As those few lines of lyrics drifted through the air, Elysia finally understood why Durandal had reacted so oddly earlier.
When Elysia had handed her a piece of grilled saury, Durandal had simply remarked that she wasn't a cat anymore.
At the same time, Elysia's gaze grew a bit dreamy as she looked at Durandal.
She had fallen in love with the youthful vibrancy overflowing from the song, as well as the melody and style that felt so distinct from anything else in this world.
To Elysia, it felt as though the song wasn't about Durandal at all, but rather, it was about her.
The lyrics of the chorus that followed pulled Elysia even deeper into her own heart:
"The rain falls all night, my love overflows like the pouring rain.
The fallen leaves in the yard stack up as thick as my longing for you.
A few whispers of gossip cannot cool my passion.
You appear on every single page of my poetry."
Her love truly did overflow at every moment. Back when Durandal had gone to Sapphire City on business, her longing had indeed piled up as thick as the fallen leaves in a courtyard.
As for the whispers of gossip... well, at least back when Durandal had been completely oblivious to romance, she had said things that left Elysia fuming more than a few times.
Yet, those moments truly hadn't cooled Elysia's passion.
She had persisted in her teasing and flirting relentlessly, right up until their final showdown at the small private hot spring behind their room at Kinosaki.
But it was the line "You appear on every single page of my poetry" that touched Elysia the most.
She almost wondered if Durandal had somehow seen her notebook—the one filled entirely with Durandal's name.
Of course, Elysia knew that was impossible. Given Durandal's character, if she had actually seen it, she definitely would have confronted her about it directly.
The chorus wasn't over yet. After a brief interlude, Durandal began the second verse:
"The rain falls all night, my love overflows like the pouring rain.
Butterflies on the windowsill are like beautiful chapters fluttering through a poem.
I keep writing, placing "loving you forever" at the poem's end.
You are the only thing I ever want to truly know."
As if pouring her soul into the melody, the acapella-singing Durandal turned fully toward Elysia. Her gaze was fixed on her, as if she were using the lyrics to deliver a heartfelt confession.
With a faint smile playing on her lips, she sang a few repetitive refrains before finally reaching the part that had made her decide to dedicate this song to Elysia in the first place.
Her voice grew soft and melodic:
"The plump ears of grain have brought happiness to this season.
And your cheeks are like ripened tomatoes in the field.
You suddenly tell me that the name Jasmine Orange sounds beautiful.
But in this moment, I only want to kiss your stubborn lips."
Hearing this, Elysia—who was already deeply immersed in the song—felt her face flush a deep crimson.
After all, she was being serenaded with a love song in front of so many people.
Elysia knew this song came from another world, but the others didn't. To them, it would seem as if Durandal, acting as her lover, had written this heartfelt confession specifically for her.
The reason Elysia had asked Durandal to sing in public was originally to show off their relationship and stake her claim. After all, as the ranks of Schicksal grew, more people—both openly and in secret—had begun harboring little thoughts about their brilliant, beautiful, and powerful leader.
Of course, Elysia failed to realize that her own situation was much the same as Durandal's. In fact, her private popularity was arguably higher than that of the usually stoic Durandal.
However, Elysia swore that if she had known Durandal was going to sing a song like this, she never would have tried to stir the pot.
Simply put, she just wanted to tease Durandal a little and liven up the atmosphere of the bonfire party.
Who could have guessed Durandal would sing such an "explicitly sweet" love song?
But things had already gone this far. Especially upon hearing the line "I only want to kiss your stubborn lips," Elysia decided to throw caution to the wind.
She knew there was still a bit left to the song, but she couldn't bring herself to care. She lunged forward and, in front of everyone, kissed her.
If everyone thought she was staking her claim, she might as well make it official. She didn't care about her reputation in that regard anyway.
Let them call her jealous or calculating; Elysia wouldn't argue. In a way, it was the truth.
Although Durandal's song came to an abrupt halt due to Elysia's actions, leaving the crowd wanting more, the sight of the two stunning women sharing a passionate kiss certainly succeeded in heating up the atmosphere.
On the beach, the members of Schicksal broke into laughter and cheers. Blessings and catcalls filled the air, and even other couples found themselves leaning closer to one another.
Yes, that meant Mei and Kevyn.
Elsewhere, a world-class masterpiece was unfolding: Mobius and Klein in the rest cabin.jpg.
As for the married couple, Ato and Blanca, they remained quite restrained. After all, they had to look after little Griseo.
Besides, they were an old married couple; being as wildly passionate as the youngsters felt a bit embarrassing.
"I didn't expect Durandal to be so gifted in music."
Just as Elysia had suspected, even Mei assumed that the song "Common Jasmine Orange" was Durandal's own creation.
Originally, Mei had thought Durandal was the type whose head was filled with nothing but combat.
In contrast to Mei's surprise, Kevyn—who had always seen Durandal as a role model—wasn't nearly as shocked. "That's just the kind of woman Durandal is. She always finds ways to surprise everyone when they least expect it."
"Oh?"
Mei arched an eyebrow. Though she knew Kevyn didn't mean anything by it, hearing her praise another woman with such a tone right to her face made her feel inexplicably annoyed.
Kevyn clearly didn't pick up on the underlying emotion in Mei's voice. She simply thought it was a genuine question and nodded with an earnest expression.
If Su or anyone else had been standing nearby, they surely would have buried their face in their hands at Kevyn's density and tried to give her a subtle hint.
However, the two had been separated for months and had finally reunited. They had tucked themselves away in a corner to be affectionate, and seeing a young couple like that, no one else was going to interrupt.
Thus, there was no one within two meters of them, and certainly no one to wake up this romantic idiot named Kevyn. One could only lament that Kevyn was in grave danger tonight.
On the rocky outcrop, Durandal and Elysia quickly parted from their kiss.
After finishing the rest of the song that Elysia had interrupted, Durandal took her hand, and they jumped down from the rocks together.
Just as they were about to head back to the bonfire to grab some more food, Eden walked up to them. At this moment, there was a trace of inexplicable fanaticism in Eden's eyes that was almost unsettling to look at.
"Eden? What's wrong?" Durandal asked, slightly puzzled.
--+--
T/N: If you want advance chapters, you can find it at [email protected]/AspenTL