Agilus had already gone away alongside all of the servants that were vulnerable against the abilities of Momoiro after I made sure that none of them remained in the proximity of the city hall, I invited her immediately, and with the help of my soldiers who were acting as curious bypassers and say random things about the two of us in their heads, and because of how uncomfortable it is for a person who can read minds to hear the things that I instructed them to say, she immediately agreed.
That is why right now, we are in the City's Royal office, or the office that will be used by the queen when she decides to visit and manage some matters in the city, in the future when we start to have provinces and the such, the provincial hall will have something like this, but for now, let's just deal with the matter at hand.
"Lady Sophia I just noticed, why is the city hall empty of people? Even the Bird Mayor is gone..."
With pandesal and coffee on the table that is dividing the two of us, Momoiro asked after she sipped on her cup of coffee, her face still blank but some of her eyes were twitching, evident that she was still trying to figure out the spell that is blocking her from reading my mind, too bad for her, that is the only comment I can give.
"Well, I want the two of us alone, together in my office as we talk about this invitation from Urduja."
I dipped my bread into the coffee and ate it while I smiled at Momoiro who was silently dragging her seat backward, she's kind of cute, to be honest.
"No, I'm just kidding, it is just in consideration of your annoying ability to read minds, as indicated by your dodomeki heritage, you don't want to hear vulgar things from people's minds, right?"
As I said that, Momoiro flinched, her blank expression once again having color and my interest in her started to grow, I wondered what she look like if I peeled her stoic persona, I rested my chin in the palm of my hand as I picked up my mug and took a sip of the dark coffee, I looked at it while puckering my lips.
_I like it sweet._
I then focused back on Momoiro who was looking at me, scared, is not being able to read my mind really that scary? Or is she being affected by the caffeine? I wonder, but anyway, for our discussion to start, I started speaking.
"Don't worry, I won't do anything against you, please take your time and calm down."
I smiled, and I could see that it was somehow effective as Momoiro started to pant heavily in front of me, probably letting out some boiling steam because of the shock when she first learned that she could not read my mind. After five minutes or so of panting and gulping, Momoiro finally picked up a letter in between her cleavage.
Yes, I know, why the hell would she put that there, right?
But anyway, the letter was in a paper envelope that had a candle wax seal with the stamp of Urduja in it. I am surprised that paper exists in this world, I mean, even now they are still not making scrolls made out of paper, according to Eleanor, that is.
_Probably one of the many luxuries only usable by the nobles._
I picked it up and then turned into serious mode, I opened the letter and as I read it, my face turned from serious to confused.
"...Birthday?"
The already calmed down Momoiro nodded and then replied.
"Yes, my mother, Lady Urduja invites you to celebrate her birthday which will happen three days from now, as an official guest, not only by the Duchess of Urduja but by the Hero of the Sun, and because I cannot see my sister here, I also wish to give this to Eleanor."
Another letter was slid in front of me, but the confusion in my face did not disappear, I went silent for a while and finally, after a cough, I spoke.
"This... "birthday", can you tell me more about it?"
"...Huh?"
Momoiro's blank expression was once again broken by me, as expected of my magnificent acting. Still, anyway, she also looked at me with the same expression as mine, confused, and as time went by we stared into each other, and my confused look turned into a sad one.
"Ah... forget it... I will just ask Eleanor..."
As I was about to leave with a hunch back to look dispirited, Momoiro immediately realized why I was asking her such questions.
"Oh, I'm sorry, it's just that... It's quite... a strange question, you see, a birthday is when someone celebrates the day of their birth as a form of gratitude for their conception, they usually throw extravagant parties also as a tribute to the god they are worshipping as they believe that the said god is the one responsible for their continued existence, in the case of Lady Urduja, the whole Urdujan domain will be throwing a festival, and normally even the whole Kingdom as gratitude for her protection."
Momoiro tried to maintain her smile, but my somewhat childish stare made her uncomfortable, after a pause, indicating that Momoiro didn't have anything further to say, I flinched a little and fixed my posture that was previously leaning to the table, I then sighed, but the smile and shine on my face are yet to be gone.
