Chapter 278: Tonight, She Held His Wife

Sister Mary finally arrived outside the entrance to the Sanctuary Garden.

Deep within the Liebus Agency headquarters existed a place that felt strangely disconnected from the enormous underground facility surrounding it. Although most operational sections had been constructed far beneath the surface, the Sanctuary Garden occupied one of the highest levels of the underground complex, positioned beneath a massive protected opening that allowed personnel to see the real sky above.

The garden had originally been constructed as a resting place for Agency personnel who sometimes spent days or even weeks without returning to the surface. Trees and flowering plants surrounded winding stone paths, while several benches had been positioned beneath their branches and a large pond rested quietly near the center. Far overhead, an enormous reinforced glass ceiling covered the protected shaft leading toward the surface, allowing moonlight, sunlight and even the stars to remain visible from within the Sanctuary.

Today, evening sunlight passed through the distant glass and fell across the garden.

Somewhere beneath one of those trees, Erza sat alone.

Her violet eyes remained fixed upon the distant Evening moon hanging beyond the reinforced glass, although its distant shape had gradually become little more than a silver blur within her vision. An uncomfortable ache continued spreading through her chest, yet Erza refused to acknowledge it as she sat perfectly straight upon the bench.

She was fine.

At least, that was what she continued telling herself.

Outside the Sanctuary Garden, Sister Mary stood before the entrance without immediately stepping inside. One hand remained near the door while she gathered enough courage to confront the woman she had followed here, because after witnessing what Erza had done to Loid, approaching the Dragon Queen while something was clearly troubling her wasn’t exactly a comforting thought.

Still, Sister Mary couldn’t turn away.

She opened the door and stepped inside.

The change in temperature struck her immediately.

Sister Mary stopped only a few steps beyond the entrance as an unnatural chill passed across her skin. The air was so cold that for a moment she felt as though she had walked into the middle of winter, yet when her uncovered eyes searched the surrounding garden, she couldn’t find a single trace of snow or ice.

The flowers remained untouched.

The pond hadn’t frozen.

Nothing within the Sanctuary visually explained the freezing sensation surrounding her.

Sister Mary’s expression became more serious.

"Her Majesty is definitely here."

She didn’t need Monday to confirm it anymore. Whether Erza was deliberately causing the temperature change or her emotions were unconsciously affecting the surroundings, Sister Mary was certain the unnatural cold belonged to her.

She began walking deeper into the garden.

Finding Erza, however, proved considerably more difficult than Sister Mary had expected. The Sanctuary Garden had been designed to accommodate nearly a thousand personnel without feeling crowded, and its enormous interior contained countless trees, winding paths, secluded resting areas and smaller sections separated by thick vegetation.

Normally, there would have been people scattered throughout the area.

Tonight, it was almost completely empty.

Most available personnel had either gathered inside the War Hall or were preparing for the battle expected later tonight, leaving Sister Mary alone among the trees as she searched one path after another.

"Your Highness?"

Her voice travelled through the garden.

There was no answer.

After several minutes of searching, Sister Mary stopped beneath one of the trees and closed her eyes. As an elf, finding a living presence within a garden overflowing with vegetation required considerably less effort than searching with sight alone.

Her awareness spread through the surrounding life until, somewhere deeper within the Sanctuary, she felt a familiar presence surrounded by unnatural cold.

Sister Mary’s eyes opened.

"Found you."

She followed the sensation through the winding paths until a solitary figure finally appeared beneath one of the enormous trees.

Erza.

She turned toward one of the deeper paths and hurried forward.

The route wasn’t direct. Sister Mary passed between several enormous trees, crossed a narrow stone bridge above part of the pond and took several turns through sections of the Sanctuary deliberately designed to provide privacy. With every step, the strange cold became slightly stronger.

Finally, she passed beneath another cluster of trees and slowed down.

Someone was sitting ahead.

Sister Mary stopped.

Erza sat alone upon a bench beneath an enormous tree, her silver-white hair faintly illuminated by the moonlight begin to descending through the glass ceiling far above. Her hands rested quietly upon her lap while her violet eyes remained raised toward the distant night sky.

She wasn’t crying.

She wasn’t trembling.

There was no anger upon her face, nor any trace of the horrifying woman who had nearly crushed Loid’s neck with one hand only minutes earlier. Erza simply sat there in complete silence, staring toward the moon as though she had forgotten the rest of the world existed around her.

Sister Mary felt her chest tighten.

For several seconds, she couldn’t move.

There was something painfully familiar about the sight before her.

The quiet posture.

The distant eyes.

The way Erza had separated herself from everyone else before finding somewhere peaceful to stare toward the sky.

Sister Mary’s eyes slowly widened as recognition finally struck her.

