“What on earth is Murmur…!”
Nicasia tightly closed her eyes, grabbed Murmur’s small and soft waist with both hands, and shouted.
“How do you even know about a place like thisssss!”
“I, I read it in a bookkk…!”
Murmur was holding onto a winged spirit with both hands.
Nicasia and Murmur were performing a small trick to climb a higher hill on Darkaz’s slope in one go.
─ Thud!
Fortunately, the spirit didn’t crash.
It properly carried Murmur and Nicasia on its back and landed softly on the hill.
“Ha, we… succeeded in one go.”
Nicasia let go of Murmur’s waist in a slight panic and spoke.
Since their chests and stomachs had been pressed together, Nicasia fidgeted with her clothes after getting off.
“But we arrived just as Murmur planned.”
“There probably wasn’t… a way to walk here normally.”
The hill they arrived at with Murmur’s help was a very remote place, almost untouched by human footsteps.
Unlike Holimpia, where people and things overflowed, this was a truly quiet and lonely land.
‘There is a path, but you’d have to go into the center of Holimpia and then come back out to the outskirts.’
Murmur had guessed correctly again.
Nicasia smiled slightly and adjusted her bangs.
“Ahem… So, Murmur? Why did you bring me to such a remote, naturally abundant hill where no one would easily think to come?”
“Murmur already told Nicasia.”
“To do… what adults do?”
Murmur nodded her head vigorously and pulled Nicasia’s hand again.
“Murmur is a riddle master.”
“But if I just gave the answer, it wouldn’t be exciting, right?”
“Because of that riddle, I almost had a strange misunderstanding.”
“What misunderstanding did Nicasia have?”
Nicasia gulped and rolled her red eyes to the side.
‘… How can I say that out loud?’
This is Murmur’s fault.
Nicasia just coughed awkwardly and didn’t voice her thoughts.
She didn’t want to share such embarrassing thoughts with the small, pure, and soft Murmur.
“Instead, can you tell me what we’re going to do here? Murmur?”
“Okay, Murmur will tell you. First… here.”
Murmur arrived at a high spot on the hill that could catch a lot of moonlight and spoke.
“Even if you say here…”
There was no shabby store selling spicy food, nor a store where you could enjoy washing your hands.
Where Murmur arrived was filled with natural grass and wildflowers.
‘… … What can you do in a place like this…’
Suddenly, Nicasia had a thought that startled her.
‘W, what kind of ridiculous imagination is that, Nicasia! Murmur isn’t the kind of kid to imagine such things, right?!’
Nicasia bit her lip again.
“Nicasia thinks there’s nothing here?”
“It’s not that this place is bad. It’s just, simply, there are no buildings.”
Murmur nodded and pointed around.
“But there are lots of pretty flowers here.”
“Flowers…? Ah!”
Only then did Nicasia notice a group of wildflowers sparkling under the moonlight.
The flowers growing in the wild field full of weeds were unfamiliar to the imperial princess.
“I’ve never seen flowers growing like this before.”
“Murmur thinks Nicasia has only seen flowers blooming in flower beds.”
“Yes, all the flowers I’ve received or given as gifts were born that way.”
Nicasia smiled as she looked at the wildflowers tangled with various plants.
“In flower beds, there are only flowers. And they bloom… very, very systematically.”
“I think the maids work hard to manage them.”
“That’s right. Every day, they pull out weeds, wipe the leaves with dry cloths, remove bugs…”
Having always seen perfectly grown flowers, Nicasia felt sorry for the wildflowers that grew unevenly, freely, and unattractively.
So, without realizing it, she knelt on the ground and gently stroked the purple petals.
“Look at this, Murmur… These flowers must have grown while fighting each other.”
“Their heights and shapes are a bit different. Some petals are darker, some are lighter.”
“Maybe they didn’t get enough sunlight.”
Nicasia smiled bitterly and caressed the wildflowers.
“If they were born in a flower bed… they could have grown more beautifully.”
“Murmur wants to ask. Do these flowers not look pretty to Nicasia?”
“… … Uh.”
Nicasia awkwardly swallowed.
And for a while, she silently stroked the purple petals with her fingers.
‘All the flowers here are ugly. If they grew like this in a flower bed, the gardener would have been scolded for having no commercial value.’
Nicasia’s eyes saw aphids clinging to the flower stems and caterpillars under the leaves.
The flowers’ scents were uneven, and some petals were missing because bugs had eaten them.
“No. The flowers here are just as beautiful.”
“Really?”
“Yes, the flowers in the flower beds all look the same. The petals, the scent, even the leaves are all the same.”
Nicasia smiled and stroked the wildflowers.
“The flowers growing in this field are different. They have their own individuality. To someone’s eyes…”
“They might look dirty, ugly, and unimpressive.”
“That’s right. But flowers naturally bloom like this. Wildflowers are supposed to look like this. You can’t say it’s wrong. To my eyes, they look beautiful.”
Murmur smiled.
“I’m glad Nicasia likes the flowers here.”
“They’re pretty, aren’t they? And all the flowers I’ve received were really ‘expensive’ flowers.”
Murmur knelt on the ground like Nicasia and reached out to the wildflowers.
Under the moonlight, the purple flowers sparkled, and Murmur stroked them with her small, soft hands.
“The flowers blooming here are ‘violets.'”
“I’ve heard of them! They’re common flowers that grow in fields, right?”
“Yes, but these flowers have a special meaning that Nicasia knows.”
