Lina had planned to simply crash, but the familiar sounds of Gourry doing his sword exercises in the courtyard distracted her. Instead of going to bed, she felt herself drawn to the window. She parted the curtain and watched him.
Butterflies hatched in her stomach, and she quickly closed the curtain and sat on the bed before he had a chance to notice that she was watching him. It was then that she noticed the bundle of wildflowers on her bed. The butterflies intensified their frantic flight.
Every night since he had suggested visiting her home in Zeferia, he had left something on her bed. Flowers. A box of chocolate. A pair of earrings. If she had any doubt in her mind what his intentions were when they set off for Zeferia, she did not now. The only question was, what would she do?
Thus far, nothing. Every night a new gift, every morning an awkward breakfast as she desperately hoped he wouldn't ask if she got the present he left last night. He never did. She never thanked him. Life went on and they remained stuck. And in the back of her mind, there was a growing realization of why she couldn't move forward.
Ever since she was a little girl, Lina knew that she would marry a prince. He would be witty and handsome and rich. She would live in a castle and order servants around all day and never have a care in the world. Life would be perfect.
She was true to her prince. She knew that a lot of people assumed that the infamous bandit killer would have no qualms about jumping in the sack with any man who took her fancy, but the truth was she had never even held hands or kissed a man, much less had sex with one. She didn't want to betray her prince. It was why she couldn't kiss Harris during the fake wedding ceremony, even with all of the money he dangled under her nose.
Lina stood up and went back to the window and sneaked a peak through the curtains. There was no question that Gourry was good looking. Tall and well sculpted, with hair that shone like gold in the sun and big blue eyes filled with mirth. He was the most skilled swordsman she had ever met. He was kind and generous, and she trusted him completely.
But he was no prince. He was as dumb as a brick. And he certainly had no money, much less a castle.
Life with him would be one struggle after another. Like what her parents had. Making ends meet was hard.
More and more, Lina found herself not caring about how hard it could be. She kept thinking more about how she felt when Phibrizo had kidnapped Gourry and nearly killed him. Or about how badly he was injured in their latest battle. She had waited patiently for years for her perfect prince, and during that time had found herself become attached to a flawed man instead. She had tried to deny it and battle her growing feelings, but it was no use.
Besides, it wasn't as if she'd never met a prince before. Prince Phil. Prince Christopher. Prince Alfred. Prince Randy. Pokota. It wasn't as if any of them were winners by a long shot. Ugly, vain, corrupt, annoying, not a one of them held all of the attributes that a prince should have. It was a slow and painful process, but she was realizing that may be her perfect prince didn't exist. He was some childish fantasy that kept her from enjoying what was standing right in front of her.
Lina stared again at the bundle of flowers on her bed. Violet lilacs mingled with yellow acacias and bundled with orange honeysuckle. She smiled and picked them up, and then boldly threw open the curtains and opened the windows.
"Hey Gourry!" she yelled. He wiped the sweat from his brow as he turned to face her. She held up the flowers, "They're beautiful!"