The old man's pen touched the paper of the relic:
"When he said goodbye to me, it was a nice spring evening, three years after we first met. The sunset that evening was so brilliant. He held my hand and walked through the village. He also invited me to the top of the bell tower to tell me something very important. It was so nostalgic. After so many years, I still remember the warmth of his palm that day, and remember that we walked up the steps of the bell tower together, hugged each other on the top floor of the bell tower in my hometown, and looked out the window at the sunset in the distance..."
The environment of the clock tower itself did not change, but a brilliant orange-red sunlight shone in from the windows on all sides. The sunlight was more dazzling than the bonfire, and both Shade and Miss Higgins squinted their eyes subconsciously, and then smiled to welcome the warm sunlight.
They all stood up and walked to the window to look outside. Under the brilliant sunset, there was a rich little village located in the valley basin. Smoke from cooking rose from the birds, and the sound of dogs barking came from the corners of the village. The villagers carrying farm tools went home, and the children ran happily on the village roads. It was a very warm scene.
There were footsteps coming from the stairs. Shad and Miss Higgins turned around to look, and sure enough, they saw the young girl holding hands and the young man with a long sword hanging on his waist walking up together.
Both of their faces were flushed by the setting sun, even their hair and clothes were red.
They embraced each other and came to the west-facing window, watching the afterglow of the sunset together. Suddenly, the young man hugged the young girl from behind, and the latter gently pushed her lover, and her rosy ears even became translucent under the brilliant sunset.
"How romantic... it would be even better if there were two girls."
Shad heard Miss Higgins's mumbling, and then heard the words of the two young people in Mrs. Miles's memory:
"Sarah, I... am leaving my hometown. No, please listen to me. I want to achieve merit on the battlefield, and then come back with honor to marry you."
The blond young man who was speaking hugged his lover tightly. Miss Sarah Miles, who was plain-looking but very gentle, pursed her lips and asked softly:
"Marry me?"
"Yes, my knighthood comes from my father. Everything I have was given by my father. Right now, I don't have the ability to make you my wife. Please wait for me. This war that doesn't involve witches will be over soon. At most, I will be back in a year. I will come back with military merits and the lord's reward, and I will make you my wife."
After saying this, he joked:
"Maybe when I come back, you will have awakened as a witch and abandoned me."
"No, Richard, please don't say that. I will always wait for you, until you come back..."
The young girl turned around, threw her arms around her lover's neck and embraced him again.
Shade saw Miss Higgins shaking her head because of what Mrs. Miles said when she was young. She didn't believe that anyone could be immune to the witch's curse. And the fact was that Mrs. Miles had never become a witch.
"I kept my promise and waited for him to come back."
The young couple embraced each other in silence for a long time, as if they wanted to melt themselves into the sunset of the evening and become an eternal landscape painting. The old woman by the campfire spoke slowly. Unlike Shad and Miss Higgins who were watching this scene, she had her back to the couple embracing. She didn't need to look back, as this scene had already remained in her heart forever:
"I waited and waited, until wrinkles appeared on my cheeks and my hair turned white. I waited until the village fell after a plague and the lord was murdered by his son, and then a new lord took over. I kept waiting for him to come back, and I believed he would come back..."
Xia De's sigh concluded the old man's words. This memory was not over yet, the young man and woman embraced each other and made their own promises:
"I will always wait for you to come back, you better hurry up, otherwise I will get old."
"Yes, next spring, at this time of year, please be here, be the first to wait for me at the highest point for my return with the horse."
"I'll prepare a wreath of parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme for you. I'll be waiting here."
The two young hearts approached each other, their eyes gazed into each other's eyes, their noses touched. Against the backdrop of the setting sun, they kissed each other, causing Miss Higgins to shake her head again:
"I don't like this kind of story. I already know that it will end in tragedy. Even if the content in the middle of the story is interesting and touching, I don't like it at all... Madam, this tower, oh, I mean the bell tower in your hometown that you remember, is it still there now?"
