Chapter 177 - The Grimoire and Their Parting
(This chapter focuses on Dahlia and Tobias.)
"Oh, I almost forgot…"
Dahlia managed to get to her feet and placed the box that had been sitting by the wall on the table.
When she took out the grimoire inside, Tobias's eyes widened. It seemed he did recognize it after all.
"I found this in my father's study. It looks like it was meant to be your grimoire, so…"
"No, Master said he was making it for both of us. The last time I saw it, it was still lying open, and nothing had been written in it yet…"
Dahlia felt relieved to learn that the grimoire was meant for both of them.
Apparently, she had been more troubled by the things her father had left behind than she had realized.
"It’s already been Blood-bonded to me, but I can open it here, slip a magic-sealing plate between the pages to keep it from closing, and you can use it that way. I know it might be troublesome for you to use it like this, but please do so."
"You want me to use it…? Don't you need a grimoire, Tobias?"
"It isn't something I should accept—Chairman Zola, I'm sorry to trouble you, but could I borrow a magic-sealing plate?"
"Of course."
Ozwald fetched a silver magic-sealing plate from the shelf and handed it to Tobias.
"Dahlia, Mr. Orlando, don't you think the two of you need some time alone to talk, including about that grimoire? If you let this opportunity pass, you probably won't have many more chances to talk."
"Even if we were to talk alone…"
"Um, I'd only like to hand this over…"
Ozwald gazed at the two of them, who were struggling to find their words, with an exceptionally gentle expression.
"When I was young, there were countless things I regretted not saying to people I was parting ways with. I don't want you two to make the same mistake. Say everything you want to say to each other, and don't leave anything unsaid. I'll be looking over some documents for the next twenty minutes or so."
Ozwald placed an anti-eavesdropping magic tool on the table and headed to the back of the room without waiting for either of them to respond.
Dahlia and Tobias exchanged glances, then turned back to the grimoire, looking bewildered.
"For now, let's check this. There might still be nothing written in it."
"Right."
When Tobias placed his hand on the cover and opened the grimoire, a folded sheet of white paper fluttered out.
He picked it up and scanned it several times. His eyes quickly grew red and misty with tears, and his lips turned white as he clenched them tightly.
"…Tobias, is that a letter from my father?"
"…Yeah."
"Would you let me read it, too?"
"It's addressed to me, and, well… I think it might be better if you didn't read it."
"It doesn't have to be addressed to me. I think it might be my father's last letter, so please…"
At Dahlia's pleading, Tobias hesitated, but eventually managed to hand her the letter.
The white stationery was covered in handwriting that Dahlia immediately recognized as her father Carlo's. His letters slanted slightly to the left.
To Tobias,
If you're reading this, something must have happened to me.
I've been feeling my age a little lately, so I hope you'll understand that it couldn't be helped.
I've written down the essentials in this book.
If there's anything you don't understand, ask Professor Lina Lauren.
Also, take a bottle of scorpion liquor and pay Ozwald of the Zola Trading Company a visit sometime.
Both of you have the skills to make it on your own. That should be enough to see you through.
This may be a cliché, but I'm counting on you to look after Dahlia.
Stand in front of her as much as you can, and protect her.
Talk to Ireneo and make sure she doesn't attract too much attention.
Sorry for being such a worrywart of a father, but I'm counting on you.
Tobias, don't push yourself so hard that you ruin your health.
Don't overdo it with sneaking off to work or study in the middle of the night, either.
You don't need to rush. You'll become a fine magical toolmaker.
I doubt anyone will ever read this letter, but I might as well end on a suitably cool note.
To my son and daughter: May you both find happiness.
Carlo Rossetti
P.S. I'm leaving all my portrait prints to my son as his inheritance. Say that you'll clear them out and hide the ones you like.
"Dad…"
The familiar handwriting tightened her chest, and the love her father had expressed for her nearly brought tears to her eyes.
But that final sentence instantly killed the mood.
Give me back that touching moment! At least keep it out of the postscript! If you're going to end on a high note, then just end there!
Wasn't this going a little too far for the last line of a will?
If her father were here, she'd grab him by both shoulders, shake him as hard as she could, and then give him a thorough scolding.
For now, she swore that the next time she visited his grave, she would absolutely give him a piece of her mind.
"I was just starting to get emotional, and then he ruined the whole thing at the end… Dad really was a strange man, wasn't he?"
"…Master… he thought of so many things… but why bring up the portrait prints here?"
