"..."
At that, Frieren stopped in her tracks.
After a moment, she turned to look at her apprentice. Fern's whole face was lit by the morning sunlight, and the slight upward curve of her eyes held a glimmer of light. She really did seem to want Frieren to stay. Seeing that expression, Frieren couldn't help feeling a little dazed.
Because it reminded her of the time decades ago when she had been here with Himmel, Heiter, and Eisen. Back then, those three had worn the same regretful expressions as Fern and said almost exactly the same thing: that she should watch the sunrise with them.
It was a shame that, even though the sunrise was still the same sunrise, the people were no longer the same. Himmel and the others had been replaced by her apprentice Fern—and a certain troublesome little girl who was still sound asleep in her room, just like Frieren herself had been back then.
"Oh..."
"Is it beautiful?"
Thinking of those things, Frieren murmured to herself, then turned back toward the window.
And unlike before, this time she watched with unusual focus.
Outside, golden sunlight was swallowing the deep blue of the horizon at a visible pace. The clouds glowed like marshmallows, and the cries of seagulls mingled with the sound of the waves as they drifted inside.
A feeling suddenly stirred in her. Perhaps Himmel, Heiter, and Eisen had felt the same way she did now?
"..."
She watched for a long while, then suddenly chuckled.
"It's all right!"
"It's not that beautiful. It's just a sunrise. Nothing special."
But though she said that, the faint ripples in her eyes gave her away.
"?"
Fern turned her head and needed only one look to figure out roughly what state her teacher was in.
"Lady Frieren..."