Celebration 3

-'Are you feeling okay, Lady Milim?' she asked

-'Ah...what?' the Demon Lord was caught off guard by that; why was she worried about her? Nobody ever actually worried about her. On the other hand, Shuna was looking at her with even more concern

-'I saw you leave in a hurry, and I though something bad might have happened with Sir Rimuru...' she said as she walked into the room while Milim took a few steps back in. The smaller girl tried to avoid looking at her and come up with an excuse

-'Ah, ha ha ha, of course not!' she tried to lie and hide all her emotions 'why, why would I...' however, she was stopped when Shuna placed a gentle hand on her shoulder and asked with a smile

-'Please, you don't need to hide' the ogress said. Now, Milim was seriously at a loss; she had never actually had to try and explain something like this; she wasn't even sure if she wanted too...but Shuna's reassuring smile stopped her from running away and seemed to calm her turmoiling mind a little, enough that she made the decision. That she could, just maybe, figure this out.

And so she spent the next few hours explaining everything she felt about the leader of Tempest; she began ranting for a bit and went off topic, but Shuna didn't stop her and simply listened. The ogress had always liked the small dragonoid, and was convinced that despite her power she was no different from any other person and, with the proper guidance, would become much better adjusted. She was pleased to see her becoming more considerate and mature as the weeks went by. So she listened.

Eventually, Milim finished her rant, putting all her feelings for Rimuru out in the open. She felt her face was ready to melt away from how embarrassed she was and looked at everything but the other girl, who only started at her. After a while, she heard her sigh

-'You don't need to be scared, Lady Milim.' she told her gently 'I'm sure that if you talk to him, you'll feel better. Talking is always better than bottling it in, no matter what the feeling is.'

Milim considered carefully what she said. She mostly agreed that talking was better, but how would she even start? As if reading her mind, Shuna continued 'How or when, I don't know...But if you don't, you'll just feel even worse, won't you?' Milim could only nod and sigh, plopping herself backwards onto the bed.

-'I'm sure someone like you would do it easily...' she said slowly

-'Ha ha, you think? I'm not so sure...' Shuna dismissed, looking a bit sad herself. Milim decided to ask something else

-'Would it really be okay, though? I mean, for me to...er...' she stuttered

-'Ah, why not? No one in Tempest would object!' Shuna reassured her

-'What about...er, you?' at that, Shuna had a small, barley noticeable blush appear on her face

-'Ah, ha ha...no no, it's not like that...it's... I'm more of a...I really don't...' she too stuttered for a while but quickly regained her composure 'What I want the most is for Lord Rimuru to be happy. If he is...I could not possibly be mad. Why would I be here otherwise? I had some suspicions, after all...' she told her with a light teasing smile. Milim began to panic

-'What?! You did?! But HOW?!' she shouted, but in a flash Shuna had gotten up and began moving towards the door 'Hey, answer me!' she screamed after her as Shuna stepped through the door, only stopping to offer one last supportive smile, then left. Milim felt like throwing something into the door after her, like the bed, but settled on a pillow.

The middle of autumn was also the end of the harvest season, and Tempest was about to have its very first come to and end; it was, by all accounts, a major success, and so the citizens of Tempest, at Rimuru's suggestion, were preparing a festival that their leader hopped would become a yearly thing, a holiday they would all have to look forward too. One more thing to keep the sense of community they had built.

With the preparations for that underway, Rimuru had become quite a bit more busy, though not only because of it. A few days after the Charybdis battle, Demon Lord Carrion, as promised, had send an envoy. To his surprise, it was Phobio, but this time he was very courteous and friendly; in fact, he felt almost like a completely different person. He didn't knew what his punishment was, but a quick conversation later he learned that Phobio had volunteered for the mission, so the fact that Carrion had allowed it meant he was satisfied.