"...Say... can anyone have a birthday?"
Momoiro who is trying to divert her attention from her seemingly inappropriate discovery flinched at my question.
"O-of course, just think back to the day you were born."
I once again put up a sad face and replied whilst looking at my reflection in the dark coffee.
"Well, I don't know when I was born..."
I could hear Momoiro muttering something like "Urgh" as she smiled awkwardly, her blank expression did not resurface the whole conversation, she tried her best to find a response, and finally, after an arduous minute, she uttered a suitable one.
"Well, if you don't know, birthdays can also be an event special to your life, it can be the moment when you truly feel alive, those days are fine too."
I went, or look like I went into a deep thought, but the truth is, I am looking at the expression of Momoiro in my peripheral vision, I can see her looking at me with pity, wanting to console me but being unable to read my mind, she doesn't know how to, well I can also presume that she will remember this time of being unable to read minds and will somehow cherish it as something bizarre but somehow fulfilling occurrences in her life.
Sadly all of it was nothing but a lie from me, though she doesn't know that, so going back, after 30 minutes of pondering, I snapped my head suddenly and faced her upfront.
"Then, this day, can I choose this day?"
My bright smile looked like it could render one blind as I looked at Momoiro and asked as such.
"W-what? Why?"
"I can't?"
I looked down to look sad, I felt like I could have an acting career with how good I acted.
"Well... It's not that you can't. It's more like, why would you choose this day? Surely, the founding of your Queendom is more important than this day, right?"
"Well, you are right about that one... But I also want to commemorate this event, when I learned about this wonderful thing called "birthday", and also so that I can remember the day that I met a wonderful person like you."
As I said those words, Momoiro's already pinkish cheeks turned red, and all of her eyes from her shoulders downwards looked at her face squinting, I wondered if they had minds of their own, but probably they were disgruntled because their "master" was acting all embarrassed while they are straining themselves and doing their jobs.
"So, can I?"
I interrupted her overheating and I had to hand the composure of the year award to her as she immediately coughed and sat straight, this conversation was somehow very long despite being just a simple invitation.
"Yes, of course... and I must say that I am quite flattered by your remarks towards me, but I must also ask, what are your responses to the invitation?"
I also pretended to flinch and sat down more elegantly, I coughed a little to make it more convincing as I said:
"I will go, but I cannot answer on behalf of my wife, even though it is almost certain that she would want to give our relationship a blessing from my mother-in-law, the invitation will be handed to her by me."
Because the conversation has a lot of detours that the esper did not even seem to notice due to her ability to be restrained, the whole atmosphere once again becomes awkward, Momoiro even has a "Relationship?" look on her face.
"...W-well, if you may, I shall take my leave for perhaps, I am being a hindrance in your public work."
Momoiro stood up, but I stopped her by grabbing her hand and pointing at the pandesal and coffee on our table.
"Oh, I would also like to invite you to more casual talks, I am personally interested in you, you see, more so when I see a lot of eyes all over your body."
The cheeks of Momoiro once again turned red, and even her multiple eyes started to glare at me, seemingly sensing that I would steal their owner from them. Well I mean, I won't, but you can't be so sure about that, right?
"T-then, what do you want to know about me?"
With that as the starting point, me and Momoiro started our casual talk that sounded like a talking stage because of how shallow yet personal the questions were, I must say I enjoyed her company even though I am 80 to 90 percent lying in our formal conversation, I decided to be more honest in the casual conversation.
"Ah, it has turned dark Lady Sophia, I must take my leave."
While I was laughing, Momoiro suddenly interrupted me, I sighed and then placed my cheek to rest on my knuckle as I said.
"Too long then, I enjoyed it."
As I smiled, so she did, something that Momoiro's mother or even siblings had never seen in their whole lives, how pitiful of them.
"Me too, my lady... I... hope to see you again."
