Chapter III – Just The Two Of Them

After the bath, Jin put on his new set of clothes and went out for some fresh air outside the mayor's manor. There, he saw Rena hanging up the last batch of laundry. Jin took this opportunity to talk to Rena and thank her for all that she has done for him.

"Rena!" Jin called out.

"Oh! Good evening, Jin-sama," she smiled. "Is there something you need?"

"No, nothing at all. I just wanted to talk to you, and say how thankful I am."

Rena struggled to find the words to say. She looked up at Jin who stood under the mysterious moonlight. She watched him smile and give off that glimmer that nearly made her blush.

"There's no need to thank me," she said with a wide smile. "I'm just glad I can be of service to you."

"Ah, don't say that. And you don't have to refer to me with honorifics. Treat me as a friend."

"But that would be rude, and… Jin-sama!"

Jin reached down for the last piece of clothing in the basket and hung it up by the other drying clothes. Rena watched him complete her chore reluctantly. Jin then gave Rena the thumbs up to signal that they were done with their chores. She giggled softly and grabbed Jin's hands to get his attention.

"Well then, as a friend, would you like to take a walk with me?"

Jin and Rena walked side by side under the beautiful night sky and were showered by the stars' light. The servant girl watched the night sky with an abundance of joy and cried out to Jin to watch them with her. She spun in circles and laughed, as if she was a little girl dancing under the moonlight. It was the first time he watched her laugh naturally and saw this as a rare occurrence.

"Jin-sama!" she called. "Please, come sit here with me."

He strolled over to her and sat to her left.

"It's beautiful tonight," she remarked.

"Yeah, it is," Jin said with satisfaction.

"It's even better that you're here," she continued. Jin gave her the curious eye but said nothing.

"Jin-sama?"

"Yeah, what's up?"

"How does it feel to be in love?"

It was something he didn't know much about. Whether he felt it or not at point, he wasn't sure. But he tried his best to answer.

"Well, you feel happy and safe and feel like you can do anything with that person. Like, you feel stronger… yeah, I think love is the strongest spell in the world, if you put it in terms of battle. Heh, sorry, I'm not really good at explaining this…"

Rena put her head on Jin's shoulder.

"No, I understand everything you said. It makes perfect sense to me."

"But Rena, why do you ask?"

Jin's shoulder felt lighter as she raised her head and turned to face him.

"To tell you the truth, I don't know this feeling called love."

Jin looked at her strangely and started to laugh.

"It's… it's not funny, Jin-sama!" she yelled.

"Ha-ha, but you know, you say you don't know how it feels and yet," Jin calmed himself, "you show a lot of it to the villagers. The things you do for them, the way you talk to them and all that stuff, that's showing love."

"I-I guess," she quietly replied.

A hiatus of silence came. Jin and Rena both said nothing and gazed at the eternity of the starry sky. Rena seemed troubled by Jin's explanation of love and just to be sure of something, she had to ask a sensitive question.

"Do you… have someone you love?"

Jin couldn't find the words to say. He remembered the last set of words Tessa had said two years ago. But he treated her so cruelly before his sudden disappearance. Jin's feelings for her, he could not comprehend. Was it love? Was it just imagination? He didn't know, but words flowed out randomly, loud enough for Rena to hear it.

"I-I see…" Rena answered.

Then with quickness, Rena stood up and offered her hand to him.

"Let's go back, Jin-sama!" she said with sudden joy.