#klepon

Most students would say that the most dreadful days are exam week, but for Leona, the holiday season is the real hell.

Holidays are fun, he admits that, but Leona couldn't really enjoy it because he had to go back to the palace, his so-called 'home' where many people didn't truly welcome his return.

Fortunately, this holiday, you will also come back with him as his fiancé(e). As long as you're by his side, that damned place he called 'home' would become less unbearable.

… or at least, that's what he thought.

***

Normally, Leona would be fast asleep in mere seconds. But after a few minutes lying down with his eyes closed, he still couldn't fall asleep. Forget sleeping, he just got even more irritated as time went on.

And it's all because of you. More precisely, it's because the child who's currently playing with you, taking all your attention that should belong to Leona. His nephew, Cheka Kingscholar.

How can Leona fall asleep when you, his favorite pillow, are spending time with that brat instead of accompanying him to sleep?

Also, why did you two choose to play in his room when the palace has a perfectly able courtyard?!

Leona's patience finally ran out when he realized that his scent that he had left on you was starting to be covered with Cheka's own scent.

“Oi, brat! Let go of my fiancé(e) and go play by yourself.” Leona got up from his bed then approached you and Cheka who were playing some kind of board game.

“Ah, Unca! Do you want to play with us?” The boy beside you waved his hands excitedly, inviting his uncle with eyes full of hope.

Leona only gave a light snort, neither rejecting nor agreeing to his nephew's request. Instead, he looks straight at you.

“Herbivore, I'm sleepy,” he tells you matter of fact, signaling that he wants you to accompany him to sleep.

Before you could reply to him, Cheka threw himself at you and hugged you tightly, preventing you from moving any further.

“No!” He half yelled, looking at Leona with puffed cheeks, “Unca can sleep alone! I still want to play with unca/aunt (Name)!”

A frown appeared on Leona's forehead when he heard his nephew's words. Nevertheless, he still tried to control his emotions in front of Cheka who's blatantly trying to take you away from him.

“Brat, in case you forget, the herbivore is MY fiancé(e). Not yours. They had NO obligation to keep you company or play with you.”

“It's because unca didn't want to play with me, so I'll play with unca/aunt (Name) instead.” Cheka replied, hugging you even tighter.

“Oh, so now it's my fault?”

The uncle-nephew pair start debating about who's going to spend time with you.

You can't help but find the situation a little amusing. Especially, when you see Leona's annoyed face facing Cheka's pouty one.

Even though you want to enjoy their childish fight a little longer, you know you can't let this continue.

“Oh my, look at the time now~ it's the time for little ones to take a nap,” you said in a sing-song voice, slowly carrying Cheka on your hip.

Seeing you take his side, the frown on Leona's face lessened a bit and he looked haughtily at Cheka while crossing his arms.

“You hear that, brat? It's nap time. Go back to your room and take your damn nap. Don't disturb us again.”

Cheka who was in your arms suddenly became dispirited. His eyes started to get teary and his lips trembled ever so slightly.

That made Leona smile even wider, feeling very proud of his victory. When he tried to gloat again, he heard you continue talking.

“That being said, why don't we take a nap together with your uncle?”

“Hah?!”

“Yay!"

Hearing your suggestion, both of them immediately gave two different responses. Leona was dumbfounded, meanwhile Cheka became excited.

Although Leona was very dissatisfied with your stupid idea, he really couldn't say no to you. Hence, he finally compromised and lets Cheka sleep with the two of you.

The three of you take a nap together in Leona's room. You sleep in between the two lions, Cheka in the front while Leona is behind you. In the middle of your sleep, Leona instinctively wrapped his arms around you and nuzzled his face against your shoulder. Unbeknownst to you, Leona quietly got rid of Cheka's scent that had clung to you using his own scent.

1. Jade Leech

Wishing to spend more time with your boyfriend, you decided to help him at Mostro Lounge. Even if it's a little tiring, at least you get to spend some time with Jade. But while you were busy taking the customer orders, one of the customers accidentally spilled their drink on your shirts.

Seeing that your front shirt was soaked with juice, Jade just chuckled while shaking his head before handing you his bedroom key, saying that you could borrow one of his clothes.

So, here you are, in Jade's room and going through his wardrobe. When you find his spare dorm uniform hanging neatly, there's this sudden urge in your head to try it on.

And what can you do besides following that urge of yours? So, against your better judgement, you took his dorm uniform and started trying it on. The result….

