Allen Leicestria was twenty years old when he moved to Elviaros, his cousins' hometown. As compared to where he had come from, life in Elviaros was much peaceful and slower in pace—which was strange considering the fact that this town was bordered by an expanse of forest and was rather prone to dragon attacks.

In fact, that was the reason why the three of them decided to settle down there; they had agreed to be the town's Dragon Hunters.

"Life isn't going to get any easier if you rush it," Rod told him, "so better enjoy and cherish what you have!"

Another remarkable thing about this town was how accepting they were of newcomers. Neil and Rod could easily reintegrate with the townsfolk, but even thought he was their cousin, he was still stranger in the town. Allen had braced himself with his usual air of confidence—something he had trained himself to be perfect in—lest they were wary of him. However, they accepted him with open arms. No suspicions. No wariness.

Except for Gill Xaverio, that is.

Gill disliked—maybe envied—the natural way Allen carried himself around others, especially women. Allen might not have realised it himself—but it was something that was striking out for Gill. And although Gill might not want to admit it, icy cold he might seem, he was just a man that longed for warmth from the companion of a woman.

As for Allen's part, it was the way Gill being a child inside of his (Allen even doubted whether he could say it this way) manly shell. You see, Gill Xaverio really adored his adoptive father, the mayor, and for Allen Leicestria who was coping with the loss of his own parents, it was unbearable.

Gill didn't go around the town to sing praises for the mayor, for he wasn't that kind of man, but Allen could see the sparkle in Gill's eyes every time he saw the mayor.

He was acutely aware it wasn't Gill's fault, but that didn't mean it made his coping with his own grief any easier. Because Gill looked just like him when his saw his own father.

The wound was still too fresh.

The first day of the Flower Festival.

Allen had put the pendant into a small royal blue box. He planned to give it to Gwen soon, but she was nowhere to be found; Reine was the only one serving the breakfast.

"Where is your sister?"

Reine raised her head at his question and tilted it on one side, her scarlet eyes still fixed at him—something that she did when she was confused. "And I thought she was with you?" she asked back.

"Uh, no."

"She told me she has to meet someone," Reine replied as she passed a bowl of herb soup and two slices of garlic bread to him. "Maybe it's the mayor's son, then?"

Allen grew uneasy at the mention of Gill. Now that she mentioned it, Gwen had indeed grown so much closer with Gill—it was one thing that he wasn't particularly paying attention to up until the Starry Night Festival.

He was pretty sure they went as friends, though.

"Allen…?"

Allen turned abruptly, and Rod's clear blue eyes were looking at him, concerned. "What happened?" his cousin asked.

"Nothing really important." He leaned in closer, "How are you planning to give your feelings to the lucky girl?"

Rod's face flushed. "Well… I… I haven't really thought of it."

Allen laughed. "You better go quick, before she's snatched by someone else."

"Y-You're right."

"Oh, right, that reminds me." Allen took out a Moondrop Flower and gave it to Reine. "Happy Flower Festival, Reine."

Reine seemed to be surprised at the gesture, but she smiled and accepted the small gift anyway. "Thank you,"

"That's for impressing me with your improving cooking skill. And I heard you're getting better as a healer as well." Allen replied with a smile, "It's not easy to impress me, you know? Let me commend you for achieving that."

Reine giggled as she offered him a cheekier, more elfish smile. "Yeah, right."

Allen spent the early part of his day giving out flowers—mainly wild flowers—to the young women of Elviaros he was friendly with (which meant almost every single one of them). To Yuri and Rachel, with whom he was relatively closer with, he presented a small bouquet arranged with spring flowers each.

He then spent the rest of the day trying to look for Gwen. He walked through the streets of Elviaros—the ones he thought Gwen most probably would be—and he asked around… to no avail.

He began to fear that somehow Gwen was lost.

Allen's steps began to quicken, and for the fifth time in that day, he passed the town square. The streets in Elviaros was indeed constructed with the town square being the start and end of each route, for the purpose of reducing the chances of people getting lost since they would always end up back at the town square as long as they kept moving forward.

Still, it didn't mean that it would be impossible to get lost.

The sky began to turn orange by that time, and Allen began to think that, worst came worst, he had to track her aura down. Aura tracking was a speciality for Water and Earth Elementers for different reasons—while Earth Elementers used their connections to the Earth as a method of tracking, Water Elementers naturally had the aptitude to feel other people's flow of aura. Other Elementers, or simply someone with keen aura, might be able to use this skill; it's just that Water and Earth Elementers were particularly talented in this field.

Before he could do that, though, he had to calm down. Hence, Allen stopped and took a deep breath. Just then, he saw Gwen walking towards the town square from the other end of the place. She brought a basket full of flowers and a few small bouquets. Allen smiled as he made his way towards her, his hand subconsciously reaching out into this pocket, making sure that he still had the necklace with him.

"Hey, Gwen,"

"Hello, Allen," she replied, smiling.

When he finally reached her, he froze.

There was something on her chest: a brooch.

It was a gentian brooch made of aquamarine.

He knew Gwen knew the norms of this festival—Yuri told him earlier that she had spent yesterday explaining it to the bluenette.

"Allen?"

Allen took a deep breath, Calm down, Allen Leicestria… he told himself. "It's a nice brooch. Who gave you that?"

"Gill," she replied, her cheeks flushed red.

Allen griped the box in his pocket tightly. He might just challenge it by giving her this—but for his masterpiece to be compared to a brooch of that class? It was an insult, and Allen Leicestria wouldn't stand it.

More importantly, he'd never thought that Gill would've snatched Gwen this quickly. Maybe he was too caught up in making this necklace—it was clear to Allen that half a season was more than enough to do that. Then again, his feelings for Gwen could be traced as far back as late Fall, where Gwen had only been in the town for half a season as well.

There was no reason for Gwen not developing any feelings for Gill in half a season.

He remembered what he had told Rod earlier this morning.

Talk about the pot calling the kettle black.

Lost.

Did Allen make a mistake by spending half of his winter completely devoted to make that masterpiece that he can't give to her now?

Thanks for reading, and don't forget to review! ^^

A/N: Basically in this chapter I try to reason why Gill and Allen doesn't get along, which is envying the other for what they don't have themselves. Well, now Gill seems to have everything Allen has wanted: a living parent (albeit adopted), as well as Gwen. Being the confident Allen we know he is, of course it's a huge blow to him. How will he cope? Stay tuned to find that out ^^