“If she doesn’t remember...wouldn’t I end up looking like a guy who gets turned on at the weirdest time?!”
A boyfriend who tries to get a kiss on the very night they become parents. Looking at the bare facts, he had to admit he would come off as overkeen. Even Charlotte, whose heart was as big as the sea, would be put off by that. If he tried to kiss her and got a gentle rejection instead, he would simply have to end his life.
Blood draining from his face, he pressed a hand to his head. It would be easy to give up here. He could always think of another present for her tomorrow. But that was one thing he didn’t want to do, no matter what.
“Argh... But now that I’ve come so far... I just wish I could kiss her, if only just this once...!”
The birthday present was turning into an excuse now. Since he had been thinking about kissing his love all day long—of course, he really had been thinking about Lydie’s situation too, but the other matter had always been at the back of his mind—his desire had grown more and more. But he couldn’t see a way to make it happen.
“You must be tired, Allen.”
Someone called to him from behind, and he jumped. He spun around to find Charlotte standing there in her pajamas. She peered into Lydie’s face—who was still curled up in his lap—and smiled gently.
“She’s fast asleep. I’m glad.”
“H-Hm...” Even though he had been dying to see her, he was tongue-tied. Before he could say anything, Charlotte drew closer to him softly. With a faint blush, she tilted her head to one side.
“Natalia and Roo are asleep too... Um, can I sit next to you?”
After a moment, Allen managed to say, “Sure,” with a stiff nod. She quietly sat down beside him.
Last night, they had been sitting side by side like this too. They’d talked easily last night, but now, they were both silent. A hush descended on the room, thicker than when he had been alone.
What now what now what now? What do I say...?! Allen had no clue how to act in a situation like this. He turned as rigid as a rock.
Suddenly, Charlotte turned to face him. With a soft smile, she said, “Thank you, Allen.”
“Hm...?” Allen was dumbstruck by her unexpected words. All the desires and struggles that had been whirling around his head vanished in an instant, and pure puzzlement took its place. He cocked his head and wondered what she was thanking him for, but he had no idea. “You mean...for putting Lydie to sleep?”
“Well, that too...” Charlotte giggled. “But I’ve been thinking all day...what would have happened to me if I hadn’t met you?”
“Hmm...” Allen thought about it. One day early in the spring, he had found her collapsed in front of his mansion and had taken her in. But what if she had been able to cross through the woods and never saw him? “I guess Lydie would’ve come out to help you if you got in a pinch...and maybe you would’ve lived quietly in some town somewhere until Natalia came to find you?”
Lydie had been secretly watching over Charlotte from inside her. And Natalia was honing her skills at the Athena School of Magic, intent on locating her sister. Somehow, Allen had the feeling that Charlotte would have been all right even if she hadn’t crossed his path.
When he told her so, she said with a nod, “That might be true. But if things had gone like that...I don’t think the three of us could’ve laughed together the way we do now. It’s thanks to you, Allen, that Natalia, Lydie, and I could connect with each other so deeply.”
“Well, I won’t deny those two aren’t easy to handle.” Lydie would have probably stayed a cranky cynic, and Natalia would have been burdened by her guilt for all the years when she couldn’t help her sister. “But it might have been just a matter of time for all that to be resolved.”
“Still, I don’t think we could’ve laughed so freely like this.” Charlotte shook her head, then turned her gaze to somewhere distant. “Remember what I said last night? That you gave me family. But actually...you didn’t just make me smile. You made everyone smile, together.”
“What are you saying? I just did whatever I wanted, that’s all.”
“Even if that’s true...” With a gentle touch, Charlotte took Allen’s hand. She held it close to her heart and turned to him with a radiant smile. “I’m glad I met you, Allen.”
“Charlotte...” Allen couldn’t speak. A thought came to him. And what about me? What would I be doing now...if I never met Charlotte? Very likely, he would still be living alone in this mansion—staying away from people, whiling away uneventful, monotonous days. He imagined a life like that without a speck of interest. But he felt a conviction that that wasn’t the real answer. If I’d never met Charlotte...I wouldn’t be here at all? He couldn’t make sense of it, but he felt sure of that. Something bothered him—a slight snag, a strange sensation that spread in his mind. Because of that, he didn’t notice until the last moment that Charlotte was leaning closer to him.
“So, um...Allen!”
“Oh.” When he snapped out of it, Charlotte’s face was right in front of him. Before he could even blink, he felt something soft touch his lips. In that instant, Allen’s heart stopped completely. All he was aware of was how soft it felt, the whiff of sweet scent, the caress of her hair that brushed against his cheeks, the fiery heat of her hands that still held his...
A few seconds was enough for such sensations to be forever engraved in his brain.
Charlotte gently pulled away, turning bright red. Only Allen’s stupefied face was reflected in her eyes, which were misty with embarrassment. “You’re always giving to everyone else, so...let me give you a present once in a while too,” she said, her voice slightly tense. The next moment, she sprung to her feet, picked up Lydie in her arms, and gave a little bow. “W-Well, good night! See you tomorrow...!”
Before Allen could react, she pattered out of the living room. Even after she was gone, he was frozen in place on the sofa. He couldn’t move a muscle. Only the hand of the clock ticked away the seconds, and the darkness outside gradually paled. Eventually, when the light of dawn spilled into the room and birdsong came from the forest, someone banged open the front door with a boisterous greeting and bounced into the room. “Master Allen!”
It was Dorothea. She came straight over to Allen on the sofa and started babbling at him. “I heard you’ve had quite a time of it with the saint and all that, but I’m actually in a pretty pickle myself just now, with my manuscript... I can’t think of a good story for the life o’ me, and if I dawdle any longer Yoru’s dragon breath will burn me for sure... So I wondered if I could ask you a favor, Master Allen... Uh, hello?” With a quizzical look, Dorothea peered into Allen’s face. “What’s gotten into you, Master Allen? Your face is bright red. Oh! Is this another rom-com moment? Did something lovey-dovey happen with Miss Charlotte?! Tell me more—”
“Wahhhhhhhhh?!”
“Eep?!”
With an earsplitting scream, Allen jumped up and charged right through the window, tumbling out into the garden. He kept on running at full speed all around the forest and didn’t return until half a day later.
Needless to say, Charlotte was very concerned about him, but when he came back, the others only cast him withering looks that said, “What the hell are you doing?” And Lydie scolded him, “I was gonna ask you to read me a picture book!” On the first day after he’d become a father, Allen felt all too clearly his volatile position in the family’s hierarchy.
Putting that aside—when Dorothea had been knocked to the floor in surprise by Allen’s outburst, she gazed at the shattered window and let out a sigh. “Well well... I knew he wouldn’t be the sort to tell me outright. I reckon I’ll have to whip up the rom-com scenes myself!”
With a mischievous grin, she pulled out an envelope from her breast pocket. It was a simple, ordinary envelope. On it was the label: A Special Invitation to Ryugukyo.