Tobias was struggling to hold back his tears, looking utterly confused. Apparently, he hadn't known anything about the portrait prints.
"Dad hid that grimoire under a mountain of portrait prints. That's why I couldn't bring myself to clean them up, and they stayed there for an entire year."
"A mountain of portrait prints…? Why would Master do that?"
"Dad must have thought I'd ask you to help me clear out the portrait prints."
In the end, she'd asked Volf, not Tobias. She'd ended up causing Volf a great deal of trouble.
Then a thought suddenly occurred to her.
Since the letter said, "I'm leaving all my portrait prints to my son as his inheritance," shouldn't she hand them all over to Tobias?
"Um, I've already put all the portrait prints in garbage bags, but they're still in the storage shed. I haven't thrown them away yet."
"No, I don't want them."
"There are about two big burlap sacks full of them, though…"
"No, I really don't want them. Two big sacks' worth… If they're colored prints, you could probably get a decent price for them at a secondhand bookstore."
"Really?"
"Probably…"
Despite both of them having tears in their eyes, the conversation had somehow turned into a thoroughly anticlimactic affair.
Neither could find the words to comfort the other, and they sighed almost simultaneously.
"Now I understand why you wanted to keep me plain and inconspicuous, Tobias. After we got engaged, Dad must have said something similar to you, hadn't he?"
Rereading a line in the letter, Dahlia gave a bitter smile.
"Stand in front of her as much as you can, and protect her." What an overprotective father's concern that was.
"That was because… Master hadn't been able to teach you how to deal with people or how to conduct business… so he wanted me to stand in front and protect you…"
Tobias didn't deny it.
It was plain to see that he was torn over whether or not to tell Dahlia.
She had been close enough to this man to recognize that much about him. Though that was all in the past now.
"I know it's a little late to say this, but I'm truly sorry. It was all my fault."
"Don't just wrap everything up by blaming yourself. I want you to be honest with me… What was I lacking?"
There was something that had been bothering her, at least a little.
What had been wrong with the way she had tried to accommodate Tobias, doing her best to be a good wife?
Was it her appearance, her personality, or her behavior? If possible, she had wanted to ask him outright at least once.
"There was nothing lacking in you at all… You're a better magical toolmaker than I am, Dahlia. I kept doing stupid things out of jealousy."
"Why would you be jealous? You're the more skilled one, aren't you, Tobias?"
"My skills are suited to little more than inspection and repairs. Your ideas and prototypes are incredible, and I was jealous of you all along. That's why I kept testing whether you would obey me as a wife. I understand now how despicable that was."
His voice came out low and dark, almost like a confession. Tobias let out a breath, then turned the question back on her.
"What about you, Dahlia? Surely there are things you want to say to me, too."
Since the opportunity had presented itself, she might as well speak her mind without holding back.
Ozwald had said it himself, hadn't he? Say everything you want to say, and don't leave anything unsaid.
"Well, let's see. I was pretty shocked when you brought her to our new home the day before our wedding, when you said she told you she wanted to live there, when you asked me to return the engagement bracelet, and when you gave back the ruby I'd given you."
"I'm sorry… I couldn't see anything but Emilia. I must have lost my mind… Also, I ordered some mineral material to make a setting for an earring. I asked one of my regular suppliers to find something that would match that ruby, but what they sent me was a lump of Crimson Gold, and it ended up costing more than my budget…"
"Crimson Gold? That's more expensive than mithril…"
Crimson Gold was a fine metal capable of holding powerful enchantments.
However, it was quite expensive, as it was rare and only found in volcanic regions.
He probably hadn't been able to refuse after placing the order with one of his regular suppliers.
No wonder he'd been short on cash back then and could only ask her to return the engagement bracelet.
Still, Crimson Gold was a valuable metal.
It might be difficult to work with, but it certainly sounded interesting.
Perhaps she could even use it to make a magic sword.
Even if it wasn't suitable for a magic sword, she could probably turn it into an earring setting, a bracelet, or a ring.
"Do you still have that Crimson Gold?"
"It's still in the box it came in. The color doesn't match, so I have no plans to use it for the earring setting. But selling it would be a bit of a problem, too."
Its current resale value was probably lower than what he had paid for it.
She asked him about its size and purchase price, and his answer made sense. At more than twenty-five gold coins, it certainly wasn't something he could easily part with.
"Would you sell me that Crimson Gold for what you paid for it? I want to use it as material."
