Walking in through the front door amidst the shenanigans of the Dragonhearts, the golden-haired bumpkin entered with chopped wood under each of his arms.
"Sounds like something interesting happened! Give me the details, Emilio!" Everett said with a laugh before setting the firewood by the fireplace.
Such overwhelming nosiness made him feel like a kid again, having to hide a crush from those around him. Though, he composed himself, remembering one important factor:
'I am a man!' He thought.
"Come on, guys. It's not like that—it was just a nice picnic with an old acquaintance," he said calmly.
—It was a total lie; even he didn't believe that it was simply a normal, uneventful picnic. There was no denying that it felt like, and was, a date.
"Is that so? Well, I'd really like grandkids before too long…" Treyna quietly sighed.
"Hate to break it to you, but I don't even have my own home yet. Grandkids are a few steps away," Emilio scratched his head.
"You know that excuse isn't gonna work," Julius laughed, patting his son on the back, "You know better than anybody that your Mother wants a thousand little Dragonhearts running around."
"That would be lovely," Tryena smiled.
"Ack…" Emilio let out, finding himself still somehow surprised by his unorthodox family.
Fortunately it was only after such a questionable conversation that Celly returned from upstairs, no longer carrying the mysterious box with her.
"Hey, Celly! Long time no see. I didn't catch ya when you first got here—did you have fun on your date with Emilio?" Julius asked outright.
"Date…?" Celly repeated.
"Date!?" Emilio repeated.
It didn't take more than a second for the half-elf's pale face to darken with a flustered shade of red as she pulled on her hat in a failed attempt to hide her face.
"…It was nice," Celly quietly said.
The answer and lack of rejection of the mention of the "date" brought pause to everyone for a moment, even making Emilio surprised as he thought the date was a one-sided feeling.
It seemed that the archmage's words incited an excitement from Treyna, who to Emilio, was scarily invested in the idea of Emilio finding a partner.
"I'm going to get dinner ready!" Treyna excitedly said, holding her hands together before going into the kitchen.
Due to the growing cold weather as autumn bordered on winter, Everett got the fireplace ready as the home quickly became nice and toasty.
Emilio brought the ingredients he grabbed while into the kitchen where Treyna was happily getting things ready, placing the fresh vegetables down.
"Here you go—I think that's everything you needed," Emilio said.
"Oh, thanks, hun!" Treyna thanked.
"Yeah, of course—"
Just as he was beginning to walk away, he received an unexpected kiss on the cheek from his mother before she spoke directly into his ear:
"If you and Celly end up connecting, I can set up a little outing into town to bring everybody else out for a couple hours. In that time, you and her can…"
"I know, I know!" He sharply whispered, feeling his cheeks heat up from just the implications.
Dinner that night had a different atmosphere for himself, though Julius and Everett were as rowdy as ever, somehow getting onto the topic of who would win between an orc and a Goliath bear.
"A Goliath bear would swipe an orc straight in half with one hand—bam, like that!" Everett argued.
Julius laughed, "Bears are dumb! They've got no sense of tactics or technique. An orc could dodge its swipe and behead it!"
"Orcs are just as stupid as bears! Even more stupid!" Everett argued back.
The loud, ridiculous debate was fueled by the mead that the two men had partook in.
"Want seconds, Emilio?" Treyna asked amidst the hectic debate.
He responded, "Oh, I'm good. It tastes great though."
"Yeah, it's delicious," Celly added.
Emilio had stayed mostly quiet as, somehow, for reasons he could only believe were due to his nosy family, he ended up sitting directly beside Celly. Despite how hard he tried to ignore what was said earlier, the seeds were planted in his mind as he couldn't help but see Celly in a certain light.
'I guess I am eighteen now…It's expected of me to find somebody soon enough. Still, is this right…? Do I really see Celly like that, or am I just holding onto their words?' He questioned.
After dinner ended and everybody began calling it in for the night, he stayed at the table for some time as he adjusted the easily-changeable switches on his metallic arm. The switches changed how much mana flowed through the arm and at what speed.
"Hey."
A gentle tap on his shoulder came alongside the softly spoken word, causing him to look up as he found the silver-haired half-elf standing behind him.
"If you're still curious about that box, come meet me in my room," Celly invited him with a smile.
The invitation couldn't be any more well-timed for his racing mind and the notions of his family as he immediately found himself taken aback by the offer.
'She's inviting me to her room? Wait, hold up. It's one thing if she invited me when I was a runt–but I'm an adult now! A man! That has a whole different connotation to it now…Celly isn't like that though, right? She's definitely not the type that looks for relationships. It can't possibly mean anything, can it?' He questioned in his mind.
As thoughts raced through his mind as the speed of light, the youthful woman leaned down, bringing her face close to his as she looked at him worriedly.
"Are you feeling alright, Emilio? You've been quiet since we got back," Celly asked.
He gulped, having to stand up to bring his face away from the girl's as he found his own already heating up, "Yeah, I'm fine. Totally A-Okay!"
"Hmm…" Celly looked suspicious, "Well, alright. I'll be waiting upstairs to show you."
As Celly left the room to go upstairs, Emilio couldn't help but let out a breath of relief, feeling his heart thumping in his chest in a way that was only rivaled by the heat of extraordinary battle.
'Just what the hell is going on today? Why am I feeling this way? It's making me feel like a kid all over again,' he thought.
After a couple minutes, he went upstairs, stopping in front of the guest room that Celly was staying in, though finding himself hesitant to turn the doorknob. Even now, he found his mind racing from the simplest of things.
What got him now was the fact that the door to the room was closed, causing him to stop and begin questioning everything once again.
'Why is it closed? If she was just inviting me to see the box, then she'd leave the door open, right? Otherwise…is she trying to keep it private? Why? What for?' He thought.
This line of thinking was something he thought he'd have abandoned after maturing, though it was unavoidable after the things his parents had been saying. Gulping down his thoughts, he lightly knocked his hand against the wooden door.
Knock. Knock.
As he stood there, he found himself engrossed in every little detail about the moment, listening to the light footsteps approach from the otherside of the door, not knowing what he'd find on the other side before–it opened.
"Celly," he said, somewhat surprised that she was dressed.
The archmage was now wearing a light-blue nightgown; it was rare to see her without her cloak and hat, though her silver hair naturally cascading down her shoulders was a sight to behold.
"Emilio," she said before walking back into the room, "Come on in. Oh, I'd suggest closing the door."
"Err, okay," he nodded, closing the door behind him as he walked in.
The mysterious box was occupying the center of the room, which the half-elf sat down beside, looking over at him as if gesturing for him to sit as well. He sat down across from her, on the other side of the unknown box.
"You were curious as to what was in the box, right?" Celly asked.
He nodded, "Yeah. I still am."
"Good," the archmage smiled before grabbing the cloth that covered the mysterious item, "I'll show it to you, then."
As the obscuring cloth was pulled away, the box itself was revealed to be carefully secured as if containing something either fragile or expensive inside, or both.
Watching Celly begin to undo the clips that kept the box seals, he found himself watching her expression: she had a genuine smile of her own in regards to the excitement of whatever it was that was in the crate. He found himself somewhat relieved by this, able to relax himself as well.
'...I've been such an idiot today. Of course, Celly isn't like that. If something were to happen between us, I'd imagine it would take years to bloom, or I would need to take the leap. But right now, it's not time for that–not while I'm an adventurer with many journeys ahead of me,' he thought.
"There it is," Celly said, lifting the lid from the box.
What sat inside of the containment was a spherical item that laid on a velvet cushion; it resembled an oversized marble the size of his own head.
"What…is it?" He questioned.
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