Let's go our separate ways

Part 60

Like that, the days pass by quickly.

It's been 14 days since Flos gifted Scale a sunflower seed that requires him to make it bathe in the moonlight at night and hand it back to Flos in the morning. How long will Flos have to wait until Scale is free enough for them to finally have a date?

It's not like Flos is being impatient for the date, it's just that: she thinks Scale is getting too busy. He needs time to rest too, or else he might... Well, Scale might not collapse nor lose his temper. So, Flos figures Scale will still be fine because of his power even though Flos thinks he is overworked.

Even Rhythm thinks so too!

"Since you no longer have a reason to visit Scale at His Majesty's office, you don't know what he is so busy with, do you?" Rhythm asks Flos, as they are laying around the lounge whilst waiting for dinner to be served

"He says it's mostly paperwork with a couple of field inspections," Flos turns her eyes to look at the pouch containing sunflower seed that she raises up in her hand, "Because he doesn't have a fixed schedule, when he will be in the office or when he is outside, he doesn't want me to make a futile trip to the King's office to not find him," and repeats the incident on the 1st day after the heavy rain

"What if he is cheating on you with this excuse?" suddenly having the will to gossip, Rhythm spouts nonsense

"Cheating on me with work?" Flos rolls her eyes, even though Rhythm can't see it since she is not facing him, and he can't exactly see clearly from where he is laying, "It's OK as long as I get all the money from that cheating,"

Rhythm hears and bursts out laughing. He laughs so much that he ends up rolling down from the couch.

Rendered breathless, Rhythm loses all his strength to pull himself up back on the couch. Flos is quite serious about what she said, and that's what Rhythm finds hilarious. Poor Scale, money is more important than him.

It's not that Rhythm disapproves of Flos's choice. He will also pick money over someone too. In a relationship, that is. If it's about a life and death situation, Rhythm will naturally pick someone over money. However, in this age of peace, Rhythm will not need to make such a choice.

Flos sits up on the couch to stare at the immobile body of her childhood friend on the floor, asking a question, "When do you think we will finish revamping the gardens in the Castle?"

"Soon enough, I guess," Rhythm recalls the map of the Castle and the spots where they have worked and the places where they have to work on, "After the Castle, we will be working on the Academy next,"

"The Academy..." Flos doesn't know much about it, but that's a place for children to study, right?

"I think we will start working when the Academy is still closed," Rhythm says, actually haven't finished his words before getting interrupted by Flos's surprised squeak, "Closed?!"

"Closed for the change of semester, yes," Rhythm laboriously turns his head to face Flos, since he has the breath to talk but not to move yet, "Not so unexpected that you know nothing about it,"

"I'm more surprised that you know something about it," Flos retorts, thinking that both of them have nothing to do with the Academy

"Well, Her Majesty the Queen is the Headmaster of the Academy, so I know it from hearing her words when we discussed the plans after revamping the Castle," Rhythm cheats on his knowledge to get several steps ahead of Flos, and he acknowledges it gallantly

Oh, yeah. Flos just remembered that she should have known about this too. After all, it was after the depressing incident, Queen Viola's supposed death, that the bane of her existence came to the Capital to attend the Academy as a new student.