Rejection.

At Mary's house.

 Clink,

While Ren and Mary were engaged in some kind of conversation, Mrs. Marilyn brought snacks for both of them and placed them on top of the table.

"Ruu made these cookies especially for you."Marylin said,she made some heart shaped cookies for Ren to enjoy,

" Really? Thank you, Mrs. Marilyn."Ren said, he still addressed her politely even after what happened at the doorstep,

"Have fun."Mrs. Marilyn left the room, leaving Mary and Ren alone.

"How is your training going?"But since Ren was used to being with Mary all the time, he didn't mind it at all.

So we started the conversation first.

"It's great! What about you? Did your element manifest?"Mary asked, like she said Ren's element isn't awakened till now,his father says that he is a late bloomer,

"No, but I think it will manifest soon."Ren Said, he tried to show away this topic since he doesn't like talking about it,

"I wonder what Ren's element will be; I hope it will be the same as mine."Mary said as she imagined something up her head,

"Mary, you have the Aqua element, right?"Ren asked, Mary can control the aquatic element,

"Yep, same as my father and 'that' guy."Mary responded,

When Mary mentioned the person called "that guy," she meant about the boy she met in last year's elementary level swordsmanship competition, which was organized in Sephra.

The name of the boy was "Adam Stales," and he was a commoner just like Mary and Ren. Adam came from a rural place and is from a humble background.

This blond kid was the one who defeated Mary in the final round of the competition and became her rival from that day. Adam left a large impact on Mary's life, who is considered a genius for her age.

From then on, Mary sees Adam Stales as her rival and strongly believes that she must defeat him to be able to become the strongest swordsman in the kingdom.

Mary is working hard to catch up to him, but whenever Mary talks about Adam,

Ren's heart aches so much that today he thought about ending this all together.

"Hey Mary, let's go to the park."Ren said as he stood up,he looked like he was fed up with something

"Why?"Mary tilted her head in confusion and asked for the reason.

"Please, I want to tell you something."Ren didn't answer her but kept urging,

Sigh

"Fine."Mary sighed but agreed,

"Thank you!"Ren showed gratitude as a smile appeared on his face,

Thump,

Seeing Ren get happy just because she accepted his request made Mary feel some different kind of emotion, and this is not the first time this has happened whenever she sees Ren happy about something.

Mary feels this hazy feeling inside her heart grow, but she doesn't know what to call it.

.

.

.

After finishing snacks, they walked towards the park and entered it.

"Hey, why don't you sit on that swing there?"Ren suggests,

"I'm not a kid anymore, so just tell me what you have to say."Mary directly gets straight to the point, Ren urges Mary to sit on the swing, she rejects the proposal, and Ren makes an extremely hurt expression.

"Ha! can't be helped."saying this, Mary then walked past Ren, sat on the swing, and started swinging back and forth slowly.

"Thanks."Ren thanks her,

"Now tell me what this is all about."Getting impatient, Mary asked the reason behind coming to this park where they used to play when they were kids.

 Fuuu

"Mary Kleine, I love you!"Ren shouted these words,this has his reason to come to the park all along,he just can't sit like this when Mary talks about other guys in front of him.

Thudd

Mary fell backward from the swing because she was too shocked by Ren's sudden confession.

"What- what do you mean?"Mary was having problems with getting words out of her lips,

"I-I mean, from the first time we met in this park till today, I have always loved you, not as a friend but as a girl so-and-s."Ren started explaining to her what he meant,

"Stop, just give me some time."Mary brought her palm on Ren's mouth and covered it so he no longer can speak

"Huh"Ren was baffled by her course of action,

"So you are telling me that you love me and you want to marry me."Mary asked as she slowly removed her hands,

"Yes."Ren's immediate response startled Mary, but soon she regained her composure.

" Ren, I am so sorry, but I can't accept this confession."Mary world dropped like a bomb and,

"Why, do you not like me?"Ren was visibly panicking as sweat beads streamed down his forehead,

"It's not that; I see you as a good friend and think you are cute when you get jealous of me, but I don't think I like you in that way. So I am sorry."Mary explained,she said that she doesn't hate Ren but cannot see him in a different light than a mere childhood friend,

" "

" "

Soon silence befell them, making this situation more awkward for both of them.

