On a spring morning, at six o'clock, the sky was just showing its fish-belly white. The world was not yet mixed with the stirrings of animals; everything was pure and refreshing, like a faint ink wash painting suffused with the pleasant fragrance of green grass.
At this very hour, Raiden Mei opened her eyes and began to wash up and get ready.
Just as she always did, she stretched lazily, walked into the living room, and made her way toward the kitchen.
Different people have different passions. For the very gentle and virtuous Miss Mei, the kitchen was her finest playground.
The sweet smiles on people's faces after a meal were the greatest validation she could receive.
What should I make this morning?
Zihan seems to really like strawberry cake.
Sirin has been into spicy food lately.
And Kiana is sticking to her German traditions—it's not a meal without meat.
Making a breakfast that satisfies everyone seems a bit difficult.
Because Seele had received the wedding invitation and Bronya had received her bridal gown design, the two of them had moved out of the dorm. They had gone to Anti-Entropy to visit the prison, planning to drag Cocolia—who, under the American-style sentencing, had accumulated a prison term of over seven hundred years and was expected to spend her life behind bars—to Siberia to act as a witness for their wedding.
With no need to consider the tastes of the "Siberian group," handling the preferences of those still living in the dorm didn't seem too difficult.
With these thoughts, Miss Mei walked into the living room.
And then, she froze.
The reason was simple: someone else had already completed her task.
In the semi-open kitchen on the first floor, a young man was standing there. Beside him was an oven, roasting tomatoes with crosses scored on their bottoms. In front of him, a pan over medium heat sizzled with butter, frying bread to a golden-brown crisp.
To Miss Mei, this scene was truly dreamlike.
Li Zihan was a complete klutz when it came to daily life. His three meals a day depended on the cafeteria or his maids; without help, he was a tragic case.
And yet now, the very person she was supposed to be taking care of was standing in the kitchen, diligently preparing breakfast for her.
A strange emotion began to rise in the girl's heart.
Could this be what daily life with Zihan will be like in the future?
Watching the boy so focused on making breakfast, the girl inexplicably thought of their life far in the future.
"Good morning," said the boy, who had already finished preparing breakfast. He cheerfully portioned the food onto different plates and brought them to the dining table.
"Are Kiana and Sirin not up yet?"
"N-Not yet."
The girl's heart seemed to beat a little faster. She hesitated. "Should I go wake them?"
"Are they sleeping in because they're tired?"
The boy, who didn't seem surprised by this development, took the hand of the girl who was about to turn back.
Sirin had clearly been planning some shenanigans yesterday. The specific plan was likely to use her Herrscher of the Void authority, along with the Herrscher of Binding's power holder, Luna Kindred—who had been duped by them somehow—to throw Li Zihan to a distant place and then use Luna's Divine Prayer barrier to restrict his movements.
Emmm...
There exists a skill in this world called Clairvoyance.
Clairvoyance comes in many forms. Fionn can observe the past. Arjuna can see through things and enter bullet time. Kiara can see people's desires...
Aside from EMIYA, who could simply see very far, almost everyone's Clairvoyance came with some kind of special ability.
And Li Zihan possessed a synthesis of the Clairvoyance of the three Grand Casters.
Reading the past, observing the present, and gazing into the future were all simple matters for him.
After finishing the bridal gown designs and giving Rita a bottle of a potion he had probably made himself, Li Zihan had used his Clairvoyance on a whim to see how effective it was.
And then he saw a future where three white-haired dangos were plotting against him.
He would be ambushed, have his powers sealed in a half-consenting manner, and be dragged to that deserted island to hold a wedding. Then, fast-forward to all the white-haired dangos getting pregnant before returning to modern society.
Honestly, Li Zihan felt that future wasn't half bad.
But he had already let Mei down enough. To stand her up for her own wedding on top of everything else... even he couldn't stomach being that much of a scumbag.
Without much hesitation, he chose to find the three white-haired dangos before their plan could be implemented and blindfold the gullible Luna Kindred. Then, he had very seriously shown Sirin and Kiana the bridal gown designs he had drawn for them, expressing his true feelings.
And after that—
After that, what else could happen?
Whether it was to punish these two troublemaking white-haired dangos or to express his emotions, the final result was always in bed, wasn't it?
Recalling those two similar, yet distinctly different, beautiful bodies, Li Zihan savored the memory.
"Let's just let them sleep a little longer."
He had probably played a bit too intensely, having to use time magic to fix the room in the end. He said this to Miss Mei.
Tired?
Did Sirin and Kiana have training or do some heavy lifting yesterday?
Miss Mei was a little stunned.
Weren't those two white-haired dangos just sleeping in? No, only Sirin liked to sleep in; Kiana's schedule was very regular. So, why hadn't Kiana, who should have woken up by now, gotten out of bed?
Miss Mei seemed to have discovered a blind spot.
But her lover's warm hand took hers, pulling her to the dining table.
For the first time in a long time, she was in a situation with just the two of them.
Let's just let them sleep a little longer.
Looking at her fiancé's handsome face, Miss Mei decided to forgo waking up the third wheels.
"Zihan, do you want to go shopping together today?" the girl, who really wanted to go shopping and have tea with her lover, asked with rare directness.
"Today?"
The boy froze, as if something unexpected had just come up.
"Do you have something you need to take care of? You can't go?"
Seeing that he didn't seem to want to go shopping with her, Miss Mei's expression fell a little.
"It's not that I have something to take care of."
The hands-off boss, who had basically dumped all his work on Rita, pursed his lips and said, "In this world, there are very few things more important to me than you."
In the entire world, I couldn't find many things more important than being with you.
That subtext made the girl's cheeks flush a brilliant red.
So, that raised the question. According to his words, shouldn't he be happily taking her hand and helping her pick out clothes? Why did Zihan look so embarrassed?
Miss Mei fell into thought.
The answer was revealed soon enough.
"The problem is... today we're going to prepare for our trip, and then get married."
The boy's words fell into her ears.
Author's Note:
PS: After thinking about it for a while, let's just hurry the plot along.
Lest someone say I'm padding the story again.