“The uniform is too big….” You winced, looking at your reflection in the mirror.

When Jade wears his dorm uniform, he always looks very gentlemanly, while at the same time he still has this dangerous aura around him. But when you try on the same clothes, you look like a child trying on their parents' clothes. It's all because of your height difference with him is quite far. But really, there weren't many people who could rival Jade's height. So, the problem is not your height. Jade is just too big for human size.

When you try on his uniform, the light-purple undershirt is long enough to cover half of your thighs. As for the pants…. well, the waist was too wide for you to fit into, so you decided not to wear them and continued wearing his white bow tie, Octavinelle's signature lavender-gray scarf, and the black suit. With white gloves and another spare black fedora that Jade has, you successfully nailed your boyfriend look.

But for some reason, it feels like something is missing, doesn't it? Oh, that's right! His signature smile! Jade wouldn't be Jade without his ever present customer service smile.

So, putting one hand in front of your chest, you mustered your most polite smile, and with the softest voice you have, you try to imitate your boyfriend's way of speaking.

“No need to be so concerned. I only wish to help. Ha ha ha, it's an honor to have you call on me. I know the secret to making all your dreams come true.”

“Oh my, I didn't know you had this kind of hobby, my pearl.”

Hearing your boyfriend's friendly voice, you suddenly turned around and found his standing in the doorway, looking at you full of amusement. With his usual smirk donning his handsome face, he walks towards you with unhurried steps.

“I came to check on you because you took a while to change. But it seems there's nothing to worry about, seeing you enjoying your time trying on my uniform and trying to impersonate me,” he said while fixing the bow tie you were wearing.

“Are you angry?” You ask, a little nervous. “Since I wear your uniform without your permission…”

Hearing your question, Jade chuckled softly. “Why should I be angry? It's a little surprising, but it's a pleasant surprise.”

Just as you were about to breathe a sigh of relief, Jade suddenly leaned over and whispered softly in your ear.

“Besides, I also like your little impersonation of me. Say, how about we wear the Octavinelle uniform for our next date? I can get one for you from Azul, you know.”

2. Floyd Leech

When you visit Mostro Lounge, you expect to see your boyfriend working. Unfortunately, you came at the wrong time. Floyd is still at school because the basketball club is suddenly holding an impromptu meeting regarding the game they will take part in next week. Normally, Floyd wouldn't join a boring meeting like that, but this time the whole team tried hard to make him stay because he is one of the key players.

Jade or Azul will usually chat with you until Floyd comes back and takes your attention away. But today Mostro Lounge was too crowded so the two of them couldn't accompany you. And because you didn't want Azul to ask you to help in the lounge, you immediately fled to Floyd's room.

Once you enter his room, you find that Floyd's room hasn't changed at all since your last visit. It's still a mess.

Sighing, you rolled up your sleeves and started cleaning Floyd's room. Even though you call it cleaning, you're actually just throwing away the trash and returning things to their original position.

While picking up his things, you find his dorm uniform suit lying on the chair. Looking at the suit, you suddenly imagine your boyfriend's figure when working at Mostro Lounge while wearing his dorm uniform. With his droopy eyes, wide grin, and lazy voice, Floyd Leech always manages to catch your attention. If you wore it, would you be look as good as it is in Floyd?

…. He won't mind, right?

With that kind of thought, you started looking for the other parts of Floyd's dorm uniform. After successfully finding all the other parts, you immediately put on the uniform.

Standing in front of the mirror, you stare in awe at your reflection. Even if you're only wearing the top of the uniform -because Floyd's pants are too big for you- you really feel like totally a different person. The uniform is a little big on you, but you still feel satisfied with your new appearance. The light-purple undershirt covered in a black suit, accompanied by a white bow tie, makes you seem like an intellectual. Guess what Vil said is indeed true, clothes can change people.

You then wear white gloves, a lavender-gray scarf, and a black fedora hat that is the trademark of Octavinelle's dorm uniform. Satisfied, you then started trying to imitate Floyd's character when he was doing his job at Mostro Lounge.

Putting your left hand on your right shoulder, you tilt your head a little while your face is donned with a cheeky grin. Then, with a lazy-like mannerism, you said to the mirror in front of you.

“You got a very serious problem? There might be something we can do. Heh heh heh... Don't be so scared. I just wanna give you a nice squeeze.”

Before you can compliment your imitation, something -or rather, someone- has already seized you up.

“Guppy!”