She had seen this before.

Not from Erza.

From Yuuta.

Whenever something weighed heavily upon that foolish young man’s heart, Yuuta had a habit of disappearing somewhere quiet rather than allowing the people around him to see what was troubling him. He would sit alone, stare toward the sky and pretend that remaining silent long enough would somehow make whatever hurt him disappear.

Sister Mary had found him like that more times than she cared to remember.

Now, for the first time, she was looking at Erza doing exactly the same thing.

Sister Mary remained beneath the trees, watching the Dragon Queen from a distance as the meaning slowly settled inside her.

The resemblance was almost painful.

A faint sadness entered Sister Mary’s expression.

"So that’s what it is..."

Her voice was barely more than a whisper.

For a moment, Sister Mary couldn’t decide whether Erza had gradually become more human after living beside Yuuta or whether Yuuta had somehow become more like a dragon after spending so much time beside Erza. The thought almost made her smile, but the sadness surrounding the Queen prevented the expression from fully appearing.

Whatever the answer might have been, one truth was undeniable.

Whenever their hearts became too heavy, both of them looked toward the sky.

Yuuta had always searched for the stars when something hurt him deeply enough that he couldn’t put it into words, while Erza had apparently chosen the moon. Perhaps neither of them even understood why they did it, but Sister Mary had spent enough years watching Yuuta hide his pain beneath silence to recognize the behavior immediately.

She began approaching carefully.

A small part of Sister Mary remained afraid, and she would have been foolish to pretend otherwise. Only minutes ago, she had watched Erza nearly crush a man’s throat with one hand, overwhelm almost ten thousand trained personnel with her presence and crack the reinforced stage simply by raising her voice.

Yet Sister Mary continued walking.

Years ago, whenever Yuuta disappeared somewhere inside the orphanage because he was hurt, she had gone searching for him in exactly the same way. Sometimes she found him outside beneath the night sky, sometimes near a window and sometimes sitting somewhere he believed nobody would think to search.

No matter how difficult he made it, Sister Mary had always gone to him.

She couldn’t bring herself to treat Erza differently now.

Erza noticed her before Sister Mary had crossed even half the remaining distance.

The Dragon Queen’s violet eyes shifted away from the moon before settling upon the approaching elf.

"Sister Mary?"

Sister Mary stopped.

The softness of Erza’s voice surprised her more than anger would have. There was no trace of the commanding tone that had shaken the War Hall, and hearing such a quiet voice from the same woman only strengthened Sister Mary’s suspicion that something was deeply wrong.

She immediately lowered herself before Erza.

"I apologize for disturbing you, Your Highness."

Erza looked at her for a moment before rising from the bench.

"No, you haven’t disturbed me."

She gestured lightly toward her.

"Please, get up."

Sister Mary obeyed and returned to her feet before lowering her head respectfully.

"Thank you for showing me grace, my Queen."

Erza released a quiet sigh before studying her. Whatever pain had been visible from a distance had already disappeared behind the composed expression she normally showed others, and anyone who hadn’t known what to search for might have believed nothing was wrong at all.

"Yes, Sister?"

Erza tilted her head slightly.

"Is something wrong? Since you followed me all the way here, I assume it must be urgent."

Sister Mary didn’t answer immediately.

She simply looked at Erza.

The Queen appeared completely normal now. Her posture was straight, her expression calm and her voice carried none of the weakness Sister Mary had noticed while watching her from a distance.

But Sister Mary wasn’t fooled.

Perhaps someone else would have been.

Perhaps even Sara or the captains would have accepted the expression without question.

Sister Mary had raised Yuuta.

She knew what it looked like when someone desperately rearranged their face the moment another person came close enough to notice they were hurting. Yuuta had done exactly the same thing countless times, insisting that he was fine while his eyes betrayed everything his mouth refused to admit.

Sister Mary slowly lowered herself again.

Erza blinked.

"My Queen, I have come to ask for your permission."

"Permission?"

Erza’s eyebrows rose slightly.

"Yes, Your Highness."

Sister Mary kept her head lowered.

"I would like you to grant me permission to do something."

Erza stared at her with mild confusion.

The request was strangely vague. For a moment, she wondered whether Sister Mary intended to ask for authority over some part of tonight’s battle, perhaps permission to deploy independently or make some decision concerning the Agency’s forces.

Yet if that were the case, why wasn’t she simply asking directly?

"What exactly do you want permission for?"

Sister Mary remained bowed.

"I would prefer that Your Highness grant it before I tell you."

Erza’s confusion only deepened.

She considered refusing until Sister Mary explained herself, but she couldn’t imagine the Holy Saint requesting anything unreasonable. More importantly, Erza currently lacked the patience to turn such a simple matter into a lengthy conversation.

