Chapter 98- A Gift

Chapter 98: Chapter 98- A Gift

Chapter 98- A Gift

"Hm?" Venera looked confused as she checked the item in her hand. It was a small box wrapped in colorful paper. She took a second to understand what it was before her eyes widened. "A gift?"

"Haha yeah," Rize replied with an awkward smile. "It isn’t really much, but I thought this occasion deserves a gift."

"You..." Venera didn’t know what to say for a second as she stared at the box. Even though she had received gifts before, most of those gifts were from nobles as a way to gain favour and appear friendly to her. They were luxurious gifts brought in an extravagant manner, and they never really moved Venera because she never really cared, and she knew the true intentions hidden behind these gifts.

In comparison, Rize had given her a small box. That was it. Yet, she didn’t know what to say for a second.

"Come on, open it," Rize said.

"O-Ok." Venera hesitated for a second before she pulled the wrapper. Inside, she found a beautiful blue box with a golden star engraving on the top of it. "What is even this, Rize?"

"Check for yourself," Rize said as he rested his hand on the balcony’s edge and watched Venera slowly open the box.

A second later, she saw what was inside, and her eyes widened. She froze in place, her lips barely parted open.

"This..." She muttered as she pulled the item out. What was inside was a necklace. It had a beautiful silver chain, and at the bottom was a mesmerizing blue star made out of some kind of precious stone. It shone brightly under the moonlight, giving it an ethereal feeling that Venera hadn’t seen before.

"I actually thought about this gift for a while now. The problem was, what could I even give someone who could get anything they want? I knew buying something extremely expensive wouldn’t cut it. So, I opted for something more... sentimental." Rize explained with a slightly nervous tone. "I looked through quite the number of shops and sites until I landed on that necklace. I don’t know why, but I liked it, so I just bought it."

"..."

The girl didn’t utter a single word. She simply stared at the necklace as if she didn’t see anything else around her. That got Rize nervous as he coughed.

"Um, is it not good?" He asked. "Now that I think about it, I’m sure you have far better jewelry than whatever that is. I mean, it isn’t the greatest thing out there hahaha..."

"Rize."

"Huh?"

Hearing Venera say his name, he flinched. The way she said it was different from usual.

’Shit, I really screwed it up.’ Rize clenched his teeth as he closed his eyes, ready to hear her reject the gift. However, at that moment, he heard Venera make a sound.

"Hm?" Opening his eyes, he was shocked by what he saw.

Venera had the brightest, softest smile that he had ever seen in his life. It was far different from any smile she had given him before. It looked genuine, warm, and touched. She slowly lifted the necklace and pressed it against her chest.

"Thank you." She said. "I will take care of this gift well... It’s really beautiful."

The boy was lost for words for a good few moments. Seeing that kind of smile on someone as beautiful as Venera was just something no one in this world could handle. People couldn’t handle looking into her eyes even when she was looking cold and aloof, let alone when she showed the prettiest smile in the world.

"Um, hahahaha, really? I mean, it isn’t that big of a deal." Rize said nervously. ’What the hell is that smile?! Goddamit, I wasn’t ready for that reaction!’

"This is the prettiest necklace I have ever seen." She said. "And it also looks pretty expensive. How much did it cost you?"

"Haha, it’s really no big deal. I paid for it with my own money. The palace pays me well." Rize said. ’But it did cost quite a bit. Almost 20k Gils.’

"You really should’ve not..." Venera said. "But, thank you, thank you so much. This is the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me."

Rize could only smile at her. "Of course, and... Happy birthday."

"..." Venera nodded. "You’re saying that I’m getting old?"

"Huh?! No! I meant like... Since today is your birthday, it’s just a way to sa-"

"I’m just joking, dummy." She said as she laughed.

"Tsk. Just put it on." Rize said as he rolled his eyes. Then, he watched Venera as she tried to pull her hair forward to clasp the necklace around her neck. "Wait, let me do that for you."

"Hm? Thanks." She nodded as she turned around.

Rize grabbed the necklace and wrapped it around her neck as he pushed her silver hair out of the way. Under the moonlight, her hair appeared to glisten even more than the chain itself. In the silence of the night, Rize clasped the necklace around her neck before putting her hair back.

"There you go, perfect." He said with a smile. "Looks very nice on you."

Venera looked down at the necklace before she nodded her head. "I really like it too. I will make sure to keep it on."

"Um, you really don’t have to do that, you kno-"

"I will always wear it," Venera repeated again with a very serious tone that made the boy nod. "I mean, if you insist."

"Now I feel bad because I couldn’t give you a birthday gift when you awakened," Venera said. "I will think of something to gift back."

"It’s really fine; I didn’t even know when my birthday was. It just happened at the worst and the best time possible."

"It doesn’t matter; you still deserve a gift."

As she was speaking, Venera was instinctively playing with the necklace in her fingers. That was something that she didn’t seem to be aware of, but it still made Rize smile softly.

"Hey, Venera..." He said.

"Mhm?"

"Sigh, I want to tell you something."

The small smile on Rize’s face faded slowly, which made Venera squint.

"What is it?"

"It’s... about the future." He said. "For a while now, I have been experiencing these recurring nightmares."

"Nightmares?"

"Mhm, it happens almost every night. I would find myself lying in a dark, empty place, unable to move, and then what I could only describe as blood would start filling up that place until it drowned me in it."

Just saying those words made Rize feel a pain in his heart. He hated those dreams even though he had seen them countless times already.

"That sounds awful..."

"It’s fine. But every time I wake up, I always have this feeling that... Bad things will happen. Really bad things." He said as he looked at the distant city. "Things that will change our lives forever."

"..."

"I would be lying if I said I’m not worried about it. My gut feeling is almost never wrong. That is why I want you to remember this..."

"..."

"If something bad happens to me, or to anyone else around you, always put yourself first. Escape, run, fight your way out- it doesn’t matter. Just protect yourself." He said as he clenched his fists. "I don’t want to see you face a bad fate."