The Seastone Ring

Life on Hachinosu began to quiet down. The sea breeze in the harbor no longer carried the smell of gunpowder, the sound of the waves crashing against the pier returned to its original rhythm, and the morning mist rose from the sea precisely at dawn, then slowly receded after the sun rose, leaving the damp wooden planks to dry in the sunlight.

Ginny sat by the window in the Intelligence Room, organizing postwar records. The documents were stacked in three piles, each tied with thin string. A cup of tea sat beside her, already cold, untouched. She wrote with her head down, the pen moving quickly across the paper. After finishing the last page, she looked up and realized it was already dark outside, with only a pale orange light remaining on the horizon, like diluted paint applied to the bottom of the clouds.

She sat by the window for a while. Footsteps came down the corridor and stopped at the door of the Intelligence Room. Kuma stood outside, holding something in his hand, hidden in his palm, only a barely visible corner showing, as if he were unconsciously clenching it, without any intention of concealing it. He saw Ginny look up before stepping over the threshold and coming in.

Kuma stood in front of the table, his right fist clenched. Ginny looked at his expression and put down her pen. "What's wrong?"

Kuma didn't speak. He opened his right hand, and in his palm lay a ring. The ring band was silver-white, its surface polished smooth, gleaming evenly in the indoor light, without any patterns. A small gray stone was set in the ring face—it was Seastone, its polished surface smooth and warm, its edges rounded, like a pebble that had been washed by ocean currents for a long time.

Ginny stared at the ring without saying a word. She looked at it for a long time, her gaze finally settling on the Seastone on the ring face.

Kuma didn't speak. He stood there, palm up, the ring lying quietly in the dim light of his palm. The silver band reflected the twilight filtering in from the window, the Seastone face absorbing most of the light, leaving a uniform shadow around the edge.

Ginny reached out and took the ring from Kuma. She held it up to her eyes, looking at the twilight outside the window, then held it in her palm for a moment, feeling the outline of the ring against her hand, before slipping it onto the middle finger of her left hand. The ring clicked slightly as it was put on, then slid into the perfect position, not too big, not too small. She looked down at it for a moment, turned the ring to make sure it wouldn't move easily, then looked up into Kuma's eyes. "You, you didn't even say anything when you proposed?"

Kuma: "I told you."

Ginny: "What did you say?"

Kuma: "Marry me."

Ginny looked at him without speaking. The twilight outside the window was deepening, and the light in the room was shifting from orange-yellow to gray-blue, casting a soft, warm hue on her face. She glanced down at the ring on her hand again; the Seastone face gleamed with a dark luster in the twilight, like a piece of solidified seawater.

"Okay," Ginny said, "I'll marry you."

Kuma didn't make any bigger moves, but his stance was more stable than before. He stood at the table looking at Ginny, Ginny sat in a chair looking at him. The two were separated by a table covered with documents, with three stacks of documents tied with thin rope and a cup of cold tea between them. On her right hand, she wore a Seastone ring, which gleamed with a dull gray luster in the twilight.

Footsteps echoed down the corridor; it was the sound of Ember and Huijin walking side by side. They paused at the doorway, noticing the ring on Ginny's hand, then glancing at Kuma. Ember didn't ask anything and continued walking, but Huijin lingered at the doorway for a second longer, glancing at Ginny's ringed finger before following Ember.

Ginny heard the footsteps fade into the distance. She glanced down at the ring on her hand again, then reached out with her other hand and gently turned the ring with her fingertip to make sure it was securely set on her knuckle. She stood up, walked around the Kuma, and headed for the door. After a couple of steps, she stopped, without turning back. "Nice ring. Who polished the Seastone for you?"

"Caesar."

"He didn't blow up the lab?"

He finished grinding before he started blasting.

Ginny chuckled. She continued walking out.

At the other end of the corridor, Lin Yuan stood by the window, facing out the window, without a water glass in his hand. He gazed at the sea sinking into the twilight in the distance. He heard light, continuous footsteps behind him, which stopped about two steps behind him and did not approach.

"Did Kuma propose?" Lin Yuan asked.

Ginny: "Did you hear that?"

"I heard you."

"So, what do you want to say?"

Lin Yuan thought for a moment, "Seastone ring is more valuable than Beli's ring."

Ginny leaned against the window frame in the hallway. "He dawdled for a long time."

"Did Caesar grind it for him?"

"The lab that Caesar ground. The lab that was only blown up after he finished grinding it."

Lin Yuan didn't press further. The last rays of twilight were fading from the sea outside the window. Ginny looked down at the ring on her left hand, raised her hand and gently rubbed the Seastone face with the pad of her thumb, then lowered her left hand.

"Oh, by the way," Ginny said, "The wedding is in three days."

"So fast?"

He said, "If we drag this out, some people will want to start a war again. Let's get this done first, to avoid any unforeseen complications."

"Where is there still someone fighting?"

Ginny shrugged. "He was talking about Roger. He said Roger left Mary Geoise without attending any of the weddings, and that can't happen again. So the sooner the better."

Lin Yuan was silent for a moment, then asked, "Where will the wedding be held?"

"Right here on Hachinosu, in that open space at the port. It doesn't need many people, nor does it need to take long. His people and his territory are all here; there's no need to go elsewhere to hold it again."

"Okay. I'll go too."

Ginny nodded and turned to walk back. Her footsteps echoed down the corridor, stopping at the corner, followed by the soft sound of a door opening and closing. A sea breeze blew in from the end of the corridor, carrying the scent of night, passing through the corridor, and taking away the last vestiges of twilight from the windowsills, leaving only a greyish-blue light. In the distance, on the sea, the first shadows of night were spreading outwards, the horizon already shrouded in deep grey, like a silent finisher of a day's work.

(End of Chapter 126)