The old man looked at the words he had written and shook his head slightly:
"Every spring, when the sun was at its brightest, I would go to the bell tower to wait for him. I waited for 12 years, but only until the plague came and all the survivors in the village left. I had to move away with my family, but every spring I would return to my hometown and wait for a day on the tower. In the 23rd year after he left, the bell tower, which was not maintained by anyone, collapsed after a heavy rain in the summer. So every year I would carry the woven wreaths and wait for him on the ruins... Year after year, I watched the sunrise and sunset, the wind, frost, rain and snow... "
The young witch suddenly thought of what happened before:
"A wreath? You mean the one His Majesty forbade you to take with you when we set out?"
Then he explained to Xia De:
"Your Majesty, in a place like the Black Mist Camp, even the most beautiful flowers will wither immediately."
Xia De nodded, and then became concerned about the sequel of the story:
"Madam, when did you decide to come to the dangerous area where we are now?"
"I have waited for him all my life and thought there was no hope. Unexpectedly, about seven years ago in the spring, when I waited again at the ruins of the clock tower in my hometown, I didn't wait for him, but waited for a girl riding a blue chocobo. She told me that the youngest daughter of my mother's brother had just established a country on the edge of the desert at the other end of the Western Continent. She had many enemies before and didn't dare to come to us, but now she has finally defeated all the enemies and wants to take me to live happily."
"I'm so envious. Ahem, I mean, you're so lucky."
Miss Higgins said, and Shad looked at the young man and woman who were still kissing but whose memories were frozen:
"That was seven years ago?"
The old man sighed as the fire crackled:
"My cousin and I were not familiar with each other at first, and for so many years, I have been expecting him to keep his promise and come back, so I didn't ask her to help me. Later, I still returned to my hometown every spring, and my cousin waited with me. She also advised me that if I couldn't wait, I should find him myself. She helped me try divination and other methods, but none of them worked. In the past two years, my body has been failing, and even she couldn't let an ordinary person like me live a few more years, so I planned to come here."
Both Shade and Miss Higgins had expressions of "I see". It seemed that the young witch had no idea that there was such a story behind this:
"Indeed, if even your majesty's divination cannot find Mr. Richard Knight Jackman, then you can only turn to this for help. The memory ends here. Has the gentleman returned?"
She asked curiously. Xia De also looked around, but did not see any soul appearing here. Only the memory scene like a solidified landscape oil painting lingered for a long time.
He thought about it and came up with an idea:
"Mrs. Miles, please don't sit down, please stand up. Yes, please say that name again, and say it carefully."
Miss Higgins hurried over and helped the old man up. Mrs. Miles stood up from the campfire and carefully adjusted her clothes:
"Richard Knight Jackman."
She tried to shout, and Miss Higgins quickly turned her head to look at the stairs, but there was still no one there. However, Shad saw that the young man who was kissing his lover moved his fingers.
"Richard Knight Jackman."
The old man shouted again, and then as if he realized something, he also looked towards the window of the clock tower, at the young man in his memory under the setting sun.
The young girl in his arms had disappeared. After the second call, he lowered his raised arms and stood with his back to the three people behind him, facing the sunset.
Miss Higgins looked so excited that she was about to explode, not only because she saw a great story, but also because this damn journey had finally come to an end. Even Shad smiled because he had just experienced the most tormenting moment since he came to this world. Seeing this warm story at this moment, he naturally felt happy.
"Richard Knight Jackman."
Mrs. Miles called out the name for the third time, and she asked Miss Higgins to let her go, and then she took a step forward in disbelief. The figure with his back to the three people also slowly turned around and looked at her.
The two pairs of eyes stared at each other. It was still the same young blond youth under the bright spring sunset. However, her hair was already white and her face was full of wrinkles. But everything seemed to be the same. The young man turned around, looked at her in shock, and immediately recognized who she was:
“Sarah!”
"Richard!"
The two of them opened their arms and hugged each other tightly. Not only was Mrs. Miles crying, but young Richard was also crying:
"I'm sorry, I'm late. I'm late."
He was no longer the person who existed in the memories revealed by the relics, and both Shad and Miss Higgins were able to recognize that he was indeed the soul being sought.
"but... ... "
Shade twitched his nose:
"Why does it smell like sulfur?"