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When they kissed, that was all Raelyn could feel: how he carefully cupped her face in his hands, and how he kissed her so carefully as if she would dissolve into nothingness otherwise. Her heart was racing wildly inside of her, a part of her hoping that Klaus would not notice it or else she might die out of embarrassment.

Is this for real?

She gingerly opened her eyes when they parted; it was really him who was there in front of her and no one else. "Mr. Klaus…"

"Raelyn, I…"

His words were cut off by the abrupt opening of the door. Both of them looked at the visitor, and Raelyn could feel her heart fell when she saw who it was.

"Well, this is awkward…" Ibuki muttered wryly.

Without saying anything else, Ibuki turned on his heels and left. He didn't even close the door back. Following that, Klaus flipped his blanket open and reached for his shirt, but Raelyn immediately stopped him. "Please stay still, Mr. Klaus! Your wounds!"

"Let me talk to him."

Instead of letting go, Raelyn held onto him even tighter than before. "No, it is I who should talk to him."

She put back the blanket over Klaus and immediately went after Ibuki. He was already back at his own farm, standing absent-mindedly facing his house. The pinkette decided to carefully approach him.

"It's a cold night, you should be in your house," she remarked gently.

"So should you, Raelyn… with him." Ibuki turned around and finally came face to face with her. "I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking straight, going to your house when he was clearly there. Then again, I was just about to check up on you, you were pretty shaken when you asked for my help earlier."

"Thanks for the concern…"

He waved his hand dismissively. "I'm just being a good neighbor, don't sweat it."

His choice of word did not escape her. Raelyn smiled wryly. "Neighbor, huh?"

"That's why you came after me, right?"

Raelyn reached into her pocket and took out the necklace Ibuki returned to her back then. She took his hand and placed the necklace on his open palm. This time, he closed his hand and took the necklace with him.

"I do hope he makes you a damn happy woman, Raelyn…" he murmured. "That's the only way he can justify all this… but before that, give me one last favor, will you?"

"Hm?"

Ibuki moved forward and kissed her forehead. He lingered slightly longer than their usual goodnight kiss, but she said nothing of it. "Parting gift."

Raelyn watched as Ibuki turned back and went into his house before walking back to her farm. When she came back, however, Klaus was already nowhere to be found with her extra bed already made. There was a note left on it:

Raelyn,

I cannot impose further on you. Do not worry about me, I will see Marian at my earliest convenience. Please do not forget to lock your door tonight. Good night.

Klaus

As soon as she finished her morning routine, Raelyn headed to the town. Much to her surprise, she saw Raeger near the pond area. "Raeger?"

"Oh, hey, Raelyn!" the chef jogged leisurely towards her. "Did you hear? A dead man was found in the forest yesterday!"

"A-ah… really?"

She then remembered what Marian told her before he left the previous evening after he handed her some sleeping pills:

"You need this tonight, honey."

"What about Mr. Klaus?"

"My, he will die faster out of his worry for you. Otherwise, that lone wolf will live. That being said, he shouldn't move around too much if he doesn't want his wounds to reopen."

Raelyn nodded. "Doctor, can I ask you for a favor?"

"Hm? Yes?"

"I… is it possible if the town doesn't know what really happened? I mean… I…"

Raelyn could feel the doctor studying her carefully. Much to her relief, he smiled. "What happened tonight was that Ibuki called for me because he found a body in the forest," he told her. "But, Raelyn, honey… promise me you will see me soon, especially if you cannot rest."

"I will, doctor, thank you."

"It's rare to see you going to town this early. Something urgent?"

Her mind immediately went to Klaus; the way closed the distance between them, the kiss…

"Um, Raelyn… your face is red. You alright?"

That snapped her back to reality. She grabbed Raeger and dragged him to an even more secluded part of the forest. "Eh?! Hey! If Ibuki saw us, wouldn't he be jealous?"

Raelyn looked around to make sure that no one else could hear: "Raeger, I want to tell you something, two things, actually…"

"Okay?"

"One: I broke up with Ibuki."

"What?!"

"Two," Raelyn felt a lump in her throat. She swallowed it down and uttered the words: "Mr. Klaus kissed me."

"WHAT?!"

The pinkette immediately put her hand in front of the chef's mouth and warned him to be quiet. He nodded and Raelyn pulled her hand back. "All happened yesterday?" he asked.

She nodded. Much to her surprise, Raeger laughed and patted her shoulder. "'Atta girl! You sure are popular with the guys! You'll be very dense not to realize it."

Said someone who doesn't realize how many fangirls he has himself…

Raeger quickly gathered his composure and cleared his throat. "That aside… have you talked about it with Klaus? Are you guys official now?"

"Uh… no. We… didn't have the chance."

"How about you? What do you want?"

"I… I don't know."

