Chapter 85

Thud!

I fell to the floor from a very low height.

About half a span of the palm of my hand?

So there was no injury in the first place, but the ground was very soft.

“….…”

As I laid down with my eyes tightly closed, a refreshing breeze blew softly around me from afar.

It contained the slight smell of water and flowers, and a strong body scent. It was a scent I already knew.

Tap.

Then someone touched my nose and I opened my eyes slightly.

“You’re a scaredy-cat, surprisingly.”

As soon as I opened my eyes, what I saw was a handsome face with a nice smile and friendly eyes.

My heart was pounding.

“……Where am I?”

“You wanted it, a picnic.”

Looking around, there was a lush and fresh forest in the distance, and small trees were huddled nearby.

The scent of fresh green that the forest embraced and emitted coolly swept through my heart.

Just looking at it was healing, and just taking a deep breath was enough to relieve stress.

Under a sky so blue that it was as if one spilled poster color paint…

The lake reflecting the sky was also very pretty.

Flutter, flutter—

As I was gazing around, a yellow butterfly flapped its wings right in front of my nose and sat on my finger without warning.

“Fufu.”

In the end, when I burst out laughing, it flew away again.

My heart accelerated and I was so excited.

“I didn’t even think of that, Rixus.”

I was in the office a while ago, I couldn’t believe I was now about to have a picnic.

It was like being in a boring, hot and exhausting summer class, and wishing the desk was suddenly moved to a refreshing beach.

It was literally ‘I know it’s impossible, but I want it right now’ sort-of feeling.

‘…Oh my God, these are all petals, right?!’

It just dawned on me that the reason the floor was soft was that it was a bed made of only leaves and petals weaved together.

Every leaf, every petal; 

It seemed only the most beautiful, fresh and clean ones had been chosen. Such sincerity…

It wasn’t just that. All the snacks on the simple table were full of my favorites.

When I saw them, my mind was at ease and I was hungry.

Rumbling—

Recently, I was very nervous and had been overworking.

And I realized belatedly that I had been skipping meals to work more. 

‘……Rixus seems to know everything beforehand.’

How could this be?

Even if I didn’t have to say it, even if I didn’t ask for it, I felt like Rixus could see one step ahead of me.

Such astonishing attentiveness and kindness… It was strange, I felt emotional for no reason.

The second I saw the whipped cream ice cream, I burst into laughter.

Rixus narrowed his eyes and whispered a little playfully.

“You enjoyed it so much that you brought it to the changing room.”

“Pfft.”

I burst out laughing involuntarily. I felt like I have been laughing a lot lately.

Rixus kept making me laugh. Every day, a little more.

At that time, my mood was swaying like the spring breeze.

“Aww! It’s so cute…”

A very familiar and cheerful voice was heard.

The voice was coming from behind me. It was Seryl.

Then, I remembered the quite urgent scream I had heard before my eyes flashed.

“Ahhh, Your Majesty!”

‘Come to think of it, is everyone okay?!’

With such worries, I quickly turned around, and everyone seemed to be perfectly fine, despite my concerns.

No… In fact, they looked much better than usual.

The first thing that caught my eye was a white kitten and a pink cotton candy head rolling around.

“Kyaaaah! It’s so cute!”

Ires, with his back bent, was grinning at the scene.

“It’s my cat. It was whimpering, stuck on the root of a tree, and I got it out.”

Then, he secretly acted like he was ‘proud of the cat’. 

“If you look at it, its pattern is artistic, unlike a normal kitten. Besides, it’s smart. I guess it takes after its owner.”

“Kyaaaah! It’s cute!”

But Seryl didn’t appear to be listening at all.

Anyway, it seemed that Seryl’s wish to see the sunlight had come true. Oh, today’s sunshine was a work of art.

Then, what about Laura’s wish…?

“Mmm, this basque cheesecake is so thick. It just melts on my tongue.”

She seemed to be enjoying the sweet dessert time that she wished for too.

“Ahhh, that’s cool…”

Maribel, too, was taking deep breaths and taking in the fresh air to her heart’s content.

‘The staff’s welfare has been a mess lately.’

Like a rogue president, I made them work round the clock and didn’t even give them extra pay.

Seeing the maids resting like this relieved my guilt a little.

After all, hard work and chicks were incompatible words.

“Thank you, Rixus.”

This was such a thoughtful event.

“Thanks to you, I can rest comfortably. Me and my maids.”

“If there’s too much work, I can help.”

I looked at him with a smile, then half-jokingly narrowed my eyes and asked,

“Who slept in the changing room?”

“I never expected you to look at my sleeping face so closely.”

“!”

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“Maybe you’re that good at talking to yourself.”

My heart leapt as if I had committed a great and serious crime.

Who would have known that he would open his eyes so suddenly……?

My voice was heard again in my ears.

