My Wife Waited in the Wheat Fields

Tyria studied Elric’s expression.

It was such an unbelievable invitation, on such a day.

It was warming to see him reveal what his true feelings were today.

The words he spoke to her were from a language that only existed in her dreams.

The burning flame illuminated his face.

Languid eyes peered through his brown hair. His lips were firmly pressed together under his high nose. The scar beneath his ear flickered in the red shadows.

As she took in all these details, she suddenly felt a tightness in her chest and her lips sealed shut.

She couldn’t help but be curious.

Why did he give her so much room, making her expect greater things, making her want more?

She trembled with an emotion that resembled longingness.

She tried to hide it as much as possible, but she couldn’t hide how her heart felt.

“I hope you don’t mind, I’m worried about your knees. As for dancing…”

In that moment, interrupting her,

“It’s okay, I can still do a slow walk to the beat of the drums.”

He smiled.

Tyria felt a lump in her throat.

It was the most relaxed, gentle smile she’d ever seen from him, gripping her heart and chaining her to him.

“Would it be rude to do so?”

Tyria shook her head.

She was flustered.

At this moment, she should have been panicked, but all she could feel was determination.

It was all too clear what she wanted to do, even though it was also apparent that it would have a negative impact on his body.

“I’m glad.”

Elric held out his hand and Tyria laid hers on top of it.

Their fingers intertwined, curling around each other.

The warmth they’d shared today surged through their bodies once more.

Tyria’s head lowered naturally, whilst Elric leaned on his staff.

Tap–

Tap–

They started walking.

Elric stepped closer, whilst Tyria stepped back.

Suddenly, she had a ridiculous thought, that maybe her body was moving this way to balance the opposite direction her mind was headed.

Da-dum– Da-dum–

The sound of the drums resonated throughout her body.

No, perhaps it was her heart.

That was a relief though, as the drums would drown out the nervous beats of her heart.

“I’m sorry, I can only walk like this.”

She shook her head again at his words.

“Of course, your body comes first.”

She blurted out words that she didn’t want to.

It was a selfish thought, hoping that this moment, them walking hand in hand, would last forever.

But she couldn’t help it.

She had to fight back the smile that threatened to form on her face.

Her eyes narrowed, and worrying that she would leave a bad impression, she tilted her head even lower, not wanting it to show.

The world around them grew distant as they continued their barely-dancing steps.

The sound of the drums, the laughter of the people, the crackling of burning firewood, and the sound of the wind coming from somewhere, it all faded away into the background.

The sound of his cane grows louder, as if to fill that void.

His breathing became clearer, and the rough sensation of their hands clasped together lingered in her fingertips.

His voice gently crashed into her ears like waves lapping on a beach.

“I’m sorry.”

“…For what?”

“For leaving you here.”

“You’ve already apologized for that.”

“And yet I feel like I have to do it again.”

She didn’t want an apology.

It wasn’t what Tyria hoped for.

“It’s okay, really.”

It didn’t matter to her that he’d been gone for ten years.

She was just grateful that he was back and was sharing this moment with her.

She was thankful for his smile, thankful for the steps they walked together, thus, explaining why her breath was caught in her throat.

She was suddenly scared that this moment was just a dream.

It was for this reason that, all of a sudden, her hand tightened around his.

Because, even though Tyria’s fingers were caught between Elric’s, and their binding was strong, their handhold would falter easily if he let go.

If only he would never let go, then they could continue on like this forever.

And Elric, indeed, did not let go of her hand

She took a deep breath, gradually calming herself down.

Tyria could finally lift her head up.

But all she saw was that he was looking down at his feet too.

She was about to say something because his gaze bothered her, but then,

“Just kiss each other already!!!”

Ah–

Both of their bodies shuddered at the same time.

Their gazes simultaneously turned to the direction of the voice.

“Come on and kiss each other already!!!”

“…That idiot.”

The owner of the restaurant, the old friend of Elric’s, was staggering around in a drunken stupor, pointing in their direction.

His grinning face looked happier than anyone else’s in this world.

Tyria glanced over at Elric.

He looked troubled, and for some reason, she felt something in the pit of her stomach.

“It seems like he has a drinking problem. That friend of yours.”

She couldn’t help but feel a sudden surge of anger at Bart.

Their dreamlike moment together had been shattered in an instant, and they were now back in reality.

The townspeoples’ attention began to focus on them.

They all started smiling slyly, as if they had each found an amusing toy to play with.

“Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!”

They all started cheering, egging them on.

Bart’s drunken words had become an unstoppable tide.

Approval was a ridiculous word.

