Chapter 88: The Furthest Point
The contrast between the Hilda who kissed me like a devouring, lustful beast and this Hilda who didn't bother paying attention to her body was quite interesting.
But it's kind of expected.
This girl knows only the very basics of love: kissing. Most likely from the interactions between her mother and father.
It does raise a question, though.
Did they not give her sex education?
That thought then led to another question: how about Esme?
Has the Maiden given her sex education?
...Probably not, she's still 9.
But Hilda?
How come they haven't?
It then brought to mind the relationship Giliard had with Hilda; he's overprotective, according to Hilda, constantly reminding her to be careful of boys and such.
A smile licked my lips at that thought; I wonder if he ever realised that he should warn her to be careful of girls?
...Girls?
I'm a girl?
All thoughts froze.
Right.
I'magirlamInot?
"Little dummy! Look!"
Hilda's riled-up voice pushed me out of that downwards spiralling stupor; she shocked me back to reality.
Following her trembling finger, I gazed upon the carriages lying at the end of her finger...
Huh?
I witnessed something straight out of the dreams of every growing boy.
A trans****er!
The fantastical sight of a carriage transforming entered my vision; the rounded wheels pushed out of their axles and into the form of a desert... Buggy? I think? From back on Earth. The carriage's body pushed downwards, forming into a sleeker, more compact version.
And, at the front of the carriage, in front of the horses pulling the newly transformed carriage, was a snowplough.
There are plenty of things I've forgotten about my previous life, but this...
This is amazing.
"Hilda, have you learnt nothing in the past 4 years?" My question came out with genuine curiosity. I've witnessed her studying in her bedroom; I knew that she worked hard.
But how come she didn't even know something this basic when every other maid and butler knew it?
"R, rude! I've focused on you, little dummy. I didn't have time for some other stuff..."
Hilda's honest, apologetic voice vibrated through my body with warmth; right, she sacrificed other opportunities to take care of me.
Thank you.
"Hilda. It is against maid etiquette to blame your shortcomings on your Lady. Is it Lady Alora's fault that you haven't studied hard enough? Or, is it due to your antics and hours spent rolling around like a waste of space?"
A fierce shadow loomed over us, her eyes striking into the fragile barrier that Hilda hastily put together.
Passing me a soft gaze, she turned her eyes back to Hilda, "So, Hilda, do you have any more excuses? Or shall I begin disciplinary actions?" Lily smiled brightly.
A wide, sweet smile;
A smile laced with playfulness and the strictness of a caring young woman.
"U, uh- Um! Later!" Hilda relented immediately.
She accepted the incoming disciplinary actions that Lily would bestow upon her, but later, after she'd taken care of me.
"Fine."
"Hehe, Lily, let Hilda go." Esme tapped Lily's arm, then looked Hilda in the eye, "...For now. Deal with her later."
"Not you too, Lady Esme..."
...While Hilda may not have noticed the gleam in Esme's eyes, I certainly did.
She's jealous of Hilda.
"It's time for us to go, stop messing around, Esme." Yulei rolled up to Esme's side and punched her arm lightly.
"Okay. Let's go." Casting one final gaze at me and the slender, sneaky fingers trying to crawl down my waist and onto my buttocks, Esme pointed at her eyes with her index and middle fingers, then pushed them towards Hilda's face.
[I'm watching you.]
She mouthed, then followed Lily back to her carriage.
"Let's go now, little dummy."
"Mhm."
Hilda carried me back to the carriage, sat down on the soft cushions, and lay me into her warm, welcoming embrace. Shuffling comfortably in her seat, Hilda planted her chin on my head out of bad habit and said, "How long will it take for us to get there?"
She's getting annoyed at the length of the trip. You really can't be any more obvious, can you, Hilda?
"Hilda, do you want the honest truth? Or a sweet lie?"
"Sweet lie!"
"Soon."
"...And the honest truth?"
"No idea."
"Oh."
-----
Piles of snow parted in the face of a multitude of snowploughs. The crunching white powder parted neatly whilst the powerful horses rushed through the hills.
Vibrations quaked between the wheels and the powdered earth, yet not a single bit of the earth surrounding the rushing carriages rumbled. The ground remained still; all echoes of their existence were absorbed silently by the white-stained world.
Endless white.
Rolling hills.
