"Oh my. I am sorry about this."
The ferris wheel manager smiled kindly and placed the barrier line.
No entry.
As Odette read the sign at the center of the chain, the last rider on the Ferris wheel exited.
"Because the noise of the rotating shaft has gotten bad. Please understand that we have to close early because it needs an inspection."
After explaining the situation, the manager hurried to the machine room and pulled down the lever.
Shortly after hearing a sharp metallic sound, the Ferris wheel stopped working.
"It's okay, Bastian."
Odette looked at Bastian with a disappointed face.
It was unfortunate, but it was inevitable. It was better not to be oversensitive to what she had to accept. It was the way Odette had always guarded her heart.
"How about something else?"
Bastian turned and pointed to the other side of the amusement park.
"Merry-go-round, or…."
"It's almost time to meet with Tira again."
Odette smiled softly and took hold of Bastian's sleeve.
"I did a lot of good sightings, so that's enough. Don't mind it."
He was not familiar with Odette's way of speaking in complicated twists and turns.
Bastian's gaze, which had been examining the scenery where time seemed to have stopped, returned to Odette.
"Are you really okay?"
Bastian tilted his head to meet Odette's eye level. It was as straightforward as his tone of voice.
"Yes. I mean it."
Odette took a step back and nodded her head. Her eyes trembled slightly, but her voice was as calm as ever.
"Let's sit on the bench and rest until Tira comes. I'm tired after all the walking."
After finishing the conversation skillfully, Odette hurriedly left the Ferris wheel. She felt Bastian's gaze on her back, but she didn't look back. She thought it was well organized. Until she realized Bastian had disappeared.
Odette, who was sitting on a bench to catch her breath, looked around with puzzlement. They apparently left the Ferris wheel together, but Bastian was nowhere to be seen.
"Bastian!"
Odette hurriedly stood up from the bench. The Ferris wheel had stopped operating and the area was quiet. So there was no way he had gotten lost.
After calling out his name loudly without an answer several times, Odette quickly circled the Ferris wheel.
Bastian appeared around the time when she began to suspect that he might be playing some terrible pranks.
Returning to the bench again, Odette sighed in dismay. Bastian was approaching her without a care in the world. He was holding a colorful paper cup in one hand.
"Take it."
Bastian placed it directly in Odette's hand as she stood there in a daze.
It was cocoa with rising steam.
***
"I'm so sorry, Bastian."
Odette looked at her watch and bowed her head. Though it was her half sister's fault for not showing up after the appointed time.
Bastian chuckled lightly. How many times had she made such an apology in less than two days? It was worth knowing what the past lives of the two sisters were like.
"Is it always like this?"
Bastian lowered his slightly frowning eyes. Odette was watching him while holding the cocoa she hadn't even drunk yet.
"If your sister makes a mistake, you apologize. It seems like a relationship with a thorough division of roles…"
"I'm sorry once again…"
"I don't need an apology, Odette. Especially if it is your apology."
Bastian cut off Odette's words with a firm tone.
She acted as if she were her half sister's mother, but in fact Odette was only a young woman who had just turned 20.
So far, he had brushed it off as just a foolish and pathetic facade, but now that they were at it, he was seriously curious.
What the hell was her family to this woman that she was capable of such blind devotion?
"It's a half sister from a different mother anyway. The most decent thing the Duke of Dissen did for his daughter was not to pass on his surname to the illegitimate daughter of a maid. Am I wrong?"
"I know what you mean. Nor is it a wrong opinion. But Bastian..… But don't talk about my family that way."
After thinking for a moment, Odette gave a cautious rebuttal.
"It's not Tira's fault that she was born illegitimate.That's my father's fault. That's something my father should be ashamed of."
"It seems your love for your family only extends to your half sister, doesn't it?"
"Because my father gave up being my father himself."
A lonely smile passed over Odette's lips as she whispered softly. Nevertheless, though she herself had made too great a sacrifice, Bastian did not mention the Duke of Dissen's name any more.
"No matter what anyone says, Tira is my family. And I'm never ashamed of my family."
"I wonder if Tira really love you that much."
"Even if she doesn't, it's okay."
Odette smiled comfortably and faced Bastian.
"I don't want Tira to love me as much as it breaks her heart. Rather, I just want her to like me. Someone whose heart is bright and joyful when she thinks of me. Therefore… Like that light."
After taking the last sip of cocoa, Odette raised her eyes and looked at the Ferris wheel. It had stopped operating, but the lights still remained intact, illuminating the night sky.
Bastian watched Odette in peaceful silence. The woman's face, dreaming of the lights of the amusement park, held a peacefulness that resembled the surface of windless water.
He didn't understand.
He pondered for a long time, but that was the only conclusion Bastian could reach. Odette's words were not well understood. It was also like a foreign language he had never learned.
"By the way, Bastian."
A voice as captivating as this night crossed the deepening silence. Odette had a habit of calling her conversation partners by their names.
It was a habit he didn't want to know.
