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Snow falls quietly. The blackness of the winter night is deep and silent. It seems that the only sound in the world is the click of chess piece hitting on the wooden board. The pitter-patter is a handful of pieces falling on the board, sounds like the loser’s sigh while he was checkmated.
"Excuse me, Meruem-sama, would you tell me what date is today?" Komugi suddenly asks after the end of a game.
Komugi usually doesn’t care about that, nor does Meruem. He frowns in confusion. "I don't know. Let me check with Pouf now."
"No, don't bother! It's not a big deal! I'm just curious. “As usual, Komugi stops Meruem from unnecessarily calling his guards.
Meruem stops, then gently asks with curious: "Why you suddenly curious about that? You usually just don’t care about it."
"Um...I just want to know if today is December 24th."
"What day is it?"
"It's the Harvest Festival."
"Is that Important Festival? Explain clearly."
"Ah, yes! It’s the day when our village holds a harvest festival. In this period, our crops have been harvested, and winter is almost over. The whole village will celebrate the end of winter together and prepare to welcome spring. That night the all villager will gather and hold party, it’s very lively every year.”
"I see, is it the custom of your village?"
"Yes! But not only our village, the whole country, even other countries will celebrate it... but I think it isn’t called Harvest Festival there. It should be called New Year, or Saturnalia? Whatever, during this time, all the family will return for family reunion and have the feast together. After the meal, everyone will sing and dance, or play games together. Richer families will even prepare gifts for each other. When I was little, we all envied those children who are luckily to received gifts." Komugi turns to the window quietly; it seems she has already immersed in the joyful time in her memory.
Meruem also turns to look at the endless darkness out of window, as if trying to penetrate the darkness to seek the lights far away, or trying to see the cheerful party in Komugi's memory.
"...Do you also want to reunite with family?"
"Eh? Ah, no, no! I’m better not to return. My family is busy preparing food and the party, and I will only bother them. I'm so clumsy and can't help much, so, well, even in festival I still be scolded often.”
Meruem frowns. It seems that even in this joyful time, the surrounding of Komugi is still as gloomy as ever. "Sounds like you weren’t that happy even during the festival."
"Yes! I was happy! I could enjoy the special feast we couldn’t have in usual. And In festival everyone is more friendly and nicer, so I got scolded less often. Also, sometimes I had chance to play gungi with others." Although that seldom happened, since everyone knows they can't win. That’s quite lack of achievement and frustrating. "Besides, when I heard everyone celebrating happily, I will be happy too."
Komugi's family is not rich. The pressure from life always makes everyone exhausted. Most of the time, all family is either angry or worrying. But on few occasions, like festivals, they could rarely indulge in carnival, temporarily forgetting all their worries and just enjoying the happiness in that moment. Even if Komugi didn't have any close friends or family around her, she would still be infected by this rare cheerful atmosphere by just quietly listening nearby.
Probably because the memories of the past makes Komugi excited, she rambles on some details about the past festivals. It takes a long time before she noticed Meruem's silence. "I'm so sorry. I talked too much and forgot to play gungi."
"It's fine, I want to hear it too. It's rare to see something other than gungi make you excited like that."
"Sorry. I don't know why I'm so excited today... maybe because it’s the first festival Meruem-sama and I celebrate together."
Meruem stares thoughtfully at the smile on Komugi's face. Finally he stands up.
"Merueme-sama?"
"That's it for today. You can return and rest."
☆☆☆
The aroma of barbecue and desserts filled the room, the noisy footsteps were brisker than usual. Festive atmosphere made her joyful.
"Don't just stand there! Pick these beans...never mind, forget the bean, stir it."
"Don't let the snot drip into the food, that’s dirty!"
"It’s done... fine, just stay in your room. Don’t hinder our preparations."
So she returned to hers room and continued to study the tactics in front of the chessboard. When she came to her senses, the sunlight seemed to have already disappeared. The conversation was noisier than before, sometimes mixed with laughter and singing. The winter wind was mixed with snowflakes melting into cold water droplets on her face. She followed the footsteps of family around her. The snow beneath her feet was cold and damp, but others said that it looked beautiful in the twilight. Children ran and screamed on the road, discussing the gifts they might receive this year. Her sisters and other young girls were talking about gossips and rumors that she didn't know much about. When they got excited, the girls burst out laughing, like a string of exploding sparks.
