Chapter 306
"Excuse me? Gallahan?"
Shan waved her hand in front of Gallahan, who was standing tall.
Only then did the focus return on his bright green eyes.
"Ah yes. I have just arrived."
"Really? That"s a relief. Shall we go eat now?"
"Aren"t we going to eat here?"
Gallahan tilted his head.
They met at a restaurant around lunchtime, and he couldn"t understand why she wanted to go somewhere else.
As far as he knows, this "Blue Wave" was a restaurant with its own name.
But Shan was determined.
"There"s a good restaurant that I looked at separately. Let"s go there."
"But..."
Gallahan hesitated, glancing at the owner of the "Blue Wave" who was still busy.
But for a while.
When Shan tugged on the hem of his clothes, Gallahan began to follow her.
The place where they arrived was an alley quite far from the downtown area.
A small restaurant was opening alone in the alley full of only houses.
At a glance, the shabby restaurant that seemed to have been settled there for a long time was surprisingly crowded as much as the "Blue Wave".
"Oh, I"m hungry. Let"s go in now!"
Shan, who had been holding Gallahan"s sleeve while coming here, released her hand, said that, and went inside first.
Gallahan, who had been glancing down at the hem that Shan was holding a while ago, looked around only then.
"Is there a place like this in Lombardi?"
It was Gallahan, who had been wandering around the city of Lombardi in the front yard since he was old enough to get out of the mansion.
So he thought he knew everything about the city.
Arriving around a small alley, it was the first time even he had been here.
Is it because of the delicious smell coming out from the inside, or because of the fact that he has discovered a new side of Lombardi?
Gallahan also entered with a little excitement.
"Here it is, Gallahan!"
Shan, who took a seat by the window, waved at him.
"I ordered the food in advance. When I come here, I have to eat the stew."
It was difficult to look straight at Shan"s smiling face, so Gallahan fixed his gaze somewhere on the table and nodded.
"Have you ever been here?"
"No, I"ve never been to this alley before."
Succeeded!
Shan said without hiding her joy.
"I did some research to find a really good restaurant. In fact, the "Blue Wave" food is really good, but I don"t want to spend time at work until my days off."
"Where do you work...?"
"Oh, I didn"t tell you. I work in "Blue Wave". I slept there, too! In fact, it"s been a while since I came to Lombardi, so I don"t really have a place to stay."
While saying so, the two eyes looking at the food that came out first on the table next to them sparkled beautifully.
"And since it"s my first meal with my friend, I can"t take him anywhere, right?"
"Oh..."
Gallahan blinked at Shan"s playful remark.
Then he quietly replied back.
"If it"s Shan, won"t you make a friend who can eat together like this soon? Even if it"s not me."
It was only the second time he met her face, but he could tell at a glance how bright and attractive she was.
She seems to have no one in Lombardi right now, but soon others will recognize Shan"s strengths.
Obviously, it"s a good thing for her, but Gallahan frowned a little without realizing it.
However, Shan, who interpreted his expression differently, asked carefully.
"Perhaps... Did I bother you, Gallahan?"
"What? No! It"s not like that!"
He was so surprised, and the spoons and forks on the table clattered as he jumped.
"That"s not what I meant at all. Shan is a good person, so you"re going to make a lot of friends soon..."
As Gallahan hurried to explain, Shan"s face, which had hardened for a moment, became warm again.
"That"s a relief..."
Shan stroked her chest.
Although she didn"t show it on the outside, she was frankly very nervous.
Wouldn"t that be the case for anyone?
It was a half-dangling spot asking to be her friend, but Gallahan wasn"t just a friend.
He was her future husband.
No matter what happened in the distant future with him, Shan wanted to get to know Gallahan smoothly.
And from what he has been doing so far, her future husband has never been an easy target.
The unavoidable brief silence ended when the steaming stew was placed on the table with two bowls.
Gallahan carefully picked up the spoon and tasted it.
"How is it?"
"It"s really delicious."
Stew with plenty of meat was just Gallahan"s taste.
"Right? You have to eat all of this and eat dessert."
