My gaze kept drifting toward the guild.
It wasn’t as if I’d been waiting that long. Probably.
The door opened sooner than I’d expected.
The staff came out one by one. Luce emerged after them. She wore her usual expression, but the moment she spotted me, something in it seemed to ease away.
That tiny change looked strangely significant.
For no reason, I straightened my posture.
Luce stopped walking and looked at me. Her brown eyes lifted quietly, smiling as if they had found me.
“Mr. Siyun, did you wait long?”
“No? I just got here.”
“Liar.”
“Heh, was it that obvious?”
“A little.”
Her low laugh reached me before the night air did.
I opened my mouth, pretending to be casual.
“So... what do we do now?”
Luce tilted her head slightly, as if thinking.
“Shall we have dinner together?”
I answered a beat late.
“...Sounds good.”
“Really?”
“Yes. Then I’ll leave the guidance to you.”
Luce gave a short laugh and turned.
“This way.”
I silently fell in beside her.
Bresen at night was quieter than during the day. So quiet that, instead, there were things I could hear.
Footsteps. The sound of fabric brushing.
Luce naturally walked ahead. Her steps belonged to someone who knew the nights here.
I followed behind her, and at some point, I moved up beside her.
There was no particular reason... no, there was.
“Where are we going?”
“Somewhere I like.”
“Alone?”
“...Sometimes.”
“What about today?”
Luce’s gaze came sideways for a moment.
“Today, I didn’t want to go alone.”
She’d tossed it out lightly, but it settled heavily.
I laughed briefly. And even after I laughed, my heart refused to calm down.
At the end of the bustling district, a little way into an alley, there was a small tavern with no sign. It wasn’t the sort of place that stood out.
Inside the door, low lamps glowed. The quiet air was mixed with the scent of wood and liquor.
Only after we sat in a corner toward the back did my breathing loosen a little.
We ordered a moderate amount. It was a night when something else mattered more than what we ate.
At first, we talked about anything. Closing time, drinks, the fact that Luce wasn’t as weak to alcohol as I’d thought. Things like that.
There wasn’t a single grand conversation. But I felt like I’d remember all of it.
Luce ran her fingertip once around the rim of her cup, then quietly opened her mouth.
“When I think about it, we saw each other every day, but I don’t know anything about you, Mr. Siyun.”
“...Same here.”
“I was always only talking about settlements.”
“After I came back from a request, you always looked me over at least once.”
“Because that’s important.”
Her answer came a little quickly. Perhaps Luce realized it herself, because her eyes dipped once before rising again.
The sight made me want to laugh. It was cute, too.
“It was important? That?”
Luce didn’t look away.
“...It was important.”
It was a short answer. But that was when I learned that some words became sturdier the shorter they were.
The conversation cut off for a moment. The noise inside the tavern seeped into the gap.
Luce was the first to break the silence.
“Today, I just... wanted to see you.”
“For no reason?”
“Yes.”
“You know that only makes me more curious, right?”
Luce pressed her lips together for a moment. I could see her hesitation. Then, in the end, she chose honesty.
“I kept thinking about you, Mr. Siyun.”
I had nothing to say. No, I had too much to say.
Luce looked straight into my eyes and continued.
“I just... didn’t want today to end like this.”
Without realizing it, I set my cup down. My hand was full of tension. I didn’t know since when.
“That’s nice.”
“What is?”
“That reason.”
Luce blinked silently. Slowly.
“It’s nothing special.”
“It is to me.”
This time was different. Luce couldn’t smile right away. The tips of her ears reddened slightly.
As our cups emptied and the food dwindled, our words grew lighter, then deepened again.
“Ah, we didn’t even know each other’s ages.”
At those words, I lifted my head.
“True.”
“How old are you?”
“Twenty-five.”
“Uh... older than I thought.”
“Oof, that kind of hurts.”
“No, really. I thought you were twenty-three or twenty-four at most.”
“I feel wronged. What about you, Miss Luce?”
“I’m twenty-four.”
I lifted my cup, but laughter came first.
“Call me big brother.”
Luce shot back as if she’d been waiting.
“Ha, don’t make me laugh.”
“Why? It’s true.”
“What do you mean, true?”
“Then want to drop the formalities?”
Luce’s eyes narrowed.
“Out of nowhere?”
“Wasn’t it stranger that we’ve been speaking formally all this time?”
