Fragment 1: That Night in the Place only We Know.
February 14, 2031
Mare Regalius, Main Castle.
14:00
Sovereign's POV
""Happy Valentine's Day!""
Unanimously said by everyone aside from myself inside the main room inside my castle.
It's Valentine's Day, right now, which means that the time for people to give chocolates for love, appreciation, or friendship is in full bloom today.
Right now I, Hakuno Kishinami, am bombarded with Valentine's gifts by Nero, Tamamo, and Altera Larva. Nameless and Gawain are in here too for some unknown reason.
"Well? Open it Master! I cannot wait for you to awe at my marvelous chocolate!" Nero excitedly said before being pushed aside by Tamamo.
"No! Open mine first darling, My chocolate, is made of pure love! One bite on it and you'll–" Tamamo being cut off mid sentence as Nero also pushed her aside.
"Mine, Mother! I hope you like my chocolate!" Altera, or more specifically a younger version of her, is in front of me and presents her chocolate.
I just sweatdrop at the three of them, well because…
"Thank you, you three really, but… does the chocolate need to be this big?" I said as I looked at three chocolates that were the same size as me.
"Of course, umu! Like what they say, "bigger is always better!"" Nero proudly proclaims that statement.
"It's "bigger isn't always better," you got it backwards, moron. Anyways, have some of my chocolate dear, I'm sure you'll like it!" Tamamo said so.
"Mmm! Mother, Mother, try mine too please," Altera said at me while smiling. Beside her is a chocolate almost as tall as the ceiling of the room, and that's really big, since the ceiling of the main room is almost 10 meters high.
"So, why are you two here?" I look at Nameless and Gawain.
"We're here to make sure, nothing inappropriate would happen to you, master." Nameless said.
"Altera is here, I'm pretty sure Nero and Tamamo would hold back," I said so to them.
"There's nothing wrong with being extra cautious, Master," Gawain said so.
After that fiasco, I decided to open their presents, starting from Nero, to Tamamo, and lastly Altera.
First Nero.
I open her chocolate wrapping, the said Chocolate being taller than me, to find a nude statue of Nero herself, made using Chocolate.
"I..uh.. Wow, okay, nice chocolate Nero!" I awkwardly said they got all the details right, right to the breast and bosom, hell even the "ehe-ehe" parts are perfectly sculpted.
"Umu! Of course it is! It's perfect and beautiful like me! Of course it would be perfect!" Nero laughs as she applauds herself.
"Really? Seems like you're compensating for something if you ask me." Tamamo said with her arms crossed. As for what she said, yeah I did notice that the chocolate is a tad bit taller than the person it is based on.
"Seems not so perfect to me when you can't even get the height right, isn't it Emperor of Rose?" Tamamo with a smug face covered with her fan mocks her. Okay that's a bit too far, I'll punish her later.
"Ggg! Well how about you Vixen?! What do you got?!" Nero yelled at her while pointing.
"Stop calling me Vixen!" Tamamo yelled back.
Second Tamamo.
"Behold my beloved husband!" Instead of me being the one to remove the wrapper, Tamamo does it herself. To reveal a bento of chocolate.
"It's a bento of chocolate," I said seeing what was in front of me.
"Yes! Naturally, as your most beloved wife, it is my job to make the best lunch for my dearest husband." Tamamo said so.
"Isn't it defeating the purpose of a bento box, since all of the things in there are just chocolate?" Nero asks.
"Ah" Tamamo's brain, I think just rebooted for a bit.
Next is Altera.
I look up at the behemoth of a chocolate gift staring down on me.
"How should I do this?"
It took almost an hour, but we finally got all the wrapping out, and what remained is a giant statue modeled after me.
Not just me, even Nero, Tamamo, Nameless, and Gawian are gobsmacked by this, I look at Altera to see her smiling proud at her work.
I just sighed and praised her, I just can't with this child.
I tried to eat all the gifts, but I was stopped mid-way through by Tamamo and Nameless.
19:08
The party ended just now and everyone went back to their home. Right now I'm in the 3rd district walking around. It's still winter right now as the snow from Vichnaya Zima is still blowing this way for at least one more month before the spring breeze would blow this way once again.
I keep walking while looking at the various vendors selling chocolate while wearing their winter clothes.
"How much for this?"
