“Drink quickly. I just boiled it.”

“Mm.”

Yellow flower tea.

It was a scent she smelled once before. Asha recalled the dried petals that had been inside the letter envelope and tilted the teacup.

The appropriately warm tea slowly moistened the throat.

“Ah, Mary changed your clothes. She’s a maid who works at our house, she’s a woman! Don’t worry too much. I wanted to leave them as they were, but the clothes were soaked with snow and your condition was a bit……”

“Oh, mm. Thank you……”

“I can’t dry them outside, but they should be completely dry in three or four days. I separately kept the belongings that were in your clothes. Ah, isn’t it too cold? I did put in a lot of firewood. You get cold easily.”

“It’s sufficient. Thank you. For the clothes too.”

It was the thickest material among clothes worn since birth. Asha, who had been fiddling with the sleeve cuffs while continuously brushing down her hair, opened her eyes wide.

“What should I do.”

“Why? Wh-what’s wrong?”

“The ribbon.”

“……Ribbon?”

“The one you gave me as a birthday present. It must have come undone when I fell. Ugh…… I lost my suitcase too.”

The girl who had just woken up pressed her forehead repeatedly and made a tearful face over losing a ribbon that wasn’t even expensive. The importance of the suitcase stuffed with clothes came second.

Carol’s face became subtle at the voice steeped in worry.

“You kept wearing it.”

“Of course. Sorry for losing it.”

“No. I’ll give you another present. It’s not particularly expensive and also……”

The lips that had been moving without finding direction suddenly stopped. The face that had momentarily turned to silence spread with belated relief.

“For something that fell from the air, it’s surprisingly cheap.”

“That’s true, but.”

“Just how did you get here, no, I have many things I want to ask, but first the soup……”

The boy who coughed several times pointed to the silver tray placed behind him. On top of it, cream-colored soup was puffing out steam.

Crackle crackle.

The sound of burning firewood and the blizzard rattling the windows. Blue eyes so full of goodwill that even Asha, who was clumsy with human relationships, could notice.

Everything was peacefully unfamiliar.

Carol was kind enough to offer a corner of the room and soup even when the friend who had only exchanged letters suddenly visited. Asha, who had been looking around the room that showed signs of daily life, gripped the blanket tightly and raised her head.

When their gazes met, the silver hair tilted diagonally. At the careful reaction that seemed to ask about Asha’s intentions, a quiet laugh emerged.

Because this entire situation was absurdly comfortable.

Quiet, safe, and there was someone to love. Just like Iota from a month ago. Someone who had become part of oneself……

“Carol.”

Though barely moistened with tea, her throat was still scratchy.

Asha, who had familiarly covered her throat with one hand, coughed several times and drew in breath.

Despite the host’s consideration being wasted, Asha was restless with wanting to say something. No, like a kettle lid that finally twists after boiling water to the limit.

“Carol, I……”

A muddy and sunken voice that hadn’t yet cleared came out without preamble.

“I missed you. That’s why I came. So.”

A drop of blood formed on the unconsciously bitten lip.

“Grandfather passed away. Ah, it turns out the letters were stolen by Rosette and Lucio working together. Ridiculous. I think I said harsh things to you, sorry. But, so, I……”

“Asha.”

“I just thought of you. I wanted to tell you. No, I, you……”

The girl who had been covering her rough face with both hands hung her head low and muttered.

“I guess I needed you.”

“Sha.”

“It’s funny. I kept missing you. Even when I thought you were deliberately not sending letters, even when I heard you had sent tons of letters. I know, it’s impulsive. Besides, I decided to believe everything, no, I believed. Actually, you might not welcome me that much. Like Aila did, it might have been simple entertainment to pass time. Even so, suddenly, Carol, Cas, you know……”

Not taking a single proper breath, her chest heaved rapidly.

Asha’s throat, who had been rambling a confession that wasn’t a confession without order, turned red as if lacking breath.