“Isn’t it weird to suddenly speak casually too?”
“Do you hate it?”
Luce said nothing for a moment. Then she smiled. Just a little.
“...No. All right.”
That one brief casual sentence sank deeper than I expected.
I didn’t hesitate.
“Casual speech suits you better.”
Luce turned her head slightly.
“It’s still... awkward.”
“Really? You were good at it.”
“You already seem used to it.”
“I’ve always been quick to adapt.”
“...Well, that’s true.”
Luce pressed her lips tightly together. I knew she was holding back a laugh. That made me feel like I was going crazy.
The mood loosened once. In that opening, I asked.
“By the way, how did you end up working at the guild?”
Luce didn’t ponder even for a moment. As if she already knew the answer.
“I was curious about the outside.”
“The outside?”
“Yeah. Even if I couldn’t go far... I just wanted to be beside things that were alive.”
I didn’t want to interrupt her.
“People coming in, going out, getting hurt, coming back alive. It’s chaotic... but strangely, that’s where I felt like I was alive.”
“That’s so like you.”
“What is?”
“You look quiet, but you’re drawn to noisy places like that.”
Luce gave a small laugh and rolled her cup between her hands.
“When I stay still, I feel suffocated.”
“I know.”
“What do you know?”
“I saw you every day.”
It was a short silence. But now, even silences like that weren’t bad.
Luce leaned forward a little. Toward me.
“Then what about you?”
“What about me?”
“What kind of person were you? Originally.”
It wasn’t an answer that came easily.
There was nothing remarkable. Nothing to boast about, and even when I searched my memories, not much remained clearly. Sometimes that was comfortable, but sometimes it was simply empty.
“I was just... nothing special.”
“...Liar.”
“Really. I was alone, and I just lived.”
“Are you not like that now?”
“Now it’s different.”
“How?”
Pretending to lean a little on the alcohol, I said,
“Strangely, ever since I came here, each day feels vivid.”
Luce was looking at me without saying a word.
“Strangely, I got used to this place quickly.”
I glanced at the golden surface of my beer. Then I looked at Luce. It wasn’t something I should say while avoiding her eyes.
“Because you were here.”
Luce paused for a moment. Her gaze, her breath, all of it.
“Are you always good at saying things like that?”
“It’s my first time?”
“Liar.”
“You said that earlier too.”
“This time is hard to believe too.”
“Then wait and see.”
“How...?”
I looked at Luce and smiled. I didn’t answer.
“We have time. From now on, too.”
Luce was silent for a long while. At the end of that silence, a smile bloomed very slowly.
“Mari wasn’t wrong.”
“So do you hate it?”
“No.”
Just one word.
But that one word changed the temperature of the entire night.
As another cup or two emptied, Luce loosened up little by little. Her eyes grew slower, and her words slowed with them. She wasn’t falling apart. It was more like things she usually kept pressed down were rising bit by bit.
It was cute.
Luce was staring at me intently. For a long time. Then she opened her mouth.
“You know, actually, you stood out from the beginning.”
“In a good way?”
“Mm~”
Luce lifted the corners of her mouth and looked at me.
“First of all, you were strange.”
“That hurts.”
“But... you were handsome.”
Laughter came out immediately.
“Oh, that part’s fine.”
“And you had a good body.”
“Wow, I don’t know what to do with myself.”
“So... that made you even stranger.”
“But if I’m strange, handsome, and have a good body, isn’t that actually a good thing?”
“That’s the most suspicious part~”
“You’re drunk.”
“...Just a little.”
Luce lowered her gaze, then raised it again. After admitting it.
“At first, that was all. Just... someone who caught my eye.”
The end of her sentence sank slightly.
“I don’t know when it started, but when you weren’t there, I thought about you.”
I couldn’t laugh anymore. I just looked at Luce.
“When I stood in front of the settlement counter, I’d look at your face before the money...”
There was no room for laughter.
“I hated it when you came back injured.”
Luce quietly stroked her cup with her fingers, as if choosing her words.
“And then, at some point... I just kept...”
The surrounding noise hadn’t disappeared, but that moment alone was unusually quiet.
Only then did I realize I’d been holding my breath.
“...Is that so.”
Luce looked at me quietly. Her slightly drunk face was, strangely, even cuter.
I consciously lifted the corners of my mouth.
“But you know, your eyes were kind of strange from the first time I saw you.”
