The Wreath ofWhite Roses
"And, that's it!" I clapped my hands in excitement as I finished serving the dishes for the picnic. We had a wonderful weather today and I invited Rain to share a meal with me in the Royal Garden. I was unsure if he would be able to join me, since his schedule of the advisor was very hectic, but when he heard my offer, he agreed almost right away. It was a little unexpected to me, if to be honest. He looked like he was searching for a moment of peace. Well, if I could grant his wish by feeding him with some delicious food in the privacy of the rose garden, I would be the happiest girl in this world.
After all, he was doing all of the hard work now in order to take a break afterwards. The date of our wedding was getting closer and closer, which made my heart race every time I was thinking about it.
My sister and I decided to hold the wedding ceremony on the same day. Luna was going to become Snow's wife. After the wedding Rain and I would continue to govern this land together with my sister Luna and her husband. The idea made me nervous, but I was sure that everything was going to be fine if Rain would be by my side.
As I sat on the blanket and caressed the green grass with my fingers, I heard a dear voice that called my name from behind. He actually made it in time! I was so happy that he came!
"Airi!" his deep voice sent pleasant shivers down my skin, as he pronounced my name with an exhalation.
I turned my head to the sound of his voice only to get an unexpected sweet kiss on my cheek from behind. A bouquet of pure white roses appeared before my eyes. How did he approach me so quickly? Rain's ways of affection forced me to blush hard. He had always been stoic and composed, never letting himself to show his emotions, but his behavior had changed drastically after we opened our hearts to each other. It was the most pleasant feeling to be enveloped in his love that he radiated every time we stayed alone.
This time wasn't an exception. While I was sinking in embarrassment, my fiancé took his place opposite from me.
"Sorry for keeping you waiting," he told seriously, looking straight at my reddened face with his expressive eyes.
"N-no, it's fine. I am glad you could make it," my incoherent babbling sounded strange, I knew it, but I just couldn't get used to Rain's sudden ways of showing affection. The kiss on my cheek felt warm even now. And these white roses… they held so much meaning, the main of which was Rain's true feelings. My heart started to beat faster as I inhaled the sweet fragrance of his unexpected gift.
"Thank you so much, Rain," I tried to express my gratitude wholeheartedly, sending him a bright smile.
"I am glad you like them," Rain answered with a small smile of his own, warming me up with his gentle gaze.
Our private moments were luxury, and we both knew it. So, we tried to spend our precious time together as best as we could. This picnic was a wonderful opportunity to express just how much we missed each other.
Soon, the atmosphere changed from being a little awkward. Now it felt so pleasant and peaceful, that I wanted to prolong it with all my heart. We shared some nice meal, drank a cup of delicious tea and had a heartwarming conversation, which didn't concern politics. In the secluded area of this Royal Garden we were just us – a young couple in love, who didn't care about any other things but our mutual feelings we held in our hearts.
The time in Rain's company flew by so quickly, that I instinctively wanted to freeze it and keep him by my side. And so, I collected all of my courage and offered the respectful advisor to lay his head at my lap and take a little rest before going back to work. His face looked troubled for some reason. It seemed that my bold offer took him off guard. I could clearly see a faint blush on his cheeks, when he was looking at me with widened eyes.
At that moment I felt uneasy too. Was my offer too daring?
"I will read you a book, if you want," I tried to stay calm, but in reality, his strange reaction forced my heart to feel agitated.
There was a short pause before his features relaxed and he stood on his all fours, sending me a mesmerizing gaze, which I didn't expect. I felt like a little bird hunted by a fox, as Rain slowly crawled to me, never breaking our eye contact. But in my case, the fox was a handsome black rabbit.
"If you insist," he breathed out in my face, when he got too close to me. There was a light teasing smirk on his lips and I couldn't take my eyes off his manly features. Rain was an appealing young man, and I think, he didn't even realize what power he had over my poor heart.
"P-please, enjoy yourself," I managed to utter those words with my trembling lips. The proximity of our bodies was igniting something in my heart. I wanted to reach out and embrace him, but I felt too embarrassed to do it. Not when he was looking at me like he did now.
