"You… are friends with Mother? But when did she contact you?" asked the woman with navy-blue hair. "Isn't she…" She hesitated to ask, her bright blue eyes glancing towards Robin and Romeo.
"She's still alive," said Romeo casually, leaving Ciel in a state of total shock, whilst Felix himself seemed bewildered by this conversation.
"Hm? Why are you talking as if she's dead? She only contacted me about two hours ago." Hearing that, Ciel's jaw dropped; she couldn't believe what she was hearing—it hadn't even been a day since she'd seen Mother's body riddled with bullets.
Robin, who had initially been reluctant to say anything, finally put his pride aside and gave a brief explanation. "The point is, Mother can come back to life when she dies—that's one of her special abilities." That answer felt like a hard slap to the face for the woman known as Ciel. "We only found out about it an hour ago ourselves."
"Impossible…" she murmured, her voice barely audible. "She… Is that her Fable ability?" Her eyes locked onto Robin, and before long she was given confirmation by a shake of the ginger-haired man's head.
Robin was at a loss as to how best to explain it to her. "Mother is neither a Fables nor an ordinary human… She is an entity that cannot be explained in words," he said, gazing up at the blue sky dotted with clouds. "No one knows her true identity."
Ciel's foot slammed into the ground; he still couldn't accept what he'd just heard. "And yet you're still willing to work for a being whose identity isn't even known to anyone?!" Suddenly, a hand grasped his shoulder—it belonged to Felix, who was trying to calm him down.
"We Fables used to be constantly discriminated against and feared by people simply because we possessed abilities we didn't ask for," Robin explained, his hand clenching the green grass beneath him tightly to keep his emotions in check. "But ever since Mother came and gave us the task of helping others, society has begun to accept us."
"We've earned money and regained the trust of the society.
"You haven't been working with her for very long, have you? Why do you believe a story like that?"
"Call me a fool, but I can't think of a reason for her to lie about it."
"You really are a fool..." Ciel muttered, but suddenly her hand was gripped tightly, making her nearly jump with surprise; the man with grey hair was standing right in front of her, his green eyes never leaving her blue ones. "F-Felix?!"
"Come on, don't fight. I know your hatred for the Fables is immense—but right now they're at rock bottom because their friend has gone missing." His hand warmed hers, and her face was clearly flushed. "Let's go and not add to their burden, shall we? Pretty please?" he added in a soft voice.
The two people behind Felix were taken aback by the romantic scene unfolding before them; Robin hadn't expected Ciel to show such a blushing, girlish expression. "A-All right, if you insist," she said, turning her face away.
They turned around and slowly began to walk away from Robin and Romeo. "But don't get the wrong idea—I'm not doing this because of you—I just don't want to add to my own stress" she said, her voice stumbling slightly.
Robin and Romeo could clearly see Felix's tail wagging; he glanced back and immediately hid it behind his clothes again. "Shh," he signalled to Robin and Romeo, telling them not to tell a soul about this.
They then slowly disappeared from the pair's view. "Even the stern Ciel can soften instantly when faced with someone she likes, eh…" Romeo muttered, whilst the man beside him let out a long, incredulous sigh.
Robin got up from the ground and stretched before turning to Romeo. "I need a rest, and I want to prepare what to say to give Alice a telling-off for leaving us just like that," he said before waving his hand at Romeo.
"Right, see you later," Romeo waved back and watched him walk away slowly, leaving him alone in the park.
Romeo was still standing in the garden, gazing out at the horizon; he'd been standing there lost in thought for quite some time. "Ah," he realised he'd been lost in thought for no particular reason; as he turned round, he jumped in surprise at what he found.
"Hello~ I was just about to startle you, but you've already been startled first," her voice made Romeo's heart nearly stop beating; a girl stood there, her blonde hair blown by the evening breeze. "Hehehe, that shocked look on your face is so cute."
"Juliet! You startled me," he said. He was at a loss as to where to look—looking into her eyes made him nervous, whilst looking anywhere else felt disrespectful. "A-Aren't you supposed to be with Alice?"
Juliet chuckled softly at Romeo's awkwardness. "Yes, but our chat's over," she leaned forward and looked at him with a gaze of affection she hadn't meant to show. "By the way, are you free right now?"
"Yes, why do you ask?"
"There's a lovely café nearby; how about we go and have a chat there? But don't expect me to treat you, though."
"Of course not! I'll pay, don't worry."
"You're so kind, aren't you? But I'm not THAT poor."
A beautiful orange-hued sky accompanied the pair as they walked towards the café Juliet had mentioned. Along the way, they exchanged a few small talk remarks, though they mostly remained silent because Romeo was too nervous and awkward to strike up a conversation.
"Are you feeling uncomfortable?" Juliet asked without beating about the bush, her words immediately striking a chord with Romeo—the nervousness he'd been trying to hide was now obvious.
"No, not at all! I'm just a bit awkward around girls." Hearing this, Juliet glanced at the man beside her, her eyes slowly drifting to his sweaty palms.
"It's not because I'm your enemy, is it?" she asked to be sure, and he immediately shook his head.
"Of course not! In fact, I've never thought of you that way," replied Romeo, and that immediately caught Juliet's attention—she'd never expected that to be his response. "When you appeared between Caesar and Midas… you seemed to glow in my eyes; I was confused as to why."
Juliet's face flushed instantly—the man beside her had a habit of saying things that made a girl's heart flutter without him even realising it. She lowered her head and carried on walking towards the café. "I-I see..."