CH 66.2

The next morning, I opened my eyes, zoned out for a bit, and then looked at Luca’s sleeping face next to me. His sleeping face was cherubic and cute as usual.

I slipped the covers off little by little so that I wouldn’t wake Luca up and stretched a tentacle towards my coat that was lying on the sofa. I took the sewing kit out of the pocket and pulled it towards me.

This morning as well, Luca’s left hand was placed over my abdomen as if to protect it. Inside I felt the pleasant sensation of being filled up with Luca’s semen, his mana flowing through my body.

Filled with warmth and happiness, I wrapped some thread around his ring finger. After making a knot, I cut the string with a small pair of scissors and, with that, it was complete. Luca was still asleep. Glad that he didn’t wake up, I put the sewing kit back inside my coat.

After that, I leaned back against the cushion and went back to gazing at Luca’s sleeping face.

Lately, I’d been waking up earlier than him and had been enjoying looking at his sleeping face until he woke up. Considering he had insomnia for a while there, it was a good thing that he was taking his time and sleeping soundly.

But now that I thought about it, for the past month, I’d always been the one waking up first and admiring his sleeping face, no? Was Luca not sleeping properly at night?

Speaking of which, last night, we didn’t fall asleep after sex. We changed into pajamas, Luca wrapped his arms around me and we even said goodnight to each other. Luca’s warmth and the comfort of the blanket on top of me lulled me to sleep in no time. But, just because Luca was lying in bed next to me didn’t mean he fell asleep at the same time I did.

I got worried for some reason and 30 minutes passed by like that.

When Luca woke up I tried asking him.

“I’m sleeping properly. Well, it’s true that you wake up before me, but I feel so happy and at peace holding the person I love in my arms that I fall asleep as soon as I hug you.”

“I see. As long as you’re sleeping, that’s good.”

His words were rather embarrassing, but since it meant he was falling asleep right away, I didn’t object to them. So please stop hugging me and telling me that I’m cute every single time. I can’t change out of my pajamas this way.

After breakfast, we were making our plans for the day and I said that I wanted to go out with Noel. Luca couldn’t possibly say no to the two of us and easily agreed to the outing. So, after lunch, the three of us headed out.

Holding hands with Luca, we walked down the main street, with Noel following behind as she perused various stores so that Luca wouldn’t notice that our destination was the accessory shop.

I was thankful for her taking this so seriously and bought her things when she looked at them and mumbled that they were cute or nice. I’d already prepared a birthday present for Noel, but that was that and this was this. As her brother, I could at least buy my little sister these trinkets.

“T-thank you, Zagan-dono.”

My sister was very cute, smiling happily like that. There was no man who would win against that smile. It wasn’t a problem though, since that smile was currently pointed toward me and Luca.

Speaking of which, Noel was wearing a short skirt despite it being winter. Wasn’t she cold? She looked cute in it, but I was worried she’d catch a cold. However, sister or not, Noel was already a responsible adult so I wasn’t going to point out something so tactless.

“Ah, can we go in there?”

We nodded and Noel went inside another store. It was the accessory shop we’d been aiming for. Luca and I went in after her, and a number of clerks greeted us.

I did a quick scan of the store. It was as spacious as the other stores so far with countless accessories on display. There was a wide variety of accessories from fashionable ones to strength-enhancing ones.

Noel, who’d gone in ahead of us, was whispering into one of the attendant’s ears. The attendant bowed.

Noel also gave a slight bow and then headed back toward us.

“Zagan-dono, won’t you help me pick out a souvenir for Father? I’ll ask you, Luca, to rest for a while as we do that. We can’t just have the prince standing here by himself.”

“If it’s a souvenir for sensei, I also want… ah, it’s important to you that the two of you choose a present by yourselves, right?”

“Yes. So please take a short break, Luca.”

Even as they were talking, the attendants had prepared some snacks and tea at a corner table. Also, someone who looked like the owner was waiting nearby.

Perhaps because of how thoroughly prepared they were to entertain him, Luca nodded with a bitter smile.

“I understand. Zagan, call out if anything happens.” Luca kissed me on the head and the cheek and then left.

The attendant Noel had talked to earlier gestured to us and led me and Noel deeper inside the store.

“Zagan-sama, this is the wedding ring section.”

It seemed that the attendant was informed that we were there to buy wedding rings. Though I wanted to thank my quick-witted sister, first thing first, I took out the sewing kit from my breast pocket. I opened the lid and handed the attendant the piece of string with which I had measured Luca’s ring finger.

“From the edge of the string to the knot is the circumference of Luca’s finger. I don’t know how long it is in centimeters, so could you please measure his size from that?”

“Understood. It might take some time so please have a look at the available designs as you wait.”

While the attendant was away, I looked at the wedding rings lined up in the display case. It was going to be a ring that he’d always have on, so a simple design would be best. As for the material, platinum… no, since we are adventurers, I’d like something from orichalcum that will enhance our fighting abilities. It didn’t matter how expensive it’d be.

“Zagan-dono, have you decided on something?”

“Yeah. I’d like one of these rings.”

“Those are made from orichalcum, right? Is it two gold coins for two of them?”

Converted to yen, that would be 2 million yen; ten times more than a platinum ring. But for Luca and I, it had to be something like this.

The attendant who’d gone and measured Luca’s ring size came back and measured mine. There was even a specialized tool to measure ring sizes.

I asked the attendant to engrave our names on the insides of the rings, so the attendant left once again. As we waited for the attendant to return, we looked around for a souvenir for Father.

“Zagan-dono, that was just a way to throw Luca off the scent so you don’t really need to buy a souvenir, do you?”

“But if we don’t get something, he’ll find out we were lying right away. Also, I’m saying this about myself, but I’m not very good at lying and deceiving others. On the other hand, Luca spots this kind of stuff right away.”

“You’re right. He notices even the smallest things when it has to do with Zagan-dono. What an absurd ability.”

She’s right, being able to tell what I wanted to say just by looking in my eyes really was an absurd ability. I have to be extra careful so that he doesn’t find out about the wedding rings.

I took a quick glance over the merchandise and a pair of cuffs caught my eye. Something like that would be useful for my father who’s a noble, right? Noel gave me her approval so I bought the cuffs as well as the rings.

After making sure the names on the rings were correct, the two were put inside a case. It would be perfect if I showed this to Luca on his birthday and then proposed. Before that, we have to save Lune, but… it’ll definitely work out fine. Luca said he’d do something about Soleil. He didn’t consult me about it, so I’ll just trust him and leave it to him.

I handed the cuffs over to Noel and we went back to where Luca was. Seeing him sitting on the sofa and elegantly sipping tea, I couldn’t deny that he was a prince. The surrounding attendants were captivated by him.

When he noticed us approaching, Luca showed a sparkling smile worthy of a prince.

“You’re back, you two. It took quite some time. Were you able to buy something without a problem?”

“Yes. There were so many things it was hard to decide, but we chose some cuffs in the end.”

“I see. I’m glad you managed to find a good present. Shall we head out then?”

Luca got up from the sofa and immediately hugged my waist. He stared into my eyes and smiled.

I thought he was trying to make sure that there hadn’t been any problem so I did my best to stay calm and looked back at him.

After a few seconds, he let out a chuckle and kissed me on the head.

Great. I managed to fool him somehow.

“I don’t know what’s going on, but Zagan looking smug and satisfied is cute.”

…I managed to fool him, right?