The sun is setting and the horizon is dyed with blood orange hue. The pale sunlight waning from far away is slowly fading to dusks as the sun slowly switches with the moon. The scenery of the boundary of the Business District and the Residential District is distinguishable as the pedestrian’s volume slowly thins out.

Reed and Alisa found themselves lonely even as they walk side-by-side as one person is missing. Reed just kept his chin up, staring at the sky above while Alisa has a crestfallen countenance as she looks down.

As they reach the point where their way diverges, the place with a postbox under a large tree with a crossroad of pedestrian, Reed stops.

“Alisa, this…is goodbye. See you tomorrow.” Reed simply said as he turns his heel away from Alisa reluctantly. There was a passive sadness in his voice but tried his best not to let it out.

The reason is they will no longer take care of Sigrun. His room was already prepared for him and Meld immediately told them that Sigrun is to live on his own now. On top of that, Ezili, Amaryl, Enheirt, and Seigen are now part of the group that will look out for Sigrun.

Alisa and Reed understand that, however, something inside them keeps nagging that in their hearts, they don’t agree with this.

Before Reed could get away, something pulled his sleeves. Of course, it was Alisa.

“Can we…talk for a bit?” Alisa’s shrill and lonely voice enters Reed’s ears. Her fox ears flopped down and her tail shows that she is visibly sad.

Finding the situation unbearable, Reed readily agrees to Alisa’s request and they took a seat on the bench under the tree. They each place themselves two seats away from each other.

A considerable distance.

However, even as Alisa said that she wanted to talk, she couldn’t find the right way to start the subject at hand. But Reed, however, readily say something what he wanted to say.

“Last month ago, we wouldn't find ourselves sitting next to each other like this. I think…for the most part of our friendship, we just meet up and talk. Ah, …it’s a little confusing to word it but…at least, I know that we weren’t this close before.” Reed said with a fleeting smile as he looks down.

“I couldn’t agree more. Even though we were friends, there’s a distance in our friendship that we cannot close the gap. But…no…that’s not it.” Alisa’s voice is weak and feeble but the emotion fills up the words.

“Alisa…ever since the day that we fought in the state competition, I’ve always wanted to know more about you. You were graceful, strong-willed, and even fierce. At that time I thought, maybe I wanted to be close to this girl. However…a year passed and we haven’t moved from being a simple acquaintance. But…a spark came…even momentarily, Sigrun bridged something…not by his actions but by his presence alone.” Reed glances to Alisa with his comforting smile.

“If that’s what you are saying, then I don’t want that spark to disappear. I don’t want the bridge that connected us to crumble. This is why I have the feeling of wanting to monopolize Sig, but most importantly…it was a chance for me…” Alisa last words trailed off.

“It was…a chance for me to convey how I feel for you. It was my chance to move from being your friend to something else…” Alisa thought is filled with lamentation because of her growing feelings for Reed is still unfound but at the same time, she feels like she accomplished the first step in closing the gap between them.

“Those one week with Sig, those days where we walked together, it was refreshing. Alisa, you still want to walk together with Sig, right? He became something indispensable on our team now, right? Let’s figure out something, okay?” Reed said as he lightens up with new hope.

Their friend, Sigrun, is someone they already hold dear in their hearts. His curious and boastful attitude while being humble at times, his wonderful and cute smiling face, his bright personality like he doesn’t seem to show his care for this world.

All of them are something Reed and Alisa saw with their short time with Sigrun and it showed them so many things.

Reed’s comforting and gentle voice reaches out to Alisa. Her once crestfallen ears and tails perk up a little as she found hope from his words. The loneliness in her heart is quelled considerably.

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Alisa leans her body towards Reed’s direction, she closes some distance from her to his, a distance to make sure that they will sense both presences of each other.

“Reed, thank you. Even though it sounds so trivial, my feelings, my worries, you ease them with your voice.” Alisa wholeheartedly said as she sprouts a heartfelt smile.

At the next moment, something inside Reed erupted. A pang in his heart held him from breathing and his face got so hot all of the sudden. His heart beats faster than he remembers and his mind freezes on the spot.

Mesmerized.

It was the only word that can describe his expression towards Alisa right now. Reed, before he knew it, felt something different.

“Ah, look at the time! I got to go now! Alisa, you should head home too! Your father is going to be worried!” Reed, in a sudden, stood up from his seat and turn away from Alisa.

“Yeah, okay. See you tomorrow too, Reed.” Alisa’s last words as Reed rushes back home.