_Uh oh..._
Some kind of unknown danger rose in my heart, though Momoiro did not notice anything because she already left. When I saw that she was already on the unpaved way between Kamatayan and Gjallarhorn, I gulped as I released my anti-mind reading spell.
[Well, wife number two?]
I just knew that you would say something like that, good thing you shut up during the casual conversation, and the formal of course.
[Well, I want to witness a steamy hot kiss, unfortunately though...]
Alright, let's get back to work, I have three days to finish all of my tasks.
[3rd Person POV]
Meanwhile, the carriage containing Momoiro continued to transverse the unpaved road with only the powers of Momoiro as its light, however, the lights coming from her eyes flickered as she remembered all of the things she learned about Sophia, she had never felt at ease before, more so when she can hear the minds of all the people surrounding her, most of them are terrified of her, saying she might expose their secret.
But Sophia is not like that, the confidence despite being in front of a mind reader, the way Sophia looked at her with interest rather than fear, and the look of a genuine smile rather than a stiff and fake one, was something fresh for her and every time she remembers it, her heart somehow beats faster.
"I hope three days will come in an instant."
She muttered so as she used her power to speed up the carriage, lifting it alongside the horse and propelling it at full speed, not caring about the scream of the coachman and the noble steeds.
[Sophia's POV]
In the past three days, I crammed all of the things I have to do, like checking the affiliate village/town created by the brilliant initiative of Agilus to herd our cattle properly, mind you that all of these monsters are enemies by instinct, so we have to create different settlements for them to flourish properly and while I'm at it, I already finished the martial law guidelines for the volcano, I also give the invitations to Eleanor, as expected, she said yes, it's her mom after all, oh my invitation also recommended me to bring Bakunawa to brag about the strength of my Queendom, well that is a good idea, so I invited her also, she agreed, even saying something like:
"That mofo'ing bastard not giving me an invitation, I'll give her a good spanking."
After I also heard what Momoiro said at her carriage, I was sure that Urduja, or at least Momoiro didn't have any other motives, so with that in thought.
"Let's go."
Agilus had already gone away alongside all of the servants that were vulnerable against the abilities of Momoiro after I made sure that none of them remained in the proximity of the city hall, I invited her immediately, and with the help of my soldiers who were acting as curious bypassers and say random things about the two of us in their heads, and because of how uncomfortable it is for a person who can read minds to hear the things that I instructed them to say, she immediately agreed.
That is why right now, we are in the City's Royal office, or the office that will be used by the queen when she decides to visit and manage some matters in the city, in the future when we start to have provinces and the such, the provincial hall will have something like this, but for now, let's just deal with the matter at hand.
"Lady Sophia I just noticed, why is the city hall empty of people? Even the Bird Mayor is gone..."
With pandesal and coffee on the table that is dividing the two of us, Momoiro asked after she sipped on her cup of coffee, her face still blank but some of her eyes were twitching, evident that she was still trying to figure out the spell that is blocking her from reading my mind, too bad for her, that is the only comment I can give.
"Well, I want the two of us alone, together in my office as we talk about this invitation from Urduja."
I dipped my bread into the coffee and ate it while I smiled at Momoiro who was silently dragging her seat backward, she's kind of cute, to be honest.
"No, I'm just kidding, it is just in consideration of your annoying ability to read minds, as indicated by your dodomeki heritage, you don't want to hear vulgar things from people's minds, right?"
As I said that, Momoiro flinched, her blank expression once again having color and my interest in her started to grow, I wondered what she look like if I peeled her stoic persona, I rested my chin in the palm of my hand as I picked up my mug and took a sip of the dark coffee, I looked at it while puckering my lips.
_I like it sweet._
I then focused back on Momoiro who was looking at me, scared, is not being able to read my mind really that scary? Or is she being affected by the caffeine? I wonder, but anyway, for our discussion to start, I started speaking.
"Don't worry, I won't do anything against you, please take your time and calm down."
