Chapter 10

The sound of birds chirping in the early morning. The light of the sun brightens the place. Celestine wakes up.

Wilhelm was absent the moment Celestine opened her eyes. She went downstairs and smelled the scent of spices filling the air.

Wilhelm was cooking breakfast. He followed a cookbook floating before him as he stirred the pot. He scooped using a spoon and tasted it; he looked delighted by the outcome.

"Oh? You're cooking?" She sneaked behind him. She made her voice sound exaggerated as if she couldn't believe that he was cooking. Wilhelm knows how to cook but he rarely does so.

He would usually buy food because he believes that it will save him the trouble of cleaning kitchenware and the time for preparing the ingredients and the cooking itself. He clicked his tongue and got slightly annoyed early in the morning because of her.

Wilhelm felt like he wanted to cook therefore he cooked but the main reason was that Celestine was the only person around. It will surely lead people to think that he would only do that when Celestine is around.

It was his first time to ever cook for someone. It was his chance to try cooking for once, he had his unused kitchenware so there was no harm in trying. He also bought some cookbooks to guide him. The ingredients on the other hand are ready. He had already gone and bought some of them in the market.

"I just feel like cooking... Can't you behave and don't disturb me?"

"I'm sorry but that sounds impossible."

All Wilhelm could do was sigh as he went back to add some salt to the pot.

Celestine wrapped her arms around his waist. She was pushing herself even more and had cast away her embarrassment.

"Can't you see that I'm cooking..?! Get your hands off my waist..!"

"Eh? You don't like it? I was pretty sure you would though"

She'd become more shameless. But it doesn't matter anymore.

"Alright, just stop... What's wrong with you? You're being way too clingy"

"No particular reason. Why?"

Celestine was just happy about how things were going and was trying to express herself since their relationship improved. Or was she trying to improve it as much as she could? She had grown impatient due to the sudden changes.

Wilhelm noticed it. His eyes frowned, feeling suspicious about it. He used a small shock using magic to zap Celestine.

"What are you doing?! That hurts!"

"Oh? So you're the real deal"

"Excuse me?!"

"I thought you were a mimic trying to impersonate a violent and annoying woman that I know."

Celestine was forced to smile after hearing that. She knows that Wilhelm could perfectly differentiate a person impersonating her and the actual her.

"Did you just call me violent?" Her voice sounded threatening.

"Yes. Are you not?" Wilhelm frankly replied.

She pulled his face with a pinch from each side of his face.

"I'm not violent!"

"As if I'd believe that when you're pinching my cheeks this hard!"

"This is a payback for zapping me!"

"But still! You're being VIOLENT!"

"I am not!"

She released him and walked towards the chair and sat on it. Celestine had this snob face as she watched him finish cooking. Since it was taking a while she decided to prepare the table by readying the cutleries and plates.

It was an amazing trait of her. She knows what she's going to do to help with the workload. She thought that since he's cooking she should probably get the table ready. Wilhelm was pretty caught up with the cookbook he was reading.

"Looks like someone is enjoying something, what are you cooking anyways?"

"Something like a creamy soup"

"A soup for breakfast?"

"I just feel like eating one, I've also finished cooking some eggs."

"Really?"

"Yes... oh, I forgot to ask. Are you fine with simple meals such as these? I also bought some bread too."

"I'm not that picky about the food."

"Yeah, but I remember you having a low tolerance for spicy foods"

"Yep, I can't stand them. Makes me wonder how other people enjoy eating them. I mean, how can they enjoy it if the food makes them cry??"

"Preference I suppose."

They both shared the food Wilhelm cooked. Eating alone with Celestine felt different. The food they were eating was simple dishes but it was nice for some reason. Maybe because he was the one to prepare the food that's why it tasted a little bit better than usual.

"The soup tastes kinda bland it lacks salt." Celestine pointed out.

"Really? I'll add some for tomorrow's breakfast." Wilhelm is open to comments when it comes to improvements.

"Yep, you should~"

They sounded like they had an agreement to continue their leisure moments for another day.

While eating, Wilhelm recalled the hero summoning Tepht mentioned.

"Hey, I heard that each kingdom summoned heroes. Did Meltiz summoned as well?"

"Yes. After the gathering, we were advised to summon a hero as early as possible. Currently, he's training under my care."

