Another World Gacha

Nicholas and Clarice went down the stairs hand-by-hand; the atmosphere felt awkward. Clarice is still in a trace holding Nicholas's hand while Nicholas is not talking, planning about how to comfort Clarice while finding the right time to start conversation.

They walk outside in the city center, not saying a word, just savoring the view and the presence of each other. They explored the city countless times, but with each other's company, it didn't feel boring at all. Slowly, the tense atmosphere that had built up with their initial contact slowly dissipated, so Nicholas decided to initiate the conversation, and they began chatting about mundane stuff.

Nicholas asked her about her training progress, her day, foods, and things she liked. She replied by gleefully talking about her progress in practice and sharing with her what she did for the day.

Clarice then asked things that interested Nicholas, such as food, his business, and books. He replied nonchalantly, also talking a bit about his day.

They continued to roam around the city, checking the stores for clothing, restaurants, and other interesting trinkets found around the city.

They also noticed tons of spring blossom used as decoration on establishments as they explored, so they realized the spring festival was nearing. Clarice changed the topic about the previous one, so they conversed about the previous spring festival. They saw more flowers in the stands, and some people are still busy setting up stalls or shops in the city center for the celebration of the spring festival.

The festival is one of the few festivals that the city of Curtana celebrates yearly. It was celebrated by the people in the past when the flowers were in full bloom as a sign of wealth and prosperity to look forward to a brighter future.

They talked about celebrating and going out on the week of the spring festival; he agreed and said they should also bring Maria so they can celebrate together.

But Clarice made a pouting face at the mention of Maria's name when they were alone. Nicholas only shrugged since he didn't want to give special treatment to his girls. They continued arguing about the fact the fact that they always go together, but in the end she made Nicholas agree to taking them alone in separate days.

They had fun roaming around the city doing mundane things, but Nicholas still needed to clarify some things to Clarice, so he found a quiet place where they could both talk in a comfortable manner.

---

They went back to his office, and both of them were seated on the sofa side by side.

Nicholas didn't really have to explain these kinds of things to Maria since she is more emotionally intelligent than Clarice. In the years they were together, Nicholas concluded that Clarice has the personality like a puppy: cute, loyal, strong-willed, emotional, and a bit naïve. 

When he explained that there will be changes in their plan and reducing the time they will be spending together. Nicholas thought that Clarice, who is always excited about dungeon exploration and protecting her friends, felt a bit abandoned when he said that he would be taking some off because she might feel like she would lose a lot of time with Nicholas and Maria if things went this way.

Nicholas: "Clarice, how are you feeling now?" As he stared at her with a determined gaze

Clarice: "... I'm fine, my liege." She averted her eyes at him.

Nicholas: "Are you sure? You can always tell me anything. I actually wanted to talk to you because you might have felt wronged by my decisions. Let me know how you felt this couple of days." He directly confronted her since she might bury this emotion if he didn't do this, which might be bad for their relationship.

No reply was heard for a few minutes, but Nicholas didn't talk and just waited for her to answer.

Clarice: "... I felt sad and bitter..." She finally opened her mouth and feelings.

Nicholas: "Can you tell me why?" He grabbed her hands gently and slowly patted them with his other hands, trying to comfort her.

Clarice: "Actually..." She began 

She felt this way since she knows that, as a personal maid, Maria will always be by Nicholas side, helping him and supporting him along the way. She, on the other hand, was a bit slow and dumb; she noticed it since when Nicholas taught her things, she was slow to grasp them.

At first it was not a problem since her goal was to be a great knight to protect everyone. But as time passed, her mind matured and she started developing a relationship with Nicholas. Her goals started shifting to protecting her loved ones, and since then slowly, an insecurity was growing bit by bit.

But she didn't let it get into her and just trained diligently since she has a goal to protect Nicholas and Maria in their journey, but lately she felt that Nicholas have been more busy not with dungeon and training but with other things.

Clarice: "Things that didn't involve me; things that I cannot do; things that I'm not a part of; things that I'm not good at. It pained me, but I acted fine." She tried to hide it and not confront her weird feelings, not until now that Nicholas forced her to confront her feelings.

This was like a final nail in the coffin, which made her vent her emotions to Nicholas. She knows it was wrong to feel this way, but she still let it out.

