"Hehe~!"
"You seem awfully cheery all of a sudden." Meil smiled as we walked to the restaurant, "Were you that in need of a break?"
"Nope! I could study for years if I had to!" I proudly showcased my best dress I picked out specifically for a moment like this, "Studying is one of my strong suits, you know, because I'm a smart girl!"
"That you are, Nelly." He almost went to pat me on the head, but backed off at the last second, "Ah, apologies."
Eh? He didn't go through with it? But isn't that our thing? Him giving me headpats is a long running gag at this point, he can't just trash it the moment we go out on our first date! Aw shucks, now I don't know what to do. I really want him to give me headpats, but asking for it suddenly feels embarrassing!
"N-Not to be that girl, but..." I let out a nervous chuckle, "Y-You're not gonna give me headpats...?"
Urgh, that sounded so bad! All this time I wanted him to see me as a grown up, but then I go ahead and say that!? I immediately regretted my decision, though his answer more than saved the day.
"Ah, right. I noticed you did your hair for this outing, so I did not want to ruin it." He looked at my curled hair, "I figured you would get mad if I did, especially with how cute it is."
"C-Cute..." I repeated the word as my face went bright red, making me smile like an idiot as I latched onto his arm, "Oh, youuu~!"
"Wah, suddenly latching onto me... You are not a kid anymore, Nelly!" He seemed a bit tense.
"Humu, it's not only kids that do this, Meil!" I looked up at his face and smiled, "Live a little, come on!"
"Urk... Well, I did say I would treat you today..." He looked away, though I caught the tiniest of smirks out of the corner of my eye, "Oh!"
Stopping at a nearby food stall, he had insisted on us buying some of the street vendor's pastries. Handing me a glazed donut, finely wrapped so as for me to not get my clothes messy, he told me to stay there while he went to get something else.
"Seriously, what's up with him." I nibbled on my donut.
"You two a royal couple or something?" The vendor joked.
"Nah, just your average, run-of-the-mill University students." I shrugged with a smile that went from ear to ear, "What made you think that, monsieur?"
"You kiddin'?" He rang up his next customer as he continued talking to me, "Regular, run-of-the-mill scholars don't dress up that nicely on a weekday. You two must have some special circumstances."
Well, I can't deny our circumstances are quite out of the ordinary, but is it really that weird to dress up like this? All I'm wearing is a yellow dress and some white gloves because that's what I saw everyone else wearing at the restaurant when Kevin and I went. I'm not even wearing any fancy heels, either. I just put on my boots as usual, since no one will even see what I've got on because of the dress. Meil's just wearing his University uniform, since in his words, "It is the fanciest clothing I own." I really should go clothes shopping with him soon. Speaking of, here he comes!
"Ah, there we are." Meil smiled as he approached me, "Apologies for making you wait, mademoiselle."
"What's this? You're really treating me like a lady all of a sudden." I giggled, "And don't think I didn't notice you hiding something behind that back of yours. Come on, whatcha' got?"
"Just treating the princess with some care is all." He then showed me the little orange flower he had held behind his back, "I found a vendor selling this appealing flower last time I walked by here, and I just could not help but think of how nicely it would suit you. May I?"
Blushing lightly, I nodded before lowering my head so that he could properly place the flower in my hair. It served as the final touch to my princess outfit, gifting me with the set bonus: +20 cuteness. Hehe, he really is treating me like I'm his girlfriend! And all this just because I studied a bit? I feel like all the hard work I went through during my lifetime is finally paying off! Nothing can ruin this moment...!
"Ah." Lem's dad spotted us.
"Ah." We both looked at him.
Dammit! Why now of all times!? Please, old rugged man that sort of kind of knew my parents, please let us go with a short "Howdy" and leave it at that! I'm begging you, don't ruin this perfect evening, please!
"Well I'll be!" He smiled as he stopped to talk with us, "You kids enjoying a nice evening stroll too?"
"Indeed we are." Meil smiled as he gave him a familiar handshake, "Studying is good, but a break is always important."
"You said it." Lem's dad chuckled before turning to me, "And you, girlie? Just look at you, just like a doll! Though you really should turn that frown upside down, it's ruining the overall image."
"Grr..." I grit my teeth as I counted to ten, "I was smiling just up until recently."
"Hm?" He didn't at all get the hint, "By the way, Meil, how's that side project you were telling me about the other day working out?"
"Side project?" I latched onto Meil's arm with a strong pout, "What's he talking about? Are you keeping secrets from me again?"
"No, it is nothing like that." Meil seemed embarrassed that I'd grapple onto him in front of his friend, "Rather, it's the thing you reminded me of before, remember? Trying to figure out the secret of my ancestry."
Ah, is that it? I guess I got kind of overbearing for no reason. Don't get me wrong, it's not like I thought he was secretly meeting up with that Waitress girl behind my back. Then again, we aren't even dating yet, so I wouldn't even have a reason to get mad at him even if he did... Uuu, now I'm imagining them together again. Dammit...
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"S-So!" I quickly shook the dark thoughts away as I continued questioning, "How IS it going? Find anything out yet?"
