The dinner lasted some time, we dined together as a whole piece once more; a dine together with the family. It made me a bit joyous as back in that dimension, either Mom and I or simply me alone would eat. There were plenty of times where Mom would prefer to eat alone, leaving me alone to eat at night which feels a bit too lonely for me.
While looking down from the balcony, a soft hum echoed throughout the garden. A hum filled with longing as the leaves danced with it, butterflies fluttered around the garden as I looked down before Mana could be seen, sitting on a rock while humming a soft yet sad melody.
“When the sky has cleared, and rains have passed. I still won't forget the past,” she sang, looking up at the stars as the bright blue moon brightened before all of a sudden all the leaves of the trees turned into cherry blossoms as her eyes glowed.
It was like a scene out of an animation as she placed her hand on a pocket before came out a flute, placing the flute on her lips as she soon started playing the flute, creating beautiful melodies left and right as Sakura petals fell from the tree.
“Are you surprised?” Kaori’s voice suddenly entered into my ear from the left as a spatial crack appeared before her figure came out from the crack, looking at the scene with a smile on her face.
“Mhm…” I said before she giggled.
“That’s her true power which she awakened while you were in a coma… in an effort to giving that little brown-haired girl a happy life, she desperately wished to become stronger to which the moon replied, awakening her power as the Saint of Melodies,” Kaori smiled.
“Saint of Melodies… isn’t that one of the few rare titles in the game, weren’t you the one who created it?” I looked at her and asked before she nodded.
“The Saint of Melodies, a being whose powers are unfathomable; an entity who can control the flow of mana and life through its melodies, through its voice. You could say it’s an overpowered title that everyone misused, making it look weak,” Kaori’s smile turned wry as she looked at the moon, “Though, I feel like she will be the one to show me the truest potential of that title, the potential that I always wished to see from it…”
Amidst our discussion, the tone of the melody weaved around from a happy tone to a sad tone, moving between them in intervals as butterflies followed along, creating a spiral of butterflies on the garden that looked ethereal.
“I’ll go check on Crystal for now, in case that now elder sister of hers will suddenly pounce on her again…” Kaori said with a joking smile as I nodded before she waved her hand, slicing open a spatial crack as she re-entered the crack, vanishing into the night as I continued to look at Mana who sang her way into the night, a beautiful song.
After almost an hour of singing, she soon lowered her flute as all the supernatural events such as the petals and butterflies vanished one after another as she hid her flute before standing up as she turned around and stared at me with surprise.
“Err… how long have you been there?” she asked with her cheeks blush which was adorable to look at.
“I’ve been here for as long as you can imagine,” I smiled before she pouted which increased her cuteness by a lot as I hopped above the balcony before jumping down towards her, materializing my wings temporarily as I descended down before her.
“You should have told me you were there…” she smiled wryly.
“If I told you, I wouldn’t have heard of such beautiful song… to think that you awakened a power and never told me, aren’t you quite distrustful of your wife?” I joked while showing a smug before she smacked me in the head.
“Whose wife? Are you going to say the same thing to your fifty-six wives?” she replied with a pout.
“I do have fifty-six wives, fifty-three of which is a pink-haired beauty whose first name is Mana and last name is Eve,” I teased before she elbowed me as a smile blossomed on her face.
“My last name is still Fragaria, don’t get it wrong,” she refuted while walking back inside as I giggled.
“It won’t be long before I can legally change it to Eve though,” I smiled before she smiled.
“I will wait until that time…” she mumbled in a soft voice before the two of us soon reached the second floor, entering our room as she hid her flute back into her vanity table before laying down on the bed exhausted.
Her smile was beautiful to look at as always, a wonderful smile that cleanses all the exhaustion… it made me feel warm as I hugged her in bed, kissing her on the forehead as I asked, “Are you worried about something?”
“I am…” she replied in a soft voice, snuggling onto my chest as she hugged back.
“Do you want to tell me about it?” I inquired before she looked at me and nodded before hiding herself into my chest once more as she heaved a sigh.
“How long have you and Kaori known each other…? Is she from your world?” she asked with an exhausted tone which surprised me a bit as I tightened my hug on her.
“Do you want the truth or a semi-lie?” I asked.
“The truth…” she responded as she hugged me back tightly before looking at me in the eye.
“It’s a long story but… Kaori was once my crush in the past, the two of us have known each other since our very early childhood and spent most of our lives practically together…” I answered before she looked at me confused.
“Then… why aren’t you two together?” she questioned.
“Well… would you believe me if I said both of us were technically the creators or the inventors of this world?” I asked before she frowned her eyebrows.
“I wouldn’t if someone else told me but coming from you… I guess it should be real,” she answered as I nodded, looking at the ceiling before reaching my hand towards it with a smile.
“Solis which meant Sun was originally a dream of mine that I wanted to materialize, and with the help of Kaori, the two of us managed to make it into some sort of game… well, it’s hard to explain but it was a famous game…” I said before she nodded, “It took us fourteen years to create that game and after the large success, the two of us decided to create a simulation version of the game.”
“A simulation where one could literally experience the game in its fullest, and during our final testing with me on the test bed… an accident happened… or should I say an intentional accident which ended my life in that world,” I added with a deep breath as she looked at me surprised.
“Then… from your words, could it be said that she did it?” she inquired.
“It’s complicated, at first, I thought it was her since the Goddess had told me until I went into a coma where the two of us finally met once more… she explained the entirety of the incident together with the Goddess…” I answered.
“So… basically, when the two of us first met… you were still in a sad state?” she asked with a pale face as I nodded, “Err… should I say I am sorry for treating you badly at that time?”
“You don’t have to since you never knew about my circumstances back then, rather… I am glad you acted that way since the two of us got closer because of it…” I smiled, hugging her tightly as she snuggled into my chest.
“Well, to end it off… I asked her initially to watch over the rest of you since I was afraid that the person behind the entire incident whose identity I can’t speak right now would come after either you, Leisha, or Flora…” I smiled wryly.
“I see…” she nodded before all of a sudden, kissing me on the lips as she smiled, “I always thought after you came back that you no longer cared about me…” before tears fell from her eyes as she hugged me tightly.
“I thought that your heart was no longer mine… it felt painful the entire time, especially when the two of you brought that new girl… all the advantages I had vanished in that instant… I felt inferior, she was strong while I was weak, she was capable while I was a mere stay at home…” she said in a hoarse voice.
“You shouldn’t think that way… promise me, okay?” I flicked her forehead, “No matter what… you will always be my first bride and the person who I will love from now on…” before even more tears fell from her eyes as she nodded, snuggling back into me.
The two of us stayed silent for some time before a soft voice whispered into my ear, a soft yet warm voice entered into my heart like a tsunami, “I love you, Ayumi…”
I felt super happy hearing those three words directed at me and couldn’t help but hug her tightly as I replied back with a smile, “I love you too, Mana…” before the two of us hugged each other to sleep.