Chapter 9

Wilhelm and Celestine headed out. Tepht and the rest, including Runa waved at them as they leave the store.

The two reached the gates and heard the guards chortling as they walked through the exit.

"Good luck young lady! Smash the numb skull if you have to!"

They cheered as the two reached a yard away from them.

Celestine giggled and waved at them while Wilhelm was left hanging, he didn't understand their short interaction.

Wilhelm was walking ahead of Celestine, pacing about a small distance ahead. He would gradually take a glance at her to know if she was catching up. After reaching a certain distance Wilhelm suggesteg to use teleportation so that they'd be back to his house as soon as possible but Celestine refused him stubbornly.

"I'll use teleportation so we can arrive back as soon as possible."

"Can't we just walk?"

"Walking would take us about thirty minutes before reaching the house--"

"Then that's settled, let's walk." She smiled.

"You're seriously going to make me walk? I need to have some rest you know,"

Celestine reached his hand. As she grasped his hand she could tell that it was bigger, slender, and warmer compared to her hand. A man's hand. She was making her moves. She could feel her finger being slightly moist. She was nervous, her heart was thumping and her face was getting hotter by the second.

"A walk." The way she talk sounded like she's not on the verge of squirming.

She insisted on having a walk, a night stroll, just the two of them. They never got the chance to have a night walk in the past, it was an opportunity Celestine would never miss. Although, it was pretty bold of her to suddenly hold his hand. Not that he doesn't like it though.

". . . .Fine." Wilhelm gave up and agreed with her.

He knew well that she'd keep insisting. He gently gripped her hand in return. Celestine's face was slowly turning bright pink. She didn't expect him to hold her hand as well, she clearly thought that he'd just let her hold his hand without him doing anything. He was being honest now that it was just the two of them...

The moon is peeking behind the clouds. The wind breeze is cold, enough to make people shiver but they aren't affected because of their cloaks. They were rather feeling warm because of their hands being locked to each other. Their thoughts were clouded as they did not know what to do next, thus they continued with the walk as they held hands along the way.

Wilhelm tried to cover his flustered face looking away from her as much as he could and Celestine was facing the ground trying to hide her flustered face. It was pretty awkward for them. Celestine's heart was pumping wildly as if her chest was about to go crazy, the same goes with Wilhelm. His mind was in the state of oblivion. Such innocence they possess.

Celestine noticed the shadows underneath took a glance above, her eyes were directed to the moon that cast it. The moon was shining brightly and the moonlight brightened the place. It was a beautiful sight to see. She stopped walking, and Wilhelm felt the sudden stop in motion.

"Hey, the moon is pretty here in Reolona is it not?" She said as she admired its beauty.

Wilhelm glanced at the sky, he couldn't help but compare the heavens with the woman that was standing next to him. He knows too well that Celestine was beautiful but now that he took a better look at her, she became more beautiful the more that he keeps his eyes at her.

She was just beautiful, much more beautiful than anything he had seen so far. It must be the effects after the confession she made earlier. Wilhelm became aware of her; of her feelings, and how he feels for the girl. He wanted to tell her she was beautiful but the words were stuck inside his thoughts. Like a phenomenon that was new to him, something he couldn't fully comprehend. It was as if nature wanted him to complement Celestine.

Those eyes that reflected the twinkles of the stars and the dim glow of the moonlight. Her eyes looked like Sapphires dwelling inside the human flesh, her golden hair was highlighted as she gives a mesmerized look as she was glancing through the sky.

"Beautiful..." He whispered, a slip of tongue.

Celestine didn't catch what he whispered.

"Hm? Did you say something?" She asked.

Wilhelm covered his mouth with his other hand and quickly averted avoiding eye contact with her.

"I-it's nothing."

"Was it about me?"

"N-no..! Why would I say something about you?"

Celestine teased him as she caught his face blushing.

"Oh really? I'm pretty sure it was about me though. There's no need to hide it from me, Mr. Tomato."

"I'm not blushing!"

She smiles at him mischievously.

"I never said about you blushing"

"You're such an annoying woman..!"

Celestine smiled and laughed at him joyfully.

He pulled her towards him, his hand holding her left arm while the other was placed at the corner of her waist. With her unfair breathtaking smile Wilhelm couldn't get a grip of himself. He had the urge of wanting to kiss her.

He was staring straight into her eyes, his eyes were genuinely honest at the moment, showing his manly desire.