"He? a man?" That made Wilhelm raise a brow.

"Yes, around our age but younger. He's working really hard. To be honest, he's diligent and obediently follows the basic training course."

"If he's working under your care does that mean his proficiency is in magic?"

"Yes... Oh did you know that they will gather the heroes to the academy where they'll teach them battle tactics?"

"That sounds like bad news for me..."

"I know right? I think it won't be long before you'll receive a return letter. They've already asked me to watch over him. The heroes are still being introduced in their territories and after the tour, they'll be sent to Gressaia to learn"

"The heroes here in Reolona had already visited the town, I guess it won't be long before I'll receive some"

"Heroes? They have more than one?"

"That's what I heard. Does having more than one hero make a difference?"

"Yes... Having more than one would mean that the power scale would be unstable. The kingdom of Krofder might get wary of them."

"Not my problem though. I'm fine having to spend my days exploring the world."

"If anything goes then that means your days of slacking off will come to an end."

"Aren't you supposed to be glad about that?"

"Yes, indeed I am."

The teleportation device from each kingdom is very efficient. Touring is easy and it won't consume a lot of time. Around a week or two, they could finish visiting all the territories in their kingdom.

The reason why they'll gather the heroes in Gressaia is due to their territory close to the Forest of Muze, a place full of monsters. It's a perfect place to gain experience. Gressaia is also known for its academy therefore it's the best place for training.

Celestine is happy about the idea of Wilhelm returning to the academy, it'll be a good excuse for her to go to the academy rather than to a remote place in a foreign kingdom. Asking permission to visit the academy would surely come in handy as a proper excuse for her father.

After breakfast Wilhelm plans to spend all his day reading books again and Celestine expected that he would. Spending all day inside a room would make you feel stuffed and most people find it boring to just read books but that's not the case for them.

They prefer staying inside a room where they'd just read books and if you further try to understand the concept then it's true that they're inside a boxed room with limited spaces but the knowledge and their imaginations would guide them to whole new worlds.

Celestine wanted to venture places together with Wilhelm. Reading has been their daily routine back at the academy. The library was their special spot.

She was lying on the sofa, reading a book from the bookshelf while Wilhelm on the other hand was reading a book at his table. It was extremely quiet now that they were immersed in reading. Until Celestine suggested for them to go outside.

"Hey tomato, take me outside," She said while closing her book and returning it back to the shelf.

"No thanks... The door isn't locked you can go outside by yourself." He replied.

"Oh come on! You're such a shut-in you know that? Maybe I should call you Mr. Hermit from now on?"

"Fine, fine call me just that, I don't care... Suit yourself but I haven't finished the book so be on your way"

Wilhelm was shooing her out of the study, he treated her like an unwanted animal.

Celestine growled and walked towards him while stomping.

"Take! Me! Outside!"

"No."

"Why?!"

"Because I haven't finished reading"

"You've already memorized all the books inside this study! Why are you even reading it anyway?!"

"Because I don't have anything to do."

"That's why I'm telling you to go outside!"

"You're already grown up you can take care of yourself."

"I want to go to the mountains!"

"But we are near the sea. There are no mountains nearby."

"Use your magic duh!"

"I don't want to leave the house though..."

"Oh? Finally admitting it Mr. Hermit?"

"I'm not a Hermit woman..!"

"You're acting like one!"

"And you're acting like an annoying brat..!"

Celestine pulled Wilhelm's hood and forcefully dragged him outside. He wanted to struggle but since she was being way too persistent he decided to let himself get dragged by her.

"The mountains." She demanded the moment they were outside. Wilhelm scratched his head,

"Sigh, You're so damn annoying... Which mountain?"

"I don't know. Pick a mountain, one with a great view"

"Sigh~ Fine."

Celestine grinned and grabbed his hand. He was a bit flustered by the sudden act of her hands holding his.

"Y-you could've just grabbed my cloak."

"Hm? Are you feeling shy about it?"

"I'm not. Aren't you?"

"Guess." She was, but she's good at hiding it.

They were transported to the peak of a mountain. The place was over the sea of clouds, snowpacks on the ground and as you look by the edge of the solid foothold of the mountain.

There's a beautiful old weeping tree with long white leaves emitting a mild minty scent. Under the old tree lies an area untouched by snow, a spot where soil is visible.

