The dark and gloomy sky was painted in washed-out grey and the lazy clouds lingered on the chilly winds. Dusk was ending soon and the sun was no longer visible. The night was cold but Mireille chose to stand at the balcony of her room, wearing her usual white sleeveless dress and a scarf. Clutching the mug of hot chocolate in her hands, she stared at the sky. It seemed endless, with the grey lines and clouds stretching ahead. She had finally gotten over the events relating to her father and recollected some memories about her family and the Prince. She wondered if she meant something to the Prince. He did go out of his way to comfort Mireille when she could not stop crying. It was not like him to do that. Though she was pretty sure she had not stopped crying, he would have stabbed her. Even if he did not say it, she was pretty sure he was annoyed. She giggled and took a sip of her hot drink. She took another sip of her hot chocolate and closed her eyes in pleasure.
Then after some time, someone started knocking on the door to Mireille's room. "Coming," she called out as she went back to her room. Placing the cup of hot chocolate on the table, she went to the door. Upon turning the knob, someone fell on her with his head on her shoulder. It was Belphegor. The smell of alcohol saturated the air and Mireille frowning slightly, sighed. She ran her fingers through his hair, "Bel… You smell like alcohol." Belphegor harrumphed and pulled her closer to him. She barely kept her footing with his sudden action, "Bel..?" His ears were red like his face and his breathing was heavy. His voice muffled, "…Shut up. Leave me alone." It was his usual mischievous tone. He sounded really frustrated, in a darker tone than usual.
"Did something happen?" Mireille's question was ignored and she let out another sigh. "Come on, I will lead you to bed." Putting an arm on her shoulders, his head hung low, avoiding any eye contact with Mireille. Reaching the edge of the bed, Belphegor fell to bed, dragging Mireille along. When she tried to get up, he gripped her hand tightly. His mouth opened to say something but nothing came. Instead, he hiccupped. "What is it?" Mireille said, with her free hand on her mouth. She was trying hard not to laugh at his weird antics. "W-what i-is the bloody time now?" It came out clearer this time but it sounded like he was still frustrated.
Glancing at the grandfather's clock which stood in one corner of the room, she replied that it was going to be eight o'clock at night. The grandfather clock chimes indicating it was already eight o'clock. Belphegor scowled and muttered under his breath, "It's still the 22nd …. " Mireille then stared at him, "What's wrong with still 22nd?" He ignored her question and turned his head to another side. She pouted and had meant to hit him for ignoring her when he suddenly stood up and treaded towards the bathroom. Mireille tilted her head in confusion and got up to follow him. The sound of the water tap being opened and water flowing was heard.
She noticed her phone blinking weakly on the table. She flipped open her phone to find multiple miss-calls from Belphegor and a message from Lussuria. She had been in her room the whole time and she did not notice anything. She clicked on Lussuria's message. It read, "Today's Bel-chan's birthday. Got anything planned?" Her eyes widened. Why didn't she check her phone earlier? Why didn't her phone make any noise? The sound of the water tap being closed was heard. Belphegor came out and looked like he was in pain.
His head hurt so badly and his body felt like crap. Like he could let someone beat the crap out of him just to distract him from the pain. Mireille placed her phone back at the table, grabbed the cup of hot chocolate that was growing colder as time passed by and headed towards Belphegor. Belphegor could swear that he was in his room but from where he stood now he was not. "This isn't the Prince's room… Ugh…annoying headache..." Despite noticing his headache, she was glad he was not as frustrated as he was before. She stood in front of him and gave her cup of hot chocolate to him, "Here." He stared at the drink for a moment before taking a sip of the drink, "….cold." Mireille smiled weakly. "Feeling better yet, birthday Prince?" "…You knew?" Belphegor frowned. Mireille did not answer, instead she smiled. She had to admit that he didn't actually know about it.
Belphegor scratched his head and took another sip. His cheeks didn't seem red anymore. He seemed to be enjoying it, even though he said nothing. Mireille giggle. Belphegor raised an eyebrow at the cup on the table, he turned back to her, "You know, the Prince…" She giggled, suddenly. "Did you hear what the Prince said?" Belphegor asked in a annoyed tone. There were chocolate stains at the corner of his mouth. Together with his cute annoyed face, she could not help but giggle. "Listen to the Prince." Belphegor said, pulling her cheeks. "T-heree arf chocoflate unf your mouth," she replied in a muffled voice. "..What?" He let go of her cheeks, and tried to wipe off the stains on his mouth.
"Stay still. I'll do it for you," Mireille said. She got on her tip toes so that she could reach his face. She placed her fingers across his lips, wiping the chocolate stains.
Her face was so close to the Prince. Too close. He could not think properly. He must look ridiculous, he thought but there was no time to care about how he looked right now. She was being too close and he couldn't help it. He leaned forward and kissed her on the lips. She pulled back almost immediately and stared at him in the eyes. "W-why did you do t-that?" She said as her cheeks flushed bright red. Belphegor chuckled and replied, "Ushishishi, you were asking for it, milady." "I was just trying to h-help y-you!" She said as she looked away, trying to hide her cheeks.
Belphegor smiled and replied, "Thankyou." Taken aback by his words, she stared at him with wide eyes. Realizing she had stared at him too long, she looked away and blushed again. He smiled again at how he could make her blush with just one word. She glanced at him. He was smiling away. Did that mischievous prince trick her? Mireille pouted, "I am g-going to let this be because it's your birthday today…" "Hmmm? What was that? My birthday? Does that mean I can have more of that?" Belphegor grinned.
She shouted, "No!" Belphegor nodded and said, "The Prince was just joking", which she harrumphed. She crossed her arms and looked away. "No need to be that offended, princess," Belphegor chuckled and walked closer to her. "The Prince is sorry." She looked at him in confusion. He planted a peck on her forehead and ran off the room, "Ushishishi~ Good night, milady~" He could hear Mireille screaming words at him but he laughed it off. She was cute that way.
"I don't mind doing this every day, ushishishishi~"
Mireille sighed, "What was that all about? One moment he's down, then he's …I'll never understand."
Happy Birthday, Bel.