Chapter 166: Ula Lavender in Agony
Time rewinds slightly to when Rest and the others were finishing their day and settling down for the night. Inside one of the tents belonging to the pioneering group, a young girl was curled up on the ground.
“Hah… Hah… Hah…”
The girl gasped for breath, gripping the carpet beneath her. There was no one else in the tent; it was as spacious as the one where Rest and the others were sleeping, yet she was all alone, trembling with her small frame.
“…I can’t… take it…”
She murmured breathlessly, her voice laced with agony. Blood trickled from her doll-like, delicate face, staining the carpet a dark crimson. Despite her evident suffering, the expression on her face was one of sheer ecstasy.
“…Rest… Clover… the real… Rest…!”
The girl writhing in torment was Ula Lavender, the daughter of the Lavender Barony, a prominent family in the eastern frontier. After greeting Rest, she returned to her assigned tent, but as soon as she entered, having dismissed her subordinates, she collapsed in anguish.
“The real… moving… Rest Clover… I’m losing my mind…!”
The reason for Ula’s agony could be expressed in modern Japanese terms as “overconsumption of her oshi.” Ula had harbored intense feelings for Rest long before they ever met. Her emotions transcended mere infatuation; they were a blend of admiration, longing, and a hint of madness—a spice of obsession mixed in.
Ula had been sent to this land under her grandfather’s orders. Her mission was to incite the central powers against the dangers posed by the neighboring Geisel Empire. However, that primary objective had already faded from her mind. Her personal reason for coming here was simply to meet Rest.
“W-what I imagined… is a thousand times more beautiful…!”
Though she had longed to meet Rest, the reality of standing before him was far more enchanting than she had ever envisioned through the Crystal Ball. Ula’s eyes, which shimmered with iridescent colors, were fixed on him as she pressed her hands against the carpet. These eyes, known as the “Fairy Eye,” were inherited from her fortune-telling mother, granting her the ability to perceive things beyond this world.
What she saw through her Fairy Eye was a vision of Rest that shattered her previous worldview.
A fountain of magical power gushing forth endlessly. Branches of potential spreading out as if to cover the heavens. An overwhelmingly grand and magnificent sight that words could scarcely capture. It was akin to gazing down at the Grand Canyon from above, looking up at Niagara Falls from below, being surrounded by the towering Jomon Sugi, or witnessing the sunrise from the peak of the Alps. It was a scene that felt like witnessing the creation of the world, the birth of stars—an overwhelming power that could overturn her very values and perspectives.
“Hah…”
Having witnessed such a miraculous sight, Ula rolled around on the carpet in bliss. If she hadn’t strictly ordered everyone to stay out, her subordinates would have surely rushed in upon hearing the commotion.
“Rest… Rest… Rest… Rest…!”
Like a broken toy, Ula repeatedly called out the name of the man who had captivated her. Since childhood, she had been subjected to elite education, all to be of use in the battles against the Geisel Empire, the sworn enemy of the Lavender Barony. She had been raised to suppress her emotions, to stifle her own will, and to act as a puppet according to her grandfather’s wishes.
Yet, upon discovering the extraordinary existence that was Rest, it was as if a flame had been ignited within her, awakening her sense of self.
A puppet girl who had gained her own identity… What changes would Ula Lavender bring to Rest? That was something no one yet knew.