I wonder whether or not I can annoy my readers to death with Wriothesley's obliviousness and stupidity...
Would I be charged with murder?
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Wriothesley's POV
So...
Neuvillette kissed me.
Twice.
I'm either dead, dreaming, hallucinating, or have gone insane.
It could also be multiple of the above.
Here I was, holding Neuvillette's hand as we walked through the mall going down his little shopping list filled with honestly one of the cutest list of items I've ever seen.
Well, to be exact, it wasn't the items themselves that were cute, but rather the little stories behind them that Neuvillette was all too keen to share.
Lynette's constantly missing hair ties...
So many have gone missing and yet the house is not full of them. Neuvillette said even Grandma Felice and Grandpa Nel marvel at the phenomenon.
At first, Neuvillette had thought that she was bringing them back with her, but after asking the director of the orphanage, no hair ties were found there either
Then there is Freminet and his little blankets.
Even though he himself has proclaimed his actions as stupid and childish, stay after stay he insists on having a small blanket for Pers.
As for why these blankets need constant repurchasing...
Well, he has been taking them home with him and collecting them.
Neuvillette doesn't seem to mind though. He said he appreciated that Freminet told him about his intention to bring the little blanket back with him before actually doing it. It saved him the time he would have spent searching for it.
Unlike a certain someone.
Lynney has apparently made over 50 decks of cards disappear in the past year alone.
And Neuvillette meant that literally.
He would perform a trick where he would make the cards disappear and they would never be seen again.
Not a single one of them.
All 50+ full decks of cards disappeared without a trace.
It was even more mysterious than Lynette's hair ties as he was doing this in front of people and most times in front of Neuvillette himself, in his house.
And yet, poof, they were all gone.
Once again, not that Neuvillette minded his antics.
The cards weren't expensive or anything and this whole long-lasting stunt was increasingly amusing with the knowledge that Lyney has an ever-growing stock of cards tucked away somewhere.
With time the hiding place is bound to be revealed when no more cards would fit.
Neuvillette was curious whether Lyney hid them at his house or the orphanage.
Either way, all these little things would need to be restocked before the kids arrived, coupled with a ton of groceries cause we were mostly out of everything at home and there would be three additional mouths to feed.
I've been trying to make a mental list of approximately what we would need to buy in terms of groceries and...
I am most definitely not using this to distract myself from the fact that Neuvillette kissed me.
Twice.
And I have no idea what to do with that knowledge.
So, I've decided to just listen to Neuvillette ramble on and think about it later.
Because if I start thinking about it now I'm bound to have some sort of a mental breakdown.
Look, maybe it was just a friends thing and then if I start overthinking I'm just screwing myself over.
I've kissed Navia and Clorinde on the cheek before and it didn't mean much.
From how things look, this whole thing was Chiori's scheme in the first place, and-
My thoughts were interrupted as I bumped into something.
Or rather, someone.
I looked confused at Neuvillette who had suddenly stood still.
He was looking at the outside display of a store. A jewelry store.
The display held a few fancy-looking watches and while I don't usually find stuff like this even just remotely interesting, I had to say that some of them were quite tempting. Or they would have been had it not been for the price tag next to them.
Hahaha...
Nope.
Not in this lifetime or the next.
That thing would cost me almost a year's worth of my salary.
Putting the watches aside, on the other side of the display were the things that most likely caught Neuvillette's eyes.
Children's jewelry.
After having been dragged into store after store when Neuvillette spotted a little thing here and a little thing there that, and I quote, 'the children would surely like', we were left with two bags filled purely with presents for the children in the orphanage.
He is quite awful at buying things for himself though, even if those things are just what is strictly necessary.
At some point, he too seemed to recognize this and gave the shopping list to me while trying not to look like he was dying from shame.
So now here we were, staring at children's jewelry.
There were a bunch of bracelets, earrings, rings, necklaces, and-
Oh.
In the order of the cabinet, I spotted a small pendant. It was one of those that could open and hold a picture.
Something Sigewinne has been wanting for ages but neither of us has been able to find one that she liked.
And this...
This she would most definitely like.
It wasn't anything too fancy. Just a round silver pendant with a small red and blue crystal at the center surrounded by little engravings depicting nothing in particular.
Yes, she would like it for sure. The one that would not like it would be my wallet. I just spotted the very, very small price tag almost hidden in the corner.
Damn.
Is this thing made of diamonds or something?
In an attempt to redirect my attention from the ridiculously expensive stuff on the display, I turned back to Neuvillette.
"Something caught your fancy?"
Neuvillette looked up at me like a deer caught in headlights.
"Oh- Uhm... I- Yes... I suppose so..." He stuttered.
His gaze swiftly shifted between me and the display cabinet a few times before he just ended up looking away from both.
Aah...
Wait...
Is this about what he accidentally mentioned earlier?
"I've been not so subtly told a few times that I should not spoil the children too much. While I did cut back a bit, until she bluntly tells me to stop, I won't."
Apparently, the director of the House of the Hearth had quite a bit to say about Neuvillette buying stuff for the kids.
Understandably so, really. Just looking at what he collected this time alone...
There is only so much space to fill in the orphanage.
And now Neuvillette was caught while planning his next purchase.
Pfft!
Cute.
With an exaggerated movement, I pulled my phone from my pocket and turned away slightly.
"Well, look at that. It seems it's time for me to call Sigewinne. What a pity. Like this, I can't see what Neuvillette buys." I sighed, feigning regret.
I held back a laugh as his eyes lit up.
"I will be right back. Please tell Sigewinne that I wish her a wonderful day."
And with that, he slipped inside the shop.
OH, dear...
That really is incredibly adorable.
Is this a side effect of that medicine? He is still acting incredibly childish compared to usual.
It could be. Normally, Neuvillette is calm and collected, each of his actions seemingly calculated well in advance and yet today he has been... a mess, to put it lightly.
An adorable mess, but compared to normal a mess nonetheless.
...
Wait...
Could the whole kissing thing also be...
That would explain some things.
I should probably get Baizhu's number from Neuvillette and ask at some point.