“There’s no such great circumstance. I thought of you. If I didn’t see you right away, it felt like I couldn’t—”

If eyes had fragrance, would it be like this?

Collapsing helplessly in the warmth that embraced her, Asha had such a thought. A wrinkled shirt touched the dried bridge of her nose.

It seemed to smell like old paper, or maybe not.

The patting touch that stuck to and fell from the shoulder blade colored the blue eyes with bewilderment. But relief was greater than bewilderment.

“Asha.”

“Yeah.”

In Iota, where half the year is summer, contact between skin like embracing is rare. Though it’s not entirely absent between intimate family or lovers, the islanders exhausted by heat are harsh about mutual contact.

Unlike the very cold north.

Unlike those who once pressed flesh to flesh to increase the probability of survival.

The embrace was long. Long enough for even Asha, who was awkward with this type of ‘comfort,’ to clearly recognize it as comfort. In the wordless embrace, it felt like the ground beneath her feet had collapsed.

It felt like being rescued again.

It felt like breath would stop.

It felt like being able to breathe again.

“……Grandfather passed away.”

“Yeah.”

“I don’t know what to do.”

“Yeah.”

“Aila asks what I’m going to do. I don’t know anything at all, so I just you……”

Pop.

Like a teapot boiled to its limit. Like bubbling water finally overflowing. Like waves crossing the embankment in an unexpected storm.

A stream of water flowed down the dry cheek.

The boy who had unhesitatingly offered his embrace was the first to notice this fact before the owner of the tears. Each time the blue-green eyelashes blinked, the white shirt became slightly more damp.

Carol, who had been waiting for a moment to catch his breath, stroked her long straight hair and stammered out prepared words.

“I missed you too. Not that I wished for this kind of thing. I’m sorry about your grandfather.”

The voice infected with sadness was soaked with moisture, but Asha, who had fallen into her own sea, didn’t notice this fact.

“You can stay at our house as long as you want. I got permission from all my family members. And I don’t hate at all that you came. Rather, for not giving up on me…… thank you. And, Sha. I……”

Heavy breath fell below Asha’s shoulder. Feeling that weight, Asha shrank her shoulders slightly but didn’t escape from Carol’s embrace.

“I lied sometimes too. Because we agreed to do so.”

“……Yeah.”

“But, Sha. Everything I said to you was sincere.”

The upper bodies that had been stuck together like hardened sugar syrup separated. Just as that emptiness became regrettable, firm fingertips brushed aside the disheveled side hair.

The arched eyes held a light that Asha’s imagination couldn’t guess.

“My one and only friend. That I like your writing, that I cherish you, that I missed you even though we hadn’t met—all of it.”

Each time his silver eyelashes went up and down, small lights seemed to shimmer. The motion of briefly clenching and opening his fists showed traces of nervousness.

“You, don’t you feel the same?”

Asha, who had been staring blankly at that appearance, opened her eyes wide at the urging mixed with tension. Her blue iris was as vivid as candy made whenever village parties were held.

After slowly chewing over her friend’s confession, only after completely recognizing what Carol had said did she agree with a foolish face.

“I was the same.”

“Right?”

“Only to you was I always sincere.”

The hand that had been lying obediently on the blanket reached out.

A hand with joints longer and thicker than expected. Rounded fingernails. Blue-tinged veins. A hand without a single callus grasped another hand completely different from itself.

Perhaps due to residual heat, the touching skin felt warm.

“Without you, Cas. Who could I be honest with?”

The hand that escaped Asha’s grip caressed the damp cheek. It swept down the soft area around the eyes and wiped away the tears that kept falling.

It was gentle and textbook comfort.

Strictly speaking, this wasn’t the first time Carol had comforted Asha. The words they had exchanged while recalling the same seasons many times were always……

A small hand overlapped the hand touching her cheek. The voice, dampened with moisture, was firm without a moment’s hesitation.

“I’m glad you’re here.”

While exchanging stories mixed with truth and lies, above all else, they comforted each other with their best efforts and sincerity.

Just as today’s Carol did for Asha.