Luce let out a small laugh.
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“Just. They weren’t ordinary.”
“...What wasn’t?”
“They looked like the eyes of someone interested in me.”
“...What are you talking about?”
“You like me.”
“Who does?”
“You.”
Luce lowered her head, then raised it. In that interval, she seemed to have sorted something out.
“...I do.”
There was no room left for jokes.
‘This is unexpected...’
I just said it too.
“Me too.”
For the first time, Luce’s eyes wavered.
“...From the beginning?”
“Come on, not from the beginning.”
“...You’re honest.”
“I did keep thinking about you.”
After saying those words out loud, I felt even hotter.
“When I went to the guild, you were the first thing I noticed.”
Luce simply listened.
“When I came back after finishing a request, you were there. I liked that.”
Before my words were even finished, Luce picked up her cup. Her fingertips trembled faintly.
When it was about time to get up, I reached out first.
“I’ll pay.”
Luce’s hand landed firmly on the back of mine. Once. Decisively.
“Huh? Why?”
“Because I want to pay today.”
“You really have to...?”
“Yeah.”
Luce was already taking out silver coins.
“Because I was first.”
I stared at Luce quietly.
She didn’t avoid my eyes. Then she added,
“Today, I just... want to do that.”
I withdrew my hand.
“You’re more stubborn than I thought.”
“You only realized that now?”
“Heh. Well, it’s good for me.”
“...Idiot.”
Outside the tavern, it was colder than before. But it was strange. My body felt even hotter instead.
Luce walked ahead. This time, too. I silently moved beside her.
We spoke far less than before, but strangely, the distance between us was closer.
The gap between our shoulders narrowed. Very slowly. Without either of us being first.
At some point, the backs of our hands brushed. Once.
I felt Luce stiffen faintly.
Without hesitation, I took that hand.
“Hh...!”
Luce startled, stopped in her tracks, and looked at me. Her eyes had widened slightly.
Smiling, I laced our fingers together. Pretending it was nothing.
“This much is okay, right?”
Luce said nothing. Instead, strength entered her hand. Just a little more.
Then Luce opened her mouth. A beat late. Her voice trembled slightly.
“...Yeah.”
“You’re supposed to ask about things like this.”
“If I say I don’t like it, will you let go?”
“No?”
“...”
Luce gave a small laugh. Her grip tightened further.
Nothing more was needed.
I regretted that the road was short. Because this moment was flowing far too slowly.
The closer we got to our destination, the slower our steps became.
At some point, we both came to a stop. Our hands remained as they were.
Luce’s gaze lifted. Under the lamplight, Luce’s eyes were dark. Far more than I’d expected.
“...Siyun.”
My name, called without formality, felt unfamiliar. As if it weren’t unfamiliar at all.
It was only two syllables, but for some reason, my body tingled.
“Yeah.”
“...Do you want to stay... together a little longer?”
Instead of answering, I smiled. Then I pulled Luce toward me.
“What do you think?”
“Ah...”
Luce’s body entered my arms.
The moment we pressed together, Luce’s chest was pushed against mine. Soft, and hotter than I expected.
My gaze touched her lips, then rose. Her eyes were waiting.
Luce was looking, and so was I. Neither of us lowered our eyes first.
Chu—
Our lips touched lightly, then parted. As if checking.
Then Luce’s hand grabbed my collar. It trembled, but didn’t let go.
I didn’t ask anything more. I simply lowered my head again.
Chup. Chup.
The sounds of kissing leaked out softly and clearly into the quiet night.
The second time was different. From the moment our lips met, our breaths tangled. Lines collapsed more easily than expected.
My hands found her waist. Searched over her back. The strength holding on grew stronger.
Luce’s body trembled faintly.
“Hhng... wait... gulp...”
That one sound made my mind go white.
She had said wait, but there was no force pushing me away. If anything, the hand gripping me tightened. Enough to wrinkle my clothes.
I buried my lips against the nape of Luce’s neck.
It was hot. Beneath her thin skin, her pulse was beating. Against my fingertips, against my lips.
Luce inhaled as if holding her breath.
“Haa... Siyun, you’re really...”
“What?”
“...Nothing.”
There was no need to ask more.
Holding Luce’s hand, I simply followed her.
Bresen’s night closed behind us. Quietly.
It had been that way from the start.
I had never intended to turn back.