Mission Redirected...? (2)

I was extremely flustered by her, but I wasn't entirely sure what drove me to proceed with my idea. Perhaps I desired some sort of honesty. Even if her personality seemed genuine, her answers somehow felt inauthentic to me always, but it was as if something else—something unidentifiable to me in that moment—ushered me to follow through with my mild irritation towards the way she acted.

It was a sudden change of plans, but I rolled with it.

"I'm curious what's up with that. You're harsh with your opinions towards everyone, yet you speak gently towards me. What gives?"

*I know what you'll say. It's so obvious that even a toddler can see we're flirting, but can I make you admit it first? That tension between us needs a resolution, so why don't you rub it out for me?*

She giggled. "You're rather thick."

*I have more of an idea than you think, but I want to pretend otherwise.*

"See! There we go!" I stood up from the table with my hands gripping the edge.

She always gave a vague answer when it mattered to me the most, but I was enraptured by that layer of mysteriousness. Still, I saw right through her, and I wanted to push her for whatever I could get.

She raised herself as well, and we cornered each other with our gazes. I was thankful there was no food between us to knock over.

"Is nothing obvious to you?" Raising her eyebrows, she smirked.

"It must not be! I'm sick of feeling like you and Leo and everyone else are talking behind my back." I gave her the bait to make her feel like she owed me any answer she would give.

"Lia."

That was when she did something unexpected for her typical softness: She grabbed my arm roughly, turning me to face her.

"Use your head a bit. Ever since we started talking, I've offered nothing but praise. I've given you much of my time. I don't even speak to the other Moon Advisors." She exhaled, for once not laughing and smiling.

I could tell she was entirely serious, and that made my heart dance to the beat of her words.

"I give you smiles and kindness and my attention not because I'm obligated to but because I want to. Why would you suppose this is? I know you're intelligent enough to figure it out, Lia."

*Yes, I was thinking this would come with enough prodding. It must be…*

"And I would suppose you're just being especially courteous. Any woman in her right mind would think the same." A nervous sweat dabbled my armpits as she kept her grip on my arm. We were locked in a stifling game of bodies and words, unsure with which to make the next move.

*I don't want to see my heart shatter again, but I think I'll be pleasantly surprised if I risk it this time…*

"Silly." She smiled. "You're the only one here who doesn't know."

"Stop being so cryptic for heaven's—"

She put a finger to my lips to silence me.

"Ophelia, I like you."

*That's what I wanted to hear, so why…?*

My brain shut down. I knew the teases, the giggles—especially from Leo—were solicited by *something*. It seemed as if everything made perfect sense but lacked all sense simultaneously, even when the outcome was a prognosis of mine. Why, out of all people, would a princess care the slightest about someone who served her—someone subservient in duty?

"Pardon?"

If I wanted to recall the memories to make me look the best, I would claim that as part of my plan, but the truth was: She was already so many steps ahead of me. It was easy to envy that craftiness of hers. From the start of the meeting, it was clear she had everything carefully set up like a series of traps and pulleys.

It wasn't as if I lacked interest in her entirely (quite the opposite), but the facts being thrown in my face like an army of alligators didn't help to weaken the impact. I found her to be someone comfortable and homely to me despite being as stately as they came. It was another home—another friend—I found in her. Yet her features were gorgeous. Her eyes twinkled under the beams of the sun. Her bleached blonde hair seemed so light and velvety as it bounced gently on her head when she laughed. Her smile. It was her most astounding feature. Why, it was so wide and full of happiness beyond that which words could express.

Ah. That was it. All her hints were buried behind a simple front of joy, one which shone brightly and bestowed glee upon me. She never seemed so joyful as when she was in a deep conversation, staring me relentlessly in the eyes. That was one of her clues, I thought. I was foolish to overlook such straightforward gestures with her heart on her sleeve.

"I've been interested in you for a while. A silly childhood crush from when you first tip-toed in the doors of the old castle," she continued.

She then pulled me closer, using magic to snake my arm around her waist. Placing her arms above my shoulders, she clasped them in an embrace. In a state of shock, it took me longer than it should have for me to move my other arm and hug her tightly.

Her indented waist fit nicely between my biceps. Slotted between the junction of my neck and shoulder was her head, and her hair, which cascaded in fluffy waves from her scalp, tickled my skin. It felt as soft as it looked from what little hint of it I got, and I moved my arm once more so that I could run my hand through it delicately like she was a piece of porcelain I wanted to keep from breaking.

*You're so beautiful. It's just…*

"I like you, too, Koharu."

The words slipped out of my mouth before I intended them to, and the surprise was deliberately written on my face judging by the reaction Koharu gave me when she giggled. She took a small step back so that she leaned slightly against the table, which was still in its glass iteration. Her hand moved up to my face, tilting it down to make our eyes meet.

Feeling pink in my irises, Koharu exacerbated the emotion when she said, "Kiss me."

Heartbeat racing faster than the equestrians at the stalls, my eyes trailed down to her lips. That damn lipstick was the shade of the cherries lying on the table when I walked in. Something about the color along with her blonde hair was intoxicating—as was the darkening expression on her face still accompanied by the hint of a smirk. I reached my limit on simply staring at her features right then, knowing I had the opportunity to satisfy more of my senses than sight.

*It's all the way I dreamt it to be, but the real buildup's so much better than even that.*

I was very much under a spell as I leaned in, closed my eyes, and we softly met lips after some awkward fumbling on my part. They tingled gently, but there was a delicate sweetness as we kept up the motion, revelling in the slight contact while we pressed against each other innocently on the glass table. Eyes closed, I grinned and remained in that giddy joy I always felt around her but never had a name for.

*"Like"? Do I call it that?*

Whatever it was, I wouldn't have traded the feeling for the world.