The two has parted ways, but both know that they will end up meeting each other at the same place with a renewed smile on their faces as they look forward to seeing Sigrun.

Meanwhile, at the same place, a random bush moves suspiciously.

“Ah, don’t push! They’re gone now.” From behind the bush, Amaryl’s voice emerges.

“My buddy Reed, you should strike while the iron is hot! Holy crap, this is really interesting as you guys said!” Enheirt exclaimed.

“This may not be a scoop but this fuels my romanticism.” Ezili said with a smirk.

The trio who tailed Reed and Alisa then emerges from the bush and dust themselves of the leaves stuck on their clothes. Seeing that they longer have anything to spectate, they started walking together.

“Even so, who would have thought that Reed will react oddly like that.” Enheirt said while taking the lead.

“Miss Hertuclaire is just too good to pass up in my opinion. If Chelle doesn’t realize her feelings for him, someone else may snatch her.” Ezili exclaimed with a troubled smile.

“You may say that but, my buddy is really popular with girls.” Enheirt rebutted to back up his friend. “We’ve known each other since childhood and I can tell that even at a young age, he is already popular with the ladies.” Enheirt added with empty eyes.

“But, this time, I would like Alisa to be together with him.” Amaryl laid out her own opinion.

“Why is that?” Enheirt followed with a curious question.

“Well, you could say I really pity her. I want Reed to pull her from the place where she began. We’ve just become friends two days ago but truthfully, in the world of the rich, Alisa is famous. Both lineage of her family and her exceptional prodigious talent.” Amaryl said as she looks at far distant.

“I know of it. Miss Hertuclaire, since childhood, never made any real friends. Being the prodigy she is, people tried hard to be close to her by any means. Suitors come and go like waterfall despite her young age. Alisa is smart, she knew that all of those are façade. After that, she imprisoned herself in her own birdcage.” Ezili explained.

“Hmm? But for the past year, she was quite lively and oddly attached to Reed.” Enheirt said to the two of them with a tilted head.

“And Reed might be the reason for that. A man of genuine emotion. Reed was able to thaw Alisa’s heart. I was petrified the first time I saw Alisa in a party, I think that was five years ago. Her eyes are devoided of life…but, seeing how lively she is now, this is much better. That’s all the reason I want Alisa to become Reed’s lover.” Amaryl said words of support for Reed and Alisa.

“Yeah, my father has to talk some sense to Alisa’s father, Eould Hertuclaire. Oops, that slipped my tongue!~” Ezili playfully said as she sticks out her tongue.

“Sir Quarts did, huh? I always thought he is just a money cradling man.” Enheirt said with a disbelief countenance.

“Hehe, if he really did, then he has my thanks. It was really depressing whenever I remember that secluded princess with empty eyes.” Amaryl smiled faintly.

“Uuhhh! What a tragic past! I can’t believe she was that in need of affection!” A voice of a girl suddenly entered their ears.

“Yeah, yeah! Miss Fox girl, may you find happiness with that lad!” Another voice but this time, it came from a man.

At the pedestrian lane where the volume of people has become almost nonexistent, two people are standing side-by-side behind Ezili, Amaryl, and Enheirt.

“Ah, hi! Please don’t mind us!” Said by the girl with a race of a Vaster as black cat ears and tail pokes out from her hat and on her back. She wears an ashen beret where her cat ears poke out that rest atop a silver hair that grew up to her neck. Her blue eyes are as pale as an ash but her countenance is bright and cheerful. She wears a customized military uniform dyed in black pallet and a pleated skirt with the same color. She wears thigh his boots in accordance with her overall color scheme. Her appearance states that she looks like the same age as them.

“That was a really intriguing young love. I hope to see more of it!” Exclaimed by the man next to the Vaster girl. He is a race of Alpsis that has a pointy horn sprouting out from his bright messy blond hair. Contrary to the girl next to him, he wears a maroon park with a long sleeve inside. He wears casual navy jeans and a flipflops that gave a calm and friendly atmosphere which made it a little awkward. He looks a little older with the overall figure states that he is around late-twenties.

“Y-you two…who are you?” Enheirt asked with face pooling with sweat.

“Enheirt…your manners.” Amaryl told him off as she forces him to bow.

“You two are…Lady Esser, the seventh of the Ten Paladins and Sir Seyren, the top of the…Ten Paladins…” Ezili muttered with disbelief voice as she stares at the two figure with flabbergasted countenance.

From their realization, the man, Seyren, sprouted a smug on his face while Esser embarrassedly covered her face with her beret.