[V4C4] Things She Likes

Monica and Lana left the scene, escaping from the black-haired brothers, and moved to a plaza with a fountain.

Although the fountain itself wasn’t particularly large, there were stone steps surrounding it, making it a perfect place to sit and take a break. Lana’s recommended fried pie stand was apparently near this plaza.

While waiting for Lana to buy the fried pies, Monica sat down on the steps, letting her tired legs dangle.

(I should walk outside a bit more often…)

Monica had improved significantly when compared to her days of living in the mountain hut, but her bad habit of becoming reclusive when immersed in research still persisted.

Moreover, she recently found herself relying on her disciple to take care of everything, even shopping. This was not good, not good at all.

Monica silently resolved herself to start going out more, when a sweet fragrance tickled her nose.

Following the scent, she saw Lana approaching with fried pies in hand.

“Sorry for the wait. Here, be careful; it’s hot.”

“Okay.”

Lana had brought hand pies that were about the size of her palm, and seemed to have the faint scent of oranges.

Monica took a bite from the edge, filling her mouth with a melted mixture of apples, figs, and raisins. The heat made Monica involuntarily let out a gasp.

“Ahh…!? Phew…”

“Come on! I told you to be careful.”

As Lana expressed her exasperation, Monica blew on the pie to cool it down. Once it fell to a reasonable temperature, she began nibbling at it again.

The pie crust had a crispy texture, subtly sweetened with the orange-flavoring. The apples and figs inside were gooey like jam, and the raisins added a nice accent.

“So? How is the pie I recommended? Delicious, right?”

When Lana recommended something she liked to others, she always wore a proud and confident smile, as if boasting about it.

This is what I like! Great, isn’t it? Right?

While some might find it haughty, Monica loved Lana’s innocent and straightforward nature.

Because whenever Lana described Monica, she would always say, “My friend is amazing!” with a proud smile. For Monica, that felt both ticklish and heartwarming.

“…The pie is really, really delicious.”

As Monica shyly expressed her thoughts, Lana’s smile grew even brighter.

Lana loved it when the things she recommended made others happy.

“Of course! I knew you’d like it. You like raisins, after all.”

“…Is that so?”

As Monica tilted her head while nibbling on the pie, Lana withdrew her smile and squinted her eyes.

“Come on… Don’t you know yourself?”

“Um, yeah, maybe you’re right…”

Compared to most people, Monica had never been very interested in food. She usually ate whatever was served, and often made do with a few sips of coffee if there was nothing available.

Therefore, she hadn’t given much serious thought to what she liked.

“Now that you mention it… I might like raisins… Whenever I eat bread with raisins, I save the part with lots of raisins for last…”

“Also, you like nuts in general, right? Whenever you see a line of cookies, you always go for the ones with nuts.”

“I-I do?”

Come to think of it, Isaac often made sweets with nuts. He even brought rare nuts from foreign countries as souvenirs. He must have noticed Monica’s preferences.

“You particularly love sweets with nuts coated in honey, right?”

“W-Well…”

“And you prefer fish over meat. Sautéed with slightly lemon-flavored butter. You used to order that a lot in the school cafeteria.”

“T-That might be true…!”

“You drink coffee without sugar or milk, but you take two sugar cubes in your tea. You also like milk tea.”

Monica gave Lana a gaze of admiration, as if she were observing a great scholar who had made a significant discovery.

“Lana, that’s amazing…”

“Jeez! Make sure you know what you like. Otherwise, when you want to treat yourself, you won’t know how to indulge properly.”

Monica was impressed by everything Lana pointed out.

Until now, Monica had never seriously thought about what she liked, except for numbers and magical formulas.

As long as she could immerse herself in the world of beautiful equations and magical symbols, she thought she didn’t need anything else.

(…Back then, even with meals, I thought it was enough as long as I could sustain myself…)

But it seemed that the current Monica was quite greedy.

She would surely cherish the taste of coffee shared with her friends, and the deliciousness of the pies she ate with Lana.

(…Apart from mathematics and magic, there were so many other things I liked.)

Lana had taken Monica’s hand and made her realize that.

Lana had found and remembered the “things she liked” that Monica herself had overlooked.

