PAGE 8. What Are You Going To Do Now?

The rippling blue waves were caught and released in Rosette’s grasp. The ribbon decorating the end of her loosely braided hair was exceptionally white, drawing attention.

Rosette glanced at the light blue skirt hem that fell to her calves, then placed her hands back in position.

“All done.”

“Thank you.”

The chin raised at an angle was unusually pale for someone from Iota. Though there was some color, the slender wrists were pale enough that veins showed quite clearly.

“Thank you for helping, Rosette.”

“I told you to call me Rosie.”

“You decided to go with Lucio, right? Um, do you like him?”

“He’s not bad.”

Rosette answered indifferently, then gathered her long hair into one bundle and placed it over her chest. Though she wore no decorations, it looked like precious silk by itself.

The long legs that were the envy of other girls moved.

Though she had diligently come and gone from the small two-story house since she learned to walk, she could count on her fingers how often she’d been to the second granddaughter’s bedroom.

“Is grandfather okay?”

“Yes. He doesn’t need nursing care. Though he was disappointed to miss the party……”

Worry showed in her calm blue eyes. Her clenched fists drove away what little color remained.

“He’ll be fine.”

Rosette declared with more sincerity than any previous words. The girl who had spent a long time in bed repeatedly clenched and opened both hands while nodding gently.

Just as long fingers were about to cover the small back of her hand, a clear voice cut between them.

“Rosie!”

The boy wearing the most precious outfit he’d brought stood in front of Rosette, hopping like a frog.

It was an ‘urban’ neatness rarely seen at the annual party with only familiar faces. The quality shirt had silver embroidery on the sleeves and collar, and the pointed-toe shoes had an elegant shine.

“You came early. Was I a bit late? Here, this.”

“Thank you.”

It was a bouquet he’d received more than ten times. Though her expression holding the bouquet was habitual, the harmony was so perfectly suited that the boy fallen in puppy love didn’t notice.

The lush purple eyelashes blinked intentionally, very slowly, exactly twice. The boy couldn’t contain his momentary emotion and trembled.

The room’s owner watched this scene with a harmless smile and left the room. Naturally, the two followed the room’s owner side by side.

Though she had accepted Lucio’s partner request, she didn’t intend to completely separate from Asha. But Asha cleverly slipped out of conversations between the two, as if trying to subtly ‘push’ Lucio.

So the two could have more conversation.

“Haha.”

“What’s wrong, Rosie?”

“Just, I’m looking forward to the party.”

It was amusing. They were faces she saw tediously at school, so what change could there suddenly be.

Thinking this, Rosette still skillfully handled Lucio’s fussy attitude, which was the same as several other boys.

All things considered, Lucio was the boy closest to Asha, and also……

The party that started early in the morning proceeded exactly the same without a single change.

Asha, the sly girl who had distanced herself from Rosette as if she wasn’t disappointed, sat at the piano bench with a flushed face.

Simple rhythm, but music never heard at village parties before, resonated softly. Rosette listened to that sound while receiving orange juice with one hand, while listening to her partner’s heartfelt joke material, while greeting her ex-boyfriend who had left for the city cheerfully.

Arms that had always drooped swung lively, and her head that had nodded weakly was held upright. On her chest swayed a locket necklace that didn’t suit her—at least Rosette believed this without doubt.

“Annoying.”

“Huh? What don’t you like? What did I do wrong?”

“No. It’s nothing. Just a bit hot.”

The board games and card games they played every year weren’t fun at all. But she didn’t want to join the group dancing in circles to the music either.

“She practiced all the time, so she plays well.”

“Practice?”

“Yeah. After school ended, she’d go straight to the reception room. Saying she was practicing piano.”

Lucio made tapping motions while cutely narrowing his eyes. The corners of her mouth that rose in response were subtly cold in temperature.

“She used to say she’d never do it before.”

How fickle.

Her darkly tanned forehead narrowed thinly. Rosette looked at the back of her lively ‘friend’ then turned away.

“Shall we go somewhere else?”