“You’re pretty…”

I was embarrassed and flustered, and I could feel my face warming up.

I felt like a pervert who spied on people who were sleeping.

But, since I was caught, I decided to be shameless.

“…It’s fun to look at your sleeping face.”

“What’s the fun?”

……I could see things I couldn’t normally see on your sleeping face, Rixus.

But if I said that, wouldn’t I look like I have deep knowledge of ‘peeping on a sleeping face’? Hence, I replied roughly.

“It’s just fun. Time doesn’t seem to pass.”

After giving a rough answer, I took a bite of the moist egg tart.

It was still warm and fluffy. The egg part was so soft like it would melt, and the crust part was moist and crispy on the outside.

A feeling of great satisfaction and joy slowly rose.

I wondered, was this happiness?

After eating just delicious things in moderation, we sat side by side on the bridge by the lake.

“Wait.”

Rixus took my shoes off by hand.

It was somehow embarrassing to have my feet exposed, so I quickly immersed them in the cool, cold lake water.

“Oh, it’s cold.”

“Is it too cold? Come here.”

Rixus took off his outerwear and tried to cover my feet.

“No, Rixus. It’s good because it’s cool.”

Plop, swish swish— When I played with the water, even my chest cooled down.

Laughing leisurely, I was filled with 100% happiness. It was nice to see the wind blowing softly and ruffling through his black hair.

Rixus looked at the distant forest and spoke comfortably.

“There will be a fireworks festival soon.”

I was just a little stunned that the first event I was using as a gauge came out of his mouth

“…I’m sorry, I can’t participate this year because I’m busy.”

The fireworks festival this time should be held before the wedding.

Even Rixus could guess to this degree.

The exact date of the festival was random, but looking at the data accumulated so far, the ‘timing’ was about there.

“What are you talking about? Of course you should participate.”

“…….”

“It’s your first festival since coming to Aktoum, Berylia.”

Rixus looked me in the eyes and whispered sweetly.

“Meet me at the plaza on the day of the fireworks festival.”

“!”

Rixus then held out a very small package.

When I accepted and opened it, there was a mask in the shape of a butterfly.

Fireworks festival.

On that day, everyone, regardless of status, wore a mask and dressed freely.

And looking for a loved one in the square was an event.

It was a pretty well-liked event, people called it ‘a strong attraction between people who are destined’.

Amidst the bustle of people, swarms of similar masks, distraction and noise… 

If there really was such a thing as fate, there would be a gravitational force that pulled them together.

Among those countless pebble-like people… If only one could find the twinkling, shining significant other that he or she loved.

‘It’s true love’, the lovers would say in unison.

“Don’t you want to test our fate?”

“No.”

I shook my head easily.

‘You and I are already destined, Rixius.’

That fate’s gravitational pull cruelly brought us together countless times and made us harm each other.

Thinking about it like that made my heart tingly and anxious.

For me, fate was not something to be tested lightly, it was something I had to fight with all my might at all times.

It was something that made me cry in desperation just thinking about it.

I whispered a little as if I wasn’t confident.

“…How do we find each other in that wide open space? It’ll just make us feel bad.”

“Why are you so worried?”

‘Well, I don’t like it either, but…’

I always had a tendency to imagine the ‘worst’ and fear in advance.

‘Because good luck has always eluded me, Rixus.’

The eyes that quietly looked at me darkened slowly. Holding my hand tightly, he said,

“I’ll definitely find you.”

“….…”

“Even if you are among hundreds or thousands of people, even if you are mixed in some form I don’t know.”

“….…”

“I can find you.”

At that confident tone of his voice, my heart felt like it was on fire.

I wanted to trust him, who didn’t have any doubts.

In the end, I replied with a smile.

“Okay, I’ll trust you, Rixus. See you at the square that day.”

Shortly thereafter would be the fireworks festival.

The big event ahead of my life, the first day.

I was willing to test my fate with Rixus.

‘I look forward to it. What will happen?’

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Already, my heart was throbbing and pounding.

Ame: Take a sip of water every time Berylia says her heart is pounding or a variation of it XD okay, jokes aside. There was a period where I kept peppering the working doc with comments of “cute, but when’s the wedding!?!!!” But now I’m just like “author TT_TT stop making Berylia feel anxious and worried, it makes ME feel the same.”

…I want to tell past me (2021-Dec Ame) that you’re dumb for thinking this was going to be a cotton-candy or flower-garden type of novel. 

LET’S GO, FIRST EVENT!!! Nah, the next chapter is everyone’s “favorite” Lady Fallen Angel and Madam Cheating Butterfly…

Dea: Yay my favourite characters are back, time to grab my patience from where I left it last because I’ll be needing it. I wonder what they’ll be up to now, maybe they can make themselves useful and hurry the wedding up haha. I can’t wait for this story to reach the fluffy, ‘we’re so in love’ part, Berylia deserves her happiness!!