With a melodic sigh, Rain changed his position and nested his nape at my lap, sending me a relaxed gaze. His hand touched a long strand of my blond hair and curled it on his index finger.
"It would be nice to listen to your reading," he said in a soft voice and closed his ruby eyes, ready to hear the story I was going to read to him.
I was thankful to him for being a gentleman and keeping his eyes closed. I loved his unique mirrors of soul, but in this positing they were hard to resist. So, I took out the book I had brought with me and started to read it out loud in a steady voice. The story had a romantic plot and I was fond of it, but the more I read it to him, the shyer I felt. Maybe it wasn't the best choice of a book for a guy, after all.
My thoughts were interrupted by Rain's soft breathing. To my great surprise, I realized that I had lulled him to deep slumber with my reading. But I didn't get disappointed. I knew how busy he was and how tired he got with his never-ending work, especially during the past few weeks. He was trying his best to finish all of the urgent matters before our wedding, so that we could spend our honeymoon in peace.
Very soon I would become his wife. The thought brought heavy blush on my cheeks. But no matter how shy I felt, I was looking forward to the day I would give my vows to Rain. I loved him dearly and I wanted to spend the rest of my life by his side.
As I watched him sleeping peacefully at my lap, I tried to fight the strong wish to caress his face with my fingers. But if I did it, I would end up waking him up and ruining his needed rest. So I looked away in a futile attempt to distract myself from thinking about my beloved man. It was pointless, because all of my being was filled with him alone. Was I so deeply and helplessly in love with my black rabbit?
In those musings my eyes spotted the bouquet of white roses that Rain had given me today. The flowers emitted the gentleness, which I felt from Rain. The thought brought a soft smile to my lips. I reached out to take the bouquet in my hands and inhaled the sweet aroma again.
Rain was so caring; he even went through a trouble to get me this beautiful floral gift. I wanted to do something for him, something special that could show just how much I loved him. I shifted my gaze to his sleeping face and my heart filled with so much warmth and gentleness towards my fiancé, that I was ready to run in search for the opportunity to give him a present. But I couldn't move. I didn't want to wake him up just yet.
And then an idea appeared in my mind. The only material I had in hand right now were these beautiful flowers. I wasn't sure if I would succeed in my intentions, but I had to try. I used to do it back in my world, when I was younger.
So, I released the stems of the roses from the silky ribbon that kept them tied together and started to organize a wreath. It wasn't an easy task. The last time I had been weaving a wreath there were dandelions for the use. But now I had to summon all of my craftsmanship in order to create a decent present for Rain. And I was doing my very best.
Soon the wreath was ready. It looked really lovely. Even I got impressed with my work, but every art required some sacrifices. In my case it was my fingers. Maybe I was in hurry to weave the gift, or maybe I was just inexperienced in this field, but the result was painful. My fingers were pricked with the sharp thorns of the roses pretty badly. There were little drops of blood here and there on my fingertips, and I winced at the sight.
"Ah," I heard Rain's stirring, as he opened his sleepy eyes and looked up at my face. "I can't believe I fell asleep. Sorry, Airi."
He was just too adorable! His sweet remark made me forget about the pain in my fingers. I smiled at him and lay my hand on his soft jet-black hair.
"You don't need to apologize. I am glad you could take a little rest in my company."
It was true. I was indeed happy to help him relax to the sound of my boring reading.
He just sighed with a sincere smile and stood up from my lap, taking a seat beside me.
"Your company is the only place where I can be in peace."
His words meant a lot to me. I averted my eyes shyly to the side, trying to hide the blooming blush on my face, when I saw my floral gift and remembered the reason why I decided to make it in the first place. I reached out to take it in my hands and looked up at Rain. He seemed a little confused, when I showed him the wreath made of roses he had presented me a while ago.
"I wanted to make something special for you, but I didn't want to wake you up, so…" as I was telling him those words, his expression changed. Rain was looking at me with mute admiration and his warm gaze painted golden patterns in my heart. "I made this wreath while thinking about you. Sorry, for ruining your bouquet, Rain, but these roses were the only material I could reach in my position."