While Nicasia was pondering, Murmur skillfully plucked a violet by its stem.
‘The special meaning I know… Ah, that’s right. Violets have a famous flower language… …”
As Nicasia recalled the flower language of violets, her heart suddenly ached.
‘… … Eternal friendship?’
Under the cold moonlight, Nicasia’s thoughts became tangled.
“M, Murmur… are you going to give me that violet as a gift?”
“Yes, that’s what adults do.”
“… … I, I don’t want it!”
Nicasia shouted as she stood up.
“I, I admit it! I ruined today’s date! Murmur!”
“Nicasia?”
“But… we enjoyed the date you prepared together, right? I also learned that becoming an adult isn’t so scary.”
Nicasia started to sweat.
“But, such… this kind of thing… M, Murmur might have hated me… I know you get along well with Citrine, but…”
“Why is Nicasia suddenly saying such things?”
“… I don’t want to be friends with Murmur forever… Eek?!”
Murmur silently pulled Nicasia’s hand.
“M, my words…! Please! Listen to the end! Murmur!”
“No. Right now, Nicasia is making a very foolish mistake.”
Nicasia was forced to kneel down again.
Murmur held Nicasia’s left hand with both hands.
“Murmur knows. Nicasia isn’t very close with His Majesty the Emperor.”
“… Huh?”
What is this about? Nicasia’s head was spinning.
“But you must have heard. A long, long time ago…”
Murmur brought the violet to Nicasia’s left hand and spoke.
“When the goddess was just an ordinary girl… there was a girl destined to marry her.”
“… … Huh?”
“The girl was going through trials. Tomorrow might not come. She might not be able to give happiness to the girl destined to marry her.”
“That story is…”
Nicasia looked down in surprise as Murmur wove the flower stem around her left ring finger.
Her touch was surprisingly delicate, filled with affection.
“The girl still wanted the other girl to be happy. She wanted to give her more than just the destiny of marriage.”
“So the girl made a promise. That’s right. She did…”
Nicasia opened her eyes wide and looked at the ‘flower ring’ Murmur had made with the violet.
“That’s right. Nicasia knows the story, right? The girl wanted to show her true love, so she gave a flower ring as a gift.”
“It was a really common flower that grew in the fields. But her heart was truer than anyone else’s.”
“So Murmur chose the same violet and gave it to Nicasia as a gift.”
Nicasia fidgeted with her fingers and looked at the flower ring on her left ring finger.
It wasn’t a ring made by melting metal.
It was a beautiful flower, but not an expensive one.
A common flower that grew in the fields.
A ‘flower ring’ that children might make while playing house.
“To think of such a story… and give me this ring…”
“That’s why Murmur said it’s what adults do.”
Murmur held Nicasia’s hand and kissed the back of it.
“Ah, could it be… this…”
“Now Nicasia’s thoughts are correct.”
Nicasia’s face turned red, and she didn’t know what to do.
‘P, proposal, right? D, dating… asking to be in a relationship by giving a ring?!’
A happy feeling, different from before, made Nicasia’s face flush with excitement, and she couldn’t look directly at Murmur.
“Murmur is still small and young, but I promise.”
“H, huu… …”
“Like the girl promised to the other girl, Murmur will also promise.”
To the princess who really didn’t want to become an adult.
The small, young demon spoke with all her heart.
“Whether Nicasia becomes an adult or not… Nicasia is just Nicasia.”
Murmur smiled brightly under the moonlight.
“Murmur will be with Nicasia forever. Can you allow that?”
The person who looks at her most purely in this world.
Nicasia held Murmur’s small hand tightly with her heated hand and nodded.
“Of course, Murmur. Please stay with me forever.”
The word ‘forever,’ which Nicasia had long felt lonely about, felt like warm love in this moment.
* * *
After spending a pleasant time on the hill, Nicasia and Murmur decided to spend the night at the ‘Grand Hotel’ as planned.
However, the story didn’t go as Nicasia had initially planned.
She didn’t intend to act that way either.
The two simply entered the room, washed up to sleep, and changed into the prepared pajamas.
They shared the same bed and the same blanket, but until they fell asleep, they just happily chatted about today’s date.
“… She fell asleep. Cute Murmur.”
Tomorrow, let’s surprise Citrine and Esme when we return to the academy.
After talking for over an hour, Murmur cutely couldn’t overcome the sleep demon.
‘How did she think of giving a flower ring as a gift? Really…’
Feeling proud, Nicasia gently stroked Murmur’s cheek.
She silently looked down at her with sparkling eyes and smiled at the fruity scent tickling her nose.
And then she fumbled with her left hand a bit.
“… I like you, and I love you a lot, Murmur.”
I’m a bit more cowardly than Murmur.
Thinking that, Nicasia smiled maturely and moved her left hand slightly.
“As promised, forever… no matter what happens, I’ll be on Murmur’s side.”
Feeling the sweet scent tickling her nose, Nicasia felt at peace.
Murmur isn’t evil. She’s a kind demon who even made a precious flower ring to give as a gift.
“Ugh, um… …”
Nicasia let out a long sigh and then moved her left hand to tightly hug Murmur’s small body.
“Today, the adult date you gave me was really nice. Let’s do it again sometime.”
Embarrassed, Nicasia let go of Murmur and held up the flower ring on her white ring finger to the moonlight streaming through the window.
Forever… the weight of that promise warmed Nicasia’s heart once again.