"Fine."Ren then curled his fist, breathed deeply, and spoke to break the silence.

Shock

"You are fine with it?"Mary was shocked when she thought that Ren had accepted her decision.

"Of course not! but now you know my feelings for you, so I can do something about it."Ren said,what does he mean by doing something?

"What do you mean by that?"Mary is not getting the point, which is why she asked in a confused manner.

"Mary Kleine, I, Ren Hilton, will make you fall in love with me."Ren declared these words,he sounded so confident that it even embarrassed him that he said those words so openly,soon his face picked up a crimson shade,

Ren ran out of the park without looking back at Mary at full speed.

.

.

.

Inside the park

Chuckle.

Seeing Ren say something like that, Mary thought

"Ren is dumb, but he is also cute."Mary said,she was not happy when Ren said that he is fine with her decision like she was expecting him to retaliate,But Ren declared that he wouldn't stop here, Mary for some reason felt reassured in her heart.

"What would happen if I accept it?" Mary felt empty from inside when she rejected Ren so blatantly.

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In Mary's house.

Marilyn and her daughter were sitting at the table, and Mary told her mother about the event that happened in the park without leaving anything.

When Marilyn heard about her daughter's rejection of Ren, she was utterly disappointed in her, but when she heard about Ren's declaration to make her daughter fall in love with him, she felt proud of Ren.

"Now Mary, look at me, and tell me why you rejected Ruu."Marylin asked,

"I told you because-" Mary tried to reason with her mother but,

"Not that bullshit; tell me the truth."This time Marilyn cut her in mid-sentence and spoke in a rather harsh tone since she didn't like the fact that Mary rejected Ren with a fake reason like,

(I can't see you as anything other than a friend.)

So Marilyn wanted to know why her little Ren was rejected by Mary.

"No, that's the reason."Mary was still stuck on it,

"Is it because of that blonde kid you met last year in the competition?"Marylin asked, and she was correct,

Nod, nod.

This time Mary didn't answer; she just nodded her head in acceptance and kept her head down.

"Is he more important than Ren?" Marylin asked with visible sadness in her eyes,

"Mom Ren is a good guy, and I know that, but I must defeat Adam and become a great swordsman, so then I can achieve my father's dream."When Mary said this, she looked up and stared into her mother's eyes, not breaking the eye contact this time.

Sigh

Marilyn sighed inwardly after seeing her daughter and asked:

"Mary, dear, if the time comes when you have to choose between that blonde kid and Ren, whom would you choose?" Marylin's question was right,

" "Mary didn't answer and just went silent like this

"You don't even know your own feelings; what will happen if Ren leaves you for someone else?"Marylin was worried that her daughter might lose the only friend she has,

"That won't happen."Mary answered with confidence and showed a toothy smile.

"Why do you say that?"Marylin asked her daughter,she wants to know the reason why her daughter is so confident about this,

"Because Ren loves me so much that he can't live without me."Mary said in a very leisurely manner, quite cheekily.

When Marilyn heard her daughter, a vein popped on her head, which she then warned her daughter about,"Mary, let me warn you not to hurt Ruu's emotions." Suddenly the room temperature dropped a few degrees,

"You don't have to worry about that because, even if I did, I know he will come back to me."Mary said, for her Ren was someone who would never leave her even if made a mistake,

"Haa, just remember, don't hurt Ruu's emotions."Marylin didn't agree with her and repeated her warning,she doesn't want her Ruu~ to be hurt,

"I'll keep that in mind."Mary said,

Then Marilyn looked at Mary for a second and left the room.

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In a dark room, a dark-haired boy was laying on his bed like there was no soul left in him.

"She really rejected me."Ren said, rejection was never a possibility in his mind,he never considered that she would reject him.

"I think I was the only one who thought I was special to her."Ren thought that he was delusional, the feelings were never mutual,

He was shaken to the core by Mary's rejection.

When he got home he just ran upstairs to his room,his face was a whole mess with dried tear marks,he cried for like hours.

Even if Ren successfully held it in front of Mary and made that last bold statement.

"But I will definitely make her fall for me."

Thinking so, Ren fell asleep.

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