When he finally entered the cafeteria, there were lots of treats lined up, just like Winzel said. The boys who had not eaten a proper meal in a while were growing hungry. He endured the smell of food with a rumbling stomach, first he had to give out the gifts he had bought in the city, he took out the bag.
“Umm… where is Sakura?” Someone asked, and he looked around. The figure of a girl with black hair could not be seen anywhere. His line of sight was drawn to a group of wandering boys, he furrowed his brows in worry.
“Sakura has not come back yet, I told her to go pick strawberries a while ago, but she"s still not home…" She should be back soon, he was told, but his heart was anxious. The boys who had also bought gifts for Sakura, looked out the window. It was still bright despite it being dusk.
Someone raised their voice to say, “We have to search for her.” It was met with consensual agreement.
I want to see her soon, I want to see her joyful expression when she receives my presents.
Seeing the boys, Winzel decided, “I will go out and search, but you boys should eat first, before the food gets cold.” The boys reluctantly gave in and quietly sat down.
Certainly, it would be wasteful for good food to grow cold. Besides, this was usual for Sakura. In the first place, she came here because she was lost. It was a pity that he could not see her happy face right now, but surely Instructor Winzel would find her soon. The women in the cafeteria soon became lively again.
However, some boys still raised their voice saying that they will go to look for hear, disregarding Winzel"s words. Louis and Vioce were some of them. For them, Sakura was a mysterious creature they found and they thought it was their responsibility to look after her.
When Winzel looked at the boys who raised their voices, he nodded "I understand, come." He also thought that it would be easier to find her with more people. Originally, you wouldn"t be able to get lost in this place so easily, but Sakura was an exception. The boys, for example, wouldn"t get lost. In the end, they decided on pairs of two, and set off in search of Sakura.
She was probably lost again. This had happened when she picked strawberries before, so it was possible. Louis looked around while recalling what happened when Sakura was lost before, it calmed down the uneasiness and pain in his chest.
However, we were unable to find Sakura. The next day, two days later, the day after that, several of us searched the forest, but we could not find a single trace of her. The only thing that remained was the basket of wild strawberries lying on the ground.
It was as though she never existed, like everything was a dream, but there were still traces of Sakura in the room she had stayed in. A soft dress, gifted ribbons, and small candies placed in a clean container. It was like the room that contained her presence was waiting for its master to return.
But she never did, disappearing as though she were just the boys" figment of imagination.
On a day, 10 years after that, Louis was troubled. The number of marriage talks had increased considerably.
Louis understood why. It was about time for him to settle down. This involved his position in the future and his parents were being noisy. Every time he went out, the words of matchmaking, marriage, wife and grandchildren were repeated, growing tired of this, Louis escaped to knights" academy, and after graduating he did not return to parents" house.
However, his parents" sent him their final declaration. It said. "Come back home as soon as possible. We will present to you the best marriage partner. If you do not come, we will accept accordingly." And that was that.
Looking at the letter, his mother’s anger was clearly transmitted, Louis tilts his head saying “Who do they have in mind?" Perhaps there was nothing wrong with his parents" attempts to arrange a marriage for him, and it"s not like there were particularly any problems with the women he was introduced to either. The women introduced to him had several husbands already, but he had no complaints about it. He didn"t feel the need to be the first husband anyways.
Among those introduced were beautiful women, intelligent women, and women from powerful backgrounds, they were attracted to Louis, but he did not feel anything special for any of them. Of course, he knew that marriage was not all about honey and roses. But he could not help but avoid it - until today. So he headed towards his parents" house with heavy footsteps.
During the festival, the streets were lively and fun. Seeing this, his mood greatly improved. Louis sighed, not knowing if he"ll have another opportunity to go again.
Walking through the lively city, he found a black-haired woman accompanied by three people, he looked towards them. But of course, the face of the girl was not the one Louis had been thinking of. It was a totally different woman. It has already been ten years since he lost her, and, even now, seeing a woman with black hair, he would unconsciously hope for them to be her. He had already grown accustomed to the disappointment.
When thinking about marriage, the first thing that comes to Louis"s mind is a girl with black hair he separated from 10 years ago - Sakura. For him, it was probably his first love.
After the war ended, and everyone returned to the dormitory, he had wanted to see her immediately. The regret that they could not meet then, the feelings he could not convey, all had been engraved into his heart. If Sakura was still in the dorm, after I graduated, I would have proposed to her for sure. Sakura"s response was unpredictable, but maybe she would have agreed. He would have cherished her and the memories of the girl from 10 years ago. Her face in my memory was blurry, but probably because of the rose-tinted gla.s.ses received from first love, she seemed very cute.
Anyways, he didn"t have the option of marrying Sakura. So it was decided.
If Sakura were alive, she would be 7 years older, at the age of 29. Have you changed? What kind of man did you marry? Perhaps, it would be possible for me to take one of your seven seats. While thinking about such unnecessary things, Louis walked around the city.
There were many street vendors around town for the upcoming festival, Louis looked at each one. On the day the war ended and he headed back to the dormitory, Louis bought a small brooch for Sakura in the city. The shop was still here. The gla.s.s brooch was placed in a small box in his room, never finding its owner. He remembered the childish design and sighed.
I"ll have to dispose of it soon.
That brooch held his useless memories of Sakura. He covered up the feelings he held for 10 years and faced forward. His father and mother were waiting. He would accept the marriage proposal today, lest his decision waver. He took a step forward and b.u.mped into something.
He hit a girl that was only as tall as his shoulder, Louis hurriedly held out his hand. He saw her black hair, and his resolve diminished. He thought of his first love and quickly shook his head.
"I"m sorry, I wasn"t paying attention. Are you injured?"
"Ah, no, I"m fine."
Thank you, she took the hand I held out. Her black hair shifted as she lifted her face up. It was the face of the girl he dreamed of many times since ten years ago, there was no mistake.
And thus began Louis"s second love.
With his beloved wife, two years younger than him.
[Kohaku: Hi guys! I’ll be working on this story too from now on, you can find the first couple of *edited* chapters .]
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