Celestine was staring back at his eyes. Her heart skipped a beat the moment he pulled her, she was overloaded by thoughts, and her inside felt messy by the thought of them kissing. They were about to and the idea made a nerve-racking feeling inside her.

She could feel his heart beating fast as she placed her right hand on his chest, he was feeling the same way as she was. But, Wilhelm stopped himself.

It was too aggressive for him to steal a kiss from her, it was improper thus he pulled himself away. Although you could say that he chickened out, you can't blame the guy he never experienced the things he is going through at the moment, everything is new to him, to them.

"D-don't tease me! Or else!"

A harmless threat for him it is to have a decent excuse for stopping the moment.

Celestine defended herself by slightly pushing his chest but she really would've loved it if he continued. It was such a waste.

"The next time you make fun of me I'll seriously... I'll seriously..."

He wanted to add the 'kiss you' at the end but he was at his limit of being embarrassed.

"You'll seriously what?" She was intentionally taunting the man.

"You don't want to know..!!"

Wilhelm picked up their pace and walked a bit faster. He was being bashful of what he did; of his desires. It's only when Celestine is around that he acts out of character. He doesn't know why but whenever she's around, he can feel his heart beating. It makes him feel alive. Whenever she's near he would feel a touch of joy.

He wonders when it started but clearly, he didn't know. He just got entangled by her entire being along the way. He could lie to himself or fool himself but it won't change the fact that Celestine had been a part of his life.

He would think of her from time to time and sometimes wanted to be with her when she was not beside him. He wanted her presence with him and make him do things out of his will. He wants to share moments with her but he's too afraid to be honest with himself thus he sometimes contradicts his words and his actions.

Celestine on the other knew that he couldn't be honest with his feelings, to her that is. Now that she knew about how he thought of her it made her want to laugh at him as she remembered how he would sometimes act stingy and rude towards her.

She only then realized that Wilhelm only acts like that when she's around. He would only show his stubborn and dishonest self to her, it made her happy. All her first moves back at their academy days paid off.

They were quiet as they reached the house.

"When are you going to release my hand?" Celestine asked.

Wilhelm never let go of her hand the moment it grabbed her. He unconsciously held it until they reached his house. He quickly withdraws his hands.

"Do you perhaps want to hold it for a bit longer?" And more teasing for Wilhelm.

"As if..! It was just.. uhm... I just forgot to let go of it..! And weren't you the one to hold my hands first..?"

"Oh did I? I don't remember."

"Yes, you did..."

"Okay...?"

"Tch, Anyways, I'll guide you to your room..!"

They climbed upstairs. There were four rooms upstairs, Wilhelm offered her the other room next to Runa's room, the furthest one. There's also a vacant room next to his but he decided to put her far away from his room.

"I want this room" she pointed at Runa's room.

"That's Runa's room, you can't use that." He informed her.

Celestine wants the room next to Wilhelm but knowing that someone already used it made her raise a brow at him.

"Then the other one next to your room."

"It still hasn't been cleaned yet." A lie.

"We can just clean it right now."

Celestine insisted and tried to open the door but Wilhelm stopped her by pulling it open so that she wouldn't see that the room she was trying to get in was already clean.

"Why do you insist that I'll use the furthest room?!" She demanded an explanation.

"Because I'm the owner of the house! I can decide where to put the guests!"

"Oh?! So you wanted to keep 'her' close to your room while you put me far away from yours?!"

"Stop being a stubborn woman! You know that's not the case!"

"This room is vacant is it not?!"

"But it still hasn't been cleaned yet!"

"I already told you that we can just clean it!"

"Argh, fine, fine, wait downstairs I'll clean it!"

"You? No, no, no. I said 'we' have I not?"

"Shouldn't you be grateful that you won't be cleaning?! What's wrong with you?!"

"Nothing is wrong with me! What's wrong with you?!"

"This isn't going anywhere!"

"Then let go of the door!"

"God! Can't you just listen to me? Just wait downstairs!"

"You're pissing me off! Get your hands off the door right now!"

"I'm the owner of the house am I not?!"

"It doesn't matter since I'll be cleaning the room! You should be grateful!"

"You're so stubborn!"

"Fine!" Celestine let go of the door.

"Phew~ Finally... Why do you have to be so stubborn? Sigh, wait downstairs it won't take long and have some of these as you wait. I'll call you if I'm done."

Wilhelm released his hand from the knob, Celestine saw the opportunity and quickly pushed the door open but Wilhelm was fast enough to have his hands grip the knob back. Celestine scowls at him.