As a noble, one must maintain their dignity in front of the commoners, and showing a careless appearance in front of them was not acceptable.

To kiss in front of them was a disgrace that could not be compared to something like dancing.

In the first place, they should have never been in such a situation, but it must have been the festive atmosphere that had created the right conditions.

It was all just an accident anyways, and so it was better to ignore them and move on.

Even if that was the right thing to do,

“….”

As soon as she tried to refuse, she hesitated.

She was scared that ignoring them would be akin to Elric refusing her.

Even though she knew that that wasn’t his intention, she was afraid of his rejection.

“I-I….”

As she was trying to say something, anything…

“Excuse me.”

An unbelievable thing happened.

Ahh!

Elric pulled Tyria towards him.

Lowering his head and pushing it closer to her until their noses touched.

And then he stopped.

There was a precarious distance between them, so close that their lips would have touched if he’d taken another step forward.

Tyria’s eyes widened to the point where her eyeballs were about to pop out of their sockets.

“Aaaaahhhh!!!”

“Elric! You really did it!!!”

“Trouble making Elric has become a man!!!”

Unable to comprehend what had just happened, Tyria’s mind froze and malfunctioned.

Tyria looked at Elric’s face, which filled the entirety of her vision.

His face was red.

Perhaps it was due to the flames, or maybe, just maybe, it was due to something else.

“It didn’t look like they were going to stop until I did something, so I did. They’re all drunk, aren’t they?”

Tyria felt a tingling sensation as his breath brushed against her face.

Ah, he was just pretending to kiss her.

From this angle, the people definitely wouldn’t be able to see them clearly

Even though she knew this and understood what he was saying, her body was still unresponsive to her whims.

Her head was blanking out again.

“Please understand.”

Only his breath and his smile were imprinted on her senses.

“…Today is the day of the festival.”

As Tyria found his excuse appropriate, she began to erase her doubts one by one.

First, their lack of nobility was erased.

Then, their unfaithful behavior was erased.

And finally, the fact that it was all just an act was erased from her mind.

Only one thing remained.

The fact that his lips were just mere inches away from hers.

“…Yes.”

That would be enough.

Today was the day of the festival, after all.

The next morning:

“You crazy bastard.”

Elric lay in bed, his face buried in his hands.

His exposed ears were colored red.

He had only regained his senses after sleeping.

What the fuck had he been thinking?

He felt like he had been possessed by something yesterday.

All day, his attention had been solely focused on Tyria, and none of his thoughts had been rational ones.

He wished he could make excuses for his actions, but… it was clear that what he had done had been inappropriate.

She was a noble by birth, after all.

Wandering around the festival would have already been out of character for her.

Holding hands… Okay, let’s just say that that was fine for now, but asking her to dance was where he had really crossed the line.

To put it nakedly, he had been openly harassing her.

And that was already a serious offense! He should have just stopped there!

“…Today is the day of the festival.”

Using this line of reasoning, he had been on the brink of making a mistake.

He had almost pulled her in for a kiss.

Did she know that even his excuse of it being just a performance had been a hastily made excuse?

Caught up in the moment, he had almost kissed her on the lips, but thankfully, just before he could, his head had gone cold and he had stopped just in time.

If his mind had been a second late, he was sure that he would have never been able to see her face again.

“Bart…!

It was all because of him.

If only he hadn’t been so drunk, none of this would have happened!

Trembling with anger, he regretted what had happened, but it was already too late.

The festival, which had gone by like a trance, had passed, and now reality was settling in.

“Master, are you up yet?”

Upon hearing Aldio’s voice, Elric answered,

“…Do you mind if I stay in bed for a little longer?”

He couldn’t bring himself to go see Tyria.

He wanted nothing more than to eat breakfast alone this morning.

“You shouldn’t stay up late. You’re an adult now.”

Aldio opened the door, speaking firmly, as if he had no intention of tolerating any tardiness.

It was in this moment that Elric felt that he could deeply empathize with a pig being dragged to the slaughterhouse.

He was forced to wash his face and change his clothes, all before starting his walk down the hallway to the dining hall that seemed abnormally long.

Creak–!

The moment the dining hall door opened, Elric started holding his breath.

“…Good morning.”

Tyria briefly bowed her head.

It was her usual self, well, at least it looked like it.

This only made him feel more embarrassed.

The events of the previous day seemed to come flooding back to him.

Not just the events, but the way she looked up close, the way she felt, the way she smelled, the way she breathed, all of it washed over him.

“Uh….”

Elric’s gaze darted out the window for no reason.

His voice trembled slightly.

“…Good morning.”

Although winter had come, his body was screaming in the heat, as he stood alone in the middle of summer.