The Capital; One Month Later (4) – Final


    The first person who stepped through the door was Cami, carrying a wooden te in her hands, as well as a group of children following hot on her heels.


    No, actually, it would be more urate to say they were almost clinging to her heels, they were that close. As they reached out to Cami, she kept swaying the tray from side to side to keep it away from their hands.


    “Cami, just one more, please can I have one mooooore...?”


    “Did you not hear me!? No means no! Besides, just how many did you eat already!?”


    “Big sis, can I bake some more cookies with the leftover dough? Miss can light the cooking fire.”


    “Yes, yes. You can do whatever you like with the leftovers. But make sure to listen to what your teacher tells you to do, alright? Definitely do not touch the fire without her permission, alright!?”


    “I gotta pee...”


    “Ah, quickly, go then!”


    As she gave the young boy a push on the back and urged him out of the room, Cami suddenly jerked her face upward as if she finally realized something. She noticed Alois looking straight at her.


    With an embarrassed frown on her face, she straightened up and strode straight over to Alois, showing him the wooden te that she held.


    On it was a smattering of misshapen biscuits that were moulded by the children themselves. It didn’t look like they had been cooked evenly all the way through, and some of them even showed the slightest signs of burning.


    “Cami, these are...?”


    “They’re for you. I can’t quite get them right yet, but if I don’t have you try them at least once, Lord Alois, I don’t feel like I’ll get anywhere.”


    As she said that, Cami sat down next to Alois. When one of the more bold children reached out to try and swipe one of the biscuits, she gave his hand a light p.


    “These are for Lord Alois. You’ve already had your share, haven’t you?”


    “They’re for me...?”


    Cami nodded. She stuck out her chest pridefully like usual, but there was something ever so bashful in her expression.


    “...I’ve been worried about just what to do about it, I suppose. Since it’s for Lord Alois, after all.”


    Cami couldn’t look at Alois dead on as she frowned at him out of the corners of her eyes. Her brow wrinkled as she struggled to keep a straight face. For a moment, Alois thought that she was annoyed about something, but then he realized her expression meant something else entirely.


    “Today is Lord Alois’ birthday, is it not?”


    Alois blinked in surprise.


    It was spring. ‘Alois’ and ‘Julian’ were born nearly on the same exact day. However, ‘Alois’ was a few days older.


    The town wasn’t preparing for ‘his’ birthday. There was still a big celebration being nned, but that was for ‘Julian’, the Prince. Eckhart was nning a celebration in the pce, and the town officials had their own ns for a festival. It would be hard for them to leave the city anytime soon with the big celebrations being nned for the birthday of ‘Prince Julian’.


    Because of that, it seemed like the existence of ‘Alois’ had all but been forgotten. Even Alois himself had forgotten about it. Cami was the only one on the capital who seemed to remember his false birthday, from his false life.


    As Alois stared at her in wonder, Cami began to look increasingly frustrated as she sighed softly. She still frowned as she turned to look at Alois properly.


    “Lord Alois, you do remember, don’t you? That once spring came... once you turned twenty-four, you wanted to officially be engaged.”


    “...........Ah.”


    “What do you mean by ‘ah’!?”


    Cami turned around in her seat and red up at Alois. Alois was a little taken aback as he looked down at her.


    Those piercing ck eyes of hers looked at Alois like he was a mortal enemy. She bit her lip to try and swallow back her embarrassment as her cheeks began to turn a light shade of crimson.


    “You can’t tell me that you seriously forgot!? You’re the one who said it in the first ce!”


    Alois couldn’t immediately answer Cami’s outburst. He couldn’t be honest and say that he forgot. If he did, she would only boil over even more.


    It’s just that, there were so many things that had happened since then.


    What’s more... he thought to himself if this was just him being arrogant, but he wondered if it was even necessary to hear her answer anymore.


    “Well, I can’t pretend that holding off on answering for so long was proper of me either, but... but, well, it’s something I have to answer properly after all. I need to give you an honest answer.”


