The Harvest Festival (3)
Lia watched as the women from the establishment giggled as they talked with the guy standing in the middle. It seemed like they were reluctant to let him go. Every time he took a step away, they would follow, trying to lure him back inside using suggestive moves. Lia’s eyebrow twitched when she realized who the guy was.

‘Oh, is he starting to gather his harem now?’ she sneered, narrowing her eyes as she watched them. ‘They were not even trying to be covert with their actions! Unbelievable.’

Her sour mood turned for worse that she wanted nothing but to be away from this place. From the bright lights inside and the patrons limited to men, not to mention those revealing clothes of the staff, the building was undoubtedly a pleasure house. ‘So he spent his day in the arms of those women?’ She clicked her tongue. As expected of the stallion character.

She scratched her head and sighed, trying to calm her mood as she walked and focused on enjoying the different stalls. Getting worked up would do nothing good. It was not like she cared. But she remembered the scene again and her mood flared up once more…

Lia huffed. ‘Let’s focus on the food here. Food will lift my mood.’ She was glad that she had her earnings. With these, she could treat herself to some food and souvenirs. But in the midst of all the stalls, she was at a loss on where to start.

A cup of food was placed right in front of her.

She looked up with raised eyebrows and the corner of her mouth twitched. Eldric pushed the cup again. “You should try this. This is good.” When Lia continued to stare at him, he sighed and gave her a wry smile, taking her hand to take the cup.

It was unfair. Using food to coax her. She could already feel her irritation decreasing. The corners of her mouth turned up a bit as she took a bite of fried food. Her eyes bulged as she looked at Eldric, meeting the other’s boyish grin.

“Is this–?”

Eldric grinned. “Fried chicken skin. I knew you’d like it.”

“I love it,” she said as she took another bite. Only two pieces were left and she got one while giving the cup to Eldric, intending to give the last piece to Eldric.

There was a mischievous glint in his eyes as he took, not the one from the cup, but the one between her fingers. Lia narrowed her eyes and pressed her lips, suppressing her annoyance but that seemed to amuse him more.

“Try this one,” Eldric placed a stick at Lia’s hand with fluffy cotton on it.

“This is just cotton candy.” She sounded irritated as she took a big bite off. It was sweet and fluffy and it melted in her mouth. A face that was akin to satisfaction must have passed on her face and Eldric smiled, proud with his achievement.

Lia sighed and started walking. He joined her and settled in a comfortable silence which was only broken with occasional trivial talk. They passed by a mask seller. Lia stopped by and look around. An idea popped in her head.

She grabbed a rabbit mask and passed it to Eldric. “Put this on, if it looks good on you, I’ll buy that as a gift.”

It was a half mask, complete with ears and whiskers. Lia tried to fight off her laughter as she watched Eldric put it on. But she could no longer hold her laughter in and went on a fit of giggles.

Lia only wanted to mess around Eldric. But that serious look on his face when he received it somehow tugged at her heartstrings. Her laughter died down in her throat.

It was really cute on him, though. She reached out and massaged the whiskers. “You look good in it… Mister Rabbit.”

Eldric said in a serious tone with the look as if he was deeply moved. “Thank you. I-I appreciate it.”