"I don't mind. But if you're only doing this out of consideration for me, don't."
"I just want it as material, nothing more. Besides, if you're going to be considerate of anyone, Tobias, it should be your wife. Reusing an engagement bracelet is absolutely awful."
The honest feelings she had kept to herself for so long finally spilled out.
Reusing an engagement bracelet was insulting to both her and Emilia.
Quite frankly, it was unthinkable. He had absolutely no consideration for other people's feelings.
"No, Emilia said she wouldn't mind…"
"Of course she'd mind! I wouldn't like it either if someone else wore an engagement bracelet that I'd already worn. You can sell your current engagement bracelet to a jeweler, then put that money from the crimson gold and buy a new one, can't you?"
"…Alright. I'll talk to her about it."
Perhaps overwhelmed by Dahlia's intensity, Tobias nodded without arguing.
Taking advantage of the opportunity, she asked another question.
"So… how long had you been seeing your wife?"
"…Since the day before that day."
"The day before you broke off our engagement? It happened that suddenly?"
"She said she wanted to see our new home, and then she confessed her feelings to me there, and, well…"
Apparently, it had been a whirlwind romance worthy of Romeo and Juliet.
It was the sort of romance she'd never experienced in either her previous or current life—but as she gave a somewhat strained, chilly laugh, Tobias asked her hesitantly,
"Dahlia, um… what about Lord Scalfarotto?"
"I first met him two days after our engagement was broken off. I happened to run into him again on the same day I met you at that shop on the main street. That was only our second meeting. He was just being considerate of me when he acted that way back then."
She folded the letter in half again and handed it back to Tobias.
Now that she had read the letter, there was one more thing she wanted to confirm.
"Selling the waterproof cloth through Orlando & Co. was also my father's wish, wasn't it?"
"I heard about that afterward."
"'Stand in front of Dahlia and protect her'… Tobias, didn't you think the same way when you put the compact magic stove under your own name? No, not just you—the Orlando & Co., too."
She had never been able to understand it.
Why had Tobias, her fellow apprentice, registered the compact magic stove Dahlia had created under his own name?
She wondered if this had been a twisted interpretation of her father's request: Stand in front of her and protect her.
"During that whole thing with the compact magic stove, you could have just told me about what my father requested of you. We could have thought of another solution, explained things to the guild, and avoided letting the situation with the trading company become such a mess…"
"How could I have told you? I'd been told to protect his daughter, and I'd failed to do even that. I was so obsessed with Emilia that I couldn't see anything else, and I genuinely forgot about the stove's registration, too. Before any of that, I hadn't even bothered to talk to you. Besides, I was the one who made the decision and carried it out, so I'm the one who should bear the responsibility."
"That might let you stubbornly stick to your principles, Tobias, but what about the trading company? You're causing trouble for everyone there!"
Earlier today, Ivano had told her about Orlando & Co.'s declining fortunes and explained some of the circumstances behind them.
Both Ivano and Volf had told her thatOrlando & Co.'s troubles were not something she needed to worry about, but she still couldn't shake her growing sense of guilt.
"Today, Emilia and I were there to apologize to the company. The two of us had just finished apologizing to the company chairman, the senior staff, and the guarantors when you arrived."
"I see…"
"In the end, the Rossetti Company saved ours from going under. Now I have to take responsibility for what I did and make amends myself. Is there anything else you want to say to me, Dahlia? I wouldn't complain even if you punched me."
Tobias said it so solemnly that Dahlia couldn't help giving a wry smile.
"You and my father are both terrible, you know. You're always going on about protecting me, but Dad went and died early because he didn't take care of himself, and you went off with another woman. You both just do whatever you please."
"…I'm sorry."
"But even with both of you gone, even without anyone protecting me, I'm doing just fine, aren't I? I have friends and colleagues, and I have my work."
"…If anything, I think it might have been better for you that I'm no longer by your side."
She looked away from him as he spoke so self-deprecatingly, lowering her eyes.
She would probably be making a similar expression herself in a moment.
"…You know, Tobias, I used to do everything you told me to, just as you said, trying to make myself useful to you. All I wanted was to be a wife who could serve your needs. I thought that if I was useful enough, you wouldn't abandon me."
"Abandon you…?"
"I didn't want to be abandoned. I didn't even need you to love me. I just wanted to stay by your side forever, so I wouldn't have to be alone when I died… But I suppose that was where I went wrong."
Thinking back, Tobias had asked her about it in the beginning, too.
