Chapter 222

……Say Riana . About the Harvest Festival, Have you thought about it? 」

「Eh, ah…… . Mmm, it’s……」

With the two pairs of twins going around the village as usual, Deen matched with Riana’s strides and asked in a soft voice .

Riana’s words muddled, as she thought about how to respond in her mind . She doesn’t dislike Deen . Deen and Karina are both Fillia and Riana’s friends of similar age .

Although in that regard, there was Kyrill too but, the impression of him being Ardis’s acquaintance and a tutor was more prominent .

So, for Riana, Deen and Karina can be considered her first friends . However, if she is asked if they’re closer than a friend, then she would be troubled to answer .

Even though not disliking, their distance hasn’t shortened enough for her to agree spending a long time with him .

「……Please give me more time . 」

「Nn, okay . You can always refuse if you don’t like it . 」

Saying so to Riana who seemed to be putting her answer on hold, Deen took his distance again . On the way back on that day, this time, Karina called out to Riana .

「Riana, you’re really frowning . Maybe like you’re thinking how to properly refuse Deen’s invitation? 」

「Eh? 」

The question that Karina asked as if reading her thoughts surprised Riana .

「How did you know? 」

「Even if you ask . 」

Karina smiled bitterly .

「Both Fillia and you are really expressive on the face . 」

「Fueh? 」

Riana touched her own face but, it’s not like she can figure out anything with that . Seeing her like that, Karina spurts out some air .

「Well, it’s not like I don’t understand your hesitation . It’s not like you’re close enough to know Deen even if you’re asked so suddenly . ……But it’s not like I don’t understand Deen’s feelings too . 」

「Deen’s feelings? 」

「After all, for him, it has only been a dream to spend time with someone he likes during the harvest festival . Girls that are close to him in age, excluding me, there’s only Mary who’s five years older and Chelsea seven years younger . 」

「A girl Deen likes? 」

「That’s right . 」

「Who? 」

「Isn’t it obvious that it’s Riana? 」

「……It’s not the same for Fillia and Ardis? 」

Seemingly not understanding why her name was called, Riana asked .

「Leaving aside Fillia, why does Ardis-san’s name come out there . 」

Karina who looked strange at Riana’s question suddenly looked like she understood something .

「Ah, eh…… . Could it be, Riana doesn’t have someone she likes yet? 」

「There’re a lot people I like . Fillia and Ardis, Nere and Kyrill too, Deen and Karina are all people I like . 」

Hearing that, Karina sighed .

「Haa……, I see . No wonder Deen is having hardships . 」

Karina who somehow sympathized with Deen spoke in a tone like explaining to a child .

「You see, Riana . Deen’s like and the like you said are different . His like is not for someone as a person, but someone opposite his gender, it means that he likes you as a girl . 」

「There’s a difference? 」

Not quite understanding what Karina said, Riana tilted her head slightly .

「Umm, in other words . Someone special even among all the people you like? 」

「Fillia, she’s special to me . 」

「It’s not like that . In this case, think only about a male . Unn……, for example, is there someone that can 『Make your heart race if you think about them』? 」

Thinking about whether if there’s someone like that for her, Riana shook her head as no one came up .

「If not then……, someone that 『You always want to stay together with』? 」

If it’s someone she wants to always stay together with, then there’s Fillia and Ardis . However, since Karina said to limit it to males only, she excluded Fillia . For Riana, Ardis is the one it seems .

「Or maybe 『Being together makes you feel assured』 . 」

Talking about assurance, Ardis’s face immediately turned up . He’s none other than the person that provided a sleeping place and meals to herself and Fillia .

If not for Ardis, they would’ve still been treated as things, and even the young them had understood what would happen if their lives continued like that .

「Or someone that 『Makes you feel unbearable if he left』 . 」

She never thought about what if Ardis left . But just as she thought about it, an inexplicable sense of sadness and fear assaulted Riana . No, only that one word floated in her mind .

Just like how she treats Fillia as her own half, she realized that Ardis is an existence that could not be missing in both herself and Fillia’s life .

「Or something like 『Wanting that person to be happy』 . 」

If Ardis is happy, then she would be happy too . She wants Ardis to always have a gentle smile, and she wanted it to be directed to herself and Fillia .

「Or maybe 『Wanting to be of help to that person』 . 」

She had received many blessings from Ardis . That’s why, Riana wanted to return something . Of course, it isn’t something she can do now .

She could only be baggage in a fight now, she didn’t have enough knowledge, and she couldn’t even brew delicious tea like Nere .

Even so . Even if it’s a little, having given so much, she wanted to be of help to Ardis . With Karina’s words hitting herself in the heart every time, Riana started having doubts over her own feelings .

Ardis is undoubtedly an important person for both herself and Fillia . However, she put it away and thought again . What is this feeling .

Her feelings for Ardis is a little different from for Fillia . What difference is there, not hearing what Karina beside was even saying at that point, Riana fell into her deep thoughts .

A few days after that . The Harvest Festival started on the day after the village had harvested all the fields .

Even though a Harvest Festival, it’s only on a scale of a village with about a hundred people . A bonfire was lit in the center of the village with villagers enjoying themselves with alcohol surrounding it .

If there was someone looking from afar, they could probably spot a bright spot in the dark forests of the Canobis . Although only a small celebration, it’s the day that everyone in the village can laugh together in the year .

Apparently the harvest this year was better, the drunk villagers was laughing loudly . Sera and the village chief sat on a special place at the plaza, while the other villagers sat around the bonfire on suitable stumps, eating and laughing, celebrating the peace of the past year .

And among those stumps, there was Riana, sipping on a light fruit cider .

「Did you refuse Deen’s invitation? 」

On the other side of Ardis beside her, Fillia asked . Riana for a moment looked at Ardis, and wordlessly shook her head .

「Fu――n . 」

Fillia didn’t seem particularly interested, as she bit on the meat in her hand . Unlike Fillia who was eating it deliciously, Riana didn’t seem particularly energetic, as Ardis put his hand on Riana’s head and started patting .

Not minding her hair becoming a mess, Riana indulged herself in the violent pat . Until few days ago, Riana didn’t realize . The only one that she allowed doing so was Ardis only .

Other people had patted her head before . Nere, Kyrill and even the female magician that visited the house before did so .

However, Kyrill or Nere wouldn’t do it so roughly and always patted her gently . There’re no cases of her hair getting messy because of them .

Even if it was Nere or Kyrill, she would probably shake them off if they roughed her hair .

As for the red-haired female magician, she didn’t stop at just patting her, she even hugged her and rubbed her cheeks on her, honestly, it was an utmost troublesome matter for Riana .

When the magician was pouting after getting called out by Ardis, she naturally didn’t feel disappointed . As for the accompanying big man with a scary face, or the sarcastic looking man, she wouldn’t even think of getting close .

Ardis is special . The more she recalled Karina’s question, the more Riana became self-aware .

However, she still didn’t know whether it is 『A different like than the normal like』 that Karina said . Just that undoubtedly, she felt that her place was beside Ardis .

This place is for her to be herself, and also the only thing that allowed both herself and Fillia to live as themselves, Riana only realized this after so long .