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Episode 95: Finding You
The heat of the hot festival made my heart flutter.
When the night breeze lightly touched my bare skin while walking in the crowd
 My heart pounded and I smiled softly.
It was a feeling of being drenched in the anticipation of the people on the street and the happiness caused by the excitement.
It was nice to hear their loud voices.
“Masks are essential for fireworks festivals! Little ghost masks, puppy masks, flower masks
 anything you want!”
“If you come to our restaurant today, we will give you the chef’s special ‘Fireworks Gratin’.”
“Ah, please enjoy the street dance troupe’s performance for about 10 minutes, it’s at 11 o’clock, in a while!”
On one side, there was a street band playing the traditional music of Aktoum, and people wore masks and danced in front of it.
Little kids already carried little flame sticks with them.
‘This is the festival of Aktoum!’
I could understand why the festival of Aktoum was so famous.
The Fireworks Festival at Spinel was simply a day to eat delicious food with the family and watch fireworks by window.
I could feel the vitality and joy of this place.
‘Like Rixus said, I’m glad I came out.’
Tonight, on this street, if I could meet Rixus
 It would be an absolutely perfect night.
I walked through the crowd with a bit of tension and anticipation.
There were many women who went alone like me, and there were also many men.
Perhaps, they were lovers who wanted to test their fate, whether or not they were someone who would shine for the other person.
‘Is Rixus out by now?’
I looked around, feeling my heart soar slightly.
But it was then. Someone talked to me as I was looking around.
“Hey, Probelta! Tarinenoshi. (Beautiful lady! Please take this flower.)”
An old gentleman, well-dressed, came and politely presented me with a red rose.
Without embarrassment, I smiled and accepted the flower.
Earlier, I had seen this exotic old gentleman handing out flowers to women on the street.
I thought it was an event.
I could speak a little of the language of the Western Continent, so I replied,
“Marite, Noni. (Thank you, gentleman.)”
When I spoke with a slight smile, the old gentleman smiled and spoke in the universal language.
“Beautiful lady, be brave when you meet your fate today. The Fireworks Festival is a day for love.”
The old gentleman told me something he hadn’t told other women and disappeared.
‘Be brave
’
It must have been words randomly said, but somehow it warmly touched my heart.
‘I’ve already decided to be brave.’
Tonight was a night of courage.
It was a day to properly defy the God who had always given me only a tragic fate.
‘Today, I will unconditionally find Rixus.’
It would be natural to not find him in the life of ‘Berylia’, where there was no luck at all

It wasn’t just today. Unconditionally, I burned with the will to find Rixus.
‘Isn’t it unfair? Rixus knows my mask, but I don’t know his, right?’
Everyone on the street was wearing a mask.
In this huge crowd, it was only natural that it was easier to find someone if you knew their mask.
Since the face was covered, you could almost identify the person only with the mask.
‘I feel like I’m the only one with a disadvantage.’
As I thought about it, I quickly shook my head.
‘Is this the time to burn with fighting spirit? 
Whoever finds the other first has the victory.’
With that, I started looking for Rixus with a glint in my eyes.
‘Maybe I do have an advantage.’
‘Rixus is tall and stands out.’
Most of the men on the street were smaller and shorter than Rixus.
On the other hand, there were many women of the same size as me. If that was the case, it was a pretty even match.
I wandered around the alleyways looking for Rixus.
The alley to the right of the fruit skewer shop, past the fireworks festival souvenir stall

To the park where the people of Aktoum were making bonfires and dancing around.
I also bought and ate skewers of sweet candied fruit, and met a very young little gentleman.
“Lady, will you give the humble me the glory of a dance, me who was blinded by your beauty?”
I couldn’t refuse the dance request from the polite little gentleman.
Somehow it reminded me of the Rixus from my childhood.
It had been a long time since I had felt free. To the extent there was refreshment.
Having spent a relatively long time in the swampy area, I quickly became intoxicated with this atmosphere.
But the problem arose after I finished dancing with the little gentleman.
“It was an honor to take your precious time, lady. I’ll keep you in my heart today.”
After saying goodbye, the little boy happily crossed the alley.
“Uh, ahhhhh!”
I found a bicycle rushing towards the child, about to collide with him.
“Look out!”
I shouted urgently, but the little boy was frightened and froze.
Just before the bicycle hit the child dangerously, I almost instinctively used my ability. But instead of my ability, my body flew.
Whiii-bam!
Fortunately, the bicycle quickly turned and there was no major accident.
However, my arm was slightly throbbing and aching because my body hit the ground.
I looked at the child in my arms and asked,
“Are you okay?”
“Ugh
 I’m okay. Is the lady okay?”
Seeing the child’s clean face, I breathed a sigh of relief. Then, in a hurry, the bicycle owner ran from behind.
“Lady, are you okay? Little boy, are you okay? Oh my gosh! I’m so sorry.”
It wasn’t really his fault. Because the little one did jump out a bit too quickly.
The little boy said with an apologetic look in his eyes.
“It’s my fault. I’ll take a good look at it from now on. Thank you for saving me.”
“By the way, what should I do
 Lady, the mask is broken.”
“!”
I was startled and groped my face. I didn’t have a mask!
Belatedly, the bicycle owner showed me a smashed butterfly mask with an apologetic expression.
It was given to me by Rixus

Without any time to be upset, I quickly took the mask and left, refusing to answer them about the price of the mask.
I was really glad I changed my eye color in advance.
If my odd-eye had been exposed to the public, today’s festival would have been over.
However, there might be some people who recognize my face, so I went to buy a new mask.
“Are there any masks like this one?”
“Hmm
 there’s nothing similar to that. I think it’s custom made?”