What do you think? What do you want to do?
Dahlia herself had been the one who kept leaving every decision up to Tobias.
"You must have found it creepy, didn't you? I was always looking down, leaving everything up to you, like a doll without a will of her own."
"That wasn't true. You helped me in so many ways… It's rather late to say this now, but thank you."
"And I want to thank you, too, for protecting me in ways I never even realized."
Lucia had told her how often Tobias had worried about her.
It was only after she started working on her own and running her own trading company that she realized he had also been handling customer complaints by himself on her behalf.
And now, she understood after reading her father's letter.
It hadn't been romantic jealousy, but he really had worried about her and protected her as though she were family. She couldn't laugh at how immature she had been, completely oblivious to it all.
Her father, Tobias, and Dahlia herself had all gone about things the wrong way, but each of them had been doing their best in their own way.
"The truth is, I wanted us to walk side by side, rather than have me follow behind you. But I was too cowardly to say so."
"…Wouldn't that mean walking beside someone other than me?"
"Huh?"
Tobias's gaze shifted away for a moment before returning to her.
"It would have been better if we'd just remained fellow apprentices, like brother and sister. I think my father must have made the wrong decision."
"Perhaps he did. But what I did to you—"
"That's enough. I forgive you for everything, so don't ever apologize to me again, Tobias."
Her former senior apprentice froze at her words, then bowed his head slightly.
"Thank you… If you ever need help with your work again, let me know. I'll help as much as I can."
"Of course. I'll ask for your help if that happens. I'll also talk to Ivano and Gabriella about what my father asked of you. Please pass that along to Mr. Ireneo."
Having finished their conversation, Dahlia happened to glance at the table beside them, where the waterproof cloth they had practiced on earlier was lying.
It was the second piece, the one with the beautifully applied enchantment.
"It's frustrating, but even with my increased magic power, I still can't hold a candle to your planar enchantments…"
"That's the first time I've ever heard you say you're frustrated about something."
"I've felt that way plenty of times. I envied your magic power, which let you perform planar enchantments. When you enchant waterproof cloth all at once, the magic changes from blue and starts glowing in rainbow colors, remember? I always loved that moment. It looked like the sky after the rain."
Rainbow-colored magic tinged with blue.
It always flowed so beautifully and evenly that she couldn't help being mesmerized by it.
"I envied your ability to sustain your magic for so long, Dahlia, as well as your creativity."
"This is the first time I've heard you say something like that, too, Tobias."
"I was determined not to admit it, no matter what… Speaking of magic power, yours has improved quite nicely. I couldn't tell at first because it was unstable, but the rainbow colors are noticeably more vivid, and the magic itself is denser than before."
"That makes me happy to hear. I'm so used to my own magic power that I can't really tell the difference myself."
Suddenly, Dahlia realized that they were talking just as they had before their engagement, and she understood.
Oh, it's finally over.
The bitterness inside her had disappeared, and even the last thin thread of regret had finally snapped.
From now on, they were simply senior and junior apprentices, two people who had studied under the same master, and fellow magical toolmakers. There was nothing more between them.
She heard Ozwald give a light cough. It was probably about time.
They looked at each other and gave slight nods.
"You should keep this grimoire after all, Tobias. It’s blood-bonded to you."
"…Alright. I'll accept it gratefully. I'll copy everything into another book and give that one to you. Would that be all right?"
"Yes, please. I suspect there's a lot in there that I don't remember."
She searched for the right words to bring their conversation to a close, but nothing came to mind.
Then she remembered something.
"This might sound strange, but we've never said 'goodbye' to each other, have we? We were always together because of work, and even when we broke off our engagement, we never said it."
"Come to think of it, you're right…"
Now that she thought about it, she had never once said goodbye to Tobias since they first met at the Green Tower.
They would see each other at work the next day or when their days off ended, so there had never been any need to say it.
See you tomorrow. See you next time. See you after the break. The days that stretched ahead, linked together by those familiar promises, no longer lay before them.
"…Should you, the senior apprentice, say it first?"
"No, I think it would be better if you said it first."
Although they had been engaged, neither of them had ever truly been in love with the other.
They had simply spent their time together under her father's guidance, as fellow magical toolmakers, a senior apprentice and a junior apprentice, and colleagues.
Even so, the words of parting still hurt a little.
"…Goodbye, Tobias."
"…Goodbye, Dahlia."
After that single word of farewell, they both managed to smile.
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