Festival

"A festival!"

It's been such a long time since I last went to a festival. It was always bustling and crowded with people, and I liked it. I loved to see the happy expressions sprawled on their faces. It reminded me of my peaceful days. All of the people here were enjoying their time, leaving behind their pain and misery for a moment. This place was like a solace to my soul.

"Do you like it?" He tilted his head to take a glimpse at my face.

I glanced at him and nodded my head gleefully. Both corners of my lips lifted upwards, "Where should we go first?"

He smiled, "Wherever you want to go."

Colorful lights festoon the whole street, illuminating the bright smiles on people's faces. We both walked along the way, looking around for anything that piqued our interests. The place was so crowded that it was kind of hard to walk without bumping into others.

"Here," he reached out his hand, "Hold my hand. I don't want you to swarm along with these people and get lost."

"I'm not a kid," I grunted, but put my hand in his anyway.

"Good girl," he laughed and patted my head softly, "Let's go eat. I'm a bit starving."

We walked to one of the less crowded food vendors on the street, as the others were too crowded and we had to queue for a long time before getting our orders.

"Welcome! What can I help you with, dear sir and madam?"

"Bring the best food you serve here," Luke ordered. The waiter nodded and scurried away to get our orders. "Do you come to festivals often?" He asked.

"Yes. I used to when I was a child with both of my parents." I smiled sourly, "I haven't come to any ever since I was locked up in the house."

He nodded with a grim expression on his face, but soon changed it to a smile, "Let's go to every coming festival together. What did you do with your parents before?"

"Hmm," I tried to recall my memories, "We ate many foods, and we always went to see the theatre if there was any in the festival."

He hummed, then the waiter came back with our orders in his hands, "Our best roast turkey, veggie salad, and a mince pie for dessert." He bowed politely, "Do you have anything else in mind?"

"No, thank you," Luke answered, and waved his hand at the waiter.

The waiter bowed once again, then left our table to serve other people. I gulped at the food in front of me, as it smelled very delectable, causing my mouth to water at the sight of it. Luke took the roasted turkey and cut it into small pieces before giving it to me.

"Eat slowly," he placed a plate full of small pieces of turkey in front of me. I thanked him and ate it to my heart's content. The meat was very tender that it melted inside of your mouth, and it was also savory. Not too salty or too bland, it was perfect.

"I should hire the cook here to be our chef along with Bob," he nodded as he took another bite of his food.

"Are you that rich, sir?" I asked him casually.

He laughed, "Of course I am. I can even buy everything in this whole town," he bragged. I looked at him with a baffled expression. I should have asked for higher pay for my salary if I knew he was that rich.

"What are you thinking?" He queried after looking at my facial expression, with one of his brows perking up.

"That I should have asked for a higher salary."

"Really?" He laughed heartily, "I didn't know you were this economical."

"Of course I am, I won't be able to live if I don't have any money on me," I claimed.

"Do you want me to raise your salary?" he offered.

"Will you, sir?" I glanced at him expectantly.

"I will, but with one condition," he smiled and I listened attentively, "I will increase your salary by one silver every time you call me by my name."

One silver just for calling his name?! It was a very tempting offer, but I was too shy to call him by his name. That's why I resorted back to calling him Sir. "No, sir. I'm not that—"

"Two silver."

"Luke," I mentally cursed myself.

He let out a soft chuckle as he stood up, "Let's go if you are finished." He paid for our meals and walked out of the vendor. I quietly followed behind and bumped into him when he stopped. He looked back at me while extending his hand outwards.

"What?" I asked.

"Hand," he reached out to me and brought my hand to his grip, "That's better," he smiled.

"Will you increase my salary too if I hold your hand?"

"No, silly," he laughed while flicking my forehead gently, "Are you going to rob me of my fortune?"

I rubbed my forehead, pouting a little in disappointment, "I doubt a little increase in my salary will hurt you, sir."

"Hm? What did you call me again?" He inquired, "I guess you don't need more money."

