Aya looked at Haru with genuine sympathy as tears slowly fell onto his clothes.
"Haru, I’m sorry. This is only my fault. If there’s anything I could do..."
Haru stood up, his lips quivering.
"Don’t bla yourself, Aya," He said in a weak voice, tears streaming down his face, on the verge of breaking down completely. "You did what you could, and I thank you for that. Now... I’m sorry, I’ll go to my room."
"Sure. I’m already up, so you don’t need to worry about anything," she added with a gentle smile.
Haru sniffled, nodded, and then left. He passed Maldie in the hallway, who gave him a worried look.
"Boss..." said Gari, standing at the doorway, looking at him with concerned eyes.
"...Gari, I’m sorry. I just want to be alone. We’ll talk later," Haru said in a depressed tone.
Gari, looking downcast, nodded. Haru entered his room and fell onto his stomach.
So many tears filled his eyes that his pillow was quickly soaked.
Gari could hear his loud sobbing through the door.
What should I do? The boss said he wants to be alone, but... I can’t just leave him like this.
To hell with it, I have to do sothing! At worst, he’ll just scold
Gari quietly opened the door and stepped inside so as not to startle Haru. He was so lost in sorrow that he didn’t even notice her. He remained face-down in the pillow, sniffing and crying.
"Hey, boss," Gari began softly. "I know it’s hard, but maybe don’t keep it all inside? It’s always better to talk to soone."
"You can just call by my na and drop the ’boss’ thing," Haru muttered into the pillow rather than speaking to her.
"Alright, alright, haha," the half-dragon said with a warm smile. "Spill it. Tell what’s on your mind."
Haru turned toward her and let out a heavy sigh.
"I... I already told Maldie about this... and now sothing e-even worse has happened..."
Gari dug through her pockets and gave Haru a handkerchief. He wiped his eyes and nose, then told her about the weird things with the gods, about sleeping Aya who was supposed to restore Shion’s lost mories. They were gone without a trace, with no hope of coming back to him.
"...it hurts so much more knowing that I’m the only one who rembers that beautiful mont. I wish it had stayed with him too, damn it! But it was destroyed! You have no idea how frustrating it is that only I’ll rember it, and I’ll never be able to share that mory with him!" he said, then burst into tears again.
"Haru," Gari said gently, " You’re thinking about it too much, if you ask . Maybe you should take a break from it for a while?"
"Huh?" he asked, turning to her, surprised.
"Think of it this way," she said, smiling. "No matter how romantic or beautiful it was, it won’t be the last wonderful mont in your lives together, right?"
Haru didn’t reply.
It’s... true.
A simple, uplifting truth, but... part of still disagrees with how things are.
That’s why I feel so sad.
Haru told Gari what he was thinking.
"Nothing’s stopping you from making even better mories. The right mont will co with ti - who knows, maybe it’s just around the corner. How about we go out to the city today? I’ll pay," she said, smiling from ear to ear.
Haru looked at her in disbelief, yet a spark of hope lit in his eyes. He was surprised at how much he needed to hear such a simple thing.
She’s right.
This isn’t the only magical mont we’ll have together.
"Thanks. But still... this sadness won’t just disappear..."
"Yeah, I know. You need ti to work through this. Wounds don’t heal fast, unless you’re a half-dragon like , heh"
"Thanks, Gari. I feel better now. And sorry, I’m hopeless. Everyone keeps comforting and worrying over , and I only cause problems. I want... I want to change that."
"So, do you want to go sowhere now? I know a pretty good, cheap place not far from the palace. And the beer there is just so freaking good! Trust , you have to try it."
Haru laughed honestly.
"All right, but the bill’s on . I promised you earlier. I know you invited , but I’d feel uncomfortable with you paying..."
"Fine! I’ll return the favor next ti."
Haru asked Gari to step out for a mont so he could change.
Shortly after, Maldie appeared. She had heard about their plans and decided to use her skills again.
„Don’t think I’ll let you go out looking anything less than amazing!" she said confidently. "It’s your first ti out in the city, so you have to look stunning!".
This ti, Maldie used blue eyeshadow and dyed the tips of his hair the sa color – with a natural, washable pignt from crushed flower seeds. She put golden lipstick on him and helped him into a blue kimono with golden waves.
"All right, we’re ready to go!"
As the three of them walked through the palace corridors, Gari spoke up again:
"Wow, boss looks so good, I wouldn’t be surprised if soone tried to take him."
„Well, but they’d probably be scared off by you. A cute lady with such a powerful, fearso dragon nearby is quite a sight," Maldie joked. Gari laughed out loud.
"Eh, I’m not a cute lady!" Haru blurted, blushing.
"You look better than both of us. Do you really think no one will see you as a very pretty woman?" Gari asked.
"Well, Maldie always gives it her all, so I look like... like..." Haru ran out of words. He didn’t want to co off as a narcissist.
"Like the Key of our prince, and that’s what matters," the maid added.
"Wait," Gari said, "Can we just go out of the palace and leave our duties just like that?"
Maldie shrugged.
"We’ll say that respected Haru wanted to reward us and insisted so much that we couldn’t refuse," she added with a light smile. "Then not only will we get away with it, but Haru will gain a reputation as a generous noble and won’t be able to keep new helpers away."
"Wow! I didn’t know you were so cunning," Haru said teasingly.
"Of course! After all, I’m an old, tricky bat!" Maldie joked, and everyone laughed.
Once they stepped into the city, they couldn’t decide where to eat. Maldie insisted Haru should go to proper, high-quality restaurants, while Gari knew all the shady spots, claiming the food there was amazing.
In the end, they settled on sothing in between – affordable, but still up to Haru’s standards as set by Maldie.
Haru didn’t even notice how quickly ti passed. They talked about everything and nothing while eating and drinking.
Being with them gave Haru a brief break from thinking about what hurt him the most.
They returned to the palace at dusk. No one asked questions, assuming Haru’s servants had handled whatever needed attending to.
Gari finished work, said goodbye, and went her own way. Maldie also left, saying she had a few more things to do in other parts of the palace.
When Haru returned to his room, he lay on his back, faintly smiling.
Then, just like that, a wave of sorrow hit him, and he covered his face with his hand
It’s strange... when I’m alone, all these feelings co back to and...
...they won’t leave.
I had a great ti with them, but in the end, sothing inside still breaks, and I don’t know what.
I feel like crying again and...
Haru heard a knock on the door.
"Haru, you’re not asleep yet? Can I co in?"
Haru jumped to his feet at the sound of Shion’s voice. He fixed his clothes and the lipstick that had faded from eating and drinking.
"Yes!" he said, giving his lips one last touch.
Shion entered, looking at him with a mix of seriousness and concern .
"Haru, I want to talk to you about sothing important. Co with ," he said, holding out his hand.
"S-shion, w-what’s this all of a sudden? I-I an, it’s very nice of you to... and... well..." Haru replied, flustered and captivated, hesitantly placing his hand on Shion’s.
Haru’s heart pounded like thunder.
The prince began leading him through the palace corridors.
"W-wait, Shion! You didn’t tell where we’re going!" Haru said along the way.
"To the royal gardens. It’s a gorgeous night tonight, so I want to take you there."
We’ll walk and talk in the moonlight, holding hands? Oh my god, this will be so romantic!
Am I dreaming?!
Reviews
All reviews (0)