Her face was lowered at first, and she chuckled harshly in a low voice. But her secretive laughter gradually grew brighter and higher until she threw her head back, her cheeks and lips curved up impressively, and she guffawed as if she were more overjoyed than she could bear.

Ryuto was right next to her, so of course he was startled, but Tohko, Uotani, and I all stared at Maki with him.

You were looking all frigid and moody five seconds ago so what exactly changed, Maki?!

"Ha-ha-ha, really? So a Kusakabe sponsored Akira. So Yuri had a baby. I'm sure that child is now my despised grandfather. My grandfather who's got some Oedipal complex and keeps chasing after the phantom of his mommy, just like Kyka."

I didn't get it. I was clueless.

But Maki was in incredibly high spirits. It was like a glittering aura of the vital energy that filled her was pouring out of her entire being.

"That's great! What a wonderful story. I'll have good dreams for the first time in a long while tonight! I'm sure when I wake up tomorrow, I'll feel like anything's possible."

"Hey, hey, no plottin' to take over the world now," Ryuto said with a shrug and started to walk off.

Maki called out to him.

"You leaving? Where are you going?"

"I've got a pretty lady waitin' for me in town."

"I really do think you'd be better off dead."

"If I found a woman who'd kill me, definitely."

He smiled, enjoying Maki's annoyance, and said, "Oh, right, I came with a message to deliver. 'The armada's preparations are complete.'"

Who on earth was that message from? Ryuto wouldn't say, but it looked as though Maki understood immediately.

Her eyes widened slightly in surprise, and then a predatory smile came immediately over her face.

"I really...don't like you."

Ryuto grinned once more, waved his hand casually, then left.

Afterward, I thought maybe Takamizawa had given Ryuto the message.

That maybe Ryuto had been the guest who'd called at the inn...but somehow or other, I kept that to myself.

Epilogue-I Know That I'll Be Smiling

Early in the morning, something jolted my body and I was forcibly woken up.

"Konohaaaaaa, wake uuuup, wake uuuuup."

A tragic voice echoed over my head. When I blearily opened my eyes, Tohko's lip was trembling. She was wearing a white dress with its front buttons one button off and her hair mussed by sleep.

"Wake up, wake up, wake uuuuup."

She rocked me from side to side, shake-shake-shake-shake, like a boat on rough seas, and I couldn't even pretend to be asleep, so I moaned, "What is it? It's too early. Did you see another ghost?"

With tears in her eyes, Tohko appealed to me.

"I...I...I remembered something terrible! What am I going to do, Konoha?"

Thirty minutes later, I was doing math problems in Tohko's room.

"The new semester starts next week! How could you not even look at your homework over the summer? Do you think you're still in elementary school?"

"Urgggggggggh. But, but, but just when I decided I would start tackling it, I got brought here and things have been so busy, I haven't had any tiiiiiiiiiime."

While Tohko sniveled, I buried her in handouts on world history.

"Oh, for- There isn't a mark on even a single question out of these."

"I'm bad at math."

"You should make yourself work harder on the things you're bad at, don't you think? There are still things I haven't learned yet in second year, so I can only solve half of these."

"That's okay. I could only solve half of half of half of half of that."

"At the point where you're forcing your underclassman to do your homework for you, nothing's okay. You're studying for your college exams, Tohko!"

Although since she was probably just going to target illustrious literature programs, I could understand if she didn't feel like expending a lot of energy on math and science at this point.

"Humph, right now we need to focus on the homework staring us in the face, not my exams. It's totally impossible to finish this by next week! Please, Konoha, do the assignments in the reader for me toooo? You're translating a whole book."

"No way. If I translate it, you'll just eat it like when you swiped that Bradbury story from me."

"I-I wouldn't do that. C'mon, I'll write your literature papers for you."

"I don't need you to. I finished all my homework in July. My essay was on 'The Fall of the House of Usher.'"

"Whaaaat? Konoha, you're weird! That's so unlike a student in the leisure generation!"

"You're too leisurely, Tohko!"

Tohko pouted and said I was so mean to her, but when I said, "I can stop helping you with your homework," she quieted down instantly.

She started going through the next handout obediently, but...

"Konoha...I'm hungry."

Her voice soon rang out again pathetically, and her eyes watered.

"Good point."

I stood up.

"Are you going to write something for me?!"

"I'm going to eat breakfast. You keep doing your homework while I'm gone."

"Are you kidding?! Wait! Just half a page is all I need! Write something before you go. I finished Tonio Kroger and Undiiiiiiine."

"You still have Alt Heidelberg, though," I told her brusquely and left the room.

If I let her win me over, she'd start pushing it and her demands would only get worse.

The kitchen was empty.

That was only natural since the servants Maki had hired had left. I guess I had to find something to eat for myself.

"Um...g-good morning."

I turned around at the hesitant voice and saw Uotani standing there shyly in a T-shirt and miniskirt.

"Morning. You're not in your uniform today, huh?"

Uotani turned shy.

"I was thirsty so I came to get some water. And then you were here. Um, I'll get your breakfast for you."

"That's okay. I'm sure you're tired, too."

"No, I'm awake now. It used to be I would always have a headache or a stomachache when I woke up, but today I felt totally great. I didn't even dream about the rhyme..."

"Oh yeah?"

A smile came naturally to my lips, too.

Uotani took out eggs, lettuce, and a cucumber and started arranging them on the counter.

"I can make the salad."

I stood beside her and picked up the lettuce.

"Thank you. Um, is French toast and an omelet all right?"

"Yeah. I really like French toast."

Uotani skillfully cracked and mixed the eggs and cut up the bread, and beside her I chopped the lettuce.

"I...haven't been to school in a long time. Ever since my grandmother died and I started pretending to be Shirayuki, I've been different from the other kids. Having an important role to play...I...chose to escape into a dreamworld."

She whisked the eggs, milk, and sugar together, then soaked the bread in it. When she set the bread onto a frying pan with melted butter on it, there was a hiss! and it gave off a sweet aroma.

"But from now on..."

When the bread browned, she flipped it over and smiled.

"Because I've gotten courage from my dreams...I can move forward living in reality, too."

The story of Yuri and Akira that Tohko had told had given Uotani the strength to face her future.

"That's a great thing."

When I told her that, feeling refreshed as if a balmy breeze was blowing around me, Uotani got shy again and murmured, "...Thank you."

I was sure the beautiful dream she'd had would stay in her heart as a precious treasure.

The French toast and omelet were both grilled to a beautiful golden color, and I'd finished my salad, too.

We ate them in the kitchen.

Uotani wanted to know about Tokyo, so I told her about it.

"That sounds great. I'd like to go sometime."

The way she sighed with a look of yearning on her face was like any other first-year middle school girl.

"Yuri managed to go to Germany, so when you get older, you could go anywhere you wanted."

"You're right."

Uotani nodded, her face bright.

Then she grew suddenly shy and her cheeks flushed, and she looked up at me, fidgeting.

"Um, actually...could I...write you letters?"

Wha-? The atmosphere had changed all of a sudden...

And just then, from behind us came a rueful voice, and heavy, damp air rolled in.

"So cruuuuuuuel... How can you be so cruuuuuuuuuel?"

Ack, she'd appeared!

Tohko clung to the doorframe, sticking only half of her face in, her lip trembling.