I smiled, and I could see that it was somehow effective as Momoiro started to pant heavily in front of me, probably letting out some boiling steam because of the shock when she first learned that she could not read my mind. After five minutes or so of panting and gulping, Momoiro finally picked up a letter in between her cleavage.
Yes, I know, why the hell would she put that there, right?
But anyway, the letter was in a paper envelope that had a candle wax seal with the stamp of Urduja in it. I am surprised that paper exists in this world, I mean, even now they are still not making scrolls made out of paper, according to Eleanor, that is.
_Probably one of the many luxuries only usable by the nobles._
I picked it up and then turned into serious mode, I opened the letter and as I read it, my face turned from serious to confused.
"...Birthday?"
The already calmed down Momoiro nodded and then replied.
"Yes, my mother, Lady Urduja invites you to celebrate her birthday which will happen three days from now, as an official guest, not only by the Duchess of Urduja but by the Hero of the Sun, and because I cannot see my sister here, I also wish to give this to Eleanor."
Another letter was slid in front of me, but the confusion in my face did not disappear, I went silent for a while and finally, after a cough, I spoke.
"This... "birthday", can you tell me more about it?"
"...Huh?"
Momoiro's blank expression was once again broken by me, as expected of my magnificent acting. Still, anyway, she also looked at me with the same expression as mine, confused, and as time went by we stared into each other, and my confused look turned into a sad one.
"Ah... forget it... I will just ask Eleanor..."
As I was about to leave with a hunch back to look dispirited, Momoiro immediately realized why I was asking her such questions.
"Oh, I'm sorry, it's just that... It's quite... a strange question, you see, a birthday is when someone celebrates the day of their birth as a form of gratitude for their conception, they usually throw extravagant parties also as a tribute to the god they are worshipping as they believe that the said god is the one responsible for their continued existence, in the case of Lady Urduja, the whole Urdujan domain will be throwing a festival, and normally even the whole Kingdom as gratitude for her protection."
Momoiro tried to maintain her smile, but my somewhat childish stare made her uncomfortable, after a pause, indicating that Momoiro didn't have anything further to say, I flinched a little and fixed my posture that was previously leaning to the table, I then sighed, but the smile and shine on my face are yet to be gone.
"...Say... can anyone have a birthday?"
Momoiro who is trying to divert her attention from her seemingly inappropriate discovery flinched at my question.
"O-of course, just think back to the day you were born."
I once again put up a sad face and replied whilst looking at my reflection in the dark coffee.
"Well, I don't know when I was born..."
I could hear Momoiro muttering something like "Urgh" as she smiled awkwardly, her blank expression did not resurface the whole conversation, she tried her best to find a response, and finally, after an arduous minute, she uttered a suitable one.
"Well, if you don't know, birthdays can also be an event special to your life, it can be the moment when you truly feel alive, those days are fine too."
I went, or look like I went into a deep thought, but the truth is, I am looking at the expression of Momoiro in my peripheral vision, I can see her looking at me with pity, wanting to console me but being unable to read my mind, she doesn't know how to, well I can also presume that she will remember this time of being unable to read minds and will somehow cherish it as something bizarre but somehow fulfilling occurrences in her life.
Sadly all of it was nothing but a lie from me, though she doesn't know that, so going back, after 30 minutes of pondering, I snapped my head suddenly and faced her upfront.
"Then, this day, can I choose this day?"
My bright smile looked like it could render one blind as I looked at Momoiro and asked as such.
"W-what? Why?"
"I can't?"
I looked down to look sad, I felt like I could have an acting career with how good I acted.
"Well... It's not that you can't. It's more like, why would you choose this day? Surely, the founding of your Queendom is more important than this day, right?"
"Well, you are right about that one... But I also want to commemorate this event, when I learned about this wonderful thing called "birthday", and also so that I can remember the day that I met a wonderful person like you."
As I said those words, Momoiro's already pinkish cheeks turned red, and all of her eyes from her shoulders downwards looked at her face squinting, I wondered if they had minds of their own, but probably they were disgruntled because their "master" was acting all embarrassed while they are straining themselves and doing their jobs.