"This is a spot I discovered long ago... I would visit this place whenever I'm feeling stuffed behind the walls of my study."

"It's beautiful here~" Celestine was captivated by the beauty of the place. It was a place that was very new to her.

"Want to continue reading books?" Wilhelm asked as he pulled a book from his space box.

"You really like books huh?"

"It's a habit."

"To be honest with you I didn't like reading books back in the day but someone influenced me to do it as well and I didn't regret it. The joy of reading is something I'm grateful to have" She told him as she reached for the book.

Wilhelm was thinking that maybe some old folk or one of her companions was the one to influence her, little did he know that it was him who did it he took off his cloak and placed it on the ground using it as a carpet so that Celestine won't sit directly on the ground.

He's quite the gentleman if he is not raising his guard. He was raised properly by his parents after all. But it was a surprise for her that he took off his cloak, under the cloak was a clean azure-colored buttoned sleeve, he looked incredibly manly for a moment. They both sat under the tree and started reading.

Wilhelm brought out some cookies and a hot pot of chocolate drink along with matching cups. He handed the cookies to Celestine and poured her cup full. She was reading a famous book published by the elves. The Tale of Schneiz, despite the book written by elves the main characters of the story were humans.

The book had become a fairytale which was summarized for children's preference.

"That's the book you wanted me to read right?"

"Yep, I'm surprised you still haven't read this. I had trouble giving you books to read you know."

"I don't read books of that genre much, and all the books you gave me were all placed in the corner of my study."

"That's expected since you like reading books about complicated things like magic and spells but at least try them since some of these books are related to magic, you'll come to like it." Celestine took a sip from the cup Wilhelm gave her. "Oh? It's not tea?" She asked.

"I thought you like warm chocolate drinks more than tea? Was I wrong?"

"No, you're right... But you don't like sweets, why do you have cookies and chocolate drink here?"

"Lagus told me that you'll pay me a visit, so I kinda went and bought those along the way"

Hearing him say them was enough to make her blush.

"Were you planning to make me stay for a longer while by giving me sweets?"

"I guess you could say that" He was replying straightforwardly because he was half distracted by the book he was reading.

Celestine moved near Wilhelm and leaned her back on his shoulder. She's taken some hits whenever he replies that way. She was holding her excitement, he was actually attentive to her likes and dislikes, and the thought of it was enough to make her very happy.

"Scoot over, there's plenty of space." He told her as he tried to focus on the book he was reading. She was a disturbance, Wilhelm generally reads books by himself and even if there were people around him he would make a safe distance to not get distracted but Celestine was initiating physical contact and it made him aware that someone was with him and that someone had a sweet scent with a beautiful face, she's a really big disturbance.

Celestine ignored him and continued reading her book. Wilhelm stood up and made Celestine stumble aback. She made a sharp glare as she saw him walk past her. Wilhelm didn't mind the glare and moved half a meter away from her.

Celestine on the other hand wants to have physical contact, she believes that it'll boost their affinity even more. She wants to destroy the distance between them but knowing that Wilhelm doesn't like getting too close to somebody, she is left with no choice but to always make the first moves.

She waited until Wilhelm started to focus. She then slowly swooped in, resting her head on his lap. Celestine was very careful to not surprise him and she succeeded, the next problem was how she was going to contain herself.

She wanted to squirm, roll around, and let out a squeak. She always wanted to try that. He was so busy that he didn't notice her lying on his lap. She finally calmed down and took a long good look at him. She made a light smile, her eyes were full of adoration.

Celestine was caught up with the tranquil vibe of Wilhelm and the soothingly peaceful surroundings and was fast asleep. She always does so, every time with him.

Wilhelm lost his focus when a strong wind breeze passed by, it was forcefully flipping Celstine's book pages that were placed near his knee. Only at that time, he was aware of Celestine having a nap on his lap. He should've been surprised by it but somehow he felt something different, a feeling like he wanted to continue watching her sleeping face.

He whispered while wearing a warm face.

"I've already told you that there's plenty of space, sigh~ you really are troublesome."

Wilhelm continued reading his book while Celestine was having a blissful nap. It wasn't even noon but she fell asleep anyway. It's quite a mystery that a small honesty created such scenarios they were experiencing.