There is no happy ending

******.

Dinner for the two of them was indeed seafood-heavy, just as Rayman had foreshadowed.

Oysters and prawns baked in apple-flavored white wine, mouth-watering cheese, good-flavored butter, and savory pudding. Sea bass steak…….

None of the dishes were to Bianca’s taste, except for a slightly boring baked pie with dessert at the end, but Rayman loved them. This prevented Bianca from growing to dislike them.

Rayman ate very neatly, not in an elegant way, but politely. It was a nice way to eat.

Bianca sometimes watched him eat, rather than eating her share of the meal. It was a very blatant stare that she did not attempt to hide. Sometimes Raymond found it hard to look away.

‘……I have something on my face.’

Rayman asked, meekly putting down his utensils and wiping his mouth with his napkin.

Bianca rolled her eyes and smiled.

‘Maybe.’

‘Really?’

‘No, I’m lying. I ate neatly, I could watch.’

‘……! I thought you were telling the truth, Bianca!’

‘Thanks for that.’

‘I didn’t say that to make you feel good.’

Bianca said jokingly.

‘Then should I feel bad?’

Rayman didn’t say anything.

Bianca remembered the name of the restaurant as she paid for her meal. <‘Chechen O's Table,’ it was nothing special, but she thought it would be good to memorize.

By the time they finished eating, the sun had set and the sky was a deep indigo blue. Perhaps because the air is better than in the capital, the night sky in Bannog was very starry.

‘It must be summer soon, I can see the anchor quite clearly.’

‘That's nice.’

‘Did you know that Aliab, the Anchor, is the brightest star visible to the human eye?’

Rayman smiled a little when he said that as if he was in a good mood from the alcohol. It was something she knew, but somehow she felt that if she told him she knew, he wouldn't tell her the back story……. Bianca shrugged impassively.

‘Where I lived, it was hard to see the stars. The old people said it was because it was a remnant of the witches' magic, but the only thing I could see was Aliab.’

‘And?’

‘I was like, ‘Why can I see Aliab,’ and then I heard that story, and I loved it, and I thought, ‘Well, I can't see the other stars because there's just so much light in my neighborhood, and Aliab is so bright that it can't be drowned out by the light of the earth, I can see it, and it's not magic.’’

There was a lot of talking and a lot of laughing. Not a bad time. Bianca looked at Rayman's smiling face.

The wind picked up. Bianca had never felt the sea breeze at night. So she didn't know that the sea at night could be windy enough to make it illusory.

It was quite a breeze. Bianca patted the white arm exposed beneath her sleeve. Rayman took off my jacket without saying a word. and draped it over Bianca's shoulders. It was a nice gesture.

But he didn't show it, and Bianca didn't thank him.

‘I'd like to walk you back to your place, Bianca. Is that okay?’

‘Do you think she'll say no?’

‘……uh, a little bit?’

‘No reason.’

There was no reason to accept, but using the jacket over Bianca's shoulders as an excuse, she did. On the way back, Rayman continued to talk.

According to him, it's information that ‘every traveler in Bannog should know’. Indeed.

‘I don't know how long you'll be in Bannog, Bianca, but don't go to that orange-walled building over there, Wimp's Wimp's. It pretends to be a fancy restaurant, but the quality of the food is not good.’

‘Really?’

‘Madame Duck is better than Wimpy's Wimpy's. It's on the other side of the street. It's shabby, but it's okay.’

‘I'll consider it if I can't think of anywhere else to eat.’

‘Of course, I'd still go to Chechen O's Table.’

Reiman's injections make him more talkative. His words were slurred and stiff, his intonation slurred and backward, but at the same time, they tasted strangely noble.

It was like the way he ate. Therefore, Bianca did not stop Rayman's mouth.

There was a fountain with a statue of a woman pouring water into a jar. They walked slowly, and before they knew it, they were in a square. Bianca was about to part ways with Rayman.

As she was about to take off her jacket, he interrupted her.

‘The first time is a fluke.’

Bianca tilted her head at the comment. Rayman buried his face in his hands.

‘Actually, I didn't tell you earlier because I didn't want it to sound weird…….’

‘What?’

‘……I'm staying in the same hostel as you, Bianca.’

Bianca's eyes widened at the unexpected comment. When she didn't answer, Rayman slid his hand from covering her face.

Even in the dark, I could see the deepening color on his face.

‘……Well, I didn't want you to think it was weird, so I didn't tell you.’

‘Why?’

Rayman rolled his eyes. Bianca's gaze shifted as he rolled his eyes. Rayman glanced away.

Bianca felt the urge to reach out and cupped her cheeks, to fix her gaze on me. But she didn't. Instead, she tightened her grip on the top that rested on my shoulders.

"However, I believe even I would find it strange."

Rayman spoke slowly.

‘If a stranger bumped into me on the street, gave me a lift, and suddenly said they were staying at the same place.’

‘You might think it was just a coincidence.’

‘You don't seem like the kind of person who would.’

They weren't wrong. Bianca was silent in affirmation.

‘That's why I did it, in case you thought I was following you.’

‘You didn't have to keep saying that.’

‘No, but I thought being truthful was better than not being truthful.’

‘…….’

‘I don't want to be misunderstood.’

Bianca has always been in the position of being considered, but she has never been considered for the fear or terror she might feel.

Her consideration was always about lineage, power, and status.

So this was very foreign to Bianca.

She forgot what she was supposed to say to him. It's hard to get used to being treated like this for the first time in your life. It was a similar sensation to the first time she felt insulted by Bliss. But the texture of the sensation was completely different.

Bianca's anger at Bliss's words and behavior was too much for her to think. Her emotions got the better of her and she stormed out of the drawing room, but after that, she was quiet.

‘Is that how you read people?’

‘Most of the time.’

‘You must be tired.’

‘It's worth it, I believe it makes the world a better place to live.’

But what about Rayman's words and actions? His words and behavior left Bianca unsure of how to react from moment to moment, but that didn't mean he was taking away her sanity. On the contrary, it made her stomach tickle like butterflies fluttering in her stomach.

Bianca's eyes twitched slightly. At the same time, she didn't want to show it to Rayman. She shouldn't have, but she did. Remembering that he was quick to notice, she turned away. Luckily, he was only mildly drunk and didn't see her trembling eyes.

Bianca left him alone and walked on. Bianca's heels clicked against the well-kept pavement of Palbon. Bianca had taken three steps when Rayman slowed to a walk. The words to turn back did not come out of either of their mouths.

As he walked along, watching Bianca's tiny head from behind, Rayman said.

‘There's a story back home.’

‘……what story?’

‘That whatever happens, the first time is a coincidence.’

The first time is a coincidence, the second time is fate, and the third time is destiny.

With those words, Rayman and Bianca's meeting was a coincidence, and Rayman drew the line in the sand. Bianca liked him, but she didn't like that line either. The liking and the desire to develop a relationship were surprisingly far apart, so it's not a bad coincidence.

***]