The roundabout area filled with shops they had accustomed themselves to lacked the warm noise attesting to its bustling state. Only the whoosh of the cold wind and the tap of their shoes were heard, and only a few people in civilian clothing walked around either aimlessly or to buy in the plaza.
Such was the silver-haired girl's observation with her golden eyes. Beside her stood a tan-skinned girl with blood red hair. Both wore matching navy blue scarves with hints of black around their necks.
"Two weeks ago."
Zephyr turned to her with an "mm" sound.
"You went somewhere with Percival, right? Were you two on a date or something?
Zephyr gently shook her head with a small smile. "Well, he did treat me to a crepe, but that was it."
"Why were you two together in the first place?" Sanguinex folded her arms. "Sévir wouldn't be delighted to hear it."
"We talked about the rebellion and the academy's involvement." The recollection of their conversation wiped the smile off her face. It was displeading yet insightful.
Sanguinex let out a long "mm" as if unconvinced. "You sure you aren't hiding something from me?" She put her left hand on Zephyr's shoulder. "You can tell me, I won't tell Sévir."
They stopped in front of an open shop. On top of the transversed long table covered by a white sheet were a variety of jewellery. Their material ranged from bronze to gold, garnet to diamond. Though it wouldn't be wrong to assume these were unoriginal or at the very least unlike its looks if it were in a common plaza shop.
The long black-haired woman who appeared to be the seller revealed herself with a soft smile. "Good morning dears. Isn't there still class in the academy?"
Zephyr glanced at the two with a hint of guilt.—That's right, they skipped.
"Oh well.. We're just here." she chuckled nervously.
The woman didn't seem the type to pry and just nodded. "Have any of the products here caught your eye?"
Zephyr meticulously darted left and right, unable to choose when all the jewellery caught her eye. "Ugh, it's so hard to choose."
Sanguinex leaned forward, slowly shaking her head. "You're just like your brother—indecisive."
"Don't put it that way."
She took three minutes until finally pointing at two jewelleries. "I like these two."
The two necklaces as if reacting, shone their bare gemstones of yellow and red. It wasn't like a fancy necklace where the gems were finely shaped. It was as if its true inconsistent shard-like shape came straight out of their deposits.
The woman pointed at those two. "These two are [Corundums]. Although they're low in price and quality, they're good choices if you believe that 'it's the thought that counts'."
"Why two?" Sanguinex asked.
Zephyr flashed her a knowing smile. "Why two?" she grabbed the mild brown and bronze chains of the necklaces and hung them right in front of her. "It's you and Brother!"
Yellow for Sévir and red for Sanguinex. How clever, she thought. "It's not only his birthday, it's yours too."
Sanguinex nodded as if realising just now. "How neat. How much are they?" she turned to the woman.
"Ten Zinari for the yellow sapphire, twelve for the ruby."
Zephyr shook her pouch, her face slightly paling to the lightness. "Crud.." she took out ten gold coins of whatever remained and counted them to make sure. "..I'll just buy the yellow sapphire instead."
"How unfortunate. I can't make cuts either since Martial Law's already doing a toll on my business." the woman took the coins and handed over the necklace with a smile. "Eitherway, thank you very much for buying. Come back next time, maybe you'll get the ruby."
Zephyr wore a defeated smile and walked away with her red-haired comrade.
"So sad." Sanguinex snickered.
A pout formed in Zephyr's face. "Shut up. Do you even want this?"
Sanguinex struck a confused look. "That's for me?"
"Yeah. Take it as some reminder of me and Brother or something. But this is my gift for you."
Hearing her reasoning, she smiled wryly. "Ouch, my best friend cheaped out on my gift after all I've done for her."
Zephyr looked down with a frown. She knew it was just a joke, though the guilt still hit a sore spot.
Sanguinex patted her back as if quickly realising the source. "Hey, I was just kidding. Ten Zinari is still a hundred Argenti."
Zephyr lightly jabbed her in the arm.
"Hehe. Ease up a little, I'll take any gift from you, even if it's just a box of air."
Those assuring words definitely lifted some weight off her heart. Though her mind was already on something else—her gift for Sévir. Based on the shake of the pouch and the sense of touch, there had to be about ten more Zinari left.
She let out a disgruntled "mm" sound. There were many reasons to blame for her shortness in money, and she only chose one to speak out in grumpiness. "Ugh, why didn't Brother give me any allowance this week?" she tightly folded her arms, her brows furrowing. "I'd have used all of them to my heart's content in finding him a gift!"
"Maybe because he knew you'd spend it all right away?"
"It's for a cause!"
They proceeded forward under the dull and grey sky, their walk halting as they came upon two blonde men in the black, blue and gold Stepan uniform.
Zephyr's mouth opened instinctively, a hint of surprise and familiarity tugging at her. "Isn't that Mr. Percival?"
Sanguinex leaned forward as if taking a closer look. "..Yeah, it's him."
"What's he doing here? Who's that guy beside him?"
"Beats me..—uh, Zephyr? Where are you going?"
The little girl marched forward, eager to find out their business.
