Do Flowers Bloom in the Fallen Land?

When Baron didn’t move and put on a long face, Seira decided to just leave him altogether. Now that they had entered the commercial district of the capital, she didn’t need Baron’s horse for a ride anymore.

Seira, who threw her arms in the air to show her exasperation to Baron, heard a tiny whisper as she headed to the exit.

“You can go. I have taken note of her measurements already so we can make additional dresses without the two of you visiting together in the future.”

“Alright. Then send the catalog along with our purchases today.”

“Yes, sir.”

Even when they were whispering so low, Seira could hear everything loud and clear.

‘I don’t have to wear a dress,’ she thought at the back of her mind.

He probably knew what type of clothes she usually wears, but he didn’t know the reason she wears them. Baron quickly caught up with her as she sighed and went outside.

“What else do you need?” he asked her.

Seira, who glanced at him, asked, “Do you have a perfume that you could use for sex?”

“What?!”

Baron’s raised voice caught the entire street’s attention. Seira smirked at him and then added, “Our commander-in-chief is acting really weird today. Is it because you couldn’t sleep with me?”

Baron was utterly dumbfounded. He looked at her straight in the eyes and cursed in a soft voice, “I… you are clearly mistaken about that! You… you are wrong, Seira! Yes, you are very wrong!”

His finger was pointed directly at her, shaking uncontrollably with embarrassment. Seira cocked her head, looking at him as he folded his arms like a toddler with a tantrum, all the while muttering to himself.

“So, do you mean yes or no?” she asked.

His bright yellow eyes glanced at her. He looked down at Seira with great intensity, and then closed them tightly as he answered, “Wait here for a minute.”

He took off and strode into the next shop. All the shops in the alley they were at, including Haute Couture, which was one of the top three in Viseltium, was owned by Jeff. Whatever he needed, the staff would immediately offer the best to their master without questions asked.

Sure enough, Baron came back five minutes later with a paper bag in tow. As if by cue, the Jeff family carriage arrived in front of them. Apparently, he had called in advance.

“After you.”

Baron opened the carriage door himself and let Seira in first. She sat opposite him silently, and all of a sudden a memory rushed back into mind.

“It’s been seven years…” Seira gasped.

Baron carefully put down the paper bag he held and nodded, “Come to think of it, it has been such a long time.”

He seemed to have understood what she said out of the blue.

Seven years ago, Baron escorted Seira instead of Calrad, and the two sat face-to-face in the carriage. He couldn’t take his eyes off of her just the same, and she had pretended not to know who he was at the time.

“Did you want to sleep with me then, too?” she bluntly asked as she stared straight at him.

“…!”

His expression, which he tried as much as he could to keep calm, once again broke.

“Seira…”

His throat bobbed with just her name uttered.

“Yes, tell me,” Seira urged him further.

Baron heaved a long sigh as she looked at him with a serious expression. She seemed to have no thoughts of letting her question go unanswered.

“That thought… it never came to mind. His Majesty’s pheromones were stuck to you heavily, and perhaps you didn’t even know what it meant at that time.”

Seira wasn’t too surprised, although she admitted it was something she just came to know. Calrad was truly possessive, she knew he wouldn’t hesitate to have done so. He must have intended to mate with her before the ball, knotting and filling her with his seeds, even feeding her his blood.

“It’s just that I made a promise before my father died…”

Seira’s eyes widened at Baron’s unexpected words.

“Huh? What promise?” she asked, bewildered.

“I promised to be with you.”

“What?” Seira’s eyebrows rose. “I’ve never heard of that, ever.”

“I agree. Father complained every time that it was not easy to persuade Askan.”

A feeling of nostalgia flashed across Baron’s face as he reminisced the memory of his father.

“Actually, I was forcing myself not to think of it. Even then, you were already appointed as the Crown Princess, but for the first and last time, I complained to my father.”

Seira stared at Baron.

It was no surprise that she was his first love, knowing that he followed her back then every time they met when they were younger.

However, it felt strange to see how their situation differed after their fathers died. While Seira was protected at the palace, Baron had to learn and carry their family’s name at a very young age. He would have been a little boy who still whined at his father, given the chance.

“I thought it was over… But I thought some more after you went back to Askan. I told myself that I’d try to make an opportunity somehow,” Baron whispered underneath his voice.

He reached out to Seira, who tilted her head and smiled at him suddenly, “So… do you think there is a chance?”

“…?”

He couldn’t comprehend what she meant. She raised a hand and slightly overlapped their fingers, and Baron reached out as if he had been waiting for this to happen his entire life. His fingertips grazed past her palm, wrist, and elbow towards her shoulder. Soon, he had wrapped his hands around her small waist and pulled her tight towards him.

A low whisper permeated her ear, “If you don’t like it, hit me, with all your might.”

Soon after the last word was uttered, their lips crashed onto one another.