"Do they sell desserts too?"
"Yes, the apple pie is really good, too. It"s a dessert that Gallahan likes. Apple pie that"s moderately sour and moderately sweet."
She knew he"d like it, but seeing his reaction right in front of her was another story.
It was when Shan, who was so relieved, was about to make her first drink.
"How... did you know?"
"What?"
"That I like apple pie."
Oh, my mistake.
That was also such a fatal mistake.
She had seen him eating several pieces of apple pie alone through her precognitive dream.
She couldn"t even say that.
A cold sweat ran down her back.
She was so embarra.s.sed that her head seemed to have hardened.
Shan eventually had to pick up whatever came up and said it.
"Why, for some reason, it looks like that. Should I say that you look like you like apple pie?"
"Apple pie... My face look like that?"
"Pfft, white, handsome, and cute people usually like apple pie."
What the h.e.l.l am I talking about?
While talking, her eyes were dizzy.
He could have thought I was a very strange nonsense person.
Should I laugh a lot pretending to be kidding now?
It was when Shan was so worried.
"Pfft."
She lifted her head at the small sound that came from the seat in front of her.
"...Gallahan?"
Gallahan was laughing.
His shoulder was shaking slightly as he covered his mouth with one of his hands and struggled to contain his laughter.
"A face that likes apple pie, where do you get that phrase?"
His round, slightly lowered eyes were folded neatly, and even his complexion, which had always been a little pale, turned red.
It was a smile that seemed to be shining brightly.
Shan watched that smile for a moment.
"Now I"m relieved."
When she saw her handsome future husband"s smiling face, she could feel her heart fluttering, but more than anything else, she was relieved.
In the future she saw briefly, Gallahan was a person who had a lot of laughs.
Especially when he was in front of her.
Shan put down the spoon she was holding in her hand and grabbed Gallahan"s hand.
It was a very impulsive behavior.
"...Shan?"
"I"ll make you laugh a lot in the future, Gallahan."
So that you can become a person who looks better with a smiling face than with a gloomy face later on.
"Oh, the food is going to get cold. Let"s hurry up and eat."
Shan patted the back of Gallahan"s hand one last time, and then took a big bite of the stew.
Cough.
When she heard a small cough and looked up, Gallahan"s face turned slightly red.
"The stew is... a bit spicy."
He lowered his head and added in a low voice.
***
Gallahan got into the carriage waiting for him at the appointed time.
It was a familiar road home, but it was different today.
Perhaps because he laughed and chatted about Lombardi all day with Shan, he felt more at ease than ever before.
After spending a whole day like that, the two parted, promising to meet again tomorrow afternoon.
A smile spread across Gallahan"s face when he remembered Shan waving her hand at him a little while ago in front of the "Blue Wave".
But for a while.
Soon after, he fell into some serious dilemma.
"We"re friends."
"See you tomorrow, friend!"
"Friend..."
Each time Shan said those words, he flinched several times.
He couldn"t help it.
"I"m probably..."
I think I like Shan.
His heart was flowing so quickly that the past, when his heart was more excited when he read good books and pictures than the opposite s.e.x, was overshadowed.
It was like falling into a person named Shan.
"...Shan."
In the quiet carriage, Gallahan called her name aloud.
Thump, thump.
His heart started flutter again just by speaking her name.
At least to him, she can"t be just a friend.
Gallahan opened the window and muttered carefully, cooling his red face.
"If I get a little more greedy... I can"t do it."
A light sigh followed at the end of the words.
Still, it wasn"t very hopeless.
They had a good time until the sunset, and they decided to meet again tomorrow, just in time for Shan"s work to end.
Gallahan sighed as he looked up at the sky where the stars had now begun to rise one by one.
The night seemed to be very long today.
"We"ve arrived."
With the sound of the coachman, the carriage stopped in front of the mansion.
Gallahan, who had been walking all day, was moving his legs, which were a little stiff, and headed towards the room.
"Gallahan."
Until he hears a low, strict voice calling out to him.
"Where did you go all day long?"
It was Gallahan"s father, Lulac Lombardi.