Eight carriages.
...And closing in, erronously, terrifyingly, was a veil of black and white.
It loomed over, enclosing our world with quiet, immovable force.
What is it...?
My eyes stared out the window.
I wanted to understand what that was.
I wanted to understand what this world was.
Why were we enclosed, entrapped, and how was it even possible for such a large veil to cover the world?
A veil larger than a country;
A veil that wrapped the world itself like a blanket.
"Hilda."
"Hm?"
[Right Arm - Move - 10 Seconds]
The Book of Heresy fluttered open with solemn intensity; it was warning me that I had pushed it to the limit with that order. The Quill scratched upon the parchment paper, scribbling the words rapidly, before-
I lifted my arm, and, solemnly, I pointed at the distant veil.
"What do you see there?"
Hilda stared quietly at my raised arm. She gulped and said, "More hills?"
"...And something scary."
I lowered my arm and pushed my eyes upwards at Hilda, "Something scary?"
"Mhm. It just feels... Scary."
"How so?" My voice came out soft, like placating a baby, but it didn't alter the reality of the Curses flooding back into my body through the Book of Heresy.
It came in the form of an abrupt spurt of agony that retreated as quickly as it arrived.
Enough to make me sweat, but not enough to debilitate me.
"Like I shouldn't go there. Like, something bad will happen if I do." She struggled to put her feelings into words, but I understood what she meant by the end of it.
The veil can't be seen, but there is something integral set at the border of the world that prevents people from crossing.
That sounds about right.
It would make sense; instead of creating something elaborate to prevent people from crossing, the Mistress and the personification of madness simply used Authority as the veil.
It's similar to how it never crossed my mind that I still didn't know my mother's name; it will also never cross their mind why they can't cross and why they have this feeling.
"...Do we really have to go there, little dummy?" Hilda tilted my head slightly and looked into my eyes with worry.
Those ruby crystals glistened with a shimmer of heartbroken love, "Mhm. We do. And don't worry, it'll be fine."
"But we shouldn't go-"
"Hilda."
"...Yes, little dummy."
"I said, don't worry."
Hilda's face stiffened with a visage of mechanical tension on her face, "Yes, little dummy."
In return, I gave her a:
"Good girl."
-----
A frozen world.
I never thought the day would come when I'd be able to say this, but this is a mystical sight.
No grass, no trees, no dirt, no life.
Only snow.
Rolling hills and snow.
However, currently-
"L, little dummy! Let's go back!"
-Hilda was clutching me with quivering arms.
The horse that had been pulling our carriage on its lonesome whined and shrieked with loud neighs; all signs pointed to a zone of note return.
And it made sense.
Because....
Insane.
This is beyond all fantasy; there is no world where you could convince me that this is reality.
Yet.
Here I was.
In front of it.
Gazing upon it.
A cut-off point.
We were approaching it at rapid speeds.
The black and white veil.
The dome constraining the Domain of Light.
Spreading out like the all-encompassing blanket of the missing Empyreans, the veil split the world in two: a world of snow, and an unnerving veil constricting the lands and blocking off whatever horrors may lie behind it.
"We're not going back."
I glanced through the side window and noted the horse's lack of enthusiasm; I doubt it'll be willing to take us any further.
"But-!"
"We're getting off. Bring the horse to a stop; it's time to walk." My voice fizzled out towards the end, "...Or, well, you'll be the one walking."
I had to hold back the urge to shrug; the fact that I couldn't was also attempting to drive me insane, similarly to how all these bastards who have been screaming for the past few hours have been trying to drive me insane.
-HellHellHellHell-
-StayAwayStayAwayStayAway-
-FreeMe!FreeMe!-
Clicking my tongue, I ignored Hilda's cries and patiently watched her bring the horse to a halt with the aid of her Blessings.
Once the carriage halted, Hilda pulled the latch, unlocking the door and pushed the door open-
Woosh!
-a blast of frigid air crashed into us. The temperature had dropped drastically compared to the previous stopping point.
Hilda calmly wrapped both of us in a layer of Blessings, blocking the remainder of the biting cold winds from smashing into us.
I appreciated the gesture. This body was already a mess, having to deal with the cold without circulating my Curses would be a nightmare of its own.
I could use my Curses, but I already overdrafted my Book of Heresy...