"Greetings to your highnesses," a man wearing a purple suit came to their side and bent down slightly. "I'm here to explain things and show you around."
Heidith nodded to him and turned to Zadhea. "This isn't just a bar. This place is the biggest grape wine factory in the world. Not just wine, everything that includes grapes."
"Grapes?" Zadhea tilted her head.
"Yep. I want to show you how beautiful their grape gardens are. You'll realize it soon."
The tour guide nodded vigorously when he heard Heidith. "That's true. Do you want to know about the origin of this place, your highness?" He looked at Zadhea earnestly.
"Yes, please." Zadhea nodded politely, genuinely becoming curious. She used to be a nerd, so she still loved learning things.
"First of all, lemme tell you the name of this place. It's the most accurate name for it. The name is... 'Grapes'."
The man told her the story behind building such a place. According to that story, a wealthy count had a wife who loved everything about grapes. She always ate grapes, drank grape juice, and even wine. She was crazily obsessed with grapes. Her biggest hobby was looking after the grape garden her husband had gifted her. Her obsession didn't end there. All her accessories had to do something with grapes. Shape, color, or pattern...
Apparently, she was the biggest fan of grapes in the whole wide world.
Because of that, when she passed away early due to a severe fever, her mourning husband built that place to show off how much he loved his wife. It is said he spent the rest of his life developing that place to the next level.
After his death, the next generations took the responsibility of maintaining the factory to this day.
Zadhea was surprised to learn about such a unique love story.
"What's your favorite fruit?" She turned to Heidith and blurted without thinking much.
"Pfft!" Heidith covered his mouth to suppress his laughter. "Why? Do you want to build one for me too?"
Before Zadhea could digest his words, the tour guide added, "It will be even more unique. A woman doing something like that for her man out of love." He sighed in awe. "Isn't it unique and beautiful?"
"Huh?" Zadhea raised the corner of her upper lip.
Heidith pressed his lips tightly to hide his smile as he nodded. "Indeed, indeed. Emotionally beautiful."
His face became crimson red and looked like it would burst soon due to holding his laughter.
"Her highness must really love your grace to that extent." The man looked at Heidith enviously. "Lucky you."
"What are you guys talking about?" Zadhea glanced at them, appearing clueless about what was going on.
"Nothing, nothing." Heidith took her wrist and began to drag her somewhere. "My favorite fruit is a green apple. What about you?"
He didn't forget to turn his head and wave at the tour guide, mouthing a 'Thank you'.
"Mmm, I like most of them. But... You can say... Orange?" Zadhea nodded to herself. "Yeah. It's orange."
Heidith registered it in his mind. "I see."
"Where are you taking me? Why isn't he following us? Did you tell them beforehand about our visit? Or else how do they know? And have you been to this place before? How come you can find..."
"Orange, stop. You are a whole questionnaire now." Heidith shook his head with a look that showed, 'I'm done with you'.
"Orange? How could you?!" Zadhea glared at him. "Don't call me that, or I'll break your front teeth."
"Oh really?" Heidith smirked. "What about redhead then?"
"Redhead?" Zadhea looked at him in disbelief. "If you call me that, I'll give you the most absurd nickname ever. You'll dig a hole and bury yourself in it out of shame."
Heidith became a lot curious. "What is it?"
Zadhea looked around to make sure no one was there and leaned closer to his ear and whispered something.
Heidith's eyes went wide. "Zadhea!" He looked at her like she was an alien. "How can you say such a thing to anyone? It's not polite at all."
"Sorry, sorry." Zadhea smiled awkwardly, regretting telling him that.
"No, truly." Heidith shook his head, looking disappointed. "I thought you were a good girl. But you are quite nasty."
"Yeah, yeah. I'm a badass girl, a brat. So what?" Zadhea rolled her eyes, getting angry and annoyed.
"But you really called me dickhead! It's truly not good or polite to say such a thing to any man, whether he is good or extremely bad. No matter what, don't use such words to insult people. I really hate when people use body parts to insult others. Like they know exactly which size the other person has or..." Heidith began lecturing.
"Shut up!" Zadhea looked around, feeling stressed and embarrassed. "Someone might hear you."
"You feel ashamed now? Where was it when you opened your mouth to tell that word to me?" Heidith sneered.
Zadhea became really angry, so she stomped her foot. "Stop it! You started it first. Do you think I like it when you say redhead to me? You said you hate when others use body parts to insult people. Doesn't it apply to my hair too? It's a part of my body, and you made fun of it."
"No, I didn't. You know I didn't." Heidith found her unbelievable. "You are using it to fight back with me because you don't have a strong one to counterattack. Aren't you pathetic?"
"Yes, I'm pathetic, so what?" Angry tears gathered in her eyes as Zadhea glared at him. She turned around and ran into no one knows where.
Heidith snorted coldly and started walking towards the opposite direction.
When he walked past a jewelry shop, his eyes paused at the simple yet beautiful silver bracelets decorated with small golden grapes in the front glass counter. There were silver tags on them that showed the number fifteen.
Heidith recalled that Zadhea was fifteen that year. He couldn't give her a gift for years. What about now, although her birthday was over? It was never too late, wasn't it?
"Can I get one?" He asked a worker.
"I'm extremely sorry, your highness." The worker bowed down. "They are for the fifteenth anniversary of this jewelry shop. They are only available after a week."
"Oh really?" Heidith pursed his lips. "What a pity."
Then he looked at the worker with pitiful eyes. "But you can still give me one, right?" He blinked twice.