“Lana, thank you.”

Thank you for taking me outside.

Thank you for telling me about this wonderful pie.

Thank you for remembering what I like.

That “thank you” included all of those, and Lana returned it with a warm smile.

“…Feeling better now?”

“Yeah.”

As Monica gave a small nod, Lana murmured, “Good,” with a radiant smile and took a bite of the pie.

＊　＊　＊

Since noon, Lana’s secretary, Clifford Anderson, had been checking the time every ten minutes on the dot.

While silently moving his quill, he stopped abruptly, suddenly twisting his neck to check the clock again. This marked his 35th confirmation of the time. The sky was already beginning to darken.

“…”

Clifford tidied up the documents and put on the coat he had draped over the back of his chair.

He had been wearing clothes from an antique shop when he first visited Lana, but now he was wearing neatly selected clothes, all chosen by Lana.

His somewhat messy black hair was combed and tied up into a bunch, and his beard was shaved. The only thing unchanged was the large and thick glasses that covered half of his face.

Fixing his slightly askew glasses, Clifford was about to head outside when he heard a cheerful voice saying, “I’m back!” Lana had returned.

Clifford had put on his coat to search for Lana, so he hesitated for a moment before deciding to keep it on. After all, it was about time to go home. He had finished his work for the day.

Meanwhile, the door opened and Lana entered.

“I’m back, Cliff!”

“You’re late.”

Clifford always spoke in a succinct and emotionless manner. Even so, Lana seemed to sense the dissatisfaction hidden in his short sentence.

Lana awkwardly averted her gaze, twirling a strand of her hair around her finger.

Remaining expressionless, Clifford pursued the matter.

“Before you went out, you said you were ‘going to have lunch with a friend.’”

“Yes, I did.”

“It’s already evening.”

“W-Well, my apologies… By the way, is the paperwork all sorted out…?”

“Of course, don’t worry.”

Clifford nodded and slapped the pile of documents on the desk.

“I’ve neatly arranged your share right here, Lana.”

“So mean! You could’ve at least helped a bit!”

The pouting Lana plopped down in her chair and began reviewing the documents and letters.

“This letter is from Count Ambard, that dorky four-eyes… Hmm, he says the prototypes of the accessories we designed recently will be arriving soon. I’m looking forward to seeing how they turn out! Oh, and there’s a letter of gratitude from Mrs. Latridge. She appreciated the silk fabric we lent her the other day. She’s proposing continuous collaboration, so I should reply quickly…”

As Lana read the letters, Clifford silently stared at her without saying a word.

Noticing his gaze, Lana glared at Clifford without turning her head.

“What? …If you’re not going to help, you can go home now. Good job today.”

“Let’s have lunch together. Tomorrow at noon.”

Hearing Clifford’s sudden proposal, Lana widened her eyes in surprise. Then she realized something and shook her head.

“Tomorrow won’t work.”

“Why not? I know your schedule. There shouldn’t be any meetings, salon appointments, or ladies’ association gatherings.”

“Well, tomorrow, I have plans to eat lunch with Monica.”

At the mention of Monica’s name from Lana’s lips, Clifford remained expressionless. However, his fingertips trembled ever so slightly.

Monica——a name that Lana mentioned rather often.

Judging by the lack of recent mentions, Monica must have been out for a while, then returned to Sazandol recently.

“And your lunch today was with Monica too?”

“Right. We had fried pies!”

“This is unfair.”

The statement caused Lana to give Clifford a suspicious glance.

“…Cliff? Don’t tell me you wanted to eat fried pies too.”

“Monica is monopolizing you. It should be my turn to have a meal with you next. Stick to the order.”

“Who I have a meal with is my business!”

Lana lifted her slender chin with a tsundere attitude, before turning back to the paperwork.

Clifford silently observed Lana, who was focused on her quill, and spoke again.

“…Which restaurant were you visiting tomorrow?”

“The newly opened fish place on Third Street.”

“I see.”

Clifford discreetly stowed away the documents he had planned to hand over to Lana in his drawer.

Once Lana sees these tomorrow morning, she’ll panic and be forced to deal with them.

Naturally, she won’t have any time to eat lunch with a friend.

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