    With every word she said, Cami’s brow wrinkled even more. Her body trembled slightly as she gripped her hands into fists. But, she wasn’t angry.


    Alois had heard from Günter that she had been spending a long time practicing making cookies back in Mohnton. She’d made dough countless times and had baked an untold amount of cookies, giving all the results of her experiments to the servants.


    But, Alois was the one person she had never given any to. The only time he had tasted them was when Nicole had brought him some after Cami had been taken to the capital.


    “Cami.”


    When Alois called her name, she pursed her lips as if she really was angry. He slightly averted his eyes as if he were trying to escape as she red at him.


    “I... I hate leaving things all wishy-washy like this. Besides, if I can’t even give you a proper answer after everything that’s happened, it would be really vexing!”


    Standing up, she put her hands on her hips and puffed out her chest. As if challenging him, she looked down at Alois.


    “Lord Alois, I ept your offer. Be prepared, by the time we get married, I’ll definitely be much better at making sweets than even us is!”


    “Yeah... I’m looking forward to it.”


    Alois didn’t try to stop the smile that spread to his lips. Just as she red down at him, he smiled back at her.


    Cami really was arrogant and self-confident... as well as determined and bright. Even if Alois was the type to stay in ce, she would always take his hand and lead him on.


    “Thank you very much, Cami... Can I try some?”


    “Of course. I made them for you, after all.”


    As Cami sat back down, Alois reached out and took a biscuit from that te.


    That soft taste was immediately nostalgic. A long time ago, he received cookies just like them from a girl whose name he didn’t know... andter on, he tasted cookies just like them from an orphanage in Grenze.


    Both are nostalgic memories for the current Alois. The taste of Grenze, that was supposed to have been part of that hypocritical mask of his, was an irreceable part of himself now.


    “Lord Alois, how was it? I’m sure that it’s really no good at all right now, but soon I’ll be able to... Hey!”


    Her words were cut off as Cami once again had to p the hand of the same boy who tried to reach up and sneak a cookie from under the table. But, she reacted toote. Just as she stopped one hand, three other children attacked from the other side and swiped some of the cookies.


    “Ehehe, Cami is gonna get married! The scarydy is gonna be the scary wife!”


    “What are you talking about!?”


    “Miss Cami... you aren’t going toe here anymore...?”


    “W-what are you saying...!? ...Ah, jeez, don’t cry! I’ll definitelye by to y once in a while, okay!?”


    “Blehhhh! You don’t need toe anymore here anymore! Just shaddup and go away!”


    “Watch your mouth!!”


    Thest of the biscuits were soon swiped away as Cami began to chase after the children again.


    Diana, still sitting across from Alois, smirked as she watched Cami, lightly ying with the biscuit she held between her fingers.


    “Congrattions and all that, huh?”


    Diana cast Alois a sidelong nce as her smirk widened, before taking a bite of that cookie.


    Those happy voices echoed through the room, as they surrounded Cami, running circles around her and clinging to her dress. To say that he enjoyed the sight wouldn’t even be doing his thoughts justice.


    Alois wished he could watch for hours. He wanted toe back here many times, just like she promised.


    He hoped that he could spend the rest of his days by Cami’s side.


    But, unfortunately, that first wish of his was destroyed almost immediately.


    “...Lady Cami, Lord Alois! T-There’s trouble!”


    Rita suddenly burst into the room. She must have been in the kitchen, since she was still wearing an apron, but she looked at Alois and Cami in a panic.


    “There’s suddenly a horde of reports outside of the orphanage... Someone must have leaked to them that you were here!”


    Alois and Cami looked at each other. It wasn’t just a case of getting wrapped up in a fuss anymore. Even the children were stunned into silence by how serious Rita looked.


    “They’ve alreadypletely surrounded the front gate. You should quickly go out the back entrance and escape through the church grounds! Diana, show them the way!”


    “Got it. Come on you two, we’re escaping through the church!”


    As Diana stood up she urged Alois and Cami to follow her. Alois nodded, quickly donning his hat again as he followed after Diana.


    “Bye byeeee!”


    “Seeyater!”