The worker almost freaked out. 'Gosh! Does he think he's a girl and I'll fall for it?'
"Oh-kay, sire." He took out a bracelet.
"He-here you go, sire." The worker awkwardly packed one for him and quickly gave it to him. 'Now please leave!' He shed tears in his mind.
Heidith smiled happily. "Thanks."
Zadhea happened to see a grape garden as she walked recklessly. Her jaw dropped to the ground, and she immediately paused in her tracks at the sight of it.
"So beautiful," she mumbled, feeling captivated by the magical garden. It looked surreal, and like a bee that got attracted to a flower, she stepped towards the garden without thinking much.
The fragrance of fresh, juicy grapes filled her nostrils, and she picked one up and put it inside her mouth.
"Not too sour," she slowly chewed it. "Mmm, tasty. It's so sweet now..." She turned to her right side to realize she was alone. Her smile dissipated.
"It's fine," Zadhea talked to herself as she shrugged. "I don't need anyone else. I have me. That's enough."
Ten minutes later...
"I have me. That's enough. I have me; that's enough," Zadhea mocked herself. "What were you thinking, idiot? Ugh, what should I do now?"
"Nah, it's fine. Just enjoy the moment while it lasts. Yeah, that's what I should do." She took another grape. She had been eating at least ten of them.
"Is it this way? Or that way? Probably this way." She chose the opposite direction and started walking again, looking around. "Dwamn, why everywhere looks the same?"
Her feet began hurting because of the heels. Zadhea sat on a bench nearby to remove them and massaged her feet a bit.
"No, no. I shouldn't waste time here. I have to go back." Zadhea stood up and continued her journey.
"Ouch! When did I become this delicate?" The pebble road worsened her condition. "I can't even tolerate this small walk."
"Aysh, it's not the end yet."
"Is this garden a maze or what? Why can't I reach the end yet?"
She glared at the grapes. "Who loves grapes this much anyway?"
"Why is this garden so big? It's like a forest!" She cried, feeling distressed.
"I'm craving for spicy food now." Zadhea rubbed her belly, pouting.
"Don't worry, love." She looked at her flat stomach for a little longer and clicked her tongue. "Let's just eat another grape for the time being. Just temporarily, okay? Just temporarily..."
She picked up another grape and was ready to eat it when something clicked in her mind.
"Am I... Lost?"
The grape in her hand crushed under her grip.
________________
As soon as Stella finished her breakfast, she went to the kitchen to prepare Heidith's meals as usual. The kitchen staff let her cook because they knew her reasons, and her being busy for Heidith became a common sight for them.
"It's useless," she could hear Feristo, her brother's voice filled with mockery. "Why don't you just give him the food legally prepared for us? He must be feeling awful to eat your plain food."
"No, he doesn't. It's quite the opposite. He likes my food. He told me himself." Stella continued to cook confidently, not caring about her brother's behavior.
"He was being polite," Feristo shook his shoulders. "You are being delusional, dear sister."
"Shut up! I don't need your opinion on me." Stella rolled her eyes. "Acting like the best brother in the world."
"What's wrong with me?" Ferry pursed his lips. "I haven't done anything bad."
"Yeah, yeah. TRUE." Stella felt ridiculous.
"I'm doing this for your sake, sis." Ferry sighed. "And I heard that lover of yours has already submitted his work to the headmaster. He no longer needs your food supply. The remaining work won't make him that busy again."
"You think I don't know? And it's totally fine with me. I'll continue cooking for him." Determination flashed through Stella's eyes. "You don't need to worry about anything. I'm doing this because I love it. I love cooking for him."
Feristo shook his head, pitying her.
"I feel bad for you, Stella."
"You don't have to." Stella picked up the food tray and prepared to leave.
"Heidith went on a date with his fiancée this morning. I woke up early in the morning and went to the girls' dormitories to look for my girlfriend and saw them on the spot. The most eye-catching thing was they were wearing matching outfits. Whom are you giving the food now?" Ferry made a 'Tsk' sound. "Poor thing."
"What?" Stella blurted out in shock, her hands began shaking along with the tray.
Ferry scoffed. "Don't be so dramatic enough to drop the tray now."
"I won't drop it." Stella tightened her grip on it and brought it towards the trash can and directly threw it.
Feristo was dumbfounded. "Why the tray too? And why did you throw the food away? You should have given it to me."
"I've told you several times before." Stella glanced at him coldly. "The food I make belongs to him only."
"Hopeless one-sided love. Find someone else, bimbo! There are so many handsome boys in this world. If you don't like one here, search somewhere else. You'll find the one for y..."
Stella cut him off. "Heidith is the one for me. I don't think I can find a better person. He's not cold towards anyone. He's kind to everyone. Has a good heart. Overall, a good person. He respects even the lowest person. I saw him expressing thanks to a janitor one day. He said thank you to a freaking janitor, okay? You heard it? You think I'll trade him for someone else? Ha ha, I'm not that stupid." She took a deep breath. "I know his true value."
"But he doesn't love you." Feristo pinched the place between his eyebrows. "Plus, he won't cheat on his fiancée."
"He won't cheat. He'll directly cancel the engagement."
"Miss Stella, you really forgot your mission? We aren't here for making him my brother-in-law. We are here to..."
"Close your filthy mouth." Stella looked around. Fortunately, there was no one in the kitchen except the two of them.
"I won't complete my mission." She opened the door.
"I love Heidith more than my father." With that, she slammed the door shut, leaving Ferry alone.
"Damnit!" Feristo hit the kitchen wall with his fist. "Crazy woman!"