Crush
Fily sat patiently at her usual spot at the table while I walked around.
There was no one there yet and even the maids were still busy cooking in the kitchen next door.
"Fily. Why did we come here so early?" I could not help but complain after 10 minutes of doing nothing.
I sat on my seat beside Fily, one of the two ends of the long table where Venedette used to sit whenever she's around.
The maids always led me to sit here when I eat by myself so I kind of got used to this seat but that doesn't matter much.
"Fily!!" I called to her impatiently, slightly afraid that she might go to sleep again if I let her do nothing.
"Yes?" She raised an eyebrow at me but was still patient and calm in her seat.
"I said, why did we come here so early? It's not yet even dinner time and besides, I've still got a lot to ask you, you know?" I waited for her answer impatiently but she just looked at me like I already answered my own question.
"Precisely." She laughed modestly as I pouted and slouched on my seat beside her.
"You're being mean Fily." I complained which she only shrugged off with a laugh.
After a while, the maids came inside the dining room and prepared the utensils, and then they left us again in this big space alone.
"Okay, I'll let you ask one question. Just one okay? Unrelated to the potions." Fily offered which sparked an interest in my eyes but quickly died down because of her last sentence.
"Then… Do you perhaps know about the Energy slimes inside the salamandites?" I whispered the last sentence to her and smirked when I saw her eyes widened.
"Oh my, I did not know about such a thing, why won't you tell me more, miss Gem." She said in a mocking tone which I quickly caught up to.
"You knew about it!" I pouted once again as I realized that my plan of exchanging the information that I gained from Mr. Gemini to her information of the potions went all in vain.
"Don't be sad I was just teasing you" She held my hand on the table and caressed it which made my fake anger at her subside.
"Remember when you said that healing potions could not help with your frequent brain exhaustion?" I asked her.
"Uhuh, what about it?"
"How about energy slime imbued healing potions? It managed to bring me back from death you know!"
"Shh shhh!" Fily quickly covered my mouth but I removed it easily to reason with her.
"Don't worry no one's here. See?" I took my time looking around the four corners of the dining room to help lessen her worry.
"See?" I convinced her again which ultimately worked easily.
"I'm not so sure about what you're saying." She said while playing with her index fingers, I can sense the worry that was evident in her eyes.
"Why?" I pried into her more, trying to weigh where this worry was coming from.
"B-because we have never tried it." She confessed.
Now I see why she was wary of this thought.
"Want to try it?" I raised her head with a smile, trying to erase the fear that I saw from her eyes.
"B-but."
"Shh. No buts."
"What do you mean no buts, the usable space in your necklace is limited, you know? It's just like a gadget where the system eats more than half of the storage."
"What!?" I could not believe what I was hearing.
'Is it true Mr. Gemini? That I can only use half of the infinite storage that you were talking about?'
[To be precise you could only use 20% of the storage and stored items in it as of now, master.]
"Whaaat!!???" I shouted and clumsily stood up from my chair which caused a loud bang all over the room from its fall.
"Gem..?" Fily, who was still explaining, was caught off guard by my sudden reaction.
"I-it's nothing… I just… I thought this was useful…" I stuttered my dreams of becoming the first-ever Healer in a guild slightly shattered by this revelation.
'What do I need to do in order to access the remaining storage percent?'
I need to know if my dream still has hope or not.
Please make it an easy task. Please make it an easy task.
[You need to feed me, master.]
"Gem!!" Fily shouted when I suddenly flopped on the floor.
"Fily… Go to sleep." I murmured.
"What???"
"Nothing."
I guess I'll have to wait until Fily unlocks the chapter in the Salamandite guide where it states the instructions on how and what to feed them.
"Why is that dumb person sleeping on the floor?" Von greeted us with the warmest greetings ever (as usual) while Lei followed after him to the table.
Fily went back to her seat after carrying me back to mine.
"Is she awake?" I heard Von whisper to Lei who was now seated in front of Fily to my left.
He was pertaining to Fily who was waving at them with wide eyes.
The maids followed after them and soon enough, we were eating silently when the door opened, revealing a surprise guest to our dinner.
"Sir Grand!" My surprised self hastily stood up to greet him but he dismissed me immediately.
"You don't need to stand up while eating just to greet me." He laughed nervously with a warm smile on his wrinkled face.
And now that I know that he is Von's father, I could not help but check for their similarities as I continued feasting on the meal in front of me.
Sir Grand sat on the farthest chair that was opposite from where I was seated.
I paused eating when I realized that the food was mostly on our side but the maids were fast to react as they quickly prepared another set of dining utensils in front of him and served him the same variations of food that we have on our side.
I totally thought Sir Grand would leave again and come back for our class on Monday but judging by his comfortable clothing and the fact that he accompanied us for dinner, there is no doubt that Sir Grand will stay here for the night and meet with Venedette tomorrow.
What's weirder than Sir Grand staying here is the fact that I found it weird for him to stay!
I mean, he's the First Prince of this island so what is wrong with him staying here? But I just could not get that eerie feeling out of my gut.
Something is wrong with this and I can feel it.
"Gem," Fily called to me after poking my feet with hers several times already.
"Hmm? I finally noticed her after overthinking what my gut was telling me.
"Who's he?" She whispered at me which shocked me a little since Fily usually knows everybody including the maids whom I could not even remember their names.
"The First prince," I whispered back at her which was followed immediately by Von's glare.
What's his problem this time?
I was planning to return his glare but I couldn't help but compare him with his father.
Out of Venedette's family, the only ones that I see wearing expensive-looking clothes or at least proper clothes was Von.
Venedette liked wearing comfortable clothes to match her aviator glasses while the Prince in front of me was wearing tight clothes and a vest, and although it looked proper on him, it would still be hard for us newcomers to conclude his real status as the prince just by looking at him.
"Von's father?" Fily whispered back to me with rugged breathing which made me look at her with worry.
"Uhuh. What's wrong?" I whispered to her secretly, afraid that he might hear us talking about him.
"Nothing it's just... I have never seen him before." She looked down at her food weirdly which gave me another one of those unpleasant gut feelings.
It has not been long since I was aware of a different emotion such as love but I could not mistake this embarrassed blushing.
"Do you-?" I almost said the words out loud but I met Von's glare again so I just opted to chat with her using my stat-hut.
[Gem: Do you like him?]
I pressed send and Fily looked at me with eyes so wide that I almost couldn't stop myself from poking them.
Answer my question dummy.
[Fily: Just a crush....] She said while fidgeting and holding her burning cheeks with her hands that I could not do anything other than facepalm myself for her sudden irrationality.
[Gem: This is so not like you.]
I pressed the send and was caught off guard when I saw Venedette typing.
Wait, is this conversation for the guild members of Leviathan!??
Fily looked at me with the same horror upon seeing Venedette typing.
"Gemmm!!" Fily screeched while I gulped a glass of water to ease my nervousness.
Oh no.