To You, Who Shines

“Er…”

Eris blinked in confusion, trying to understand the purpose behind the sudden question. Though she had briefly been taught about the known continents during her studies, this particular one was actually a rather large blind spot in her already crowded education.

“...From what I recall, although the continent is said to be much larger than ours, I believe they never attacked us because they held no unified country or large form of government. Their people are fractured into too many groups, and are believed to be mostly nomadic, so they don’t-”

But the long and rambling answer didn’t seem to satisfy the overly excited Siffia, causing her to shake her head manically, almost bouncing up and down as she gave up on Eris’s words and interrupted her.

“That’s true Lady Eris, that’s true, but!!! What else?!”

Her eyes were so sparkling and filled with expectation that Eris felt an odd weight descending upon her. Pursing her lips and thinking hard about what might appeal to Siffia, Eris hazarded a half remembered guess.

“...And because our… magic? …Is better than theirs?”

“YES!!!”

Siffia practically leapt into the air, stars of excitement all but spilling out of her eyes. Her voice seemed to raise by several octaves as the words quickly poured out of her.

“Specifically, it’s because our magic is faster! You see, unlike us, who create crystals to help us to channel and train our mana, the other continent uses the practice of singing chant-like songs to bring about their spells! It’s a much easier way to cast, allowing one to focus their mind much more smoothly while also placing their mana into something that is actively leaving their body. In fact, even here in this country many beginner mages who don’t know the feeling of mana leaving their body are taught with the singing method first! But over there they don’t switch over to learning through crystals afterwards like we do, they just always continue to sing, and almost never use silent magic! Of course, it’s a bit more intuitive, and a lot easier to learn instead of the silent magic’s hand symbols. But it’s a lot slower too, since you have to sing a majority of the song just to cast a single spell! By the time even a single one of their mages would be able to attack us with just one song, even their shortest one, multiple of our mages would have launched at least ten spells against them. There would be absolutely no way that they could win! Isn’t it so amazing?! Isn’t it so fascinating?!”

Siffia bounced up and down and flapped her hands, barely containing the glee that was flowing out of her. As Eris watched it all in blank amazement, Siffia suddenly turned away, shaking her pointed finger towards the still playing organ grinder.

“Sometimes the occasional nomad from that continent will sail across the sea for whatever reason! And since our money is different from theirs, many will choose to become entertainers while in our cities and towns, making use of their differences in order to survive! That organ grinder for instance is one of them, singing a common song that is often used in their magic!”

Eris, who’d been quietly stupefied this entire time, finally spoke up when she heard that.

“So they’re casting a spell…? Is it perhaps-”

Seeing her eyes narrowing into something a bit too suspicious, Siffia quickly waved her hands to dispel Eris’s worries.

“No no, they’re not imbuing magic into it at all! It’s possible they’re not even a mage! As I said, it’s quite the common song over there, one that almost everyone would know, mage or not. It’s so common that we even teach it here to beginner mages! See, listen!”

Siffia eagerly closed her eyes, slowly beginning to sing the song that she’d learned from so long ago. Her voice was slightly huskier than was expected, reaching the highs and lows of notes melodiously, with a well practiced ease. With a soft sway and a subtle step here and there, she moved lightly with the remembered music. Whether it was to help her keep tempo, or perhaps it was merely part of the song, the hands that had fallen to Siffia’s side as she concentrated had eventually risen up again, snapping at choice moments in the music. Occasionally small sparks could be seen falling from her fingers after these snaps, catching the eye, only to disappear the moment they fell to the ground.

This impressive display went on for more than a minute, until suddenly Siffia began fudging a few of the words, or forgetting what the right note might be here and there. Seemingly giving up after the fourth time that this happened, her eyes slowly opened, bashfully trailing towards the ground as an excuse tumbled from her lips.

“...My nanny taught me that song when I first said I was interested in magic. I-It’s been a long time, and she also wasn’t able to remember the ending very well, so… so, um…”

She attempted to drag her eyes upwards towards Eris’s face, worried how silly she must look in the refined woman’s eyes. It was a scary idea, the thought of Eris peering down at her with a disquieted look, as if she now thought less of her. Or perhaps she would be covering her mouth, trying not to laugh. Such thoughts made Siffia's eyes feel like they were made of rusty metal, resisting the movement.

But instead of any expected mockery or visible discomfort, Eris simply looked blankly stunned, almost as if she’d been mesmerized.

“Um… L-Lady Eris?”

Worry filling her at the odd reaction, Siffia leaned a bit closer.

And in that closeness, she could see every minute detail of how Eris’s eyelids eventually fluttered back to life, and the slow rising of her softly smiling lips.

The voice that finally spoke to her after gazing warmly down at her for a moment was heartachingly soft and sweet.

“...I see. So you like to sing, Lady Siffia.”

Though she spoke slowly, Eris’s voice sounded nothing but caring and serene, to a degree that Siffia wasn’t quite sure that she’d ever heard from anyone in her life before. She couldn’t help but bat her eyelashes a few times in an attempt to understand what she was seeing, even looking down worriedly at her own hands, beginning to wonder if perhaps she’d unknowingly cast some kind of spell on her.

Seeing how that didn’t seem to be the case, however, in the end Siffia could only silently nod along to Eris’s question.

Seeing Siffia’s silent reply, Eris calmly closed her eyes for a while before nodding her head as well, as if coming to some kind of decision, before opening her eyes once more. Those newly revealed eyes seemed to hold a kind of light in them, looking to be filled with pleasant realization.

“Hmm, yes… It seems I very much like learning more about you like this. How foolish I’ve been…”

The gentle smile that had been playing on her lips grew slightly wider, though whether it was wry or due to happiness, Siffia did not know. All she could do was watch the baffling situation with wide open eyes as Eris slowly leaned closer to her.

“Tell me… What else do you secretly enjoy, Lady Siffia?”

The question came out soft and low, only just above a whisper, sending shivers down Siffia’s spine, tickling at her ears. Her teeth clenched as if desperately holding something back, whether it be a scream or a confession.

It was an irresistible sensation, as if she were being magically compelled by something.

Before she knew it, Siffia’s hand was already fanning at her bright red face, fighting back against the flood of secrets that were threatening to flow out of her. This wasn’t the place for the truth, not here, not now, not out in the open like this. What she wanted to say would have to wait, once they were somewhere safe and private… And then she could-

“Ah, erm… I also… l-like hearing about amazing omegas like you, Lady Eris…”

Becoming too worked up by where her thoughts were heading, a truth escaped; One that was slightly leading in its nature.