"You're so predictable in this matter... Have some of these for now."

Wilhelm pulled out a bag of chocolates out of nowhere and gently threw it at Celestine.

"T-these are... Chocolates?"

"Yeah, you can eat those while waiting for me downstairs."

"But I thought you don't like sweets? Why do you have some in your space box?"

"Stop asking questions and wait for me downstairs will you?"

"Alright"

Celestine began to act obedient. The mood-swing swung very fast in the presence of sweets. Celestine likes sweets such as chocolates and cookies since Wilhelm just gave her a bag of chocolate to enjoy her eyes were excited thus she didn't argue anymore and went downstairs to stuff her belly.

Wilhelm stayed upstairs and rearranged the room, it was already clean in the first place therefore he just moved some of the furniture around. Then he called her out.

"It's done. Also, I've bought you clothes, use them."

"Eh?"

"I bought you clothes...? Just in case, why?"

Celestine laughed as she figured things out he already planned things through and was prepared for her visit,

"Nothing... Thank you~"

"Y-you're welcome... Goodnight..."

Those small words made him blush, he had received a lot of thanks from the people around him but Celestine saying those words really hit different.

He hurriedly walked downstairs and went inside his study and started reading books so that he could diverge himself from what he was reading but Celestine's image would pop up each time he finished a sentence.

"Have I finally lost it? This is why I don't want to get involved with that woman... Ugh, I think my mind needs therapy, she's been the only person that keeps popping in my head the entire day. I need to focus..."

There was a knock sound as Celestine entered the room.

"You're still not going to sleep?" Celestine asked as she walked towards the sofa.

"No, I'm still reading"

"Can you tell me about it?"

"Hmm, alright"

Celestine had always admired how Wilhelm reads books, it's as if his entire being is focused on the book he reads. Those long eyelashes and sharp jaws. The way his eyes moved as he read the words.

Back at the academy it was what caught Celestine's attention, and little did she know that she became interested in him. His soft manly voice, the sound of the pages being flipped, his inhale as he reads her the next words, and the way he pronounced them accurately with the right notations. A deep calm vibe would enveloped the room whenever he started reading.

She fell asleep before Wilhelm could even finish reading the book, Wilhelm noticed and closed the book as he returned it back to its shelf. He went to lift Celestine up. As he carried her with both arms he could smell a hint of sweet fragrance from her.

He was mindful of the scent, it made him think of making her as his body pillow. The scent she gives would make you want to sniff and cuddle her more, such a sweet fragrance she has.

He placed her on her bed and covered her with a blanket.

"I guess you're not that heavy after all..." He mumbled.

She was giving a happy and comfy face. Wilhelm stroked the hair that was on her face. She was beautiful and he couldn't help but lean toward her.

Wilhelm kissed the her hair.

He was being a bit honest with his desire since Celestine was fast asleep but he quickly got a hold of himself and felt embarrassed of what he just did.

"You always make me do things out of character..."

As soon as he was about to move away from her, he found himself being hugged by the sleeping Celestine, she was pulling him in, making Wilhelm unable to resist...

He wanted to break free but forcing his way out might wake her up so he decided to wait until she loosened her hug. She was warm and soft, and her sweet fragrance made him feel drowsy, he bit his mouth to keep him awake, and Celestine murmured his name as she slept. It made him blush.

"Don't just go off and hug other people when you're asleep... Damn it... I'm also feeling a bit more sleepy than usual... huh...?"

He fell asleep. Her embrace was more effective than any sleeping incense around and for the first time after so many years, Wilhelm was finally been able to sleep without thinking of anything.

Celestine opens her eyes, she has been awake the whole time, ever since Wilhelm lifted her. She pretended to be asleep to take advantage of the moment.

She was very surprised by what she heard, she couldn't help herself pulling the act of hugging him after he had been honest during those moments wishing that time would have moved a bit more slowly than it already was.

"Cutie Tomato, Sleep well..."

It seems like a dream to her that the person she had always admired also feels the same way as her. She's very happy with how things are, it's thanks to Runa who sparked their relationship because of that girl she dared to confront and confess to him.

She's afraid of telling him how she feels back then but the fear of losing him to another woman scared her even more. Which is why she wanted to clear things up and was glad that Wilhelm didn't start falling in love with Runa.

With that being said she cuddled Wilhelm and had a comfortable sleep. At least they were a little bit honest with themselves. The fear of losing someone you love enables you to crumble the walls built by pride.