Scrape, scrape,
Xion sawed the wood and sank into deep thought.
That day when Reinhild sent a signal asking him to touch him first, Xion tried with all his might not to get overly excited, but in the end, he startled Rein.
Even if Xion had become a demigod, there was nothing he could do about that.
It was the first time Reinhild had acted as if to tempt him.
“Haaa….”
Xion let out a long sigh and carefully smoothed the square-cut face of the wood.
When he carried the smoothly planed board into the house, he saw Reinhild standing in the kitchen drinking milk and turning his head away as if he had not seen him.
It had already been a whole day since that happened, but Reinhild’s attitude had not changed.
The night before, Xion had felt that Reinhild was avoiding him, so to lower his guard he had even gone out to the living room to sleep separately.
“Rein.”
“Yeah.”
Xion set down the board and softly wrapped his arms around Reinhild from behind.
Reinhild leaned his back into Xion’s chest without the slightest hesitation.
Thank goodness. He does not dislike it.
Xion, who had been worried that Rein might have developed an aversion to physical contact with him after that, let out a breath of relief inside.
“Please look at me, Rein.”
When Reinhild turned his body toward him, Xion brought his face close.
Reinhild naturally closed his eyes.
Was this a signal that a kiss was fine?
Xion carefully touched his lips to Reinhild’s.
Smooch.
Unlike usual, it ended in an instant, a brief peck, and Reinhild looked up at Xion in puzzlement.
When Reinhild did not show any sign of dislike, Xion pecked him once more.
Assured now that Rein did not shy away from skinship with him, Xion brought up yesterday’s matter.
“Were you very startled yesterday? From now on I will be careful not to rush in too quickly.”
“That is not it.”
“Then what is it?”
Instead of answering, Reinhild turned his head. Pointing at the boards strewn on the floor, he asked,
“What are those?”
So he does not want to talk about yesterday.
For now it was enough to confirm that Rein did not feel aversion toward him.
Xion went along with Reinhild and shifted the topic.
“I prepared them to fix the bed.”
“Ah, the bed. So it really broke.”
When he was on the bed with Rein, he had gotten too excited and could not hold back the power bursting out.
Struggling to keep his mind together and make sure it did not affect Rein, that force had bounced to the wrong place.
When he checked later, the wooden bed frame was cracked as if it might split in half at any moment.
If, as always, he and Reinhild had fallen asleep together on the bed, it would not have carried the weight and would already have snapped in two.
If that had happened, Rein would have been terribly startled. It was a good thing they had slept apart.
“So that is why Xion slept outside.”
The reality was a little different, but Reinhild understood it that way.
Before Xion could answer, Reinhild took his gaze off the boards, met Xion’s eyes, and said,
“Do not do that anymore. I want to sleep with Xion.”
“…!”
With a rush, Xion pulled Reinhild into a tight embrace.
He had acted because he thought Rein was uncomfortable, yet it had only made Rein lonely.
He wanted to turn time back to last night and give himself a good scolding for deciding on his own.
“I will never make Rein lonely again.”
With this, it was clear that Reinhild did not dislike skinship itself.
He had only been startled. He would not have had such experience.
In that case, he only needed to approach carefully and slowly.
Xion moved the arms holding Reinhild and stroked down his back.
Slowly, carefully.
“Ah, my milk.”
Feigning distraction, Reinhild twisted away and slipped out of Xion’s arms.
“…”
Xion blankly watched Reinhild’s back as he grabbed the cup of milk and fled to the other side of the living room.
I need to go even more slowly.
Aiming for the next chance, Xion gathered up the boards and went to fix the bed.
Even so, that night he was able to fall asleep together with Reinhild on the sturdily repaired bed.
After that, whenever he saw an opening, Xion tried to initiate skinship with Reinhild.
Reinhild quite liked kissing with Xion.
If Xion kissed his neck or shoulder, or stroked over his clothes, he would rest his head on Xion’s chest and rub against him.
But when Xion tried to go any further, Reinhild would turn his head away and steer the situation elsewhere.
If he tried to slip his hand inside clothing, Reinhild would spring away and run.
“Reinhild…”
It did not seem that Reinhild did not understand what that behavior meant.