From the looks of it, they were buying something, but what? Zephyr's curiosity was hard to control. Was that other guy his brother? She never told her about it.
She cleared her throat and waved her hand up. "Mr. Percival!"
Percival turned back, his grass green eyes meeting hers from a distance. From the widening of his eyes, he seemed more surprised than pleased to see her. The guy beside him didn't turn back.
"You.. What are you doing here?"
Zephyr raised a brow. "Uh, I'm buying a gift for Brother." She mustered the courage to point out his weirdness, but all that disappeared when the guy beside him finally turned around.
His grape eyes met her golden pair. She couldn't see it, but she could tell her pupils dilated along with her eyes.—Standing in front of her was a blonde man whose left eye mostly hid behind his bangs. Every strand of hair seemed to fit his piercing look as if saying, "get out of my sight".
To her, the similarity with her big brother was unmistakable,—and so was the pounding heart behind her chest.
What was it that she felt? Why couldn't she speak, or move? All she could feel besides her racing heart was her burning cheeks.
Was it familiarity? She's met familiar faces after years yet none of them felt this way.
Was it his looks? Probably. If she had to mumble a word to describe him, it would definitely be "handsome".
There was no mistaking who this man was.
"M—Mr. Damon.." Finally, she successfully gathered the strength to speak, though low.
His piercing gaze and folded arms was just like then, if not more intimidating.—That's right, it was the Duke of Galenville, Damon Galena.
"Oh, you're still alive?" His uninterested voice was despicable, yet she couldn't bother when she had problems with her flustered state.
She looked down, gripping the sides of her skirt. "Y—Yeah, I still am.."
"Hey, what's with that question?" Percival spoke in annoyance. "You don't say that to someone you just—"
Their gazes met Percival's, yet it's as if he responded only to Damon's. She couldn't be 100%, but she could've sworn she saw a hint of fear in his eyes as he withdrew.
"Well then.. Zephyr, I'm just tagging along with His Grace in some errands.. Also, why'd you address him so casually?"
Damon kept silent, as if providing her leeway to speak. "..Mr. Damon here used to play with us in the palace." her mouth adjusted for more words, yet held itself as she was about to mention how he always lost to Sévir—he'd be… SEVERely displeased. (next story: The Author Isn't A Comedian!)
Percival nodded, his voice wary. "I see.."
Although something tugged at her to inquire why he sounded so odd, she digressed.
Damon's gaze landed on something behind her. "You.."
Zephyr looked back, the sight of a single hint of blood red ticking all the boxes within a millisecond.
Standing in front of them was Sanguinex. An "mm" sound left her zipped mouth as she eyed him with disinterest. "We'll be taking our leave now."
Her sudden declaration surprised Zephyr. The content was one, but having been her best friend for years, she knew something else about those words from her mouth.
She glanced at the two blondes one last time before slowly waving. "I'll see you two next time.."
Her blood red-haired best friend was quick to pull her out of their sight. Though something like this wasn't too surprising when she used it to pull her out of danger, curiosity essentially begged her to ask.. "Nex, what's wrong? Was there a bandit or something?"
Sanguinex who hurriedly walked while pulling Zephyr finally slowed down and relaxed her grip around her wrist. "I saw that."
"Saw what?"
"How you reacted."
"How I reacted?"
"You've got a thing for Damon?"
Zephyr took a second to register those words, and only then did her breath hitch and head feverishly shake. "..No! Where'd you get that from!?"
Truthfully, even she didn't understand. Was it love at first sight like the novels she's read?
"I know you, and I know how it feels."
For a moment, her chest lightened to her words. "Then..—"
"But you should stay away from Damon."
"Huh..? Why?"
Sanguinex folded her arms, her gaze heavy on Zephyr. "He's like your Brother. Actually, he's been like him before Sévir even became who he is now. Don't you remember?"
"But.."
"No buts. You won't get anything good out of cold, apathetic jerks like him."
Zephyr frowned the same time her heart burned. How could she say something like that? She was basically judging Damon from the past—years ago when they were children. To her, that simply wasn't right.
"..Cut him some slack! You can't say that when you can only speak for his attitude back as a child!"
It wasn't any favouring that she was defending that man right now, at least she thought. It was probably her hate for baseless judgement—how couldn't she anyway? Their situation was basically that.
The thought of it only boiled her blood further.
What seemed to be harmless advice that Sanguinex expressed as a form of looking out for her best friend seemed useless as Zephyr shot her a piercing glare.
She needn't say anything. Sanguinex softened as if she understood. "Sorry."
Zephyr let out a "hmph" sound as she turned away.
"I only said that because I'm worried. I don't want you to go through the same pain I carry, you know? Well, if your possible feelings do grow for him."
The former quickly softened hearing her explanation. Deep down she knew that was the case, but sometimes it's easier to protest than to understand. "..Yeah, sorry too."
A loud sigh escaped her best friend's mouth. "Whatever, this stuff doesn't suit us. Let's keep finding him a gift?"
A small smile subconsciously crept up her mouth. "Yeah, let's."
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*
That time, Sévir felt multiple shivers go down his spine.
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*