Finding Stardust

Although she came from planet Akkadia and now that planet had become her new home, it cannot be denied that she was born and grew up on Earth, and it would always be her homeland.

"What are you thinking about?" Therius asked as he walked over to Emma and hugged her waist from behind. "Aren't you bothered by the smell?"

Emma shook her head. She raised her hand, and from her palm appeared a plant that had tiny white flowers that were very fragrant. "This is called Lily Of The Valley. One of the most fragrant flowers I have ever known."

She showed the flower to Therius, and the young man nodded as he inhaled the fragrance. "You are right."

Therius suddenly realized why the fragrance of this flower was so familiar. He felt that Emma had a similar scent, even though it was very faint on her. Was it a coincidence?

Emma walked around the corpse flower and watched it closely. Ahh ... this flower really stank and happened to be on its way to blooming. She felt lucky to see it at this state.

When she was still on Earth, she never got the chance to see the corpse flower bloom because this flower was a very rare plant. There were only a few places that had them, and they only bloomed once every forty years.

Ahhh ... maybe Akkadia did have that impact on lifeforms. Since the oxygen here was richer and the environment was much healthier than the Earth, it could exert such an influence on them.

Emma saw that the Akkadian people, on average, had bigger and healthier bodies than the people of the Earth. In fact, Haoran, who was lying in a coma, had experienced a surprising development in his brain during the recovery process, according to Doctor Salas.

Ah, you're wrong, Emma, ​​the girl said to herself. What happened to Haoran wasn't a recovery, but the flicker before the flame went out for good. Evidently, Haoran breathed his last after he seemed like he was progressing in his healing process.

"Let's go somewhere else," said Emma, ​​taking Therius' hand. She did not want to be reminded of the memories when she was still living on Earth and especially of Haoran. She didn't want to be sad in front of Therius because of another man. After all, that man was now her husband.

Later, when she was alone, Emma could think about whatever she wanted. Therius happily walked Emma back to the tram stop and waited for the next tram to continue on their way to the second stop.

They again met some of the visitors who had been on the tram with them and got off at the first stop. Those people were still watching the affection between this couple with envious eyes.

'Which part of the garden that didn't have too many people?' Emma asked Therius using telemancy.

'Then, I want to go to Stop 51. I want to see the furthest part of Merridell.'

'Okay. Later we can get off at Stop 25 and take the blue tram to continue to the end.'

Emma was so happy Therius brought her to Merridell. She felt that her husband knew her very well by now, and he knew what things would make her happy. In fact, it was a great comfort for Emma to spend two days alone with Therius, enjoying the beautiful scenery in a place she loved so much.

Emma's love for nature and plants made Merridell the perfect date spot for the two of them.

Come to think of it, before they got married, Therius and Emma never really went on a date like most couples.

They started their relationship as enemies and then bound an agreement to pretend to be engaged for five years to smoothen Therius plans to take the throne. The deal was, if after five years, Emma failed to defeat Therius, then she must be willing to be his wife.

Who would have thought, within a year, so many things had happened and now both of them were married for real. Fate was a funny thing.

If Emma asked herself, was she happy with her life now? She would reply that despite all the misfortunes and tragedies that had befallen her, she felt grateful that she had people who loved her so much.

Even though some of her loved ones were now gone, for Emma, ​​they would always have a place in her heart.

Subconsciously, she put his hand on Therius' thigh. The man was sitting beside her with his hand rested on his thigh, and she wanted to touch that. Emma was grateful to have Therius in her life. The man loved her so deeply and had never failed to show his love for Emma.

Therius, who was looking out the window, admiring the sight of the giant trees on their left, was suddenly dazed when he felt Emma's hand touching his thigh.

The man then smiled faintly, and without turning his head to look at her, he put his hand on hers, then clasped it gently. They held hands all the way to Stop 25. The scenery felt much more beautiful, and the weather was cooler inside the botanical garden. Their chests were filled with happiness when they were sitting side-by-side, holding hands like this.

"You'll love the section in area 51," Therius said as they walked off the tram at stop 25. "At the end of it is a large lake filled with many golden swans. The lake is Merridell's final border. After that, the area becomes a wild forest guarded by rangers and has many wild animals that live freely in their natural habitat."

"Is that so? There is a wild forest near the city like this? Will the animals not enter the city?" asked Emma in surprise. "Or.. how about humans? Won't they disturb the animals?"

"No. The forest is protected with an electronic barrier. Humans who have no interest in going there nor the authority cannot enter. The animals there live peacefully as in their natural habitat as usual," said Therius. "Near the lake, there is a valley that looks like the one in Daneria that we visited. There are thousands of kinds of flowers. You will love it."

Emma's topaz eyes gleamed with joy. She saw a food stall near the tram stop 25 and immediately pointed towards it. "Why don't we have a picnic there? The place sounds amazing. We don't have to eat in a restaurant. We can just buy food and drinks from here, then we have a picnic lunch there?"

Therius nodded. He liked Emma's plan. Of course, it would be great to spend a day in such a beautiful place with the woman he loved. Ahhh .. he was increasingly tempted to ask Emma to cancel her intention to go to school.

Ahem .. Therius steeled his determination and threw away that desire. Okay. He must brace himself to be in a long-distance relationship for the next three years. 

He would visit Emma every weekend and spend time with her at Innstad.

It's better that way than Emma commuting to the capital. She would definitely be exhausted if she had to take that train often. Therius could easily get on his private plane and see Emma as often as he wanted.

They bought a large paper bag containing a bottle of wine, food in two boxes and other picnic supplies, and fruits and a cute picnic blanket.

"The red tram will go around Merridell to the west, and the blue tram will go east. We will ride the blue one," Therius said.

Emma nodded in understanding. She and Therius got back on the tram and enjoyed the beautiful scenery on their route. The rest of the passengers got on and off at the various stops where the blue tram passed, but they were the only people who continued on to the very end of the route.

When they got off the tram at Stop 51, there were no other passengers, only the two of them.