Chapter 58
As was only natural, the cathedral on Sunday was crowded with people. Even though it was located in the comparatively quiet old town. From what Sasha had mentioned in passing, she had come here without fail every weekend before her grandmother had fallen ill and taken to her bed.
Isaac had no interest in churches or cathedrals. He did not believe in God to begin with, and whenever others observed religious customs or manners, he simply stood there blankly.
When Mass began, Isaac looked around vacantly and realized that almost everyone around him was elderly. Yes. Old people. Regardless of status, they were almost all old. Thanks to that, Isaac was able to sit facing forward again with a somewhat more comfortable mind.
He stared at the face of the priest over there, then naturally turned his head toward Sasha sitting beside him. Her eyes were pressed shut, and she was listening intently to the priest’s words. To anyone looking, she seemed devout.
Isaac relaxed a little more and freely admired her face. Long lashes hanging downward, pale skin that looked to anyone as though it had nothing to do with outdoor activity, red lips below it. ……The nape of her neck.
……Have I lost my mind? I’ve really become a damned pervert.
A deep sense of disgust with himself rose up, and Isaac quickly turned his head away. The tips of his ears heated again. The back of his neck grew hot as well. It was only a dress, and yet since yesterday he had not been in his right mind.
No, perhaps even before that.
“Captain?”
By the time he came to his senses, it was almost over.
Sasha peered worriedly at Isaac, who looked somehow dazed.
“I have something to discuss with Father privately. Would you like to wait here?”
Ah, that marriage license.
Isaac recalled it belatedly and shook his head.
“No. I’ll wait outside.”
The weather was fine. The cathedral was an old building, so both the interior and exterior were gloomy, but with the warm sunlight pouring down over it, it was rather more pleasant to look at. The moderately muggy wind of early summer tickled the back of Isaac’s neck. Before long, the sweltering summer would arrive.
After waiting roughly twenty minutes, Sasha came out of the cathedral. Pretending not to hear her say that the sunlight was strong and he should have waited inside the carriage, Isaac held out his hand to her.
The two had a simple lunch at a nearby restaurant, then drank tea. After that, they headed straight to the theater to see a classical play. The theater, too, was full of older people. To begin with, it was a theater that staged only classical plays instead of the new dramas popular these days.
If there was one difference from the cathedral, it was that every one of them looked highborn. Nobles by birth, or quasi-nobles, or nouveau riche who had amassed immense wealth through business. All of them were people like that.
Sasha exchanged greetings with those who spoke to her as they came and went. The elderly middle-aged men naturally brought up her late grandmother and asked after her, while also glancing at Isaac standing beside her.
Isaac knew that within a few days, rumors that they had been seen at the theater would spread far and wide. By then, he would likely hear from his grandmother or Rachel. This is going to become troublesome in more ways than one.
“It will start soon, Captain.”
Isaac slowly followed her up the stairs. As was only natural, the seats they occupied were VIP seats. Sasha picked up the opera glasses placed beside the sofa and very naturally handed a pair to him as well.
With a reluctant expression, he picked up the opera glasses. Compared to the telescopes used on an actual battlefield, they were absurdly small, and the field of view was limited as well.
“How is it?”
“Impractical. To call this a telescope.”
Isaac had been habitually evaluating the tactical usefulness of the opera glasses when he stopped. It was because his eyes met those of a certain man sitting in the middle of the audience, staring up at him with an expressionless face. But the man, as if he had sensed that Isaac’s eyes behind the glasses were looking at him, quickly turned his body toward the stage.
“Captain? What is it?”
Without realizing it, Isaac stared silently at the back of the man’s head. Thanks to the restricted field of view of the glasses, it was easy to focus on the man’s brown head. Good. It’s perfect for narrowing down a target.
“It’s nothing.”
Isaac stared in that direction for quite some time, then shook his head.
The classical play that began shortly afterward was blatantly boring. And Isaac had no interest in such things to begin with. Just as he had not at the cathedral.
