Chapter 41: The Enemy Recon Date, Part 1
RESEDA was beside himself with glee as he waited outside the girls’ dormitory. He had arrived ahead of their scheduled meetup time. A handful of female students peeked through the curtains at him. The prince of Floraison was clearly waiting for someone. But who? And he was dressed like a commoner to boot! Anyone would be a tiny bit curious.
Iris walked out wearing her commoner disguise: a plain cotton blouse and skirt with a pair of lace-up boots. She knew her mint-green curls would attract attention, so she wore a headscarf to conceal them like she used to when she was younger. Green strands still peeked out around her face and near the bottom of the headscarf, so it really wasn’t concealing much at all. Nevertheless, she stubbornly insisted on it.
Reseda smiled at her, amused by her attempt at a disguise. He was wearing a hat, but otherwise hadn’t tried too hard to conceal his identity. Really, he just wanted to go on a date with Iris, but knew she’d say no if he asked too directly, so he invented an excuse. When they were younger, his go-to excuse was always to check on the vaccine; this time, it was to spy on Camille, hence the getup.
“You look great, Iris.”
“As do you, Your Highness.”
Smiling, they walked off. Iris was completely unaware of the scandal she’d just ignited back at the girls’ dorm, but naturally, Reseda let it unfold entirely on purpose.
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ARRIVING downtown, they hopped out of the carriage and headed the rest of the way on foot. Iris hadn’t come this far into town in a long time. This was the business district: a cluster of shops situated in a circle around the clock tower in the plaza at the center. A handful of new storefronts had sprung up in the time since she started attending school.
Oh, there’s the place where Nigel and Camille buy matching necklaces! I hadn’t realized it was a new business. Oh, and there’s the restaurant Cytisus takes her to. I guess that’s new too! Where did she go with Reseda…? Oh, right, that general store. Apparently, that’s brand-new as well. Clearly the boys did their research when they were planning their dates… The thought put a derpy smile on her face.
And so, Iris enjoyed going on a tour of all the most famous HanaKoro locations. If only Camille was here to show me around… Can’t be too greedy, I suppose.
“Is there anywhere you want to go in particular?” Reseda asked, grabbing Iris’s hand out of nowhere.
“There’s just so many new stores now… The whole town looks completely different!”
“Well…the soilpox outbreak forced a lot of people close down their shops, so I guess these are the new stores that have taken over,” he explained, gazing out at the town with a hint of melancholy in his eyes.
While it was fun to see all the new developments, those same developments only existed because the things that came before were now gone. The vaccine’s distribution hadn’t gone perfectly by any means, and while a full-scale epidemic was avoided, the disease had still done considerable damage to the town. The losses were tremendous.
For a moment, Iris thought back to all those she couldn’t save…but like Reseda once told her, she couldn’t let herself get hung up on it. So, with that thought, she held his hand tightly as she dragged him down the street. He looked at her, startled. Grinning, she pointed at the ice cream stand.
“At least the ice cream stand’s still around, right? Let’s go!”
And so, Iris took off running, dragging Reseda along behind her. She was just so relieved to see that her favorite store had survived. Meanwhile, he was entertained by her unbridled joy. He, too, was grateful that their special place was still around.
“Well, if it isn’t Mint and Cherry!” the ice cream lady called out. Apparently she remembered them. Reseda didn’t seem to enjoy his cutesy alias, but Iris wasn’t opposed to hers.
Back when they first started distributing the vaccine, they would conceal their identities and help the mages with their work. Since they needed fake names, Pavot renamed them with the first words that sprang to her mind. Not the most creative, Reseda felt. But now those names had stuck.
“Haven’t seen you kids since the plague ended! How ya been?”
“Good, good! And yourself?”
“Fit as a fiddle, as you can see!” She gestured to her matronly body and chuckled. “Remind me, what are your favorites? Strawberry and mint chocolate chip?”
“Yes, I’ll take strawberry, like always! What about you, Cherry?”
“Yeah, I’ll take mint chocolate chip.”
“Alrighty! I’ll add on a little somethin’ extra for ya.”
She pressed a little heart-shaped cookie into each of their ice cream cones. Oh my god, this is just like the ice cream Camille and Reseda had in the game!!! I love this tour!!! Iris was over the moon.
“These cookies are a real hot commodity right now. You use Camille’s Camellia, right, Mint? Well, these days she’s working at a café making these cookies!”
“The same Camille?”
“The very same! Apparently, she’s going to the local magic academy, but she comes into town on weekends to work part-time! Can you believe it? She’s gone from workin’ class to Holy Maiden!”
Iris breathed a sigh of relief. Apparently Camille’s popularity was spreading among the townspeople, right on schedule.
“So, I’ve been using these cookies as part of my new couples’ menu. It was all Camille’s idea, of course!”
Her signboard was decorated with the words “NEW! Lovebirds’ Dream Cream.”
“Oh, but we’re not loveb—”
“Thank you so much!” Reseda cut in before Iris could finish. Then he whispered, “We shouldn’t make her feel bad for offering.”
Hmm. Good point.
They set off down the street, eating their ice cream, just like old times. Back then, the ice cream was a treat the mages would buy them for doing a good job. We ate from a lot of the local food stands, come to think of it…
Then it hit her: Now that Reseda’s used to eating ice cream cones, have I ruined his future date event with Camille?!
In the game, Reseda was so unaccustomed to eating while walking, he would get ice cream all over his face; Camille wiped it off with her fingers, then licked them clean. To hide his fluttering heart, he stole her heart-shaped cookie and ate it. Naturally, she was crushed to lose her cookie. But then Reseda would say “Here, I’ll give you my heart.”
Eeeee! What a great game! The memory made Iris blush all over again.