Gaius sat under a beach parasol, something the North invented quite a while back, and flicked a grape into his mouth. To his right was Isabelle, who was chewing on an apple and looking out at the field of flowers — spring had arrived really late this year, and the flowers were complaining.

Normally, at this time, they would be at school, but Isabelle had actually graduated from the Phrontistery of Scientific Reasoning some time ago, having submitted a graduating thesis about exploring the use of gemstone fragments and ether cores from Heritage in artificing. It was something that Gaius naturally didn’t know, with his focus on the upcoming war and in regaining his strength, but he liked this side of her too.

The two alumni — the one alumnus and the one dropout, to be more exact — were still sitting around at the phrontistery, though. The school had a policy of ‘Once a student, always a student’, so they were free to waltz around the premises, as long as they didn’t do anything illegal.

Popping another grape into his mouth, Gaius rolled around the picnic mat and sighed.

“Something wrong?”

Gaius shook his head. “Just thinking about this evening. I’m still not sure how I’m supposed to save the Human God’s familiar spirits, unless he wanted me to put them out of their misery. It’s probably something specific to me, but I’m not too sure about anything at this point.”

“Have you tried contacting Weiwu?” Isabelle asked.

Gaius rolled back to Isabelle and placed his head on her lap. “He’s not responding, for some reason. Probably busy and things.”

“Busy with what?”

“God stuff?” Gaius shrugged. “I’m not too sure either. Hey, give me a bite from that apple.”

Taking a small bite off the half-eaten apple, Gaius looked up at Isabelle, who was already reaching out for one of his grapes. “You should try the grapes that the South uses to make wine, though. I hear that they’re different from normal grapes…maybe we should drop by some wineries too.”

“Well, the Assembly does have a few wineries in the area.” Isabelle paused. “I don’t see why we can’t drop by and sample some grapes and wine there. I suppose we’ll just add Chateau Noire to our itinerary…”

“Chateau Noire?” Another voice spoke from behind them. “Are you two looking for fine wines?”

“Countess Reinford…yes, we are looking to try out some wine. And grapes.” Gaius replied. “Why? Do you have any suggestions?”

“The Western Holdings has better wine than anything the South can produce,” said Reinford, her eyes full of pride. “If you’re looking to try wine, you must drop by Reinford County, at least.”

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“The South’s wine is better than the West’s,” Isabelle replied, clearly irritated. “It’s the home of wine in the entire Five Lands. How can it lose to the Western Holdings?”

“You sound so confident, but do you know that there’s a distinction between those grapes you’re feeding each other with, and wine grapes?”

“I didn’t know about that,” Isabelle muttered, before glancing at Gaius.

An annoying smugness now on her face, Reinford stuck her nose in the air. “See? Basic information, and you don’t even know about it, Isabelle. How are you even qualified to judge which nation has the better wineries? Hmm?”

“Guh!”

“You only know how to parrot the South’s propaganda! I thought better of you!”

Gaius winced as Isabelle took a hundred points of mental damage. Holding her tightly, he glanced at Reinford, who shivered a moment together. “Please go easy on her.”

“Tch. If your lover weren’t that strong, I’d have broken your arguments into tiny bits!” Reinford sniffed, shooting a glance back at Gaius. It was evident that she had picked up on the change in the nature of their relationship, but…

“Was it really that obvious?” Gaius voiced his doubts out, while rubbing Isabelle’s cheeks to help her recover.

The countess rolled her eyes. “I think only the foolish won’t notice. You two were clearly flirting; I could tell even from fifty metres away. And besides, the interactions between you both were so dazzling, it’s blinding…”

“I’m sorry if it’s too dazzling,” Isabelle replied, a pout on her face.

“Exactly my point! I’ve never seen such a cute pout on your face before!” Reinford replied. “Whatever. The more I stare, the more aggrieved I feel. Please spare a thought for the singles.”

“But you’re rather elig—” Gaius cut his words off abruptly. There was no need to create misunderstandings between him and Isabelle, after all that work and anguish he went through. She wouldn’t mind if he praised another girl, but he himself would, and that was more than enough.

“I’m rather what?” Reinford asked.

“You’re, uhh, rather popular,” Gaius completed his sentence. “You can definitely find a nice partner if you put your back into it.”

Isabelle nodded. “I suppose you have your own thoughts on your future, though.”

“I’ll think about it. I haven’t found anyone capable of moving my heart yet, though. Lucky you, Isabelle. You win this round.”

“No, I don’t think we were competing about this to begin with…”

“Don’t sweat the details,” Reinford replied. “So, returning to the main topic of wine…there’s a few places in Reinford County that has great wines and other alcoholic drinks. We also have a bona fide vineyard — one that dates back to ninety thousand years ago — that’s open to all visitors.”

She grinned. “Ultra-sweet wine grapes. They’re sweeter, softer and have a chewier exterior than your normal grapes.”

Gaius felt his mouth water, and then nodded. “I think we can make a detour to the Western Holdings after all.”

He glanced at Isabelle, and then wiped the corner of her mouth. She blushed a moment later, but her response wasn’t as drastic as Reinford, who had retreated by an entire metre.

“What?” Gaius asked.

“Wow. Please spare a thought for me,” Reinford replied.

“Seriously, you’re overthinking it,” Gaius replied. “Other couples do these too.”

“Really?”

“Just go visit a park in Upper Elysium when it’s dark. We’re on the very tame side of things in public,” Gaius replied.

“In public. Really?”

“Sorry, slip of the tongue.”

“Gaius!” Isabelle tugged his ears lightly, and then looked at Reinford. “Ehe.”

“What do you mean, ‘ehe’!?”