NOVEL NEXT Book 17: Chapter SS4
Hal and Velza’s Relationship
“Hey, Velza, are you sure this is where you wanted to go?”
This was the fruit parlor managed by Lucy’s family, the Evans Company. Velza was sitting across from Halbert, in a seat on the second-floor terrace.
“Given we’re celebrating your first day of work and all, I’d have gladly taken you somewhere more expensive, you know?”
“No. This place is where I wanted to come, Lord Hal,” Velza answered with alacrity.
Today, Velza had reached the age of majority and formally came to serve at the House of Magna, so they were here to celebrate the occasion. With permission from Halbert’s wives, Kaede and Ruby, of course.
“This is actually where Ichiha proposed to Tomoe. They’ve been coming since they got married to flirt with each other too. That’s why I wanted to come here with you, Lord Hal,” she said with a smile.
“O-Oh, yeah?” Halbert’s heart skipped a beat, seeing her beaming face. When she looked at him this way, it forced him to see her as a girl, like it or not.
They were both in civilian clothes today. Velza looked quite handsome in her uniform, and the women in the military were fangirling over her all the time. But with the short pants she was wearing now to show off her healthy legs and just a little makeup, she came off as a pretty, if somewhat boyish, girl.
“Thank you for waiting.”
The waitress came over carrying their food. Velza had ordered a parfait, while Halbert had ordered coffee. The coffee was a recent import from the Spirit Kingdom of Garlan, and Halbert had taken a liking to its aroma.
“Now, please, take your time and enjoy yourselves,” the waitress said before leaving.
Velza immediately took a spoonful of parfait, her cheeks melting into a grin.
“Mmm!”
Despite her usual cool demeanor, when she was eating sweets or in front of Halbert, her expression turned into something more like what you’d expect from a girl of her age. Halbert smiled wryly as he watched her.
“Ah ha ha... You’re making that look pretty delicious.”
“Sweet things have all the happiness of this world packed into them.”
With that said, Velza scooped up some of the cream and pudding from her parfait, offering it to Halbert as if she were going to say, “Say ahh.”
Halbert froze up when he saw that.
“Um...Velza?”
“Lady Tomoe was doing this with Ichiha, so I thought I’d try it myself.”
“Uh, you’re supposed to do that kind of thing with the guy you like...”
“Yes, which is why I’m doing it,” Velza replied, leaving no room for doubt as she pushed the spoon closer. Her eyes were fixed on Halbert.
Relenting under her gaze, Halbert accepted the proffered spoonful, chewing it with a wry smile on his face.
“To think you liked me so much...”
“Had you not noticed? I thought I’d made it pretty clear.”
“Well, yeah, I’d noticed. I mean, you’ve been working to box me in and cut off all avenues of escape.”
Halbert leaned back in his seat with a sigh.
“Kaede and Ruby are always telling me I need to treat you like a girl, not a little sister or something like that, and my folks are already treating you like a member of the family. Then there’s your father, Sur, constantly calling me your groom-to-be. At this point, I’ve already accepted that you have every intention of marrying me.”
“It took a lot of work, if I dare say so myself,” Velza said, puffing her chest up with pride. Halbert found that a little cute.
“I was kind of expecting you to cool off on the idea eventually...”
“We dark elf women are a passionate bunch. My love for you will never cool.”
“I get that from watching Madam Aisha, but...I’m human, you know? We live on different time scales.”
“You say that, yet you’ve already married Ruby, Lord Hal?”
“Well...you’ve got a point there.”
“It’s okay. We long-lived races know what we’re getting ourselves into,” Velza said, chuckling. “In fact, if we leave you short-lived people alone, you vanish in no time. That’s why I want to treasure the precious moments that we do have together.”
“Oh, yeah? Guess that’s one way of looking at it.” Halbert scratched his head shyly. “I’m blessed to have someone who cares so much about me.”
“Well, you have Kaede and Ruby too, so consider yourself thrice-blessed.”
“Ha ha ha. It seems almost excessive.”
“Yes. So...” Velza placed her hands over Halbert’s which had been resting on the table. “Live as long as you can, and let’s make lots of happy memories together. You saved a girl from the sand and dirt, and made her go weak in the knees for you, so please take responsibility for your actions, okay?”
The coffee tasted sweet as Velza smiled at him.