Suddenly, a loud clatter rang out through the room. Startled, Sophie looked up, only to realize that the noise had come from beside her—from Livio.
She looked up at Livio blankly and blinked.
“Livio, are you all right...?” Lunetta’s question was sudden, but it was to be expected. After all, Livio’s face was something else and then some.
He was bright red with a furrowed brow and watery eyes. He was clenching his teeth, practically exploding with the fragility and cuteness of a child or maiden mere moments away from bursting into tears. What happened?
But no, he’s like, really red. Super red! He’s so red he looks like he’d start steaming if you threw water on him. Is he overheating? He’s really cute like this, though. Like crazy cute.
“L-Livio...?” Sophie asked nervously, more worried than worked up.
Livio’s shoulders twitched as he wordlessly moved his lips.
What is it? What’s wrong? He was so shaken Sophie couldn’t help but feel sorry for him.
Livio bowed his head low as he stood, despite the fact that Sophie couldn’t even begin to make sense of the situation. Sophie’s shoulders were the ones to bounce when Livio finally spoke.
“I-I’m sor— Um, please excuse me!”
“Huh?”
Livio was unusually flustered. Aiming for the door, he quickly swung it open and practically dashed out of the room. There wasn’t so much as a feather left of his typical angelic poise.
“Oh, I get it now,” Vyce said. “Now there’s a sight to start the mornin’ with.”
“It’s pure love,” Arvey remarked.
“What happened to Livio?” Lunetta asked.
“Look at ’im and you tell me.”
“I don’t know,” Lunetta answered.
“Wow... Look, I’ll tell you later.”
Hold on—tell me too!
It seemed that Sophie and Lunetta were the only ones who didn’t have the slightest idea what they were talking about.
Sophie looked over at Vyce and Arvey nodding at each other, only to find that the maid on standby behind Lunetta was also wearing a vague smile on her lips. From the look of it, Sophie and Lunetta really were the only ones out of the loop. What’s going on?
“Yeah, he’ll probably come get her once he’s settled down, so ask him later,” Vyce said. “I’m sure he’ll be ready for it by then.”
“Pure love indeed...” Arvey said.
What are you even talking about?
With their tranquil breakfast upended, Sophie now found herself perplexed. Leaving the dining hall to return to her room, Sophie saw a figure in the hallway.
Who was that there—tall, red-faced, and sparkling like nobody’s business?
It went without saying, of course.
“Livio.”
“Ah, erm, um...”
So. Cuuuute!
Spellbound, Sophie looked up at Livio. With the sunlight from the window spilling across him, his blushing face was youthful and handsome enough to send any actor or singer running away in shame as fast as their legs could carry them. He was a gem of humanity. Even the way he cleared his throat was drop-dead adorable.
“My apologies for earlier,” Livio said. “If you’d like, why don’t we head to town?”
Would that make it— Oh, what was it called? One of those “date” things?
Livio’s cheeks were painted a rosy pink as he stood before her. Sophie gave a hearty nod back.
“I’d love to!”
With the sound of her happy-go-lucky brain ringing its bell nonstop in her ears, Sophie found herself walking around the town’s lively streets.
The town was overflowing with activity, so much so that she almost wondered if they were having a festival.
“Come on in!” Store owners beckoned customers inside as well-to-do ladies pleasantly chatted outside the store. All the hustle and bustle seemed to pulse with the hearty strength of human life. Just the sight of it was enough to fill Sophie with excitement.
“What’s this store?” Sophie asked.
Sophie’s eyes had happened to fall upon a pink rabbit toy bouncing around on the other side of the store window. Sophie looked up at the store’s sign, which read “Magic Goods.”
“Would you like to go inside?” Livio asked.
“Of course!”
The store’s bell gave a cute chime as Livio opened the door. Greeting them on the other side were rows of all sorts of magical items.
There were handy items like a map that glowed to indicate places you’d been as well as accessories with magic gems, as well as dubious articles like candies that turned invisible as long as they were in your mouth and shoes that would take you home when you took a step—everything in the store piqued Sophie’s curiosity.
Now that’s funny! I wonder if it’s true. No, it can’t be.
Sophie tossed the thought around in her mind, only to turn around to see Livio with an amused smile on his face.
“Do you think they actually work?”
“I’m not terribly familiar with magic, so I can’t really say, but...” Livio said. “From what I heard, the owner’s a bit of a jokester, so there are a lot of novelty gag items.”
“Gag items...?”
Even when Sophie asked Livio something that was probably just common sense to him, he didn’t laugh. Instead, it was when Sophie tilted her head to the side in confusion that Livio gave a mischievous grin like he was plotting something.
“It’s fun just to give it a shot even when you think there’s no way it could be real.”
“It’s okay if it doesn’t wind up being real...?”
“Well...” Livio replied. “It’d be nice if it were real, but I guess it’s kind of fun even if it isn’t.”
Fun.
What was “fun” supposed to be? Sophie felt like she was at risk of losing her grasp on what the word “fun” meant.