Vivia walked down Bellor's streets as dusk was starting to paint the sky lavender-orangish. Eurus was trotting by her side, firmly holding her hand as if fearing Razaas would blast in any moment and grab him by his collar. They had left the orphanage after her conversation with Zerath. He still had to sort out things at the orphanage and suggested that she was free to take a stroll outside till he was done.
It's okay. You don't have to explain or give a reason. You've the right to feel what you feel after what you went through.
Her eyes were on the shops and stores passing by, but her mind wasn't. Zerath's soft but resolute words hung in the air for her as if she could still hear them in her ears.
Truth to be told, Vivia was disappointed in herself today. She had let the past emotions get the best of her and acted rudely in a demon's land. Though the Matron deserved what she got, Vivia felt she had no right to hit her. She was being nasty for sure, but she wasn't an immediate threat that warranted a physical reaction from her. Not in a demon's land where she was only a guest.
When she saw Zerath see her slapping the Matron, her thoughts had spiraled down to complete self-loathe. He had seen her at her absolute worst. Whether it was being cold to the kid or hitting the Matron, she had expressed a very unpleasant and detached side of hers - a side which she thought to have shed a long time ago but turned out she hadn't.
She was sure that seeing such a vulgar demeanor of hers would have disappointed him immensely. Perhaps, he thought that the real Vivia wasn't what she looked like on the outside. So she was afraid of the conversation that was soon to follow. Her overthinking mind imagined the worst of Zerath's reactions - disappointment, fury, let down.
Eurus tugged at her hand and she looked down. He was pointing at a balloon seller.
She smiled. "You want a balloon?"
Eurus nodded sincerely, eyes sparkling like snowflakes themselves.
Vivia bought one and gave it to him. His little face was overwhelmed with joy. He held the thread between his fingers, gazing at the drifting balloon in the air with awe. Her low spirits seemed to lighten up, watching the pure excitement shine on his face. They continued walking, picking back the trail of her thoughts.
Disappointment, fury, let down.
But Zerath hadn't shown either of those sentiments. Instead, he shared his own past that resonated to her as if a knife was twisting through her heart. In a way, they had led a very similar childhood. Cold, distant, violent.
Before she knew it, she began talking about her own. Apart from her master, Vivia hadn't really shared those traumatizing memories with anyone, not even with her colleagues at the Stras's entertainment group. She had kept a lid on those bitter feelings precisely because she knew that they brought out a mean and irritable side of hers. But the words had continued to flow from her lips, knowing that Zerath was beside her, quietly listening to her.
The Crown Prince of Rudaheim who should have admonished her for her bitter behavior in his land, silently accompanied her throughout the way without raising a single grievance against her.
She felt a tug at her hand again, and she looked down. Eurus wasn't so pleased with her downtrodden expression.
"Vivia cry?"
"Cry and me?" She touched her eyes and realized that they were slightly moist.
"O-oh! These are not tears."
He frowned heavily.
Do you take me for a fool?
Vivia smiled helplessly and knelt to his level, her voice cracking a little.
"I just feel…relieved. I thought he would be disappointed in me. I was really," she blinked her teary eyelids, "afraid of meeting him eye to eye. I wasn't the…usual Vivia today. But he," she tried to stop her tears from falling, "didn't look at me that way a-as if I let him down. So I feel really, really relieved. I don't know why. It's an odd feeling. Apart from my master, I've never truly cared about whatever anyone thought about me. I was never the type to please anyone."
She clutched a fistful of her pants on her knees and stared at the ground. "But somehow…I care what Zerath thinks about me. I don't like feeling afraid that he'd think less of me."
Eurus stretched his hand and placed his little palm on her shoulder. "I like Vivia."
It was clear from his expression that he didn't completely understand the gravity of Vivia's anxious emotions, but he felt he knew what was supposed to be said.
"Re-Really?" Her voice choked.
He nodded earnestly.
A radiant smile bloomed on her lips, and she wiped her eyes. "Thank you. I mean it."
She hugged him in her embrace for a minute and then stood back on her feet. She had expected the dusk to grow darker into the night, but an unexpected sight made her hold her breath as her gaze lifted.
The sky had embraced the cloak of the black night, but it was far from dark as hundreds of beautiful lanterns floated in the sky, illuminating the sky back to orange as if it was still daylight. The softly drifting lanterns looked like a sea of stars, consuming every grey cloud and casting their yellow light to a horizon as far as she could see. The entire city of Bellor was lit up brightly, with the chimes of the melodious bells accompanying the light, as if the Spirit of festival herself had descended upon it. The dazzling light sprinkled across her misty eyes, lifting away the fog from them.
Vivia stopped a passerby in a daze and asked, "Excuse me. Is it some festival today?"
The young demoness beamed with delight. "No, there isn't an official festival as such, but my lord, the Crown Prince is here today!"
"...So you light lanterns every time he visits?"
"Oh no. We don't do anything like that. I heard that my lord passed an order to celebrate a fun event today. He wanted the entire sky to be lit and filled with lanterns! He said that no matter where anyone turned today, it should be bright and filled with hope!" Her eyes gleamed.
The bustling demoness hopped away to enjoy the festival, but Vivia stood rooted at her place, staring at the empty void ahead.
No matter where I turned, it was only dark and hopeless…
She lifted her gaze slowly, and saw a lantern drifting to her side. Its mellow light illuminated her face from above. She raised her hand, brushing her fingers along its soft edge. Behind the lantern, on the other end of the street at the far side, stood Zerath, hands on his back and staring right back at her with a tender smile on his lips.