Wish Upon a Sin

Arc 2 - Interlude: Roswaal L. Mathers

"Lord Roswaal, it seems Sister is returning."

The blue-haired maid's words cut through the silence of the night. It was nearly midnight, but Roswaal wasn't even close to tired. The anticipation was almost killing him.

"Hmm? She's coming back earlier than pla~nned," he responded, feigning ignorance as he pulled his tea cup away from his lips. While it was true that Ram was headed back sooner than she had originally anticipated, from Roswaal's perspective, she was right on schedule.

"Since she's coming back so soon," he continued, "that must mean she had departed the capital at ni~ght."

He glanced back to Rem, still standing at perfect attention.

"Do you know what could have spurred this decision?"

Rem shook her head. "I'm sorry. I don't know why she's returning. But she doesn't feel agitated. I think she and Lady Emilia are fine."

Roswaal nodded. "We~ll, that's good. We'll discover why they are returning soon enough. When should they arrive?"

Rem closed her eyes, meditating on her inborn synthesia.

"I believe it will be an hour or two, Lord Roswaal."

"Hmm," Roswaal let out, considering his options. On the one hand, he wanted to be present for their return, but on the other, there were still a few things he needed to take care of in some of the surrounding villages. He had hoped to be at the manor for the arrival, but he could afford to leave his first meeting for the morning.

"Very well," he said. "You may as well prepa~re Lady Emilia's room for her. I will be departing momentarily, so you will not need to attend to me."

"Yes, understood."

Rem lifted the hems of her skirt in a perfect curtsy, then turned to depart.

Once the door closed, Roswaal gently placed down his teacup, and opened one of the drawers of his desk.

Inside was only a single item, a fairly thick black book, its cover unfaded and spine perfectly flat, such that it appeared brand new.

Just by looking at it, few would suspect that it was over four centuries old.

Roswaal picked it up, and carefully turned the pages. The book wasn't so delicate that thumbing through them a little roughly would damage them, but Roswaal never treated it with anything less than absolute respect.

He reached the spot he was after in short order, a bare fifty pages from the end of the book.

Those few dozen pages lay out the path that remained for Roswaal to achieve his long-held wish.

The instructions contained within grew more dense in time, those pages covering only the next few years. It would be tricky to make sure everything proceeded exactly as recorded in the writ.

But that was what the line before his eyes was for.

Roswaal couldn't help but hold his breath as he reread it.

"An assassin will steal the Candidate's insignia in the Capital on the thirty-sixth day of Bluesun, threatening her life. A Foreigner will help her retrieve it, and she will return with him that night."

The Tome was not the most descriptive book in the world. Names, details, unrelated events, all of it was completely ignored, the Tome only foretelling the vital events on Roswaal's chosen path.

Case in point, this 'Foreigner'.

The Tome mentioned him many times in the next fifty pages, and for good reason. He was paramount to achieving Roswaal's dream, no one else but him could possibly arrange events so perfectly.