Floyd's unique shriek entered your ears, stopping you who were about to struggle. Well, it's not like you can really free yourself from the eel's strong embrace, considering how tight his hands wrapped around your body.

“My little guppy is so cute, tryin' to imitate this eel~” Floyd nudged his cheek on the top of your head while chuckling.

“You… you don't mind me wearing your dorm uniform?” you ask rather anxiously.

“Nope~” Floyd answered quickly without having to think twice. “If it were someone else, I would definitely squeeze them dry. But since it's you, I don't mind at all.”

You just breathed a sigh of relief, but then Floyd let go of his arms and looked up at you with a frown.

“But it feels… somethin' is missing.”

Floyd's words made you suddenly nervous, “W-what's missing?”

Floyd doesn't answer your question, instead his hand reaches out to the bow tie you're wearing and yanks it off, leaving the bow tie hangs around your neck. He also unbuttoned the first two buttons of his shirt before finally the frown is gone from his face.

“Now, that's more Floyd-like, don't cha think?” He smirked playfully at you, before he leaned closer and gave a lingering kiss to your exposed cleavage.

After Lilia indirectly confessed his feelings for you, the relationship between the two of you is still the same as usual.

It's because after that confession of his, you became so embarrassed that you immediately used your magic to teleport yourself to your house.

You can't help it, all right? You've long since gotten used to Lilia being mischievous, so his serious side at that time was really caught you off guard.

The way he holds you so tight, his breath tickles your neck, and those words!

Words that seemed like his usual teasing, but at the same time sounded serious. How do you deal with it besides running away?!

When Lilia came home later, you honestly didn't know how to face him. But as if forgetting the words he said earlier, Lilia casually came up to you to ask what would you two have for dinner later.

Knowing Lilia since he was little, you know he purposely acts normal like that so you won't think too much about that matter. And you're very grateful for his consideration.

You do need time to sort out your feelings. When you can finally understand the feelings you have for Lilia, whether you want to have a romantic relationship with him or not, you will definitely tell him right away.

But for now, let's focus on raising Malleus to be a proper gentleman and also the future ruler of Briar Valley.

***

… And apparently, 'sorting your feelings' continues for hundreds of years.

You only realized that when you took a closer look at Malleus and noticed that the little fae you and Lilia raised had grown quite a bit.

“Hahh… How time flies so fast.” Lilia put his arm around your shoulders, pulling you closer to him while he let out a dramatic sigh, “Soon, Malleus will find his other half and start a new life together. Meanwhile, look at us both, still single until now.”

Your body tensed involuntarily upon hearing Lilia's words. Glancing slightly out of the corner of your eye, you see him smiling meaningfully at you.

That last sentence just now… He must have done it on purpose.

“Y-yeah, time sure flies.” You said rather stiffly, trying hard not to blush remembering Lilia's indirect confession.

“Indeed it is.” He nodded his head in agreement. “Since you also admit it, isn't it about time you answered my question from that time?”

“That…”

Your eyes darted off and looked elsewhere nervously, trying to avoid the intense stare from Lilia's pair of red eyes.

“(Name).” He called your name, but you pretended like you didn't hear him at all.

Suddenly, you felt your chin lifted and your eyes immediately met Lilia's. Different from his usual playful look, this time Lilia is looking at you very seriously.

“What I said that time, I meant everything.”

Your eyes widened in shock at Lilia's words. Slowly, you can feel your face warm up. Even without a mirror, you can tell that your face must be red by now.

Usually, Lilia will immediately tease you if he sees you flustered. But this time, he actually took one of your hands and put it on his chest.

“Can you feel it? My heartbeat?”

Following Lilia's words, you closed your eyes and focused all your attention on your hand that was on his chest.

You can feel it. Lilia's heartbeat. It pounds like a drum in his chest, fast and hot in anticipation of something—anything.

“It beats only for you, (Name). And forever, he will continue to beat for you.” Lilia pressed his forehead to yours, slowly closing the distance between you both.

“Can you accept it?”

***

“(Name), my dear! Look what I found in the woods today!”

“What is it- OH GREAT SEVENS! LILIA! IS THAT A HUMAN BABY IN YOUR HANDS?!”

“Ssh! Lower your voice, dear. You'll wake him up.”

“... Why is there a human baby in the Briar Valley woods? Could it be that… he was abandoned?”

“It seems that way.”

“What should we do, Lilia? Should we take him to the nearest human city?”

“No need. I have a better idea.”

“... Somehow, I have a bad feeling about this idea of yours.”