    The children waved at Alois and Cami as they left.


    They knew that they’de back again someday. Both this orphanage and lots of other ces besides.


    〇


    It was a good idea to escape through the back entrance and onto the church grounds.


    But, just as they were relieved about avoiding the worst of the crowd, they were suddenly confronted by a familiar looking female reporter.


    “Heh heh, only a fool would’ve expected you toe out through the front door.”


    That girl with the camera was the same one who had run into Alois in town earlier. When Alois saw her giving him a cheerful smile, he grimaced bitterly. It was possible that she really did notice who he was back then, after all.


    If he were using magic, they would never have been found out like this. Because even if he was wearing a disguise, his face still remained the same. If someone took a close look at him, they’d be able to see through him.


    “Sorry about interrupting your date, but there’s just so many things I’ve got to ask you, right? About your life as a doppelganger and the dark history of the Montchat family. Well, not that we’re going to have much alone time.”


    As she said that, the reporter motioned behind her with a thumb. As if on queue, they began to see other reporters emerging onto the grounds.


    Diana wondered if they could make it back inside the church. As the amount of reporters grew by the second, she frowned and nced back at the church. But, she couldn’t immediately decide to go back, since there would be no escape route after that.


    Cami stood stiff, still not having decided where to escape to. But, this was Cami, after all, so she’d eventually make a rash decision and take off.


    Alois tried to think about just what kind of choice Cami would make. If he were her...


    ...She wouldn’t look back.


    Before Cami could make a decision, Alois grabbed her hand. Alois saw his reflection in her surprised eyes.


    “We’re getting out of here, Cami.”


    With those words, Alois pulled Cami along with him. The female reporter raised her voice in annoyance as the two of them began to run. Diana, meanwhile, did her best to get in her way.


    The reporters who had begun to gather started to give chase. But, despite being chased, Alois’ legs felt lighter than ever. Rushing out of the church grounds, they made it onto the street.


    Passers-by looked stunned as the two of them ran past, with some maybe figuring out who the disguised pair being chased by the reporters were.


    If Alois used magic, they’d have been able to escape in an instant.


    But... just like Diana said, that wouldn’t be as fun.


    “Lord Alois!”


    Cami, who was still trailing slightly behind Alois as he held her hand, called out to him. Alois looked back at Cami, not stopping at all.


    “Cami!”


    Cami looked genuinely confused as to just what hade over him. He couldn’t quite describe it himself, either. Usually, it was always Cami leading him on, with Alois being the onegging behind her.


    “After we get back to Mohnton, would you like to go sightseeing again?”


    “Lord Alois, is this really the right time to be...!?”


    “Let’s visit all the towns again. We have to say hello to everyone, after all. There’s the capital, Grenze, Einst and Blume. Of course, we should visit Falsch as well. So, Cami... would you like to go on a jaunt with me?”


    Cami stared at him, stunned. Then, after a quick frown, she lowered her head and gave her cheek a couple of light ps.


    When she raised her head to look at him again, she was wearing that familiar bold smile that was only fitting for a viiness. With a ‘hmph’, she exhaled through her nose as she looked Alois over, proud of just who he had be.


    “Goodness gracious, there’s no helping then, is there?”


    But, that bold and viinous smile changed once again. She closed her eyes for a moment as her mouth twitched in a way that she couldn’t stop, and then...


    Atst, she couldn’t hold it in anymore, as Cami started tough.


    “Alright then! I’ll keep youpany wherever you’d like to go!”


    Cami squeezed the hand that held hers. Her voice that echoed through those sunny streets was dazzlingly bright.


    As they ran with their backs to the sun, she couldn’t stopughing.


    It was a breathtakingly beautiful scene.


    A slightly chill wind that signaled spring’s end spurred them on from behind. As the flowers of the town were swept up in that tailwind, they nestled in Cami’s hair and blew Alois’ hat off his head.


    When he saw people look on in shock at his silver hair as they raced by, Alois couldn’t hold back hisughter either. That hair of his, the same colour as the waxing moon, glittered in the light of the sun.