"I don't think it's bad that I couldn't ride the Ferris wheel. Thanks to you, I was able to see it to my heart's content. It looks much prettier up close."
"Don't you think it is excessive self-justification?"
"I don't think so. You can't see the Ferris wheel from inside the Ferris wheel. So, if I had been riding it, I would not have been able to see the view I'm seeing now."
Odette turned her head and smiled beautifully.
"Thanks to you, I made good memories. Thank you, Bastian."
"Let's ride together next time. There is a Ferris wheel like that in Lutz."
Bastian made an impulsive promise. An impatience aroused by Odette, as if to say a final farewell.
After looking at Bastian for a moment, Odette gave a soft smile instead of a reply.
Then, slowly and very naturally, she rose from the bench. She wanted to throw away the empty paper cup. But even after achieving her purpose, Odette did not return. She stopped a few steps from the bench and looked up at the Ferris wheel in rapture.
Bastian rose from his seat and approached Odette. She definitely felt his presence, but Odette didn't look at him. Not wanting to wait any longer, Bastian strode forward and blocked her way.
Startled, Odette turned her head, but Bastian was not deterred. He reached out his hand and cupped her face, gently drawing her gaze.
She wasn't surprised or frightened like before. Her gaze only contained him in it.
Soon they were facing each other, and Odette's eyes lit up like the clear, calm surface of the water.
Her nervousness was evident, but it didn't look like rejection. Bastian's hand, which had been quietly caressing her cheek, touched her trembling red lips.
"Sister!"
A familiar voice was heard at the moment when the unfamiliar emotion that had tapped her chest and flowed out in the form of a slow sigh. Startled, Odette hurriedly backed away from him.
Bastian, who decided to withdraw from this point today, meekly let Odette go. While he looked down at his fingertips, where the infinitely soft touch remained, Odette left. Toward the tardy Tira Beller, the family she loved so much.
***
"I think the teachers really like me, no one else. It puts a lot of pressure on my shoulders. Do you see it? How high does it tower? I think it's taller than the Ferris wheel at the amusement park?"
Tira's excited voice echoed through the campus in the midst of autumn leaves.
Odette listened to Tira's chatter with a gentle smile. She was originally a child who became more volatile than usual when her emotions flared up. She didn't want to point it out because it was her own effort to hide the sadness of their impending separation.
Odette's vacation came to an end when she attended the parents' event at Gillis Girls' Academy.
Meet at the school gate by 4:00.
The time Bastian had notified this morning was now 10 minutes away.
"I still can't believe that my sister is here. Even though we saw each other every day for three days. Is it because the time is too short? It feels like I'm dreaming."
Tira's steps slowed noticeably when she spotted a black car parked outside the school gate. She was smiling brightly, but her eyes were already red. She was a child who had a lot of laughter and a lot of tears.
"Take care. Study hard. So next time I meet your homeroom teacher, my shoulders will rise like a ferris wheel."
Stopping her steps, Odette closed Tira's school uniform jacket with a hand that showed much affection.
"I'm sorry. No matter how much I love sister, that would be a bit difficult."
Tira, who wrinkled her nose, laughed and cried at the same time. Odette wiped Tira's tears with a handkerchief from her handbag.
"Next time we meet again, I will introduce you to my new family. I think you'll like Margrete since you've always wanted a puppy."
"What's the use of all that? Now sister already has another family."
Tira glanced at the car beyond her school gate with childish eyes deprived of her toys.
"If you're going to be mean, stop here and go back."
As Odette calmly threatened, Tyra hurriedly clasped her hands. As Tira calmed her raging emotions, Odette resumed her paused steps. The footsteps of the two sisters walking side by side continued along the path covered with fallen leaves.
"It's good to see you doing so well. Thanks, Tira."
"What is there to be thankful for, sister? I'm a little sister who's nothing but a burden. Rather, I am grateful and sorry."
By the time Tira's eyes filled with tears again, the two sisters arrived at the school gate. The driver, recognizing Odette, hurriedly got out of the car.
"Bye, sister. I love you."
Tira hugged Odette by the nape of her neck and whispered in tears.
"Be well."
Odette said goodbye in a calm voice.
"I love you, Tira."
There was a faint wetness in the added words, but fortunately Tira didn't seem to notice. After pulling away from her sister, Odette approached the car where the driver was waiting.
She began to hear sobbing, but did not look back.
As she sat down next to Bastian, the back seat door closed. It was only after the driver got back into the driver's seat and the scenery outside her window began to move that Odette finally looked back. Tira was waving at her, crying like a child.
"Odette."
It was around the time the car started to speed up in earnest that she heard Bastian's voice calling her name. Seeing that she couldn't take her eyes off the distant scenery, he reached out and turned Odette's head.
She was taken aback by the unexpected action, but Odette soon regained her composure. She politely pushed Bastian's hand away before she straightened her posture. An apology was conveyed instead with a brief silence.
The car soon arrived at Karlsvall Central Station. It was almost time for the train to Lutz to depart.