Lea and her companions waited by the main path for Oliver's appearance, and while they were lying in wait, Liam was completely engrossed in his observation on Lea. He had underestimated her. In his mind, she was already strong and could make his heart palpitate by simply fighting him back. However, the reactions he saw out of Lea when Seth was being affectionate with her made him feel quite strange in his chest.
Whenever he tried to imagine himself even being kind to her, he couldn't help but feel his goosebumps. However, he also couldn't stop himself from feeling curious over a thought of Lea warming up to him. At the moment, he knew she would never treat him kindly due to their first meeting and their constant physical fights. That was normal for them.
After thinking things over, Liam concluded that he was satisfied with his relationship with Lea. And went back to annoying her by sending daggers or calling her names other than her name. To which Lea replied by beating Liam up without her essences applied, otherwise, Liam would not survive. Once she felt it was enough, she ignored him all together. However, his daggers never seemed to stop. What was even more annoying for Lea was that, Liam seemed more eager to annoy her than before.
"He definitely wants your attention... Ha~~~ Youth~~~"
At Ingrid's words, Lea simply rolled her eyes.
Not long after, Oliver finally arrived on Phoenix's back. It was the first time Lea had seen the majestic bird, and she couldn't help but try to ruffle its feather. As if reading her mind, Phoenix gazed at Lea's little form with amusement in its pair of fiery eyes. In a brief moment, Lea was on Phoenix's back, ignoring everyone's reactions.
Oliver thought he was about to be hugged by Lea only to feel utter disappointment when Lea's attention was totally caught by his beast. "Tsk..." But he did not give up any opportunity. As Lea was busy with Phoenix, Oliver sneaked behind Lea in an attempt to embrace her. However, before he could grab on Lea's back, Seth's arm deflected his outstretched arms.
With a frown, he glared at Seth's indifferent expression, his ruby eyes looked on him like he was a pest. Insulted, Oliver glared back, his cyan eyes expressed a glint of dislike to Seth.
Observing the two's thunderous glare was Liam. He had not expected Lea to have so many handsome youths chasing after her, and she appeared to be oblivious to their dangerous affections for her. It was not like he was bothered, he thought.
After Lea had finished bonding with Phoenix who now seemed to love Lea the best after its master, she looked on to Oliver.
"Oliver. Congrats on becoming the Emperor." She expressed a small smile, her ruby eyes grew soft. Then all of the sudden, before Oliver could respond, Seth had covered Lea's eyes with his hands. ".....Little Seth?" Her tone quite cold, which made Seth flinched a little, but his hands remained on her eyes.
"Lea..." He called on softly. "You don't need to look at him as you tell him your request."
"For what reason should I comply to your suggestion?" Inquired Lea sternly.
Seth felt gloomy, and although reluctant, he removed his hands. If one would not look closely at Seth, one would think he had grown down puppy ears on his head, and a limp tail wrapped around his leg.
With a final glance at Seth, Lea turned to Oliver. "Once again, hello, Oliver."
Although quite speechless at Lea's indifference to Seth's protective actions, Oliver immediately felt happy at Lea's attention on him. "Dear Lea, It's been a long time. And thank you...
"Are you here for good? Can I invite you for dinner?" He asked respectfully, inching closer to her.
"Sorry. I'll be leaving soon. I want you to communicate with those lizards. Is it possible?" She queried, her expression unchanged.
Oliver glanced to the side where Lea was referring to and found the unusual lizards. After a short ponder, he gave a charming smile to Lea. "Yes. Before that, can I?"
Confused to his query, Lea looked into his cyan eyes and as she did, Oliver grabbed her in his embrace. "Ahh.. You definitely are Lea despite how small you are right now......"
She could feel his breath in her ears, which made her feel a slight tickle in her gut. Unbeknownst to her, her cheeks and ears appeared slightly flushed. Seth's eyes loomed a deathly glare. After a few seconds, he couldn't take it anymore and moved to separate Oliver from Lea. "Enough." Was all he said before growling at Oliver's disappointed expression.
Oliver was starting to feel slightly frustrated over Seth's attitude towards him. But with a frown, he escaped a sigh. "Lea, what happened to you?" He asked before he would loose his calm with Seth. "You suddenly disappeared. I was so scared....."
Lea could see how worried Oliver was through his cyan eyes that expressed his emotions openly. Feeling slightly guilty, she replied amicably, "I suddenly died and reborn right after, so don't worry." She said, before Oliver could attempt to raise another question brought by his anxiousness.
"Were you killed?" He had a doubt nobody did, but he still asked. To which Lea replied by shaking her head, "No. My existence seemed to be irregular from the start, so I simply overloaded with essences. Don't worry, Oliver." She said, her voice growing softer to Oliver's increasingly worried expression.
He was anxious, very anxious. Lea died without his knowing.
He was not there for her when she experienced death.
It must have been very painful, he thought.
Without restrain, Oliver dived towards Lea and embraced her tightly before Seth could react. And even when Seth tried to pry him away from her, Oliver didn't budge.
Lea was growing exhausted by the two's behavior towards her. She was starting to wonder what was so special with hugs. Then her thoughts froze upon the realization of cold liquid trickling down her neck...
"Oliver....?" She called, a frown on her face. When no answer came from Oliver, Lea lifted her hand to stroke his back. "......."
Without words, she let Oliver embrace her for a while longer.
Seth was not happy, and thus, he decided to wrap his arms around Lea's waist.
After a while, Lea felt herself suffocating. She patted Oliver's back indicating him to let go, and as soon as he complied, he moved to land kisses on Lea's eyes and neck. She was starting to lose her nerves.
Then all of the sudden, daggers were in the air towards the three. Before they were stabbed, Seth had moved and deflected the daggers, while Lea took care of a couple that were aimed behind Oliver. She immediately knew who the culprit was.
"Aren't we in a hurry, Lea?" Liam called. He had been waiting for quite a long time for Lea to settle her business, but his patience was never thick.
With a nod, Lea urged Oliver to remove himself from her to which he complied reluctantly. His cyan eyes expressed dissatisfaction. All he thought was he didn't want to separate from Lea again, but being the Emperor of a nation, he couldn't force his selfishness. And Lea seemed to be on something really important. He forced himself to restrain, for now.
"Finish your job, Emperor." Chided Seth, his crimson eyes deadly.
Oliver glared back, but said nothing to Seth. He turned to look on Lea once again and grabbed for her hand, she did not avoid. A smile played on his lips as mirth surged through his cyan eyes. "Okay. I'll help you down."
"No need." And with her words, she dragged Oliver down with her on the ground.
"................................" Her indifference made the crowd quiet.
"Lizards, Oliver." Her words were now so short due to exhaustion.
"Tough luck being so popular. Maybe you should just choose one of them now?"
Ingrid joked. She was quiet earlier as she enjoyed the show, while Lea was having a hard time. Lea shrugged her shoulders, and turned to Oliver.
He dutifully begun his task.
He then started singing. It begun with a soft and slow hymn, then slowly, the tone begun to rise; creating pressure in the air as he applied his words into his song. The wind seemed like a part of the orchestra as it rustled the leaves and enabled whistled sounds to rise.
He snapped his fingers from time to time along with the beat of his music.
The lizards were slowly being mesmerized by Oliver's performance.
[A/N: Don't mind the video, just feel the voice??? It's quite a good song.]
[A/N: Picture in the headline is of the manga called: Risou no Kareshitachi]