"Luke."

He nodded in satisfaction and started walking towards the center of the festival. "Let's see if there's a theatre here."

We walked around the festival, still hand in hand. Which was pretty awkward for me, actually. But Luke didn't seem to mind it. Instead, he seemed to be enjoying it. I really should've urged him to raise my salary for this.

At the very end of the road, there's a temporary building built for the theatre. A lot of people queued outside the entrance to get seats inside. But rather than queuing, Luke leads me straight into the door, skipping all of the people who were lining up for the tickets. A few 'Hey' were sent our way, but he didn't even give any attention to them.

"Si—Luke! We should line up too. There are a lot of people queuing," I pulled his hand slightly to stop him.

"Exactly, Violet. There are a lot of people here, so we won't get any seats if we line up too. I don't want to waste any time when I'm with you." He proceeded to walk past the people and stopped at the entry. "Sir, you should line up. The first one who arrives will get the ticket first," said the doorman.

"I will pay the price of the remaining tickets if you give me two seats now," he pulled out 10 silver coins from his pocket. "Is this enough?"

The doorman stared at him with a bewildered expression, and so did I. This man was crazy! The price of one ticket was merely ten bronze!

"Y-yes, sir. Please come in," the doorman let us in and some people complained about how unfair this was. But when the doorman explained how much Luke paid for the tickets, they all went quiet. Money really was everything, I thought.

We stepped inside the theatre and sat in our designated seats. The play soon started after all of the seats were filled. It turns out the play they will be performing was a romantic tragedy. I tried to hold my tears back but ended up bawling my eyes out.

"You cried a lot," Luke mocked while laughing.

"H-her dog died," I defended. "The dog reminded me of my friend. That's why it was twice as sad," I scoffed at him.

He stared at me with a shocked expression, "You thought of your friend as a dog?"

"Kind of," I wiped my tears away, "He is... a bit different. But I don't mind it. I have always wanted a dog." He then flicked my forehead, "Ow! What's that for, si—Luke?"

"That's for being a bad friend. I can't believe you thought of your friend as a dog," he said as he walked one step ahead of me. Why was he mad? Wolfie was a wolf, so it was pretty similar to a dog, right? Maybe he thought my friend was a human? "Let's dance," he pointed towards where people were gathered to dance to the music.

This man looked annoyed just a few seconds ago and now he wanted to dance?

"I-I can't dance," I didn't want to embarrass myself by dancing like a douche.

"I'll give you one gold," he said, and I couldn't help but say yes to it. 

"Where should we dance, si—Luke?" I need money more than my pride right now.

He smiled at me and dragged me to the place he pointed at before. He held my waist with one of his hands, and used the other to clasp my free hand with his. Are we really slow dancing in the middle of the festival?

"Are you sure, si—Luke? I don't think others dance this way here." I glanced at the people around us who were dancing freely, bumping their heads up and down.

"I don't care about others, Violet. I only care about you."

My cheeks warmed up at his words and also at our position. Our bodies brushed ever so slightly at the distance we were in. I pushed my body away from him, but then he tightened his grip on my waist and brought me even closer to his body.

"We are not done yet, Vi," he leaned down and whispered, causing his soft breath to tickle my ear.

"S-sir!" I pushed him away with a bigger force than before, breaking the closeness of our bodies, "P-please don't do that!"

"Why?" he blew a soft wind into my ear for the second time, "Does it tickle?"

I realized that this man really enjoyed embarrassing others. "N-no, it doesn't," I lied and turned away from him. My cheeks were burning, and I was not sure what kind of expression I had on my face now.

He laughed, "Wait here for a moment, okay? I need to go somewhere for a bit," he said as he turned my body to him.

I nodded eagerly and felt relieved when he left me alone. I needed a moment to calm myself down and for my cheeks to turn back to normal. Why was he embarrassing me? I cupped both of my cheeks, trying to hide my red cheeks from others. I stood there alone for a few minutes before I felt someone hugging me from behind.