I Wish You Well In Your Next Love, My Love

Perhaps because of his broad chest, his voice rang out loudly despite us being outside. It was loud enough to make every passerby turn around and stare at us.

At those highly suspicious words, disapproving gazes swept over Theor and me from head to toe.

“What do you mean…”

“The price of the dress. And I’m not lending it to you. I’m simply giving it to you. You can dispose of it however you like after the banquet.”

Theor didn’t seem to realize that the problem wasn’t the dress, but his declaration that he would accept payment with my body.

Was I the one interpreting it indecently? He could have meant labor or something like that. His expression looked utterly innocent…

No, perhaps it was a little sly?

When I made no attempt to conceal my wary gaze, Theor finally gasped and closed his mouth. I watched his face turn pale in an instant.

“I meant purification.”

“……”

“Not deep contact purification! Purification where we only hold hands, like we did during the training practicum. Like this.”

Theor interlaced his fingers and raised his hands.

The sight of him explaining so fervently that he was even sweating in this chilly weather made me laugh without thinking.

“…Would that not be possible?”

The way he cautiously asked while watching my reaction was cute, like a nervous puppy.

As an only child, I had never envied those who had siblings, but now I thought it might have been nice to have a younger brother like Theor.

He would have been so cute that I would have pinched his cheeks and teased him until he cried.

“Of course it’s possible. I’m the one who should be grateful.”

Theor’s face brightened as though flowers had bloomed across it. His slightly reddened cheeks even made him look shy.

I felt myself growing excited along with him.

It was wonderful to have solved the dress problem, but I also couldn’t ignore the joy of having someone need my purification ability.

During field training, I usually only observed the higher-ranking Purifiers perform purification, handled menial tasks, and returned.

Purification practice was no different. The Awakened always looked displeased, as though receiving purification from a lower-ranking Purifier was nothing but a waste of time.

After harboring that unfulfilled longing regarding purification for so long, Theor’s reaction was like rain after a drought.

* * *

Even though I had solved the dress problem, I still couldn’t return home.

I wandered around the shopping district like a vagrant. After I passed the same places several times, the merchants operating outdoor stalls began glancing at me suspiciously. They seemed to think I was a pickpocket searching for prey.

The reason I remained here despite being misunderstood was because of the gift I wanted to give him.

In the past, Gerard would have smiled and been pleased even if I had plucked a wildflower and handed it to him.

But neither our circumstances nor our relationship were the same as before, so I had no idea what kind of gift I should give him.

The things I could afford were limited, and even those gifts might be no different from trash Gerard would need to dispose of immediately.

‘It would probably be fine to simply let the day pass.’

That was right. Gerard placed no significance on his birthday.

Had the people around him not taken it upon themselves to celebrate, he would have spent it like any other ordinary day. Even though he had been relentless about remembering every anniversary between us.

In any case, that meant I didn’t need to prepare a gift for him either, but…

‘This will probably be the last gift I ever give Gerard.’

I wouldn’t be here next year.

Once that thought occurred to me, I found myself continuing to wander through the shopping district in search of his gift.

“Going to keep looking? I’m about ready to pack up.”

Dusk had already begun to settle over the ground. I looked up at the dim sky, then stepped away from the display stand.

The shopkeeper swept everything he had laid out into storage with practiced hands. Not only this shop, but the others were also beginning to close one by one. They seemed eager to return home before night deepened.

‘Let’s look around just one more time. If I still can’t find anything suitable, I’ll go home.’