The beastman had come with a letter from the Beastmaster, asking Tempest to send a delegation to Eurazania, while he would in turn send one to them. He decided on a date, then sent Phobio off with the assurance that he held no grudge at all; the beastman had offered a genuine smile at that, then was gone. So now they had far more than just the festival to work for; they would need to prepare to host the envoys of a different nation, and this time it would not be some ad-hoc meeting like when king Gazel invited himself over. This was official.

Around the same time, King Gazel, had sent an invitation, formally inviting Rimuru to come to Dwargo as the Chancellor of Tempest; he was, apparently, to be given the royal treatment (which he supposed he was), which did absolutely nothing to calm his nerves. He once again tanked the heavens slimes didn't have hearts, because he was sure his would give in to the stress. But, he was committed, so he pushed on.

Speaking of hearts, his metaphorical one was still in turmoil, ever since his epiphany on his feelings for their dragonoid guests. He wondered just what, if anything, he should do and just came blank. For a weak now, he tried burying himself in work and other activities to see if he could get his mind off of her, but could not. Especially since he still was, technically, the once in charge of handling her, so it wasn't like he could avoid her. A small mercy was that their interaction didn't seem to change much, if at all; she was sill hyper excitable about everything, and he was still trying to direct her from causing any damage. Of course, by now it was more of a running joke; he was very confident that she would not break anything important, and now that he had somewhat accepted how he felt he found himself enjoin her presence and even looking forward- if just a little- to her antics. Even in his past life, he had always had a more childish side to himself, playing videos games with his nephews, reading manga, and generally goofing off when he had free time. This was basically more of the same to him. It felt nostalgic and he was thankful.

However, he did feel something was a little off with Milim; what, he could't tell, but she was just slightly less selfish and childish, something which he was also thankful for. She had also completely ignored the whole 'hug incident', continuing as usual the next day as if nothing had happen; a few times, however, she looked like she really wanted to say something, but always changed her mind and tried to change the subject. Somewhere deep in his metaphorical heart, he dared to hope she wanted to say she liked him back...'Ha ha, fat chance, Rimuru!' he mocked himself over.

And so the days carried on, and the harvest festival was now here.

Rimuru stepped out from his office with Shion, wearing a simple outfit of white pants and a blue hoodie, having decided against some fancy formal wear. He also decided against some grand speech or ceremony; he just told everyone to have a good time and be merry, because that was what this festival was about.

As he and Shion entered the main hall, he was suddenly assaulted.

-'Rimuruuuu!' Milim's voice rang out as she rushed into the hall, followed closely by Shuna 'How do I look?' she eagerly asked.

Rimuru once again thanked his lucky stars for slime biology; Milim's outfit was nothing fancy, just a simple red yukata, and her hair was loose. But it was probably the best she had ever looked since arriving in Tempest, at least he certainly though so. Speaking of Rimuru's thoughts

'Ahhhh! NO, that is way to freaking cute! NO! Why are you doing this to me?!' trying really hard to not freak out, he ordered Great Sage to control his face and keep it from exploding red, and cast a quick glance at Shuna, who was wearing a small wry smile 'SHUNAAAA! he wanted to shout at the ogress; he didn't have any proof, but he was sure she at least suspected something, since he caught her giving him several weird glances whenever he was with Milim.

-'You look really great, Milim.' he complimented her while suppressing his other opinions. Milim had a small blush appear on her face as she looked away

-'Eh he, thank you...' but as usual, she was quick to perk back up, grabbing his hand and dragging him out through the door 'Let's gooooo!' Deciding that it would do no one any good to dwell on the situation, he decided to let her.

Outside, the citizens of Tempest were bustling in the streets, lamps overhanded from most buildings and various treats and drinks were served in stalls. Sweet aromas lingered in the air. Before anything else, he was accosted by his councilors and forced to give a speech after all. Everyone was gathered together in the main square and was looking at him on the platform they had set up for such occasions. He decided to have some fun with it, and told everyone to get a glass of something to drink. He himself had poured himself a glass of the new brandy he had created.

Once everyone was there, he signaled them to be quite; they instantly obeyed.

