Chapter 19 - Clippers

                                        

                                              



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Location: Farm, Wall Rose
Year: 845
Time: Morning








Her wide eyes flickered between me and Historia.
She wasn't expecting to find me here. 
I wasn't expecting her, either. 
Yet, here we were.
Internally, I sighed.
There were certain things I had come to understand about this world. Its laws, its people, its politics. Some things were painfully simple, while others—like the existence of individuals with strange abilities—were more elusive.
Frieda fit neatly into that latter category.
I had suspected for a while. There were little things. The way her normally blue eyes sometimes took on a purplish colour, even when the lighting didn't warrant it. The strange incident at the gala, where a servant had just so happened to stumble into me right as I was about to introduce myself to a group of nobles. The way she had stepped forward then, speaking with an authority that made the entire ballroom listen to her...
And then there was the strangest thing of all—the girl standing just behind me, clutching my sleeve lightly.
Historia.
She had never once connected my presence to Frieda's.
A strange omission. No matter how well a person kept secrets, subconscious behaviors were harder to suppress. A glance of recognition. A flicker of familiarity. 
But with Historia, there was nothing. 
Unless, of course...
Someone had been altering her memories.
And that someone was standing right in front of me.
"Kiyotaka?"
Historia's voice pulled me from my thoughts. I turned to find her looking at me and Frieda, her expression uncertain. She shifted slightly, her fingers tightening just a little on my sleeve. 
"Who is that?"
The two of us—Frieda and I—exchanged a glance.
I could see the gears turning in her mind.
"A friend," I said.
"A friend?"
Frieda nodded, offering a warm smile as she caught what was happening.
"Yes, Kiyotaka and I know each other from before. It's, um... a coincidence that we ran into each other here."
 "You don't look happy to see each other, though," Historia pointed out.
Smart.
Frieda let out a light laugh, waving her hand dismissively. "Oh, no, it's not like that! We were just caught off guard, that's all."
"Right," I added smoothly. "It's just surprising. Neither of us expected to run into each other like this."
Historia still didn't look completely convinced, but she accepted the answer with a small nod. 
"Okay..."
Frieda exhaled slightly, then turned to me, her smile a little tighter now. 
"Kiyotaka," she said, shifting her weight from one foot to the other. "Do you mind if I borrow you for a moment?"