"So, can I?"
I interrupted her overheating and I had to hand the composure of the year award to her as she immediately coughed and sat straight, this conversation was somehow very long despite being just a simple invitation.
"Yes, of course... and I must say that I am quite flattered by your remarks towards me, but I must also ask, what are your responses to the invitation?"
I also pretended to flinch and sat down more elegantly, I coughed a little to make it more convincing as I said:
"I will go, but I cannot answer on behalf of my wife, even though it is almost certain that she would want to give our relationship a blessing from my mother-in-law, the invitation will be handed to her by me."
Because the conversation has a lot of detours that the esper did not even seem to notice due to her ability to be restrained, the whole atmosphere once again becomes awkward, Momoiro even has a "Relationship?" look on her face.
"...W-well, if you may, I shall take my leave for perhaps, I am being a hindrance in your public work."
Momoiro stood up, but I stopped her by grabbing her hand and pointing at the pandesal and coffee on our table.
"Oh, I would also like to invite you to more casual talks, I am personally interested in you, you see, more so when I see a lot of eyes all over your body."
The cheeks of Momoiro once again turned red, and even her multiple eyes started to glare at me, seemingly sensing that I would steal their owner from them. Well I mean, I won't, but you can't be so sure about that, right?
"T-then, what do you want to know about me?"
With that as the starting point, me and Momoiro started our casual talk that sounded like a talking stage because of how shallow yet personal the questions were, I must say I enjoyed her company even though I am 80 to 90 percent lying in our formal conversation, I decided to be more honest in the casual conversation.
"Ah, it has turned dark Lady Sophia, I must take my leave."
While I was laughing, Momoiro suddenly interrupted me, I sighed and then placed my cheek to rest on my knuckle as I said.
"Too long then, I enjoyed it."
As I smiled, so she did, something that Momoiro's mother or even siblings had never seen in their whole lives, how pitiful of them.
"Me too, my lady... I... hope to see you again."
_Uh oh..._
Some kind of unknown danger rose in my heart, though Momoiro did not notice anything because she already left. When I saw that she was already on the unpaved way between Kamatayan and Gjallarhorn, I gulped as I released my anti-mind reading spell.
[Well, wife number two?]
I just knew that you would say something like that, good thing you shut up during the casual conversation, and the formal of course.
[Well, I want to witness a steamy hot kiss, unfortunately though...]
Alright, let's get back to work, I have three days to finish all of my tasks.
[3rd Person POV]
Meanwhile, the carriage containing Momoiro continued to transverse the unpaved road with only the powers of Momoiro as its light, however, the lights coming from her eyes flickered as she remembered all of the things she learned about Sophia, she had never felt at ease before, more so when she can hear the minds of all the people surrounding her, most of them are terrified of her, saying she might expose their secret.
But Sophia is not like that, the confidence despite being in front of a mind reader, the way Sophia looked at her with interest rather than fear, and the look of a genuine smile rather than a stiff and fake one, was something fresh for her and every time she remembers it, her heart somehow beats faster.
"I hope three days will come in an instant."
She muttered so as she used her power to speed up the carriage, lifting it alongside the horse and propelling it at full speed, not caring about the scream of the coachman and the noble steeds.
[Sophia's POV]
In the past three days, I crammed all of the things I have to do, like checking the affiliate village/town created by the brilliant initiative of Agilus to herd our cattle properly, mind you that all of these monsters are enemies by instinct, so we have to create different settlements for them to flourish properly and while I'm at it, I already finished the martial law guidelines for the volcano, I also give the invitations to Eleanor, as expected, she said yes, it's her mom after all, oh my invitation also recommended me to bring Bakunawa to brag about the strength of my Queendom, well that is a good idea, so I invited her also, she agreed, even saying something like:
"That mofo'ing bastard not giving me an invitation, I'll give her a good spanking."
After I also heard what Momoiro said at her carriage, I was sure that Urduja, or at least Momoiro didn't have any other motives, so with that in thought.
"Let's go."