"189 QP"
Hearing a familiar voice, I looked to my left and saw Ritsuka Fujimaru buying what seems to be grocery. He is wearing a long dark blue coat, underneath it is a brown zip-up hoodless sweater, and underneath that is a white shirt, as he also wore a blue scarf. He is already wearing comfortable pants and boots. Overall, I think his outfit is really cool and he looks cool.
He noticed me and waved at me, as I waved back at him and approached him.
"Hey there whatcha doin'?" I playfully said, while he just scoffed.
"Obviously I'm preparing to start a revolution." He said jokingly as I giggle at him.
"How about you? Why are you doing here?" He said as he finished buying, and the two of us began to walk together towards our spot.
"Oh I'm just taking a walk after eating a lot of chocolate."
"Nero and the others?" He said already knowing who made that chocolate.
"Yeah," I said.
"Yeah, they can be a bit well overexaggerated."
"Haha, you got that right."
The two of us continue our small talk while we walk, even suddenly starting an argument and ending with laughter. Not long ago we arrived at our spot. The tree that most of the time covers us from the sun is right now have without leaves and the snow continues to fall.
Looking around, it seems like we have no way to sit on the ground. The two of us decided to look ahead to see the river view, it's night right now, so of course we can't see anything.
"Oh yeah I forgot! I'm actually planning on calling you, but you found so that's fortunate but I have something for you." He rummaged through his pockets and then, after finding the right one, he brought out a blue box with a yellow ribbon on it, even if the colors are off and not correct, it's easy to identify what this is.
"A chocolate?" I said.
"Yeah, I made that yesterday in the cafe using all the extra money I've saved, you know, as a thank you." He explained. I look at the box of chocolate in front of me, obviously since Valentine's is coming, the red wrapping gift must have sold out so he compromised and used a blue one instead, perfect for his color. I can't help but smile.
To think that he went through all the trouble just to make one for me is so sweet and thoughtful. I look at him, see him with his head on the side, his face is blushing all the way through his ears as he tries to cover his face using the scarf he has out of embarrassment.
"I know it looks like anything and just looks like any ordinary you can buy, but I work hard on that, so I hope you accept it." Ritsuka flustered and blushing said.
I giggle at the sight of him being embarrassed.
"Hehe, you do know it's supposed to be girls who give chocolate to guys right, not the other way around?" I said trying to tease him.
"I can still take back the chocolate you know." He said, while lightly glaring at me, to which I just giggled.
"Then I'll just give you one next time," I said.
"Huh?"
"Since you, oh so want a chocolate made by yours truly, then I'll make one for you next time, but in a different setting."
"What?" Hearing me say that I guess he would be confused.
"A day when the sun is out, and the heat is coming at us as the two of us are trying to know who is better, that's the setting I want when I gave you my chocolate. So until that day happens, will you wait for me?" I declared at him. His face shocked by what he just heard, turned into a smile as his face was still in a blushing state.
"Of course, I will, it's a chocolate by you after all, How could I not wait." He said with a refreshing smile.
Seeing that smile, I couldn't help but turn red.
Damn him and his smile!
"Say how about a photo of us together? We still don't have a photo of just us two, right?" Ritsuka suggested, and I nod.
Ritsuka brings out his terminal and opens the camera mode as the two of us get into frame and then…
CLICK!
The camera does its job and the photo was taken, the two of us see the photo together and concluded that the photo is perfect.
"Hey, send me that photo alright?" I ask him
"Hehe, no." But he denied.
"Huh?! Why?!"
"Sorry, but for now I want this one just to belong to me, after all, it's our first photo together so I'll treasure it!" Ritsuka with a grin said that.
On the night of February 14, under the moonlight of the digital moon, the two of us enjoy a moment all to ourselves with no distraction whatsoever, in a place that is known only to us.
" An Ordinary Chocolate"
Description:
You open the box and what greeted you is a handmade chocolate.
The chocolate is nothing but ordinary with no special effects or code cast infused in it, nor even a magical energy bar you can use when you need one.
But despite that, you know that the chocolate is made with care and dedication. You can feel the hardwork put by the maker, all the mistakes that he did, yet still persevere despite many mess-ups and doubts still continues to complete the chocolate, just like his journey that is yet to conclude.
You smile as you eagerly await the day when you yourself can finally be the one to give him something on a wonderful summer day oppose to the winter night to a place only you two knew.