“Huh, what? Yes! Let’s do that!”

She didn’t like the piano, that necklace, or the pure white ribbon—none of it.

Something formless.

Something that fluttered beside Asha and created secrets.

The purple hair scattered irritably. Her gait was confident without a hint of hesitation, but the hand linked with her partner’s arm was strangely tense with force.

※※※

The water play she’d been doing since she learned to walk couldn’t be new at this point.

The boy from the city had no talent for swimming at all. Rosette lay on the sandy beach and stared blankly up at the sky.

Beside her, the boy’s excited jokes rang out tirelessly, but there was nothing worth listening to.

“Asha would like this. Lots to tell her about.”

“Huh? Tell her what?”

The lips that had been chattering tirelessly pressed together in a long line. It was a clear expression of refusal to communicate, but Rosette had no intention of backing down meekly.

The shoulders that had been lying carelessly lifted up. He raised his upper body at an angle and asked back, gazing steadily at her jet-black eyes.

“Why would Asha like it?”

“Well, ah, I……”

“Who are you telling, huh?”

Over the past few months, no, few years. The gazes that had been glancing at Rosette alone had decreased.

Why did I go in and out of that house so many times, Rosette thought, suppressing the left corner of her mouth that was rising unevenly and softening her eyes.

When her refreshingly extended eye corners drew a gentle curve, the dazed boy couldn’t collect himself and stammered.

“Well, you know! Asha’s friend.”

“Asha’s friend? Someone else besides us?”

Rosette deliberately emphasized ‘us’ while urging an answer. As expected, Lucio didn’t know what to do with the fact that he and his crush were grouped together in one boundary and babbled.

“Not someone from here. Seems to live far away. So by letter……”

“By letter?”

“What letter?”

A round shadow fell over the two of them. The day’s pianist holding the pure white parasol she always carried bent her knees and tilted her head.

“Letter?”

“Ah, Lucio was saying he hasn’t written to his father in quite a while.”

“Right. Isn’t it about time you sent one? You haven’t sent any since last New Year’s.”

The quick-witted deflection of responsibility onto Lucio passed plausibly.

“Aren’t you two going in the water?”

“We just played in the water briefly and came out. Why, want to go in?”

“Yeah. Just for a moment after so long……”

“Then let’s go together. Lucio, you’re okay up to that point ahead, right?”

Rosette stood up without waiting for her partner’s answer. The parasol that stepped slightly aside gently protected the girl who resembled summer.

The sun was just setting. If they hesitated any longer it would become night, and the children splashing in the water would be scolded by adults.

Purple eyes looked at the sea tinged yellow, then shifted trajectory. At the end was a girl carefully setting down her parasol, shoes, glasses, and socks.

Since it was summer, all three were dressed lightly. Though Lucio had to leave behind all the accessories he’d dressed up with.

For something that had been a while, white ankles submerged in water without hesitation. Rosette watched this scene intently.

A small wave passed by, and the small body floated leisurely on the sea like a leaf. Rosette watched this scene intently.

The wavy blue-green hair submerged in seawater looked almost uniform. It seemed connected to a giant wave.

“You’re just going to stay still like that?”

“It’s hard to go deep like you do. This much is good enough.”

Asha smiled clearly as if she really liked it. Even in the midst of this, the silver necklace didn’t kill its presence and glimmered softly on her chest.

That ridiculous necklace.

“That, will you show me?”

“What?”

“The necklace. It’s a locket, right? What did you put inside? Did you put Aila’s portrait in there?”

She reached out playfully on purpose, but was sharply blocked.

“Sorry. It’s a secret.”

The body that had been floating contracted slightly and stood upright. The way she gripped the locket tightly with both hands as if afraid of losing it or having it stolen was quite excessive.

“I should go now. It’s almost my turn to play. You two have fun.”

Her forearms that had been in the sun for a long time were red with heat.

Asha, using the piano as an excuse, distanced herself at a regrettably fast pace. This was partly because she took Rosette’s silence as ordinary agreement.