Shade listened to the flute without immediately approaching Claire. Instead, he stood behind her, watching her silhouette atop the snow mountain beneath the Sun.
Only after the melody ended did he continue forward. Claire had clearly heard his footsteps, but she neither turned around nor left at once.
She put away her flute. When Shade stood beside her and turned to look at her with the cat, she had her hands behind her back as she gazed at the snowy mountain scenery below.
"How did you find me?"
Not only was her expression blank, but her voice carried no emotion either.
"Not long ago, we discussed how I might meet you if I came to the island as an ordinary tourist. Back then, I gave two possibilities. One was meeting in town, and the other was the current situation."
Shade paused.
"Of course, without your flute, I would probably have had to search around here for quite a while."
Yet he was thinking that, once he returned tonight, he definitely had to prepare a grand feast to reward the cat. If Little Mia had not pointed out the general area, Shade probably would not have heard the flute even then.
The platinum-blonde girl pursed her lips and finally turned slightly to look at him.
"Then what exactly am I to you?"
The Lovers.
"She" suddenly said that with a smile, nearly making Shade repeat the word aloud.
"My lover."
Her pale golden eyes met Shade's for two seconds, as though she were trying to determine whether he was lying. Then Claire suddenly opened her arms and hugged him. The witch buried her head in Shade's chest, and he heard her sobbing.
"Why did you take so long to find me? I stood here alone all morning. I thought you weren't