As I said those words, I placed the wreath of pure white roses on the top of his head and held my breath, when our eyes met. His gaze was bottomless. It absorbed me in the depths of his swirling emotions.
"Thank you, Airi. It means a lot to me," he said in a hushed tone before taking my hand in a tight grip, which forced me to let out a little cry of pain.
My reaction was true shock to Rain, judging by the way he widened his eyes.
"Sorry, I needed to be more careful, when I…" but I didn't have a chance to finish my phrase. Rain placed his worried gaze on my hand and noticed the reason of my pain. The next instant, he leaned in to my hand and licked the blood from my fingers with his tongue.
I held my breath in anxiety. It was too unexpected. His actions made my heart race in my chest. His grip on my hand was gentle, but the way he was treating my injuries was beyond embarrassing. I knew what power my blood had and how it affected the inhabitants of this world, but Rain looked like he didn't care about it right now.
"R-rain…" I tried to protest helplessly, when he took my other hand and brought my fingers to his mouth. It looked like he didn't hear me in his moment of ecstasy. "Rain, please…"
When his tongue touched my fingertips again, I decided to do something to make him stop. My heart couldn't bear the crazy pounding anymore. It was getting hard to breathe. So I pulled my hands away from him sharply, thinking that it would free me from his grasp, but I was too naïve. My sudden move brought even more problems, as Rain didn't let go of my hands but followed the lead I forced on them.
I ended up lying on the blanket from the impact with Rain towering over me on his extended arm. It was a miracle he didn't smash me when we were falling.
The position we found ourselves in was beyond awkward. But it helped to bring Rain back to his senses. He was looking at me with pure panic in his ruby eyes. I was sure that my expression was no better than his. But at the same I couldn't but feel pleased, because I managed to take this composed and stoic advisor off guard.
His eyes were roaming around my flushed face in attempt not to look at me so directly, but as a result Rain was just devouring me with his eyes. And when we both realized, where his right hand was lying, we blushed hard in sync. His palm was occupying my breast and I didn't know what to think or feel. We just stared at each other in mute panic and didn't know what to do.
Not until Rain had lost control of his emotions completely, revealing his natural fluffy rabbit ears above the rose wreath on his head.
At first I was speechless. The sight was unfamiliar and beyond cute to my eyes. The white and black contrast his ears and roses made was enchanting. My hands moved on their own, when they reached out to the furry ears and stroked them gently with my thumbs.
I couldn't contain the squeal of excitement.
"You are so cute!" I exclaimed and my face brightened up as I continued my sweet caressing.
The whole embarrassment of the previous situation disappeared into thin air, as I lay there with madly blushing Rain above me. He even brought his gloved hand to his reddened face and tried to cover his hot cheeks with the back of his palm. He was looking to the side, avoiding meeting my eyes.
"Please, stop…" his voice was muffled and sounded defeated.
"No. When I was asking you to stop, you didn't listen, so why should I?" I answered teasingly, letting a merry laugh.
"Airi, I-I'm begging you."
Well, I couldn't turn down his request, especially when he asked it in that restrained hopeless tone. So I left his bunny ears in peace with a sigh and took his face between my palms, rubbing his cheeks with my thumbs. In response to my actions he took away his hand from his face and finally looked at me. To my great surprise he looked humiliated.
"Rain," I called out his name gently. "You don't need to feel ashamed of your ears. They are a part of you and I sincerely love everything about you."
It was the purest truth. When I was holding him in my arms like that I felt my heart being filled with overwhelming love towards him. Not even realizing what I was doing, I brought his face down to me and kissed him. Our lips met in a soothing and gentle touch, which Rain genially answered.
When he broke the kiss carefully and I opened my eyes again, I saw a smiling face of my beloved black rabbit. He still had his long ears on the top of his head, which were encircled with the crown of pure white roses.
We embraced tenderly and exchanged our love confessions in a sweet whisper.
Rain was my beloved king and I didn't want any other in my life.