Ariel’s frown deepened as the playwright reached into his pocket, oblivious to the new member of his audience. With a flourish, he drew out the flower that Ariel knew she would be receiving later.

"This Magnolia is yours," Mr. Warner announced, placing the bloom—identical to the one Ariel had received from John earlier—into the medium's hands. Ariel blinked in confusion.

A normal Magnolia?

A small noise escaped from Shiloh—was it relief? Mandy seemed equally confused and relieved.

"Thank you, Mr. Warner," Shiloh managed to say, offering a slight, if somewhat strained, smile.

Ariel's brow furrowed as the playwright beamed back at Shiloh.

He goes on and on about his love, and then he gives her a regular Magnolia?

Emerging from his dreamy reverie, Mr. Warner noticed he was not alone.

"Shiloh. Hello."

The actress adjusted her grip on the roses, smiling faintly.

"Hello, Daniel."

Mandy looked between them, then stepped away from the playwright, creating some space.

"Looks like you’ve been having a successful night. Though I suppose we could have guessed as much," Mr. Warner said, attempting a smile of his own.

Shiloh’s smile faded slightly as she replied, "Oh, you flatter me. I’m no Yvonne, but Makenzie here..." She let her dark eyes drift toward the medium, who was visibly uncomfortable.

"Please, do not assume the same of me either," the medium protested, shaking her head.

Shiloh offered a kinder smile. "Don’t be modest. Look at the start you have—what’s it been, ten minutes?"

Mr. Warner shifted uncomfortably, clearly not pleased with the direction of the conversation. He tried to draw Shiloh’s attention back to him.

"Well, whether any of you ladies here become Yvonne," he said, making a point to include Ariel and Taylor, "is neither here nor there. You are all inspiring in my book. Now, Shiloh, how is the stage coming along?"

This question seemed to work. Shiloh’s demeanor shifted to a more businesslike tone as she glanced behind her, toward the stage.

"Excellent. The team really pulled through. They would like you to look over some last-minute details, if you could..."

Mr. Warner nodded briskly. "Very well. If you all would excuse me a moment, Mandy—" he said, glancing at the medium for her consent.

Mandy managed a slight nod, and with that, the playwright followed his actress into the swarming crowd. Ariel let out a sigh of relief. That interaction had been tense. She shot a sharp glare at her rival, who responded with her mask firmly back in place. A nagging thought surfaced in Ariel’s mind: John. With a touch of concern, she glanced around but saw no sign of the priest.

Had he decided to stay back?

Driven by curiosity—and with nothing else prompting her to speak to Jasper—Ariel strode over to her boss.

"Have you seen John?"

Jasper scanned the crowd, then crossed his arms nonchalantly. "No, but he’ll turn up."

Ariel frowned and opened her mouth to argue further but was interrupted as Leroy gently tugged her away.

"Hey—wait, I was trying to figure something out," Ariel protested.

"But it’s my turn, Ariel," the monk countered, coming to a halt and facing her.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

Ariel looked up at him, puzzled. "Your turn?"

Leroy grinned and pulled a Magnolia from his jacket pocket. "Now, Ariel, my dear, I know I’ve only known you for a short time, but in that brief time—" He began, mimicking Mr. Warner’s grandiose gestures.

"Very funny," Ariel said, swatting his arm.

"Oy, Ariel, that’s my bad arm," Leroy exclaimed, his eyes twinkling playfully as he grabbed her hands. "Let me finish—"

Ariel pursed her lips, feigning annoyance, but couldn’t suppress the small smile that threatened to emerge.

"There, that’s a good girl. Now, this is the part where I’m supposed to ramble on for ten minutes, but I’m going to give you the edited version. So, Ariel, please accept this Magnolia as a sign of friendship. I’ve decided that I like you most of the time (except when you hurt my arm and break my toes). If I had ever had a sister, I’d want her to be just like you."

The Magnolia Leroy was extending to her began to blur slightly in Ariel’s vision.

That Leroy. Why did he have to go and be all sensitive and nice?

Ariel launched herself at the monk, enveloping both him and the Magnolia in a tight embrace.

"Oy, Ariel—your Magnolia!" Leroy managed to say, though he hugged her just as tightly in return.

"Thank you, Leroy," Ariel said, pulling back after a moment.