Clarice: "I don't know what to do, my liege, I felt that if I don't do something, I might lose you guys slowly. First, we might lose time spending together in the dungeon. Then maybe they will be too busy and won't have time to train. Then maybe they will have more time without her. Then maybe. Then maybe. Then maybe as time passes, they will forget about me." Her thought went to an abyss. Good thing that there was Maria and Nicholas to talk some sense into her. But it was still not enough.

Nicholas: "Is that why you volunteered to help with the office even though you didn't like it?"

Maria: "Uuuuu... Yes... But I realized today that we are great now. Please forget about this matter, young master." She tried to end the conversation.

Nicholas didn't realize that her feeling had reached this point already. Nicholas needed to do something to make this right because he didn't want to make Clarice feel lonely. She might look mature and emotionally stable on the surface, but her mind is still young, and her experiences when she was young affected her greatly.

Nicholas: "I'm so sorry about earlier, Clarice. I didn't consider your feeling about this matter." He apologized with a sincere tone in his voice.

Clarice: "No, I'm really fine, young master," she sullenly replied while wiping her teary eyes.

Nicholas: "No, it is not fine! I feel it okay; you are not fine... We have known each other since childhood. I know you are the type of person to bottle up your emotions and throw them away. If you keep doing that, it might not be now or the next time. But someday, definitely some day, you will run out of any emotions to discard. So don't do that again, please..."

Clarice: "..."

Nicholas: "I'm sorry that I made you feel lonely; I didn't mean to drop this kind of news to you guys. It was just that events suddenly changed, and I had to adjust some things to go according to my plan for the future.

It is only temporary, and we will be returning to our usual routine after some time, maybe even exploring the world and making wonderful memories together."

*hick* *hick* *hick* *hick*

Clarice began crying, bawling her eyes out as Nicholas explained his situation to her. She suddenly realized that she had been so selfish this time around.

Clarice: "I-i-I'm sorry, my liege..."

Nicholas: "No, it's fine to feel this way. Just let it all out, it will be fine..." Nicholas gave Clarice a hug and stayed that way for a few minutes.

*hick* *hick* *hick* *hick*

Nicholas: "It must have been lonely. Its fine to cry; its fine to complain; its fine to not always be happy; its fine... I will always be beside you, me and Maria. You can trust us to share things that do not satisfy you." He patted her nape as he hugged her tightly.

Clarice: "Uuuuuuuu..." Clarice began sniffling and snotting in his shirt. 

*sniff* *hick* *sniff* *hick* *sniff* *hick*

Clarice: "Young master, you will not leave me? You will not forget about me." She asked in a gurgled and low tone.

Nicholas: "Yes, yes, you will always be my knight in shining armor, right? You remember your promise, right?" He said it in a gently and caring tone.

Clarice: "Ye-yeah, I promise... I promise to protect you guys." She replied to him.

Nicholas: "You must always remember that you can always believe in me and tell me things, okay?" He caressed her back.

Clarice: "You're not going to leave me, promise? *Sniffle* *sniffle*"

Nicholas: "Yes, I will not leave you and any other people I care about. I promise..."

Clarice: "My liege, you need to seal the promise so you can't break it. You need to seal it with a kiss as a guarantee, as my mother said while she was still alive." She looked up to Nicholas's eyes, trying to convey something.

Nicholas: "*sigh* What a childish act." He couldn't help but exclaim.

Clarice: "Young master? Are you not going to promise me? Come on..." She pouted her lips cutely like a bird waiting to peck, her red eyes full of tears and snot still present in her face.

Nicholas: "Fine, just close your eyes."

Nicholas got a handkerchief from his pocket and gently wiped her tear-stained eyes, nose, and face with it. Clarice blushed but slowly closed her eyes.

Nicholas: *Sigh*

Nicholas felt weird kissing her on the lips, so he lightly tapped his lips on the cheeks.

Clarice: "Mouuu," she couldn't help but comment since it was not what she was expecting. Still closing her eyes and pouting her lips, she said.

Clarice: "In the lips, in the lips."

Nicholas: *Sigh*

Nothing happened for a while, so Clarice almost got tired of waiting. But then suddenly a wet touch went into contact with her lips like a peck. She was shocked; she didn't expect that Nicholas would actually do it. She opened her eyes quickly and saw a handsome figure in front of him.

Nicholas: "Happy now."

Clarice: "Eh-he, yes, my liege," she said with a slight blush in her face as she grabbed his clothes with her two hands and rested her head in his chest, feeling happy.