The sky had barely started to get bright when Mira woke up, needing to use the restroom. She quickly got up and took care of that.
「Still, that was quite the feast.」
Mira muttered, looking at the empty and dark living room. The early dawn light barely reached there, and it was incredibly silent. It was so calm it made it hard to imagine there had been a lively hotpot party there the night before.
It had left a different, much warmer emotion in Mira compared to the celebration in Sentopolly, which she relished while checking the current time.
It was five in the morning. Only four hours had passed since they finished eating and talking. But since she had slept since then, it felt like much more time had passed, leaving Mira feeling slightly lonely.
「Oh, her collection has changed a bit too.」
Mira noticed a display shelf with many small trinkets on it. It was Mariana's geomancy collection, which was dedicated to wishing Mira good luck and safe travels.
She continued looking through the room, finding a small yellow turtle ornament amongst the plant vases, a tiger plush toy under the table, and many other small items Mariana had gotten. Mira was filled with a warm and fuzzy feeling each time she discovered one more.
Eventually she made her way back to her bedroom where she lied down again.
Mariana's soft voice rang from next to her. She had been as stubborn as ever, and insisted on sleeping with Mira again. Luna was also sleeping next to Mira's pillow.
「Sorry, did I wake you up?」
Mariana's figure was faintly visible under the soft dawn light. Somehow her being harder to see made her breathing sounds stand out even more, which made Mira feel embarrassed as she shuffled a bit further away on the bed.
「No, I've just been half-dozing off.」
Only their voices were audible in the room. But they soon fell silent again, sharing a warm moment together. There was no one to disturb them, the stillness being all the comfort they needed. Rather than touching each other, or talking, simply being next to each other created a strange feeling.
Some time passed like that, until there was the sound of clothes rustling.
「You'll be departing again today, won't you Lady Mira?」
Mira turned to her, and noticed Mariana had turned her body around, facing her. She looked somewhat lonely, making Mira instinctively look away.
Mira gave a short reply, which prompted Mariana to stand up saying 「I'll prepare everything for your trip then.」
「It's okay, there's no rush. We were up late last night, and I'll probably leave during the afternoon. So don't worry, we can just… sleep together a bit more.」
It was a bit late to start worrying about such things, but Mira no longer felt comfortable making Mariana work so hard since early in the morning, so she desperately tried to stop her. At the same time, her own desire to remain with her in bed surfaced on Mira's face.
「…If you say so, I understand.」
Mira had asked her to sleep together. Hearing that made Mariana smile, and she happily went under the sheets again. This time she went closer to Mira, who felt flustered feeling Mariana breathing right next to her.
But that only lasted a short moment. Mira gathered all the courage she could muster and held Mariana's hand while facing her.
「We… still haven't done that, right..?」
She struggled to find the words a little, and smiled with embarrassment. 「You're right,」 answered Mariana, smiling as her fingers tightened around Mira's. Soon after the glow representing the bond between them became visible.
The sudden light woke Luna up, who looked at it with sleepy eyes, then waddled towards it and rolled up between Mira and Mariana.
「You're still so spoiled even when sleepy, huh.」
「Luna also loves you very much, Lady Mira.」
The two smiled as they began petting Luna, who let out soft squeaks.
Mira eventually fell asleep, and woke up slightly late in the morning. Mariana was no longer next to her, though Luna was still rolled into a ball next to her.
「What a delightful morning.」
Mira stretched in the room illuminated by the morning sun, before a pleasant sound and scent lured her out of the room.
「Good morning, Lady Mira.」
She had seen this sight many times in the past. Mariana doted on her for the entire morning, which constantly made Mira think of the term newly-wed life.
After taking a shower and changing into the new outfit the maids had fashioned for her, Luna finally woke up, and they all had breakfast. It was a very comforting and pleasant time for everyone.
After breakfast, Mira and Mariana began preparations for the trip. Mira took out anything she thought could be useful from the warehouse and stashed it in her Item Box.
Meanwhile Mariana was busy preparing a bag with changes of clothes. Luna brought a furball in her mouth and placed it in a corner of the bag.
「Nice job, Luna. We can't forget your charm.」
That was actually a charm Mariana had made with Luna's fur. Pure Rabbit's fur was said to bring good luck, making it a rather luxurious accessory.
Mira returned from the warehouse and began looking at what Mariana had prepared for her. She was shocked to see the unusually high number of pink underwear. When asked about it, Mariana said that Mira's lucky color that month was pink.
Mira had gotten considerably used to this lifestyle, but she grimaced thinking of pink, the most feminine color she knew of. But then a terrifying thought crossed her mind.
(She said this month's lucky color, could it be that I'm already..?!)
Mira hurried to check her current underwear, and she could only laugh despite herself at the sight of girly undergarments. She had made the courageous decision to let Mariana change her underwear, and she had been wearing pink since.
(…Well, all things considered, I guess it fits me.)
She had worn pure white and alluring black before, so Mira tried to desperately find a satisfying way out, trying to laugh it off.
The three spent the morning together, while also getting everything ready for Mira's trip. It was already past noon before they realized.
Mariana had already started preparations for lunch beforehand, and it was ready quickly. She had also prepared a boxed lunch Mira could take to eat during her trip, which Mira gladly accepted, knowing it was full of her love.
With that, everything was ready for her to depart.
「I'll be going then.」
They were outside, next to the Tower of Summoning. They exchanged goodbyes in front of the wagon carried by Garuda. If things went well, Mira would be back in two weeks, but that was not enough to dispel the feeling of solitude between the two.
Luna also jumped into Mira's arms, squeaking loudly.
「Oh you, you really are helpless. Always listen to Mariana and be a good girl, okay?」
Mira embraced Luna and rubbed her cheeks against Luna's fur. 「Kyuii!」 Luna squeaked happily before licking Mira's cheek.
「I'm sorry I keep piling up things on you Mariana, but take good care of Luna for me too.」
Saying that, Mira handed Luna over to Mariana, having hugged the rabbit for long enough. Luna looked at Mira, her eyes full of satisfaction.
「Yes, leave it to me.」
Mariana answered, looking at Luna with a bit of jealousy.
Even if it was just for some weeks, saying goodbye always left a lonely aftertaste. But Mira had learned from Luna that sometimes that helped cheer up some people as well, so Mira stepped forward and hugged Mariana tightly.
Mariana sounded shocked. Luna jumped off her arms, and watched the two from the ground, squeaking happily again.
「Well… you see… it's a bit unfair if Luna is the only one getting this!」
Mira felt like she had just done something extremely bold, so it took her some time to recompose herself, and then tried to come up with that excuse. But then quickly gathered up courage again to get closer to Mariana and whisper 「I'll be on my way then」 into her ear.
「Yes, have a safe trip.」
Both of them were filled from the warmth of their hug, and all the solitude that lingered from their goodbye was dispelled, marking this day as something memorable that should be remembered fondly.