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"Oh, I have not actually gone yet." He looked over at Lem's dad for whatever reason, "It is still a bit too early, so I thought I would go tomorrow if I am free."
"Can I come with?" I raised my eyebrows expectantly, "I promise I won't cause any trouble!"
"Well, disregarding my own opinion on that, you can't go regardless." He shook his head, "Nelly, you of all people should know that the Library of a Thousand Passages is reserved only for students of any of the Universities on campus. No outsiders are permitted entry into the object."
"Ah come on, they don't have anyone checking your student ID card!" Lem's dad guffawed, "Remember last time when I just ran inside and...!"
"S-Shut!" Meil hastily stopped him from saying another word, "Well Lee it has been fun great seeing you goodbye now have a great rest of your evening!"
Grabbing me by the hand as he ran past the rugged old man, Meil seemed really against the idea of me hearing whatever Lem's dad had to say about this mysterious "last time". Something's up, I just don't know what... Besides, isn't Meil great friends with Librarian Guy? Hell, couldn't they just permit me to enter a bit early, given I'll be getting my student ID card in a couple days anyway?
"Good evening, monsieur, mademoiselle." A very fancy waiter greeted us the moment we arrived, "Do you have a reservation?"
"We do, actually." Meil leaned in before secretly handing him a pouch of money, "Table for two, please."
"Sir, I am afraid we do not accept-"
"That is 100 gigabytes you are holding." Meil smiled mischievously, "Still cannot accept it?"
"What...!?" The waiter hastily checked the contents of the money pouch before his eyes shot wide open, "R-Right this way, you two! Anything for our esteemed guests!"
Mn, Meil's using his money lavishly again... His spending habits are a serious issue, especially since I don't know where that money came from. I just hope he didn't get himself caught up in something shady, but until I hear the story from him directly, there's just nothing I can do, sadly.
"That money..." I just couldn't sit still as I asked, "It's enough to rent out a college dorm for an entire year, probably way more actually."
"Yeah..." The air around him changed, turning way more sinister as he glared back, "That it is."
"You know I'm not gonna let you keep the source of all that money a secret, right? Just tell me where you got it and I'll leave you alone, okay?"
"For the last time, Nelly - It is something I intend to keep a secret for the rest of my life." He got visibly peeved as he just barely raised his voice, "Right, if you are so fixated on the money, is it fair to assume you just want some as well? I do not mind sharing my fortune with you if it will make you stop asking about it."
"See that's the problem!" I raised my voice as well, "You're getting too careless with your money! This isn't normal behavior, and frankly it's worrying me!"
"Hey, keep your voice down!" Meil gestured a shush motion, "You are disturbing the other guests!"
"I'm not shutting up until you tell me!" I defiantly raised my voice even higher, prompting the waiter to give us a warning.
"Sir, mademoiselle! Please keep quiet for the duration of your evening date!" He urged, "Otherwise we will be forced to return your money and send you away!"
"Number one - Not a date. She is fifteen years younger than me." Meil made sure to correct him, "And number two - I do not mind leaving if we are disturbing you, but please keep the money."
"Wha...!? Keep the mon-!? Okay, that's it!" I slammed my hands on the table so hard it attracted the gaze of everyone in the room, "I'm convinced you're doing something shady now! One hundred percent, no doubt about it!"
"N-Nelly! Quit embarrassing us, please!" Meil desperately tried to de-escalate the situation by smiling at the waiter, "Ha-ha, girls going through their rebellious phase, am I right? I am so sorry for this-"
"Shady business?" The waiter immediately tossed the money pouch Meil had given him with a stern tone, "Leave, now. We don't want your dirty money."
"Dirty? Oh come on, you do not seriously believe her, do you?" Meil chuckled in an overly friendly manner, though by now it was already too late.
"Leave, or I'm calling the authorities." The waiter pointed to the door.
Sighing, Meil quickly picked our stuff up and got up. Motioning for me to follow along, he didn't even wait for me as I sat petrified on my seat. I didn't want this, I got a bit too heated all of a sudden and now I made a fool of ourselves in front of everyone! What's more, I don't wanna get up from my seat! I'm sure Meil must be furious, what if he scolds me? Uuu...
"Mademoiselle?" The waiter's scary eyes pierced my skull completely, "I take it you wish to try your luck with the local police?"
"Nelly!" Meil shouted, making me jump to my feet and run to him in a teary mess.
Crap, I ruined everything! And all because I said something stupid in the heat of the moment! I just wanted to find out why he was spending so much money...
"Dammit, that bastard did not take the money..." Meil murmured as we walked out of the restaurant, "It would have been perfect, too..."
Huh? Hold on a second? He's... not mad at me for embarrassing us publicly like that, but rather the waiter for not taking the money? Hold on, something's not adding up here. A rich person would usually be worried about spending all their money, no? The only people who would actively wish to use it all up would be people with dirty money like I said before, and people who don't wish to be rich. Now that I think about it, yeah, Meil really has been splurging on every single moment I can think of, as if he just wants to free himself of the money. Don't tell me, could it be... Does Meil not want to be rich anymore?