I finished my shift with Fjord safely and stood at the door of the haunted house to receive the guests.
I was a little late, which earned me a few glares from Fjord, but the sandwiches I brought made up for it.
Receiving customers was more tedious than I expected.
And since most of the guests were couples, I had to pretend not to notice their flirting the whole time I was standing there.
Seeing the other couples’ behavior in real-time calmed my boiling stomach.
There was no need to feel bad because I was going to go on a date with Carson after this.
Someone thinks I’m doing this because I don’t have a boyfriend.
‘It’s not that I’m unavailable, I’m just not dating.’
…I felt kind of cowardly thinking that.
It’s a classic solo excuse.
No, it’s not. In retrospect, it was a good thing that couples came to our club.
Carson seemed to automatically turn up the intensity of the illusion magic when couples came in together.
A haunted house with a 7% chance of breaking.
What a beautiful setting.
With that comforting thought, at noon, I cut the line like a knife and declared it closed.
“No more couples bre……, we are closing the haunted house.”
Then, before any complaints or protests could be made, I ducked into the clubroom and locked the door.
I flipped on the magic light and saw Carson hovering lazily in the air.
Spotting me, he descends to the floor with a grin on his face.
“Caon, well done.”
“Just in words?”
My eyes widened at the unexpected comment.
Then I smirk and extend my palm toward Carson’s head.
His eyes narrowed into a crescent shape and lowered his head for me to stroke.
Petting his pink curls, I made a promise.
“We’ll figure out the reward on our date. We have plenty of time.”
Carson’s eyebrows knit together, and his eyes lit up with happiness.
“I thought stroking my hair was a reward…”
“Look at what we’ve done today. Is that all you get?”
He’d made dozens of couples into singles. I said it jokingly, but Carson gave me a serious look that told me not to say such things.
“Just a little, I don’t think everything you do for me is small, Leen, every gesture you make is special.”
“You like me that much?”
At the directness of the question, he tilted his head, his face quickly changing.
Seeing the shyness on his face made me chuckle.
With Carson laughing beside me, I couldn’t think of anything else. His happiness seemed contagious.
It felt like I could be happy forever, without pain.
‘I like you, too, and every single thing you do is special and precious.’
I like you, Carson.
Barely choking back the words that rose to the top of my throat.
Today was not the day.
But soon. Sometime soon, shortly after the festival…
‘I will confess my heart.’
🍃
We left the clubroom and started to wander around the academy.
I asked Carson to change the color of my hair, my eyes, and the shape of my face.
No one would ever recognize me again.
Carson worked his magic on me and changed his appearance as well.
We complimented each other on our new looks and giggled.
“We’ll have to change our names, too. I’ll call you Sion, and I’ll be….”
“I’ll call you Anne.”
“Okay.”
It was the beginning of a date that no one could interrupt.
After lunch with Carson, I wandered around a bit and found a booth that caught my eye.
It was a booth where you threw five darts at a bull’s eye and exchanged them for a prize based on your total score.
What caught my eye was the highest prize, a magic stone.
The price of magic stones varied depending on the grade.
However, the magic stones displayed here as the first prize looked quite valuable to the naked eye.
I was confident that I could throw something like a dart.
As a child, I practiced throwing darts to improve the accuracy of my poison darts.
I must get that magic stone and give it to Carson.
“I’ll try this. Sion.”
I stepped forward confidently and held out the money to the student standing in front of the darts.
Perhaps because of my eagerness, Carson tilted his head and asked, “Anne. You want something?”
“Just, it looks like fun.”
“Aha.”
I was about to grab him by the scruff of the neck and threaten him if he said there was something he might want.
It was actually intended as an enchantment stone meant for Carson, but gifts are best given out of the blue to get a true reaction.
I leisurely accepted the dart from the facilitator.
“Throw it from outside this line.”
I stood outside the line and looked at the bullseye.
It was closer than I thought.
Apparently, as an adult at the event, the distance had been arbitrarily adjusted to be closer than the original rule.
It looked like I could easily win the magic stone and give it to him.
“Go, Anne!”
With Carson’s cheering in the background, I threw the dart without hesitation.
Hit—
“Oh, you’re lucky!”
The student standing to calculate the score clapped her hands as the dart hit the bullseye.
I had hit the triple area with 20 points written on it. The dart board had a score of 50 in the center, which was not the highest score.
