A sobbing sound from one side caught both Cilly's and my attention simultaneously. We turned to see a little girl walking down the street, crying all alone. People passing by glanced at her, but no one approached her.
"Wait a moment," I said.
Leaving Cilly behind, I approached the little girl. She was still crying, oblivious to my presence. I squatted down to meet her at eye level and gently spoke to her.
"Hey there, little one?"
"Waaah!"
Even though I tried to speak to her, the girl was too busy crying. To calm her down, I placed my hand gently on her head.
"Why are you crying? Will you tell me what's wrong?"
"Sniff..."
As I continued to pat her head and speak softly, she finally began to calm down, sniffling as her tears slowed.
"What happened?"
Now that she seemed more composed, I asked her again. After a few more sniffles, she responded in a nasal voice.
"Mommy..."
"You lost your mom? Where did you last see her?"
"Hic..."
Just thinking about her mother seemed to bring back the tears. I couldn't let her start crying again after finally calming her down.
"Come on, be a good girl. What's your name?"
"...Cindy."
"Cindy, huh? That's a lovely name. But why is a pretty girl with such a pretty name crying? How about you stop crying and tell us what happened?"
"I was with Mommy... but she disappeared..."
Just as I thought, the little girl was lost. If she had stayed in one spot, her mother probably would've found her by now, but when we discovered her, she had already wandered off.
"Don't worry, we'll help you find your mom. Let's go look for her together."
I extended my hand to her, and although hesitant, Cindy placed her tiny hand in mine. I wiped away her tears and stood up.
"Uh, Elys? The guards will probably find her mother soon. If we get involved, we might just complicate things..."
"Hmm? I can't just leave her crying like this. We'll just have to see the play another time. I'll apologize to the class president later for the tickets."
"It's not really about the tickets, but..."
"Well, let's at least check if a missing child report has been made."
Ignoring Cilly's reluctance, I held Cindy's hand and headed toward the nearest guard post. As expected, there were two guards standing watch at the entrance. Trying not to judge by appearances, I approached the one who looked friendlier and spoke to him.
"Hello there."
"How can I assist you?"
Unlike the time I was mistaken for a suspect while restoring the city's barrier, this guard responded in a polite tone.
"Has there been a missing child report recently?"
"One moment, please."
Lifting Cindy's hand slightly, I gestured to the guard, who went inside the post to check. He was probably inquiring if a report had been filed or checking with other posts to see if any information had come in.
A few minutes later, the guard returned.
"There hasn't been any report filed with us. Could you describe the child's mother? We'll have our patrols keep an eye out."
I relayed the description Cindy had given me, and the guard promptly reported it to his superiors through a communication orb.
"We'll take the child into our care and continue the search. Thank you for your diligence in reporting this."
"Cindy, the guards will help you find your mom. Let's go inside and wait for her."
As I tried to hand her over to the guards, Cindy tugged away and quickly hid behind my leg.
"Cindy?"
"No! I want to stay with you! Do you not like me, big sister?"
Sigh.
I was surprised by her sudden clinginess, but the sigh didn't come from me. Glancing over, I noticed Cilly massaging her forehead with an uncharacteristic look of exasperation. She'd been acting a little strange for a while now.
"Cindy, sweetie, it's better if you go with the guards. Stop being difficult now."
For some reason, Cilly spoke to Cindy in a more irritated tone than usual. In response, Cindy hid further behind me, doing her best to stay away from Cilly.
"I don't like that lady..."
Sigh.
Cilly let out another deep sigh. I decided to focus on persuading Cindy and figure out what was bothering Cilly later.
"Cindy, don't be stubborn. Your mom must be worried sick. You don't want to upset her, do you?"
"Sniff..."
But as I continued trying to reason with Cindy, her eyes began to well up with tears again. Fearing that she would start bawling like before, I had no choice but to give in. I didn't want to cause a scene in front of the guards.
"Okay, okay. We'll wait together until your mom comes."
At my concession, Cindy instantly brightened, as if she had never been about to cry at all. She grabbed my hand and began pulling me along.
"Haha... I'll come back later then. Sorry for the trouble," I said to the guard.
"No trouble at all. We'll notify you as soon as we locate her mother."
I let Cindy lead me around the area. We watched the fountain spray water, listened to a street band playing, and even stopped by a café for drinks. Cindy seemed to be enjoying herself so much that she'd completely forgotten about being separated from her mother. Meanwhile, Cilly trailed behind us, a step slower than usual.
"So, did you come to the city with your mom for sightseeing?"
"Yep! I really wanted to come, and Mommy said no, but I insisted!"
Cindy energetically responded, sipping her strawberry juice. It was unfortunate that her day of sightseeing started with getting lost, but I hoped that the fun we had could make up for it.
"Really? Where did you want to go? We can stop by one last time before heading back."
The sun was beginning to set, and it seemed likely that Cindy's mother was now waiting at the guard post.
"That's okay. I already saw everything."
"Alright then, shall we head back? I'm sure your mom's been waiting for a while."
