that has happened, especially not when the results affect everyone differently… including me."
Taking a deep breath, Kaze calmed himself after venting about the frustration of the devil attack and looked directly at Lune-sensei.
"So, Lune-sensei, when it comes to changing the past or having a second chance to do over life, the most important thing for me is how much control you can have over certain events. Unless there is a way that I can guarantee or convince myself that doing the same thing a different way would have resulted in a different option, I would try again and again. To protect those who suffered… I don't think there is anyone who doesn't want that. The only reason I'm against redoing life is because it feels cruel having to relive the moment again in a different outcome. Things that have already happened would have to happen a second time for you to ensure that you know something could be done to avoid it. In this lifetime, I have already accomplished so much with people that I know. If I chose a different timeline, it would be equivalent to betraying what I already have earned with them. Unless something so significant happens that it impacts my life to the point of no return, I don't think I want anything to change despite all the bad things happening."
Kaze knew that he was rambling over his points a lot, to the point it felt like he was contradicting himself. This was a true representation of his emotions: overlapped with each other without a clear-cut answer. Asking to do life over again was a harder choice than expected, especially when it could mean that his relationship with Lunaria being jeopardized. Some might think of Kaze as a coward who would not treasure the chance to do life over again, but it was his present relationships with people he knew that he did not want to give up. Those moments of happiness and sadness… it all felt too precious for Kaze to willingly do over again. Life is special precisely because one only had a single chance to live things through, meaning that whatever outcome happens, one must own up to it the best they could. The harsh reality he experienced in recent times taught him that there is no 'special' chance for people to do something they deeply regretted so easily.
"A-Ah, sorry. I was a little agitated…" Kaze realized after moments of silence in the classroom that he had gone overboard with his uncontrolled ranting. "When I found out what little time we had left in Aravel and are returning soon, the stress and regret got to me I guess. Please, continue and ignore what I said."
Kaze expected to be kicked out of class or booed for acting so immature. It wasn't until Lune-sensei gave him an approving applaud that Kaze dared to look up from the table. Influencing the entire class to react in a similar manner, his classmates were all now clapping in encouragement with smiles on their faces.
"Kaze, thank you for sharing. It was truly surprising to hear you vent that way, but I believe each of us have something to think about after that," Lune-sensei spoke once the clapping died down. "To have a second chance or not, that is also a choice on its own that has no right or wrong answer. No matter the cause, we must always think of whether we are prepared to face the consequence of starting life over again, or to make the same choice as in our current life that meant going through the same pain and laughter. As you had said: life is meaningful precisely because there is no do-over."
Her words combined with the support of his dragonkin classmates caused Kaze's eyes to shimmer with heartfelt emotions. It never once came to him that people would support his reason. After all, the way Reginsleif presented the situation in Czech such that it was stupid of Kaze if he didn't choose to redo, given the chance, to spare himself of the trouble currently faced. Whether it was for the sake of Lunaria or his friends, it definitely wasn't one that Kaze enjoyed. After all, when one was in a situation as dire as what Kaze had been through, there was no right or wrong choice when it came to choosing whether to sacrifice one or the other in return for a result undesirable to different groups of people.
This gave Kaze the little bit of hope that he needed to face the difficulty ahead of him. No matter how small the support, it was great to know that people believed in him.
"Alright, to end of the section, perhaps we should have one last question," Lune-sensei announced. "We don't have much time left… Ah, this looks fun. As of right now, are you in a relationship? Yes or no will do. Noel?"
"Nope."
"Luniel?"
"No~"
"Kaze?"
"…"
"Don't worry. Regardless of what is the answer, we won't judge you for it."
"… Can I choose to not answer?"
"Hehe, then we know the answer to that question."
"W-Wait! That isn't fair, I never even said a word about it?!"
"But from the way you react, it's pretty obvious that you have someone you're dating. I think we all can infer that much, especially when you choose not to provide any comment. I don't believe you are someone as sensitive to announce that you don't have a partner, which leads me to think that the only reason you refuse to say yes is because you are insecure about it."
"W-Well, then my answer is no."
"Really?"
"Yes."
"Really~?"
"Yes! I don't have anyone I'm currently associated with!!"
"Hehe, alright then. Don't come looking for me if your relationship with Lunaria-hime gets ruined from that lie."
Kaze's jaw dropped to the ground when Lune-sensei exposed him in front of everyone else. Instantly, the class burst out laughing over his shocked reaction that even Noel and Luniel had a hard time trying to stop themselves from joining the laughter out of pity for the very clueless Kaze.
"W-W-W-W-W-W-Wha….?????"
"Oh Kaze, did you really think we wouldn't know? The Emperor and Empress has already informed the school of your special situation with Lunaria-hime. In short, this was a mini experiment to test the waters. We are to act natural throughout the five days being with you so we can judge for ourselves whether it was worth the risk of making your relationship with the princess public. From what we have all seen and heard, I think it's safe to say we approve of your relationship with Lunaria-hime. The experiment is a success."
"?????????????????????"
"If you are acting this clueless, then I think we did a pretty good job hiding it. Good job everyone!"
As the class went into another round of frenzied laughter and applauses, Kaze was once again the only one left shaking Luniel and Noel for answers.
Ironic as it seemed, Kaze truly wished at this point in time, he could redo his life over again.