A Tale of the Gale

Chapter VI

"Ryuu-san?" Bell whispered, bringing his mouth closer to the door.

The elf, who was laying flat on her stomach in her bed, jumped out of her bed when she recognised the voice. Her heartbeat shot up through the roof and her breathing started to get heavy. Panic was written all over her face as her brain jumped through hoops trying to decide what she should do next.

"Don't come in, Bell!" she shouted, to buy herself some time.

The garment she had on was a short pink dress that didn't even reach halfway to her knees. The spaghetti straps dug into her shoulders as she hurriedly shifted through her wardrobe trying to find something appropriate to wear before opening the door. She could have put on her regular maid's outfit, which was the first dress she saw in her closet, but something inside her was telling her to put on something more special. She stopped at a black dress and pulled it out. It would cover her knees and the sleeves would go halfway past her arms. She quickly changed into the black dress and buttoned up all the way to her neck. Then she glided towards the mirror and straightened out her hair. She gave her blonde locks a final fluff and stood up straight. The lower half of her dress flared multiple times as the speed at which she was moving was truly fitting for someone who was titled "The Gale Wind".

"Can I come in now, Ryuu-san?" inquired Bell, in a low voice.

"Not yet!" came a shout from behind the door. "I-I-I'm in the middle of-of cleaning my wounds. I cut myself in the kitchen earlier today." she scrambled, while cursing herself for coming up with such a stupid excuse.

Bell came to the conclusion that she wasn't ready to see him yet.

"Then take your time. We can talk tomorr-"

"NO! I'll be out in a moment!" came a firm shout from behind the door, before the door started to slowly open.

Bell's voice was stuck in his throat as whatever he had prepared to say to the elf floated away into oblivion as he laid his eyes on the blonde elf. Her pale white skin contrasting with the black dress that she had worn made her look even more enchanting. Her pointy ears were a shade of red and surrounded by blonde locks of elven hair, they looked even more enticing to the white haired boy. The cat person hadn't lied when he had said that Bell was obsessed with the elf's ears. He noticed that her hair had grown longer and came down well past her shoulders. This wasn't an elf who was trying to hide her identity. This wasn't an elf who was so ashamed of her past that she couldn't care less about herself. This was an elf who was looking ahead to the future. And to Bell, she looked even more brighter!

The elf gently tucked a few locks of her hair behind her long pointed ears as she stepped to one side of the open door, "Please come in."

It took Bell a moment to register what she had said before he broke out of the spell that this fairy had cast on him.

"Pardon me for the intrusion." he said, as he stepped into the elf's chamber.

"Don't worry. It's not like it's the first time you have been in my room." replied the elf, remembering the time she had offered the boy to sleep next to her in her room as an apology.

Remembering back to that time caused her ears to turn red and as if the boy was also thinking the same thing, his cheeks flushed as well. She inwardly cursed herself for trusting Syr's words that time and cursed herself for her lack of knowledge of human practices.

The two made their way to the bed and sat next to each other at the foot of the bed. Both had their eyes cast downwards. The boy was trying to regain his composure and recollect his thoughts. He knew that one glance at her would turn him into mush so he used all of his Level 5 strength and the training that he had received from Master Hedin to reset himself. The girl was avoiding looking up at him for entirely different reasons. This was her moment of truth. Should she let the boy give her an answer to her proposal or should she play down her proposal like it was something that she said in the heat of the moment and she actually didn't feel about him that way? But wouldn't that be cruel to the boy? Cruel to herself? Cruel to the person that he admired? She steeled her will.