Nor was he frightened or scared.
Why is Rein refusing me?
Although there had been no proper ceremony, Xion considered their relationship no different from being married.
Moreover, since they had confirmed each other’s hearts, he thought nothing stood in the way between them, and yet…
Could it be…?
As he sorted out his thoughts, there was exactly one guess.
Xion and Reinhild were in a “relationship no different from marriage,” but they had not held a ceremony.
However, if it was Reinhild, it was very possible he believed that humans must receive a proposal and hold a ceremony to become husband and wife.
Just like the protagonists in the books he had read.
Since Reinhild had obtained most of his knowledge through books, he would likely recognize anything beyond kissing as “an act between spouses.”
That was why he had run away every time Xion tried to initiate skinship.
Because they were not yet spouses.
Because he judged that their relationship was not yet suitable for doing more than kisses.
I almost made a big mistake.
Even if he had lost his mind at Rein’s confession of love, he had tried to skip the steps recklessly.
If he could not propose more splendidly and beautifully than in books, he had at least gone and troubled Rein.
That will not do.
Xion decided to propose to Rein.
A wonderful and moving proposal, like the endings of the many romance novels Reinhild had read.
“…Xion?”
A few days later.
After finishing breakfast and dozing on the couch, Reinhild woke and realized Xion was not by his side.
Rustling, Reinhild got up and searched every corner of the house.
He even checked the empty basement, but Xion was nowhere.
“Xion.”
No matter where he was, if Reinhild called his name, Xion would come running, but he did not appear.
There is no way Xion would disappear and leave me…
There was no way.
Xion was surely nearby.
Thunk.
Something bumped Reinhild’s foot as he paced the living room.
It was a chocolate wrapped in red paper.
“?”
The chocolate that appeared where Xion had vanished only confused Reinhild.
Confirming that no one else was around, Reinhild whispered softly toward the chocolate.
“…Xion?”
The chocolate did not answer.
“…Ahem.”
It was a good thing Xion was not here.
If Xion had seen him just now, he would have been so embarrassed he would have run away.
Reinhild quickly tore off the wrapping and popped the chocolate into his mouth.
“Hm?”
A little further away, there was another chocolate on the floor.
Did Xion drop these?
It was not just one or two chocolates on the floor.
The chocolates, lined in a straight row, were pointing toward the front door.
From the look of things, it seemed Xion had filled a basket with chocolates to carry outside the house and had spilled some onto the floor.
He was carrying chocolates for me!
Admiring his perfect deduction, Reinhild opened the door.
Hoping that the chocolates on the ground would guide him to Xion.
“Wow.”
The moment he opened the door, what greeted Reinhild was neither Xion nor chocolates, but flowers in full bloom that filled his view so completely the path could not be seen.
So there are no more chocolates, then?
Reinhild popped the chocolate he had just picked up into his mouth and started walking.
On the right bloomed red and black flowers, and on the left bloomed yellow and blue ones.
“These are flowers that bloom in summer.”
Not realizing that the colors of the flowers each symbolized himself and Xion, Reinhild plucked a yellow flower and marveled.
He felt magic near the roots of the flower.
It seemed that magic had been breathed into the seeds to make out-of-season flowers bloom, and each one had been planted by hand.
It was a very inefficient task.
If he had enough magic to cast spells on all these flowers one by one, it would be more reasonable although highly difficulty, to use magic that changed the weather of a specific region.
Reinhild put another chocolate into his mouth and walked along the path.
The closer he got to the inside of the village, the more the flowers that had been separated to the right and left became mixed, and at some point the flowers of four colors were blooming together in one place.
Even if he did not know the meaning of these flowers, it was certain that Xion was beyond them.
Reinhild popped the last chocolate into his mouth and hurried his steps.
He wanted to see Xion quickly.
“Xion!”
Far away, at the end of the flower path, he saw a splendidly decorated arched ornament and Xion standing before it.
Xion was dressed in splendid, handsome clothes like those he had worn in his hero days.
Bright sunlight poured over the shoulder ornaments and flashed dazzlingly. It was no ordinary sight.
Only then could Reinhild understand what was going on.
The day to fight the High God has come!
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