"Well, you just have a break-up. As a close friend, I'd advise you to think this through. You have a surprising impulsive side, keep that in control. I suppose I don't have to tell you this, but there's more than just feelings to sustain a relationship."

Raelyn nodded grimly. "Thanks, Raeger."

Noticing her sullen mood, Raeger pinched her cheek affectionately. "No matter what happens, you have a free dish at my place that you can claim anytime."

This time, she managed to smile. "I'll take you up on that later."

The bell chimed when she swung the door open. "Welcome!" Corona's cheerful voice greeted. However, Raelyn saw nobody behind the counter. "Just give me a minute, I'll be right with you."

A few moments later, Corona emerged from the back and her face beamed up when she saw who the visitor was. "Oh, Raelyn, perfect timing!"

Raelyn tilted her head slightly to the side in confusion.

"I just finished baking a cake. Come on back and I'll give you a slice!"

This time, it was Raelyn's turn to beam up. She nodded and Corona led her into her house. The smell of a freshly baked cake greeted her almost immediately when she walked into the dining area. Corona invited her to sit down and gave her a generous slice of a cake, covered in a pale yellow cream.

Raelyn took a small bite. She loved the softness of the cream and the fluffiness of the cake itself. "Wellll? This is the first time I baked this, what do you think?"

"It's pretty good, actually."

"Really?" Corona beamed up. "Was it too sweet?"

Raelyn took another bite. "It's fine, but maybe you'll want to add a bit more lemon to the cream."

"Oh, I thought about that, too!"

The two women were talking about the cake and baking in general when Gunther arrived. He greeted her amicably. "Hey, there, Raelyn! I didn't know you're here. Kick back and relax all you like, okay?"

Raelyn smiled and nodded, then Gunther turned to face his wife. "What's going on, dear?" she asked.

"Oh, I just came by to pick up some tools." He noticed the cake on the table. "Baking again? Careful eating too much of those, you'll get round around the waist."

Corona puffed her cheeks. "Hey! I'm trying to make a good one for you!"

Gunther laughed. "You know, you never baked a bad one before. I'll eat anything you give me."

That seemed to soothe her. Gunther bade goodbye to the two women and quickly went back to work. "Say, Mrs. Corona… you are much younger than Mr. Gunther, right?"

Corona nodded. "I'm ten years his junior!"

"Was it hard?"

Corona didn't reply immediately. She just stared at the pinkette, and Raelyn felt bad for asking such a personal question. She was about to apologize when the older woman smiled gently. "There are some challenges, sure, but it's all worth it. All relationships have their own challenges, right?"

"How… how did it happen?"

"I tried dating around," Corona admitted with a giggle. "Initially, I did that in denial of my own feelings, then to see whether Gunther will get jealous, but he didn't fall for my trap. In fact, he always, aaaalways wish me luck with each of my boyfriend. And he's always there for each breakup. One day and don't know how many boyfriends after, I snapped and asked him 'instead of wishing me luck and then consoling me why don't you become my boyfriend yourself?!' Best question I've ever asked in my whole life."

The bell chimed again. "Welcome!" Corona walked towards the shop and Raelyn followed behind her.

"Mrs. Corona, I'm here to take the lumber sample," Klaus said in his usual deep, calm voice.

"Oh, right, of course!"

While Corona was looking for the item Klaus asked for, the raven-haired gentleman finally noticed Raelyn's presence. Raelyn could not really hide her embarrassment when their eyes met; she kept thinking back of the time when they kissed.

What should I say to him? Oh my Goddess, should I just say 'hi'? Wait, is he well enough to walk around already?

"Raelyn, a pleasure to see you here," Klaus greeted her first, his voice betraying nothing of his emotions than necessary. It was just like his usual greeting.

"M-Mr. Klaus… how are you?"

"I'm fine. Marian told me a body was found in the forest area, I hope you'll be careful when you venture there."

She nodded gingerly.

"Here it is!"

Corona emerged to the counter again and handed Klaus a small package. Raelyn could smell a faint scent of oak and cedar. "Thank you, Mrs. Corona."

Klaus made his payment and walked out from the store, and Raelyn could do nothing but to watch him leave. A part of her was glad that Klaus seemed to be fine and he had seen Marian as he had promised, but another part of her was rather disappointed at how… usual Klaus had been with her. It was as if nothing had happened between them.

Raelyn did not realize that while she had been watching Klaus' back, Corona had been watching her. The carpenter's wife smiled knowingly.

"You know, Raelyn, the thing with much older men? Sometimes they're too scared to make the move. You just need to go for it and take the first step." She patted Raelyn's shoulder. "You'll never regret the things you tried. Only the things you've never tried."

Corona seems to have joined(?) the ship!

What would Raelyn do?

Stay tuned to find out~

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