76 Nomming cheeks

"Watch your words! We aren't gonna be on a-a d-d-d-date! A-And! I'm not gonna b-be yours either!"

But even as Asu protested, I saw that she was, in fact, very content with my words.

It was a date.

"Whatever you say, my lady!" My voice was carefree, and as was my heart. At that moment, I bet that nothing could shake me from my joy.

Nevertheless, I knew that the world would stop turning just because of our promised date. I reluctantly withdrew my arms and looked at her rosy cheeks before bursting into giggles.

How long would it be before I could nom those cheeks in public?

I realized that I was acting foolish, but I wasn't being foolish without a cause. With that said, I turned towards the academy, humming a love song that I often heard the maids in my palace singing.

With the warmth of Asu's fingers intertwined in my own cold hands, I was exhilarated, not because of a new 'toy' or an exciting game, but because of a promise.

The promise of a future.

I curved my lips into a smile.

…

Asu has been avoiding me.

I don't know why, but I'm sure of it.

Every morning, she wakes up even earlier than usual and goes to class without me.

She says that it's because she has something to do, so I'll forgive her on that one.

But!

But she also looks away every time I call out or gesture to her. She never meets my eyes, and when she does, her gaze is filled with malice.

Did I do something to anger her?

I can read emotions, but I can't read minds!

When I ask her what's going on, she says, "W-W-W-What do you mean! You idiot!" and turns away.

When I flatter her…"G-G-G-GO A-A-AWAY! C-Can't you see that I'm doing something important?" She'll exclaim with her face red, before looking away, trembling in anger.

*crack. *crack.

That's the sound of my imaginary future with Asu cracking apart. ;-;

What did I do?

I'll definitely make it up 1000x!

Just tell me what I did wrong, for goodness sakes!

A-And… are we still going to the Golden Song Festival on Saturday?

However, all my worries melted away once the day of the festival arrived.

To be exact, it wasn't when the day had just arrived. Even though Asu had arranged everything possible, with the disguises, nicknames, and even separate leaving times, I was not confident that everything would plan out in peace. I'd been worried that Asu might just decide to call off the entire thing…

Instead, it was when I stepped foot into the rowdy crowds during the glorious sunset, searching for Asu with my superior eyesight, that my heart finally relaxed.

The reason was simple.

I found Asu with only minimal effort! After all, she was just way too eye catching!

I giggled as my violet eyes reflected a golden sheen in the darkening sunset. Although the streets were dim and night was about to fall, I was able to spot Asu almost immediately.