-'I won't bore you with something long and boring' he told them honestly 'This day, this festival, is not for that kind of thing. This day is for us to come together and have fun! Nothing else. Its the time of the year when we stop to celebrate our long year of work and toil and enjoy the fruits of our labor. So for another productive and happy year...' he raised his glass high 'Cheers! For Tempest!' and downed the glass. Everyone in the crowd cheered and repeated his words and drank.

And so the festival began in full swing. Just like he had hopped, fun and joy filled the streets; it was the start of a tradition that would carry on through the entire history of Tempest, he realized, but for now Rimuru was busy enjoying every moment of the festivities. He would leave future problems for future him.

As night dragged on, the festivities didn't show any sign of slowing down; in fact, the night just seemed to make everything go into overdrive. He had never said just how long the festival should last, so he just decided to let the people's stamina run its course; he was talking about monsters, of course, so that made things difficult to judge how long it would take, but he let it be for now.

Eventually, however, he decided he really should step back a bit and make sure no one was going too far; as much as he didn't want to, he left Milim with Shuna and began making the rounds. He stopped at nearly every corner, talking with his people and listening away at the various conversations. It dawned on him that he didn't even let a few good hours pass before he got back to work, but oh well. He enjoyed this just as much. Mostly. After a while, he decided it was time to check up on a special project he had Vesta and Gabiru work on...

He found the pair a bit outside of the city with a group of dragon-newt carrying some boxes; he smiled at the though of his scheme as he approached them

-'Everything set?' he asked Vesta, who shot him back a smile

-'Oh, yes sir!' he sounded more exited than him 'I have the supreme confidence you'll be very pleased!'

-'Ha ha, indeed!' Gabiru exclaimed 'It will be the greatest show you have ever witnessed! Leave it to us!'

-'I'm counting on you.' he told them and walked back into the city, grinning. He could't wait to see the look on everyone's faces. He made his way to the top of the main government building, sat down over the edge and waited. He looked up at the starry night, and really came to appreciate their beauty for real as he smiled.

-'I told you they were pretty!' he was startled by a voice; turning to look behind him, he saw Milim floating down with a smug look of 'I told you so!' he smiled back

-'Yes, yes, you did...' he admitted, thinking back at the time she first arrived; he also tried really hard to suppress any blush that would appear as he though of how the discussion she mentioned happened while she was completely naked with him in the hot bath. 'Don't think about it, don't think about it, don't think...I though about it, dangit!' he tried and failed to not go back to that image.

'Hey, you okay?' Milim asked as she plopped herself down next to him 'You look a bit...off...' she asked with eyes full of worry.

'Well I sure as hell can't tell her WHY I'm off...' Rimuru though to himself, and tried to make up a story that wasn't a lie. 'Ah, its just...you know...I have a lot to work on...busy, busy, busy...barley had time to enjoy the festival' it wasn't a lie, technically, just deflection, so he hoped it did the trick. He looked over at her and she seemed to want to say something. This time, however, something was different. She smiled and nodded

-'Okay.' she said gently as they locked eyes 'Can I tell you something, though?'

-'Of course.' 'What is she up to?' he wondered as she took a deep breath, looking as if she was trying to calm herself from something and contemplating how to start

-'You know...' she began 'I didn't known if I should even tell you anything...so...will you promise you won't laugh or anything?' she asked with what looked like a hint of fear in her voice. He didn't knew why she would think that, but he nodded. 'I also didn't know how to say it...I'm...usually not this hesitant, you know. My instincts are like always right, so I make quick decisions about anything I do...but now...' she began fidgeting with her hands 'I got scared...'

-'Scared of what?' he asked in worry

-'That's you'd hate me...' she answered, sounding like she wanted to cry 'but even if you do, I have to tell you...'

-'Hate you? Why...' he didn't get to say anything more though as she turned to face him fully and looked him straight in the eyes, ready to accept any answer he had.

-'I love you...'