“Welcome!” Erwin was grinning with all of his teeth as the front door opened to two expected guests. “Come in, please come in.”

Odilia sidled next to her adoptive father and eyed his forced enthusiasm which she decided did not suit the doctor’s usual calm and stoic aura. “Va’ti…” she warned, using the name Erwin had given himself for her to call. It translated to ‘father’ in Erwin’s mother language.

“Lili!” Emiko pounced into Odilia’s arms in a warm embrace, abandoning the indoor slippers she was offered to wear by Erwin. “I missed you!” Then she pulled back immediately and lightly brushed her fingers against Odilia’s red hair which was pulled up in a bun with ornaments. “Your hair…” Emiko breathed in awe. It was the first time her friend had seen Odilia since the change in color. “It’s beautiful, it suits you.”

Odilia laughed lightly. “I missed you too.”

Emiko grabbed both of Odilia’s gloved hands with an ecstatic smile plastered onto her face. Her cheeks were blush pink, her brown hair windswept from travel. Her eyes, which were a lighter shade of brown than most Kurobans, sparkled. “We are going to have sooooo much fun in Toukuhai.” Emiko leaned in. “Did I mention, the food is delicious?” Then she slapped Odilia’s shoulder lightly saying, “Of course you know that already, you travel alllll the time!”

Before Odilia could reply, Emiko hooked her left arm over Odilia’s shoulder, her smaller stature forcing Odilia into a hunched back, and steered her away from the front door. “Lili, listen,” said Emiko, her voice lowered in a hush-hush sort of way. “Eye-candy behind us, you’re welcome.” While like many things that came from Emiko’s mouth, this also did not make sense, but Odilia turned back towards the door anyways where Emiko had motioned to with her pupils.

A young, lean-built man stood there in a crisp, blue kimono. His dark brown hair, which reached his neck, was half pulled back in a bun. The man had round, almond eyes that were downturned like a fox, but it gave him an approachable look thanks to his straight dark brows and long lashes. What caught Odilia’s eyes were his pink lips however, which stretched into dimples on both sides of his mouth as he returned her stare with a small smile. Odilia blushed.

Basically, from Odilia’s point of view, who she saw was the most handsome man she’d ever seen.

Actually, that was a lie.

Odilia corrected her thoughts, remembering that on countless events where she was traveling around Kuroba with Erwin, there were many handsome and beautiful people gracing the soil. And just like that, her cheeks cooled to a dull shade.

Odilia brushed away invisible dust from her dress and plastered the most polite smile she could muster. “Hello, you must be a friend of Emiko’s.” She bowed politely like a host would to their guest in Kuroba.

Emiko hopped back towards the handsome stranger and hugged him by the arm. “Lili, meet Merlin!” she grinned. Emiko looked up at Merlin, her pink cheeks reddening as their eyes met as she said, “Merlin, this is Odilia.”

Odilia choked, holding back a snort. Clearly Emiko was smitten by this man as well.

“In. All of you.” Erwin rushed the three teens down the hallway, abandoning his forced comedic smile. “The food will get cold.”

Odilia shook the teenage romance from her head and led the guests to the dining-room table.

“I hope the food is to your liking,” said Erwin, as he set down a tray topped with a steaming pan that wafted with goodness and two other contents that looked equally delicious. “Today we have casserole, soup, and salad. Thought we couldn’t go wrong with those three.” He winked at Emiko who’d already picked up her silverware and was regarding the feast impatiently. Odilia rolled her eyes.

“Where’d you get the recipe?” asked Merlin. It was the first he’d spoken since exchanging pleasantries.

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Erwin seemed to like this question. “Well,” he started, seating himself down. “I created my own recipe, but the dish is based on one originally from Iyll.” He swept his arms over the table and arched a dark eyebrow. “Shall we?”

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After the meal and custard pudding for dessert, Erwin left the table, claiming he had work to finish by tomorrow. Odilia sat opposite Merlin and Emiko, twiddling her thumbs and smiling, hopefully, as Emiko rambled on from story to story about memories each of them shared.

“There was that time when Lance,” then Emiko looked at Merlin. “You remember Lancelot, don’t you? Well,” she continued when he gave her a nod. “There was a time when he, Lance, of course, kissed a toad on dare because Miri said it’ll turn into a princess. Like he was only eight then, but even I knew at that age that that only works on frogs,” she released a snort. “And now we know that doesn’t work at all in real life.”

“No,” Merlin agreed.

“What should we do first when we arrive at the capital?” Emiko changed the subject.

“I’m taking a cold bath after all that traveling and going back to work.” Merlin didn’t even take time to think. Odilia found that side of him charming. She had to suppress over-smiling, if that was a thing.

Odilia rested her chin in the cup of her hand. “Right, you work at the palace, don’t you? When would you have time to show us around?” She asked this because Merlin had come in order to offer himself up as a guide and after what he’d said earlier during their meal, his time didn’t seem to be so flexible.

“The prince will be celebrating his twenty-first birthday soon so I’ll have four days of leniency next week during preparations.” Merlin explained.

“Four days of leniency? What’s that?” In all the time Odilia had traveled with Erwin, she hadn’t heard of anyone referring to their days off as days of leniency. Which made Odilia wonder if they were days off at all.

Merlin scratched the back of his head. “That just means they’re more lenient to what I do on those days,” he explained.

“So not actual days off?” Odilia voiced her guess.

“Yes, but don’t sweat,” Merlin added to Odilia’s widened eyes. “I really am not needed on those days. Just party preparations, you see?”

“Merlin~” Emiko hit him lightly. “Why didn’t you say so before? You’re totally being overworked. You could have used those days to sleep in…Maybe I should scold your boss for you.”

Merlin grinned. Those dimples. “Even if my boss were the prince?”

Emiko gasped, hands flying to her mouth. “No. Freaking. Way.”

Merlin smirked.

Emiko looked at Odilia and pointed a thumb at Merlin with her eyebrows raised and mouth shaped in an ‘O’ as if to say “This guy.”

Odilia leaned forwards towards Merlin. “So what’s your job, exactly?” she asked, genuinely curious.

However, before Merlin could reply, Erwin shuffled back into the dining room, announcing that it was now dark out and the guests should leave for the night. Sure enough, when Odilia glanced up at the grand clock, the hand spoke for half-past eleven o’clock. Odilia pushed to her feet and motioned for the door.

“Thank you for coming all this way,” chirped Odilia.

Emiko nodded her head as she shuffled to gather her stuff. “It was fun!” Then at the door, “See you tomorrow!” Merlin left without many words and bowed politely before the door closed.

When father and daughter could see the backs of their guests in the distance, they released matching sighs of relief. Odilia glanced up at Erwin, Erwin, at Odilia.

Erwin’s eyes glowed its yellow hue. “That was close.”

Odilia grimaced. She’d been caught by the flow of conversation that she’d forgotten to check the time.

In less than an hour, the cranes resting in the lake by the side of her house, would be girls.