Oh, there was no such thing. Anxiety flooded in.
In the midst of this, I became uneasy at the look in the eyes of the masked seller who kept looking at my face.
He wouldn’t recognize me, would he?
Covering my face slightly with the shattered mask, I said,
“Then give me something, quickly.”
“
Anything? There are a lot of pretty ones, you can pick one
?”
“Just give me something.”
When I hurried, the masked man quickly picked up a mask and put it in a paper bag.
I walked into an alley where there was no one around, took out the mask, and looked at it
 and was immediately startled.
“!”
The whole mask was adorned with beautiful blue roses.
“
Ah.”
I smiled sadly yet bewilderedly.
‘
Is fate laughing at me?’
This mask read like a cruel message from heaven, that no matter how hard I tried, I would never escape from my destiny.
I felt my heart sink.
‘If the mask changes
 Can Rixus find me?’
Rixus would only be looking for a ‘butterfly mask’, because at a glance, there were too many people in the square.
He was ruined
! It was when I put my hand on my forehead in frustration.
“In 30 minutes, colorful fireworks will be embroidered in the sky in the square!”
To make matters worse, the loudspeaker magic tool pretty much announced that time was running out.
30 minutes. 30 minutes.
I bit my teeth and put on the mask of blue roses.
‘Yes, as long as I can find him.’
Then, I made up my mind and started wandering through the crowd without hesitation.
I was desperate. My thoughts were just  ‘Finding Rixus’.
If we couldn’t find each other, we could meet later at the Imperial Palace.
But my heart wasn’t thinking like that. If I couldn’t find him today, I couldn’t find him tomorrow or the day after tomorrow.

Until the blue roses finally bloomed, it seemed like we would never see each other again.
The sweet smile of Rixus.
‘Let me catch some straws.’
I wanted to find even a small piece of evidence. I wished there was even a little clue.
This life must be different
 I really wanted to find hope, even the smallest thing.
‘If this doesn’t work
 How can I change my destiny?’
Thinking about it that way made my heart even more anxious. But no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t find a man similar to him, let alone Rixus himself.
Halfway through, I almost felt like crying.
Dang-dang-dang—
When the square’s grandfather clock rang, indicating that there was one minute left, I clenched my trembling hands and hid into a deserted place like a wounded little beast.
It seemed that the happiness of those who have found their lover couldn’t be hidden. Behind the big tree, I was staring at them like a stranger.
I felt like a lost child.
‘It must not have been.’
A shadow of despair covered me.
“

.”
It was then. A large hand wrapped around my shoulder.
It was a familiar body temperature, a familiar body scent.
As the body scent rushed in, a deep longing shook, and then the body temperature warmed my heart.
That hand turned me around easily.
The man looked down at me and slowly took off the beast’s mask.
Black hair fluttered under the night sky, and blue-purple eyes stared at me.
My heart started beating with a terrifying sense of relief.
“
Rixus, how could you
 find me
”
For a moment, my emotions rushed over me and I lost my words.
“I can tell just by looking at your back.”
His languid voice melted in my ears.
“I want to see you even a little more every day, so I’m always looking at you from behind
”
My heart throbbed. I wanted to tell him how lovely he was at this moment.
No, I wanted to kiss him.
“

.”
Rixus was keenly looking at me, as if reading my mind thoroughly.
He began to draw me in, trapped me in his arms, slowly with his warm hands.
My heart was pounding.
The finger that touched my cheek moved to my earlobe
 It soon swept down to my chin and stroked my lips.
Every spot where his body temperature passed was lit hot. My whole body trembled. The feeling was overwhelming.
“Are you going to run away today?”
Instead of answering, I slowly moved my lips towards his.
But it stopped in place for a moment, due to nervousness.
“

.”
He laughed during the short pause.
“That’s enough.”
As soon as he finished speaking, he rubbed his lips against mine.
His large, heated hand wrapped around the back of my neck, and he gently intertwined his wet tongue with mine. The flesh that touched me for the first time led me so delicately that I couldn’t do it any more.
The inside of my mouth and my whole body seemed to melt as it was.
My whole body felt sensitive, and I could hear a thumping, pounding pulse in my ears.
My heart felt like it was going to explode just with this kiss, and my whole body was numb with ecstasy.
The texture of our tangled wet flesh, the tongue licking the sensitive lips

The kiss we engaged in was racy yet sweet, and that gap drove me crazy.
“Ha
”
As my lips parted slowly, I called out his name, mixing it in my breath.
But the name melted powerlessly in my mouth.
Rixus looked down at me with half-lidded eyes, and gently brushed my back, which was trembling with the afterglow, as if to soothe it.
Badump, badump.
My heart was beating wildly.
“
.
”
‘What do I do? What should I do?’
I loved him so much.
Now, I couldn’t stop my heart from flowing towards him.
Waves of emotion poured out like a dam bursting and collapsing, and my heart was shattered.
In the end, this time I overlapped my lips first.
“

!”
Tak—
The blue rose mask was thrown away haphazardly, landing by my feet.
Soon, his large hand wrapped around my waist and back and pulled me into a tight, crushing, warm embrace.
It felt like my heart was on fire.