Episode 33
Flora let out a scoffing laugh.
"What's my na?"
"If you're going to tell , just tell ."
"This feeling of not wanting to tell you because you're curious."
"Why is your personality so eccentric, unlike your appearance? Your face is so pretty..."
Basilian raised his voice crankily but soon realized his mistake and shut his mouth.
"What? Eccentric?"
Flora had already heard everything, though.
"Ah, I won't tell you! I'll just call you fairy!"
As the teasing from earlier continued, Basilian's face turned bright red again.
"You were going to tell originally. Tell !"
"Oh dear, I'm an eccentric fairy who doesn't want to tell you, what should I do!"
Basilian's shoulders trembled, then he squeezed his eyes shut and shouted.
"...Spring!"
"What did you say?"
"I said you look like a spring fairy, not an eccentric one! I wanted to ask then, but I held back on purpose because I wanted to make a promise to et next ti!"
'This is more fun to tease than I thought. But if I tease him more, he might cry.'
Flora, with a kind heart, thought that was enough and was about to let it go, but...
'Oh...'
Seeing his face, red as a ripe apple, with his hand covering his mouth, that intention completely vanished.
"I see. You wanted to see again."
"...No, I didn't."
"What? The sound is too small, I can't hear you well. You wanted to see so much you wanted to make a promise to et?"
"Grrr."
At the sound of his teeth grinding, Flora finally burst out laughing, unable to hold it back any longer.
"Puhahaha."
She laughed so joyfully, holding her stomach with her empty hands, that Basilian soon began to fu.
"Stop teasing !"
"Ahaha, okay, okay."
"Ah, don't co closer!"
When she approached closer to soothe him, Basilian shouted in a sulky tone and started walking ahead quickly.
Oh no, I laughed too much and made him sulk.
"Are you sulking?"
"I'm not sulking."
"Mr. Gentleman who isn't sulking. If you really want to know my na, stop and look at , please."
"...You're really bold, honestly."
Basilian let out a sigh with a face that seed to regret bringing Flora along.
When the boy stopped walking, a cool winter wind blew through the dark, sunken forest.
Cold moonlight filtered down through the rustling, moving leaves.
Because it was dark, his warm green eyes stood out even more clearly.
His eyes, filled with complex emotions, were waiting for Flora to say sothing.
Strangely, Basilian's face was stiff with tension.
Seeing that he looked rather pitiful, Flora didn't hesitate any longer and opened her mouth.
"Flora."
Flora, who had sohow gotten right in front of Basilian's nose, smiled sweetly and whispered affectionately, as if to show off.
"My na is Flora."
"Yeah, Flora. Let's go before we delay any further. For now, we'll stay here until we reach the next village."
Although he was pretending to be nonchalant, she could see the tips of Basilian's ears turning red as he turned away.
Flora decided to pretend not to notice this ti and followed him.
"For now, we'll stay here until we reach the next village."
"Okay, but it's so cold here."
"Even though it's the west, it's an area bordering the north. Of course it's colder than the east where you lived."
"Brrr."
As Flora shivered, Basilian, who was watching her, let out a sigh.
Then he took off the leather coat he was wearing and draped it over Flora's body.
"Is this a little better?"
"But Basilian, you'll be cold."
"It's fine. I'm probably sturdier than you."
It seed he knew a little about manners, but this action actually made Flora uncomfortable.
'I've taken a child's outerwear.'
Wouldn't it be a big deal if Basilian caught a cold because of ?
'But if I refuse, he'll feel hurt.'
Flora slightly tightened the leather coat and grinned.
"Thank you."
"I would have been disappointed if you hadn't said that."
Although he was pretending to be fine, Basilian's hands were redder from the cold than before.
'We need to hurry.'
Flora moved her feet vigorously, and thanks to the increased speed, they soon arrived at their destination: the rcenary band.
What appeared after pushing through the bushes was a cluster of khaki-colored tents.
The n gathered around the large bonfire in the center turned at Basilian's appearance and were all startled.
"Kid, who's the even younger kid behind you?"
"You didn't get bewitched by sothing strange and bring it back, did you?"
A wary look settled in the eyes of the rough-looking n.
This was the Demon Forest, a place that couldn't be considered for civilians, so it was a natural reaction.
"Ah, she's..."
Before Basilian could continue his explanation, Flora rushed out in front of them.
"Hey, hey!"
A flustered Basilian tried to stop her, but she had long since arrived in front of the warm bonfire.
"Brrr, brrr."
Flora held out her hands toward the bonfire, then grinned at the gazes directed at her.
"Hello, my na is Flora. It's so cold, so I'd like to borrow so fire."
At the cheeky response, everyone, including Basilian, blinked in confusion.
"Oh, and I'm Basilian's friend. I followed my Dad and got lost, and Basili saved ."
"Who's Basili?"
"Basilian's na is too long. So I'll call you Basi."
"Ugh."
Basilian held his forehead and sighed, and the rcenary band was utterly bewildered by the sight of the two bantering children.
"I'm not a monster, not a witch, and not a creature either. I'm just Flora."
Still, Flora didn't forget to introduce herself politely.
A single small flower that had appeared before the Red Serpent rcenary band, known for their cruel thods against monsters, naturally settled down beside them.
"I'll leave soon, so please take care of , okay?"
She said this while radiating a genial smile not commonly seen within the rcenary band.
· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · · · · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·
During the peaceful mont when Flora was getting acquainted with the Red Serpent rcenary band, Lucifer Ducal Residence was in utter chaos.
"She's not in the kitchen either!"
"Not in the library either!"
"We've checked all over the rooms, but we can't find her!"
"The training grounds and the stables are the sa!"
Amid the panicked servants, Zamira held her head.
"Ah, ah."
She staggered as if she might collapse at any mont, startling the maids who rushed to support her.
"I, I should have been more careful and watched closely."
Elena, Flora's personal maid who had disappeared, shook her head with a pale face.
"Could the Young Lady really have... followed the subjugation team?"
"Since a day has already passed, the probability of that seems high."
At Zamira's words, Elena squeezed her eyes shut.
"Th, then she could be attacked by monsters..."
Although she had thought about taking the Young Lady's life for revenge, she didn't wish for her to be torn to shreds by monsters.
'No, Elena. You should consider it fortunate that the Duke will feel the sa pain.'
Despite such thoughts, her body was trembling pitifully and relentlessly.
"We must send a telegram to the Duke imdiately! If the Young Lady has already been found, that would be fortunate, but she's so playful she might be hiding very well! If she gets left behind by mistake, it would be a real disaster!"
From behind Elena, whose face had turned pale, Daphne voiced her opinion.
"That's right. We can't just stay panicked like this forever. I will send a telegram to the Duke. You all must search the ducal residence more thoroughly. If you find the Young Lady, inform imdiately!"
"Yes!"
Zamira abandoned her usual dignified deanor and rushed out hastily, and Daphne also set out to look for places where Flora could be hiding.
Reviews
All reviews (0)