"Very well."

Sister Mary remained motionless.

Erza gave a small sigh.

"Whatever it is you desire, I grant you permission."

Sister Mary’s expression softened.

"Thank you, my Queen."

Erza nodded before sitting upon the bench again.

Sister Mary rose to her feet.

For a moment, Erza watched her expectantly, wondering whether the elf would finally explain what she had requested. When Sister Mary said nothing, Erza eventually assumed whatever she intended to do would happen somewhere else.

That suited her perfectly.

Erza turned her attention toward the sky again.

The moon remained exactly where she had left it, hanging peacefully beyond the reinforced glass while countless stars surrounded it. Erza’s violet eyes settled upon that distant light as the thoughts she had temporarily pushed aside slowly began returning.

Then something warm wrapped around her.

Erza’s entire body stiffened.

It had happened so suddenly and with so little hostility that none of her instincts had treated the approaching movement as an attack. By the time Erza understood what was happening, Sister Mary’s arms had already wrapped gently around her shoulders and pulled her against a warm embrace.

Erza stared forward in complete confusion.

For perhaps the first time tonight, the Dragon Queen genuinely didn’t know how to react.

She slowly raised her head.

Sister Mary stood beside the bench, holding Erza without the slightest concern for the overwhelming difference in power between them. There was no fear upon her face anymore, nor did she seem bothered by the unnatural cold surrounding the Queen. Instead, her arms tightened slightly around Erza as though she were afraid that loosening them would give the stubborn woman an opportunity to escape.

"Sister Mary...?"

For perhaps the first time that evening, genuine bewilderment entered Erza’s voice.

She remained completely still within the unexpected embrace, seemingly unable to understand how the conversation had somehow ended with Sister Mary’s arms wrapped around her. She had granted the elf permission because she had assumed Mary wanted something concerning the approaching war, the Agency or perhaps even Yuuta.

Being embraced had never crossed her mind.

"Yes, My Queen."

Erza slowly looked up at her. "What exactly are you doing?"

A small smile appeared upon Sister Mary’s face.

"Using the permission you just gave me."

Erza stared at her for several seconds before her violet eyes narrowed slightly.

"I don’t recall giving you permission to embrace me."

"Your majesty said I could do whatever it was I wanted to do."

"I said that because you deliberately refused to tell me what you wanted."

"I know."

There wasn’t even a trace of guilt in Mary’s answer.

Erza’s expression shifted somewhere between disbelief and annoyance. "You deceived me."

"Only a little."

"Sister Mary."

"My Queen."

Despite herself, Erza released a quiet breath through her nose. She had commanded armies, negotiated with rulers and faced beings considerably more troublesome than the elf currently holding her, yet somehow she found this particular situation unusually difficult to deal with.

"Very well. You’ve had your embrace. You may release me now."

Mary didn’t move.

Several seconds passed before Erza looked up again.

"Sister Mary."

"I’m listening, my Queen."

"I told you to release me."

"I heard you."

"Then why are you still holding me?"

The faint amusement upon Mary’s face slowly disappeared.

"Because if I let you go now, my Queen... I’m afraid you’ll sit beneath this sky alone and keep pretending that your heart isn’t hurting."

Erza froze.

For several seconds, she simply stared at Sister Mary, as though the words had struck somewhere she hadn’t expected. Her expression shifted almost imperceptibly before her brows drew together, and the hand resting beside her slowly tightened.

"What are you talking about, Sister Mary?" Erza asked.

Sister Mary didn’t answer immediately. She continued looking at her Queen, her expression carrying none of its usual gentleness. There was something far more knowing in her eyes now, something that made Erza increasingly uncomfortable beneath that steady gaze.

"You know very well what I’m talking about, my Queen," Sister Mary finally replied.

Erza’s expression changed.

For only a moment, something vulnerable appeared within those violet eyes before she immediately buried it beneath the same composed expression she had worn throughout the night.

"You are mistaken."

"Perhaps."

Erza blinked, clearly not expecting Mary to accept the denial so easily.

Sister Mary didn’t argue with her. She merely continued holding Erza as her voice became quieter.

"I don’t know what happened between you and Yuuta."

Erza stiffened, and Mary felt it immediately. The change was small, almost impossible for anyone else to notice, but Sister Mary had known Erza for far too long. She felt the sudden tension in the Queen’s body and the brief hesitation in her breathing before Erza finally spoke.

"Yuuta and me?"

Erza gave a small laugh, but there was something strangely fragile about it now. She lowered her gaze, almost as though the very idea Sister Mary was suggesting was ridiculous.

"Nothing happened between us, Sister Mary. You’ve misunderstood."

