Pretty Cute

“If you hadn't gone to the Adventurer's Guild to register for that Black Iron Rank nameplate, would we never have met?”

“We probably still would have.”

“Why?”

“Because Flora and I would go to the market to buy things, and you would probably take quests at the Adventurer's Guild. Over time, our paths would have crossed eventually.”

Loviki hugged the pillow and stared straight at him, looking slightly annoyed. “...That's such a boring answer.”

“Then what kind of answer did you want to hear?” Chen Mian asked, looking down at her.

“I wanted to hear you say it was because of fate or something like that.”

“That sounds incredibly cheesy,” Chen Mian said without hesitation.

“But you're always the one talking about destiny!” Hugging the pillow, Loviki turned her head away in embarrassment.

“That was what Flora said when she first arrived.”

Loviki put down the pillow and looked up, her gaze slightly unnatural as she said in a flat voice, “Oh... so that destiny only refers to you and Flora.”

“Do you want a destiny too?” Chen Mian asked, leaning down slightly to look at Loviki's face.

“Eh?! N-No, I don't... That's not what I meant!” Loviki waved her hands in a panic, her voice growing less confident with every word. Finally, she just threw the pillow over her face and muttered in a muffled voice, “Pretend I never asked!”

The living room fell quiet again.

The corners of Chen Mian's mouth curled up as he sat to the side, watching Loviki hide her face.

Loviki felt a bit self-conscious. She quietly nudged the throw pillow down a fraction, revealing her ruby-like eyes, only to meet Chen Mian's gaze directly. She froze for a moment, then silently covered her face again. Her voice drifted out from beneath the pillow once more. “Why are you just staring at me without saying anything?”

“I'm not. I'm looking at the pillow,” Chen Mian said, a hint of amusement in his voice.

“You're clearly looking at me!” Loviki retorted.

“Is that so? Why don't you take the pillow away to check?”

Loviki was silent for a moment before slowly moving the pillow aside. “You clearly—”

She cut herself off mid-sentence.

Because Chen Mian had leaned in very close—so close that she could see her own reflection in his eyes, and with every breath, she could catch the faint scent of Moonlight Grass.

“W-Why are you leaning in so close!” Loviki felt her face burning, the heat rapidly spreading down to her neck.

“Didn't you want to check?”

“I said... y-you're looking at me.” Loviki's gaze involuntarily drifted elsewhere, her heart pounding furiously.

“Loviki.”

“...What?”

“Are you jealous?”

“N-No, I'm not!” she denied almost reflexively, her voice trembling slightly.

“Then why is your face so red?”

“I-I'm just...” Loviki's mind went completely blank. It took her several seconds to squeeze out a completely unconvincing excuse. “...It's hot.”

“The air conditioning is on.”

“T-Then the air conditioning must be broken!”

“I think it's working fine.”

Loviki gave up entirely. She closed her eyes and buried her face back into the pillow. “...Can you please stop talking?”

“Then what should I say?”

“Don't say anything.”

“Then open your eyes.”

“No.”

Even as she said that, she still quietly lifted her face halfway out of the pillow, exposing only her eyes as she asked tentatively, “...If I open my eyes now, will you back up a bit?”

“No.” Chen Mian's voice carried a hint of mischief. “Looking at you up close like this, you're actually pretty cute.”

Loviki's eyes widened. The heat surged all the way down her neck, and even her breathing became shallow and uneven.

“Y-You...” Her voice was even softer than before. She struggled for a long moment but couldn't find any words, ultimately covering her face with the pillow once again.

“Human! I caught a big fish!” Velyan's figure appeared at the doorway, her golden tail held high. She held a large, silvery-white fish in her hands, her face filled with excitement.

“I caught it!” Velyan stood at the door, completely drenched, water still dripping from the hem of her cloak. “I caught it with the fishing rod! I didn't jump into the water, but it pulled so hard when it bit the hook that I got dragged into the lake!”

As she spoke, she held the large fish up in front of Chen Mian, its tail still thrashing. “It's huge, right?”

“Yeah, it is big. Big enough to drag a Chaos Dragon into the water...”

“Human! That's not important! What's important is that we get to eat grilled fish!” Velyan said in all seriousness.

Then, she looked with confusion at Loviki, who was lying to the side with a pillow over her face. “What's wrong with her?”

“She's too hot.”

“Hot?” Velyan stared at Loviki, thoroughly bewildered.

Loviki reached out from beneath the pillow and waved her hand dismissively, indicating she was fine.

“Let's go. We need to clean the fish first.” Chen Mian stood up and walked toward the kitchen.

Seeing this, Velyan gripped the fish and followed him inside.

Only when the sounds of Chen Mian and Velyan talking drifted out from the kitchen did Loviki slowly nudge the pillow down, exposing her eyes to confirm that the living room was indeed empty.

She sat up and touched her cheek. It was burning hot.

Not just her cheeks, but the tips of her ears and her neck were also burning.

Oh no... Have I... gone crazy? She quickly got to her feet and rushed upstairs, almost in a light jog. She pushed open her bedroom door, closed it, and locked it in one fluid motion.

After doing all this, Loviki stood with her back against the door for a moment before slowly sliding down to sit on the floor, cupping her cheeks with both hands.

“...Pretty cute,” she muttered, her voice tiny but carrying a distinct lightness.

Then, she slowly buried her face in her knees. “Who asked you to compliment me anyway...”

The room was very quiet, and she could faintly hear the conversation drifting up from the kitchen downstairs.

“Make sure to scrape all the scales off.”

“I know! I saw you do it earlier!”

“Then you do it.”

“Okay! Human, its tail is still moving.”

“That's because it's not completely dead yet.”

“Will it jump up and bite me?”

“You're a dragon, and you're afraid of a fish biting you?”

Listening to the dialogue downstairs, Loviki couldn't help but look up and let out a soft laugh.

“Pretty cute,” she repeated, her voice even softer than before.

She stood up, walked over to the full-length mirror in the center of the room, and looked at her reflection.

Her face was still flushed, but it softened her usually cool and aloof expression, making her look even more beautiful than usual.

She stared at the mirror for a while, then pinched her own cheek. “So pathetic.”

Only when she was sure her complexion had returned to normal did she open the door and walk downstairs.

As she approached the kitchen doorway, her footsteps lightened.

In front of the stove, Chen Mian was rinsing the cleaned fish with fresh water. Velyan was squatting beside him, holding a dry cloth.

“All done.” Chen Mian handed the fish over, casting a brief glance at Loviki at the doorway before continuing to clean up the counter.

Loviki leaned against the doorframe, keeping her tone as casual as possible. “Need any help?”

“No need.” Chen Mian rinsed the cutting board and set it upright to drain, then wiped his hands with a towel. “But I will need your help soon.”

“With what?”

“When we go to the Royal Capital next week, be a good guide for us,” Chen Mian said with a smile as he hung the towel back up.

“Next week?” Her fingers tightened slightly around the doorframe.

“I promised you, after all. Besides, we can look around the Royal Capital while we're there. It's been a while since I last visited.”