He endured it with what patience he had and tried to pretend to focus on the play. He did not want to appear pitifully unable to concentrate to anyone. Not to that woman.
However, making a mockery of his firm resolve, less than ten minutes after the play began, Isaac started nodding off. Sasha, who had been focusing through her opera glasses on the expressions and gestures of the heroine reciting her lines, quickly lowered the glasses from her eyes when she felt something heavy drop onto her shoulder.
Isaac, who had been sitting with his arms crossed, had tilted his head at an awkward angle, and before she knew it, it was resting on her right shoulder.
She considered calling to him softly and waking him, but Sasha decided against it. Even to her, this play belonged to the terribly boring category, so forcing him to wake up and watch it to the end would be no different from torture. However, the weight resting on her shoulder was gradually beginning to burden her.
The man was naturally tall, with a body built on thick bones and packed with muscle.
‘Heavy.’
Just as Sasha was hesitating and wondering what to do, his head on her shoulder twitched and moved. Even in the unconsciousness of sleep, he must have realized that Sasha’s shoulder was by no means a suitable headrest for him. The man’s head shot up. Then,
“……Snrk…….”
He leaned his head straight back and began sleeping while openly snoring.
Sasha watched the sight for a long while, finding it a little funny and also fascinating. It was truly fascinating that he slept soundly with his head tilted back and his mouth slightly open, never once uncrossing his awkwardly folded arms.
＊＊＊
Isaac opened his eyes only long after the play had ended. It was because people were getting up one by one and leaving the theater, and Sasha, who could no longer wait, woke him.
At first, Sasha called his name softly, then soon reached out and carefully touched his shoulder. The moment she did, his eyes flew open with an almost animal reflex. His blue eyes, just awakened from sleep, rolled somewhat fiercely to identify the one who had touched him.
Then, after confirming it was Sasha, he became a little gentler. Isaac soon stared at her with dazed eyes. As though urging him to come to his senses, she carefully touched him once more, and in that instant, one of Isaac’s cheeks tilted and leaned into her palm.
Beyond his cheek, he felt the tender flesh of her palm.
“The play ended quite a while ago.”
Though it would have been understandable for her to be quite flustered, Sasha spoke softly without much reaction, her palm still against his cheek. As though being considerate of him, who had not yet shaken off sleep.
His reason returned belatedly. When one finger that seemed to be her thumb pressed gently into his cheek, he finally woke completely and shot up from his seat.
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s all right.”
He could not lift his face.
Feeling that he had shown her a shabby and pathetic sight no matter how one looked at it, Isaac did not look her way until they had completely left the theater. Sasha glanced sideways at him in amusement as he occasionally looked into the distance and muttered a few curses as though speaking to himself.
“In any case, thank you for spending the whole day with me. I wouldn’t go so far as to call it repayment, but I’d like to do something for you as well, Captain.”
“This was for the two of us in the first place, wasn’t it? You don’t really need to thank me.”
Even as Isaac answered sullenly, he obediently walked in the direction she gestured.
“It isn’t far from here. We don’t need to take the carriage.”
She said that and walked ahead.
The weekend street was moderately crowded. When Sasha’s small figure disappeared slightly into the crowd, Isaac was startled and quickly lengthened his stride to catch up with her.
Without a word, Isaac offered her one arm. By now, it had simply become a matter of course.
With an unconcerned expression, Sasha slipped one arm through his and pointed somewhere with her finger.
“It’s in that alley over there.”
As he walked through the people with Sasha, Isaac felt, for some reason, as if someone was watching them.
He sharply turned his head toward the place where he felt the gaze, his expression fierce. But there were only crowded heads everywhere. Even with his line of sight, much higher than most people’s, there were limits.
His chronic paranoia surged up and scratched at his insides. No, this was the point of going out in the first place. He murmured that to himself, trying hard to calm himself and settle his nerves, which had grown sharp.
“We’re here. This is the place.”
Whether he did or not, Sasha led him into a certain building. The place they finally arrived at was.
“It’s a shooting club. What do you think?”