Glass Slipper Strange Tale 02 | Blue Hawaii | Kazemakase Literature Club 《Blue Gradation》

If a pumpkin carriage turns back into a vegetable, there is no way to get home, even if I wanted to.
But isn't a late-night family restaurant sofa booth the last place you'd bring a woman you just met?
A sofa seat at a family restaurant in the dead of night. Why am I here with this person?
And yet, my heart has settled perfectly into this space.

The first prince of a neighboring country. A serious, simple, and slightly off-beat person.
A person who cleans up after a group date all by himself like a staff member.
A person who holds up a lost sandal and thinks about it with complete seriousness.
A person who says, 'Let's pull an all-nighter at the drink bar' if we miss the last train.

A night where my cheeks are a little warm from the alcohol. Strong chuhai is quite potent, isn't it?
I am a princess, you know. Well, I suppose you are one too.
Even though I'm just sipping on cheap all-you-can-drink beverages, why—why is it that, despite it being such a simple thing, my usual attire felt a bit out of place? Why did I ask him something like that?

'What does a nation mean to you?'

'It is a place where people can laugh together without discrimination.'

The emblem of the Dianthus royal family has been a ruby for generations. While harboring that hot red, the words the prince spun seemed like a verbalization of the gradations of blue. The moment I touched that transparent blue, something inside me wavered.

In this world, royalty is just one of many roles in a game. How we play that role depends on our skills.

Come to think of it, this person chooses to act so that others aren't inconvenienced. I wonder if that is this prince's role.

Glass slippers feel like a symbol of a prescribed role, and I can't bring myself to like them.
But I felt that this person might accept me just as I am, even if I show up to a matchmaking meeting in sandals—that's the feeling I got.

By the time my hips started to ache from the softness of the sofa, we welcomed the dawn together with my makeup ruined.
The navy blue sky slowly began to whiten, and the night unraveled, painting soft gradations. Just like blue curacao dissolving into soda water, the colors grew paler.

Before long, the red light piercing the sky was as vivid as a cherry at the bottom of a glass, and that red felt as if his ruby had suddenly slipped into my Marinor jasper.

'Good morning.'

Prince Keizarion said, smiling shyly.

'Good morning.'

I performed a perfect curtsy right there.
I can do it when I try, even with sandals on my feet and mascara smudged like a panda.

But what on earth is this fluffy, strange feeling?

◇

'Well, that's love—without a shadow of a doubt.'
Ah, I had kept quiet all night out of consideration for the young couple, but—
I just couldn't help but chime in.

'My dear, that commentary is very tactless right now.'
My wife beside me scolded me.

The end.

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