"Okay!"
Thankfully, Cindy didn't resist this time. Since we hadn't wandered far, it didn't take long to return to the post.
* * * *
"Hello again."
"Oh! You're the ones who reported the missing child earlier. Good news! The child's mother is inside."
A different guard greeted us, as the shift had apparently changed. Following his guidance, we entered the post, and a woman immediately jumped up from her seat and rushed over.
"Oh, thank you so much! How can I ever repay you?"
Though I expected a more emotional reunion, the mother thanked us profusely before even turning to her daughter. Cindy, on the other hand, stood quietly by her mother's side, gazing at us. From the way she had acted, I suspected this wasn't her first time getting lost and causing trouble.
"No need to repay us. Just seeing you two reunited is enough."
"Alright, we'll be on our way then."
Not wanting to linger and risk getting roped into some sort of reward, I followed Cilly back outside. By now, the sky had grown dark.
"Well, there goes the play. I feel bad for the class president, though. I'm sorry, Cilly—you must've been looking forward to it."
I couldn't forget how excited the class president had been when handing over the tickets, and how thrilled Cilly had been to attend. But thanks to my stubbornness, we'd missed it. Although it couldn't be helped, I knew she must be disappointed.
"...It's already done. There's nothing we can do about it now. It wasn't something I could control, anyway."
"How about tomorrow? I'm not sure if there'll be any seats left, but if we go early, we might be able to get tickets at the door..."
"Sounds good."
Cilly agreed before I even finished speaking. Seeing how much she wanted to go, I resolved to head out early tomorrow and secure two tickets.
"Hold on a second."
On the way back to the academy, as we passed by the fountain, I stopped her. I had been carrying something with me all day, unsure of when to give it to her. Now seemed as good a time as any.
Reaching into my pocket, I pulled out a ribbon-shaped hair tie I had secretly purchased when we were shopping for clothes. Sure, it was black, but that was just my personal taste.
"This is a gift from me."
Cilly's eyes widened in surprise as she looked back and forth between my face and the hair tie in my hand. Then, a bright smile spread across her face. Instead of taking the tie, she reached up and loosened the one currently holding her hair. Her golden locks cascaded down.
"Would you... tie it for me?"
I stepped behind her, gently gathered her soft hair in one hand, and skillfully tied it with the new ribbon. By now, I had become quite adept at tying hair.
Though there was no mirror, Cilly touched the ribbon in her hair with a radiant smile, as if she could see her reflection. Watching her, I couldn't help but feel a sense of satisfaction—it suited her even better than I'd imagined, and seeing her so happy made me proud.
"Shall we go?"
"Yes."
Unlike earlier when she had trailed behind, Cilly now walked right beside me, so close that we were practically touching. But even that wasn't enough for her, as she soon slipped her arm through mine.
I could feel her chest pressing against my arm, and though I considered pulling away, I realized there was no point. I wasn't strong enough to budge her anyway. My face began to flush, but fortunately, the lingering twilight masked my embarrassment.
With a mixture of bashfulness and joy, we made our way back.
* * * *
"Your Majesty! Didn't you promise not to go off on your own again?"
The woman's shocking words as she emerged from the guard post caught no one's attention. The area had already been secured by a soundproof barrier she had cast. No one could overhear their conversation.
"Oh, right... I did," the child—or rather, the woman in the child's form—responded casually, as if just remembering. It was no big deal to her. Of course, the imperial court's chief mage, Isis, had seen the emperor behave like this countless times before. She knew there was no one in this city who could harm the emperor. However, that didn't make the emperor's actions any less concerning. The emperor represented the entire empire.
"So, what did you think?"
"I was curious about the hero chosen by the goddess... Heh."
The emperor suddenly burst into laughter, clutching her stomach as if she had just heard the funniest joke in the world. Anyone witnessing this would be shocked, but Isis was long accustomed to the emperor's eccentric behavior.
"The so-called hero candidate knows my true identity, and her companion is quite amusing. I'm glad I came."
"Then, perhaps we should return to the palace and deal with the backlog of work that has piled up?"
The emperor's outings were never simple matters. Even though the emperor wielded absolute power, there was no way the court would allow her to travel far without any guards. But this emperor, even putting aside the fact that she was a woman, was far too extraordinary.
"Shut up," she had declared, silencing all opposition with a single sentence.
Her boldness, combined with Isis's magic, made this outing possible. A powerful artifact from the royal treasury had been used to conceal the emperor's true form, and the chief mage was deployed as her sole bodyguard.
Meanwhile, a decoy was left in the palace, pretending to carry out the emperor's duties so that no one would realize she was gone. Of course, the decoy couldn't actually sign off on any decisions, so the day's paperwork had likely piled up considerably by now.
"Normally, I'd put it off until tomorrow, but today I'm in a good mood. I'll go back and take care of it all."
"That's how it should be, Your Majesty."
At Isis's command, a large magical circle appeared in the air, emitting a blinding light. Yet no one around them noticed.
When the light faded, the two figures had vanished without a trace.