This story is part of the Wanderer series.
The laboratory door creaked open, and Miyako walked in, dressed in her military uniform. She saw Miu at the far left table, facing the window. She was alone in the room.
Looking up from her reading and seeing the princess, Miu briskly got up from her chair and clasped her hands. Miyako raised her empty hand and presented her palm towards Miu, signaling her to ease.
“Good afternoon, Princess,” Miu chimed.
Miyako set a small bundle of parchments down diagonally across the table from Miu and reached for a stool. “I do not mean to disturb you. I need a quiet place to work for a moment.”
“Well,” Miu smiled. “This is the quietest place you could be.”
Miyako glanced around the room as she sat down. “Are the twins not with you?”
“I adjourned them to the courtyard for their playtime. Rest assured, they worked hard today.”
Spreading the parchments, Miyako slid one of the ink bottles closer to her. “I see.”
Without wasting any time, she dipped her quill into the ink and started scribbling diagrams onto one of the parchments. Observing the princess’ focus, Miu unclasped her hands and sat down again, returning to the scrolls laid out in front of her.
The two women kept to themselves as they worked. Miyako hunched over the one parchment, nimbly drawing lines and making notes. She hardly referenced the other parchments nearby, working speedily as if there was an idea she did not want to let slip by. Miu silently bounced back and forth between the two scrolls in front of her, using both hands to mark where she left off. Occasionally, she leaned forward in her chair to pore over the topmost scroll, fully unraveled across the table with several seals inscribed across it.
Eventually, Miyako relaxed her shoulders and straightened a bit, looking over her work. She drew the other parchments closer and flipped through them with her spare hand, pulling one out and setting it at the top. Her writing hand slowly eased as she scanned, resting the back of her hand against the table. After scanning it for a while, she finally straightened back, tucking in her chin and blankly staring forward.
Miu glanced up, checking to see if the princess was addressing her. Miyako noticed, and their gazes met. Smiling, Miu was the first to speak.
“Good progress, I gather?”
Giving her parchments one last glance, Miyako tapped the tip of her quill on a wet cloth. “Well, as much as I can at the moment. I am still missing information.”
“Ah,” Miu simply murmured, without much to add.
Setting aside her quill, Miyako leaned back, taking a deep breath, glancing over the unraveled scrolls. “How does your research fare?”
“We found an efficient and consistent set of instructions to perform the Budding Mist, Princess.”
Miyako absently nodded. She already knew this from the reports she was receiving. “What of Kaori’s progress?”
“Kaori dear learned how to cast the Budding Mist with ease,” Miu proudly stated. “The task now is how to contain the technique into a scroll in mass.”
“I see. It always comes down to this,” Miyako breathed out, propping her elbows on the table and interlocking her fingers. “Only a few of our royal mages are skilled enough to condense so much energy into each vessel, and they are busy enough as is.”
“Could we not convene the lesser mages to each contribute to the higher mages’ work?”
“Such vessels they create would be a hassle to handle, as the mages would still need to condense the existing energy before pooling in more… and without allowing it to spill out the moment they break the seal.”
“It will spare them their limited pool of energy, at the very least.”
“It may. However, it would be difficult to produce a sufficient number of scrolls this way.”
“Are they not supplemental, Princess?”
“The Great Plains of the west are vast. Even a hundred scrolls would not last a day.”
Miu thought for a brief moment. “… Very well, then.”
Turning her head further, Miyako stared out the window towards the bright blue sky. “Summer is upon us already. I fear we may need to dispatch some of our royal mages to the Plains after all to properly provision whatever supply we can create.”
“How may Kaori dear assist?” Miu asked, lifting one of her palms.
“Kaori should stay here,” the princess insisted, returning her eyes to Miu. “However… perhaps she could help the royal mages procure the scrolls.”
“Certainly, Princess.”
Miyako nodded, saying no more. As a lull in their conversation took over, she blankly dropped her gaze back to her parchments, reflecting. Miu kept her gaze on the princess for a moment before she too returned to what she was doing, reading along with her hand.
Slouching forward, Miyako pressed her face against her interlocked fingers, hiding her mouth behind them, thinking for a moment longer. “It’s not as simple of a task, however, if she cannot instruct her energy to react properly.”
“I can instruct her how to, Princess. Kaori is a nimble student.”
“That would be good. She is more open to your instruction.”
Miu hesitated, her guiding hand stopping. “Kaori dear does not mean to slight your guidance. She is simply afraid.”
With another sigh, Miyako separated her hands and rested her chin into a palm, staring out the window. “I suspected as much,” she lamented. “Such is the trouble I must live with.”
Across the table, Miu noticed her change in posture, discretely glancing up from her reading. Rarely had she seen the princess in such a state of gloom. With a silent exhale, Miu dropped her eyes back to her fingers. “Such is the life we all live with. Do not regard yourself as alone in this injustice, Princess.”
“I do not,” Miyako assured, keeping her gaze on the scenery. “I am grateful to have a family to share our hardships together.”
Miu smiled to herself. “I am happy to hear, Princess.”
“So long as we continue to work hard and perform miracles, I have faith that one day, we can walk amongst the citizens of our empire with gazes of admiration, not gazes of fear.”
Lifting her head, she faced Miu again.
“It is with that conviction that I set out to change the army, despite its misgivings for me.”
The statement received a surprised glance from the older woman.
“The army once doubted the daughter of its emperor?”
Miyako dropped her arm, letting it rest on top of the other on the table. “Though I have royal blood, my birth as a Wanderer was seen as a bad omen for his reign. Thus, his advisers bid him to hide me away.”
Miu visibly gasped. “How terrible, Princess…”
“It’s the reality we face,” Miyako stated grimly, gaze falling. “Both my lieutenant and I share this challenging road.”
Miyako adjusted in her seat as Miu leaned forward with interest.
“Akasuki was born with similar upbringings, being an outcast prince. His family did not realize he was a Wanderer until he was older, a much older age than I was, but when they did, they forsake him, revoking his princeship.”
A quiet clack interrupted them as the small clock in the laboratory struck, signifying the top of the hour.
“He was to be executed, but he escaped, wandering northwards for several years before he sought refuge in our blossoming empire.”
Miu quietly nodded along, staring at the mountaintops. “I knew Akasuki dear was a refugee, but I did not know about his royal ties.”
“He treats it as a bygone age…” Miyako reasoned, raising her hands to grip her fist with the other, rubbing her thumbs to soothe herself. “One he would not dwell on any further. And rightly so. I do not think he would share it without reason.”
Straightening, Miu winked. “Is it a secret, then, Princess?”
Miyako thought for a brief second. “I do not think so. He does not hide from his past, but… I would not bring it up without reason.”
“Of course, Princess,” Miu settled. “I shall keep it in my sleeve.”
Miyako breathed out, exposing a light smile at Miu’s sprightly character. Finally pushing back on her stool, she took her elbows off the table and gathered together her parchments.
“Then, I must leave. I will set out tomorrow to the south for a moon’s time.”
Miu got out of her chair as well, clasping her hand over her fist. “Safe journeys, Princess. I look forward to your return.”
Miyako nodded, and headed towards the door, creaking it open and letting it shut by itself behind her.