Sister Mary remained silent, and somehow that silence made Erza more uncomfortable than any question could have. Erza waited for her to respond, but Mary simply continued holding her, allowing the quiet between them to stretch until Erza finally frowned.

Erza forced another smile.

"Truly. Everything is fine."

Sister Mary’s eyes softened. She had seen that same smile too many times before, worn by a lonely little boy who would stare at the stars and insist that nothing was wrong whenever his heart was hurting.

"My Queen... perhaps I am wrong about Yuuta."

Erza’s smile remained.

"But I raised that boy."

The smile trembled.

"I know the face he makes when he’s trying not to cry."

Erza’s fingers slowly tightened against Mary’s clothes.

Sister Mary gently pulled her closer.

"...you’re making the exact same face."

Erza’s lips parted, but for a moment no words came.

Then she laughed softly again, desperately trying to keep the emotion from reaching her voice. "Sister Mary... you’ve gotten everything wrong."

"It’s all right, my Queen."

Erza’s smile faltered slightly.

"You don’t have to pretend to be strong with me."

The words caught Erza completely off guard. Her lips parted to deny it again, yet for some reason nothing came out this time, and the silence that followed seemed to expose far more than any answer could have.

Sister Mary looked down at her gently.

"A long time ago, I knew a little boy who would sit beneath the sky whenever something hurt him."

Erza’s violet eyes slowly lowered.

"He never wanted anyone to know. He would sit there alone, stare at the stars and hide everything behind a smile."

Sister Mary’s hand gently brushed through Erza’s silver-white hair.

"He thought he was very good at hiding it."

A faint, almost painful smile touched Mary’s lips.

"But I raised him."

Erza’s fingers twitched against Mary’s clothes.

"And now, after all these years, I’m seeing that same pain again."

Erza clenched her teeth.

"I..."

Her voice disappeared.

Sister Mary waited, but Erza couldn’t finish. The Dragon Queen turned her face away instead, desperately trying to swallow the pressure building inside her chest.

"I may not know what happened, my Queen."

Mary gently pulled her closer.

"But I won’t leave you here to carry it alone."

Erza’s fingers tightened.

She wanted to tell Mary she didn’t need this. She wanted to pull away, stand up and return to the War Hall as though nothing had happened. Thousands of soldiers were preparing to entrust their lives to her tonight, and she was their Supreme Commander.

She was Erza Veyla Dragomir.

She shouldn’t be like this.

Sister Mary gently guided Erza’s head against her chest and began stroking her hair.

"You don’t have to hold it back anymore."

Erza immediately closed her eyes.

"Please..."

The word escaped so quietly that Mary almost didn’t hear it.

"Don’t..."

Sister Mary’s hand paused for only a moment before continuing through her hair.

"There is nobody here, my Queen."

"Nobody is watching you."

Erza’s breathing became slightly uneven.

"And even if someone did see you..."

Sister Mary’s embrace became warmer.

"...there is nothing shameful about being hurt."

Erza closed her eyes.

Her fingers curled tighter around Mary’s clothes.

"You don’t have to be strong every moment of your life, my Queen."

Erza’s face twisted.

She tried.

She truly tried.

But the first tear escaped anyway.

It slipped silently from beneath her closed eyelid and rolled down her cheek. Erza immediately turned her face deeper into Sister Mary’s chest, desperately hiding it as though even now she couldn’t bear the thought of someone seeing her cry.

Mary said nothing.

Then another tear fell.

And another.

Erza’s fingers suddenly clenched Mary’s clothes tightly as her shoulders began to tremble. She buried her face completely against the Holy Saint, refusing to make a sound even as the tears she had fought so desperately to contain finally began soaking into Mary’s clothes.

Sister Mary simply held her.

Her hand continued moving slowly through Erza’s hair, never asking what Yuuta had done and never demanding that Erza explain why she was hurting.

A small, broken breath finally escaped Erza.

She immediately pressed her face harder against Mary’s chest, almost ashamed that even that tiny sound had escaped her.

Mary’s eyes softened.

"It’s all right."

Those three words only made Erza’s fingers tighten further.

For the first time that night, there was no Queen of Atlantis, no Supreme Commander preparing to lead ten thousand soldiers into battle and no terrifying Dragon Queen before whom others instinctively lowered their heads.

There was only Erza.

A woman silently crying because the person she loved most had hurt her deeply enough that even she couldn’t simply endure it.

Sister Mary lowered her cheek gently against Erza’s silver-white hair and continued holding her beneath the moonlight.

Years ago, she had held a lonely little boy beneath the same sky until his tears finally stopped.

Tonight, she held his wife.

And she didn’t let go.

To Be Continued...