The monk smiled kindly down at her, tapping her nose playfully with his finger. "You're welcome."

Taking the crushed Magnolia from Leroy, Ariel recalled that her first one was hopefully still resting on the garden bench back at the Inn. She glanced over at Mandy, who was examining one of her Magnolias and carelessly dangling the other. A slight pit formed in Ariel's stomach. Jasper. Her chance was slipping away, just like that. It had been a long shot—well, a real long shot—but a small part of her had hoped she might receive his Magnolia. So much for that.

That Mandy.

Before Ariel could indulge in self-pity, John emerged from the dense crowd.

"John!" Ariel called, waving him over. "Where were you?"

John smiled warmly at Ariel. "I’m sorry; I went to retrieve your Magnolia—every one counts."

A bit surprised, Ariel accepted the Magnolia, holding both flowers with affection. "Thank you, John."

"You’re the one, huh?" Leroy asked, nudging Ariel playfully.

John smiled sheepishly. "Guilty."

Ariel heard Taylor snort and looked up just in time to see her smirk. Ariel turned her nose up at the priestess. Despite the circumstances, she was pleased with the Magnolias she had received from Leroy and John. However, one final Magnolia remained unclaimed: Noah's.

Breaking a path through the crowd came the newly crowned Mr. Marlowe and Mr. Warner. Ariel’s fingers tightened around her two Magnolias with a mix of dread and anticipation. Flanked by John and Leroy, she hoped to shrink away behind them, but both men shook their heads and stepped aside, their eyes saying, you’ve got to face this sometime.

"Leroy...wait," Ariel protested, fumbling for his arm as he moved away from her.

It was no use. Noah approached her with a bright smile, his face flushing slightly as was usual whenever he talked to her.

"Ariel," he greeted once he was close enough.

"Noah," Ariel replied, hoping her nerves weren’t too evident in her voice.

"What do you think? Pretty special, hm?" he asked, referring to the festival, though it was clear he was merely making conversation and was truly interested in one particular answer.

Ariel watched the crowd flow past them, looking anywhere but at his hopeful face. "Sure is..."

"I thought you might like it. I’m glad to see you’re doing so well with the Magnolias; I was still a bit worried," he admitted, a touch of tenderness in his voice.

At these words, Ariel finally met Noah’s gaze, managing a reassuring smile. A moment of silence passed between them before Noah drew in a breath, shifting his stance.

"Ariel, would you mind... would you walk with me for a moment?"

Ariel’s smile faltered. This was it—it was happening; she was about to be proposed to...

"Sure," she croaked, surprised she could even manage that much.

Noah’s smile widened. "Wonderful."

With a last-minute, silent plea sent toward Leroy, Ariel found herself being led away. The two of them walked for a while, putting some distance between themselves and the GPI team.

"You’ve received some Magnolias," Noah remarked, noticing the two Ariel held in one hand.

Yes, and two are more than enough. You really don’t need to give me a third one!

Noah’s gaze lingered on the snow-white flowers before a slightly troubled expression crossed his face. "Is one from... Evans-san?"

Ariel stopped dead in her tracks, as if the words had physically struck her. Noah halted as well, his expression almost fearful of her response. Ariel blinked, stunned.

Jasper?

"No. No, it’s not..." Ariel breathed, utterly confused as to why he would think that.

Relief washed over Noah’s features. He let out a breath he had been holding and offered her his warmest smile yet. "Oh, I see."

He seemed as though he wished to move on, but Ariel couldn’t go any further. If he was going to ask her, he needed to do it now, right here. Sensing this, Noah turned to face her fully.

"Ariel, I’m really glad I met you."

Ariel exhaled, forcing herself to breathe. "Me too."

"There’s a lot I could say..." Noah continued, breaking his gaze from her eyes to stare at his hands.

Reminded of Mr. Warner’s agonizingly long speech, Ariel hoped Noah would cut to the chase and spare her the slightest bit of misery.

"But I guess the most important thing I need to say, the most important thing I need to ask—"

It occurred to Ariel that she could hardly hear Noah over the hammering of her heart and the buzzing in her ears. Yet her eyes remained clear. It was unmistakable that the moment for the question was imminent.

"—is if... you would... be my friend. I’ve never met anyone as special as you."