The aroma of food and hot wine wafted in the warm air. Someone brought her a plate of food and hot stew. She slowly cooled it down and felt the coldness in her body slowly melting away from the hot soup. This year she was lucky enough to get a large piece of cake. She sat in the corner and ate it slowly with fork. Not far away, a couple was hiding in a corner exchanging intimate whispers, mixed with strange screams and gasps. The children playing the game burst into shrill shouts and laughter from time to time. Rhythmic footsteps and music sounded, that was someone dancing. Most people didn't want to play games with a blind, and she wasn't good at dancing. So mostly she just stayed alone, listening to others.
Occasionally, people would come to play gungi with her. Although they weren’t professional players, sometimes they still come up with unexpected tricks inspiring her. She secretly looked forward to possible opponents. It sounded like there were chess pieces hitting on the board nearby, which probably was gungi. Normal people wouldn't tell their moves when playing, but if she got closer, she might be able to guess the general situation from the player's identity and the sound of the moves. Nonetheless, she didn't move, just staying there and listened to the hesitant sound of the two making moves. It sounded like they are in a tough battle, and they met their match. She smiled a little enviously.
The festivity made her happy. Even though, there was also some envy and yearning hidden in her happiness. She wished she could be one of them one day, so she could experience the pleasure and understand why it made them laugh. Maybe one day there would be a guy by her side, who will playing chess with her, chat with her, or simply share her happiness, than she could look forward to the arrive of next year, because she knew at that time, he will be with her.
The faint singing flowed through the noise in the room, like the trickle of melting snow in spring. Gradually, the noise in the party turned into songs and joined in. The trickles eventually converged into a raging stream, drowning the lively party and flowing into the far end of the winter night. This song is could be heard celebrations every year. The lyric discribe gratitude and expectations. At that moment, the party will become peaceful and warm, as if everyone's hearts are calmly soothed by the singing, including her.
She finally opened her lips, hearing her little voice quietly blended into the chorus. Thank for the gifts received in the past. Cherish the time with we loved in the present. Pray for remain of peace and bliss in the future...
The song sounds like be lingering still, but the cold and hard chair has turned into a soft and warm mattress. The bustle inside disappeared into the void, leaving only a quiet room. Komugi lays there for a while before slowly getting up.
"Komugi."
"Meruem-sama, you are here!" Komugi quickly turns her head to sound source beside her bed. "Sorry, I just got up. Didn't notice you."
"Don't be nervous, I don't want to disturb you."
"Are we going to continue playing chess now?"
"No, chess game will be later today. We'll have other activity first. But before that, I want to give it to you." He gently holds her hand.
What placed on her hand is a square object, larger than her palm, cold and heavy, with intricate carvings on the surface.
"What is it……?"
"I checked. Last night was December 25th, so the gift is two days late, but I still want you to receive today."
Komugi opens her eyes in surprise. "It’s a gift for Harvest Festival!?"
"Yes. It’s our first harvest festival, so I want to give you a present. I only learned about this festival yesterday and prepared it last night. Therefore I didn't have time choose it carefully. I’m not sure if you like it or not." Of course he won't further explain the process in detail. Behind this understatement, there were actually countless efforts and preparation from last night to now, including various festival customs that he promptly learned from Pouf soon after the chess game ended and the trip to the city that is at least an hour's drive away. Not to mention how much effort he spent on picking out the gift by himself. "This is a box, open it."
Komugi fumbles and opens the part that should be the lid of the box, expecting there is something inside. Unexpectedly, as soon as the lid was opened, a crisp metallic sound rings out, like the sound of ice crystals colliding and melting snow in early spring, flowing through the room. The familiar melody stuns Komugi. Abruptly as if last night's dream reappearing and she is back to the noisy joy in the past.
Thank for the gifts received in the past. Cherish the time with we loved in the present. Pray for remain of peace and bliss in the future...
He explains gently: "It’s a music box. As long as you open it, it will play music. It’s a traditional festival folk song from East Gorteau. I think you should have heard it."
"Yes, I have." Tears slides down her cheeks as she nods. "It’s one of my favorite songs."
"Why you cry?"
"Because I love it…so much." Her fingers press hard on the cold carvings of the box, and the tears drips on the back of hand are hot. "Meruem-sama, how could I repay after receiving such a wonderful gift. But...I didn’t prepare anything."
Meruem pauses. "I don't want you to return. Or I should say, I just want to give it to you and didn't consider that much." He gently wipes away her tears. "I just hope you would like this, and then you can celebrate the Harvest Festival today, that's all."
"Huh? Will we celebrate later?"
"Yes, everything is ready now. We’ll have meal and a little party later. I don't know the details of the Festival. There is not enough time to prepare everything this year, and no lively festival. But we may prepare more completely next year. Or maybe you want to return to your hometown for reunion?”
The long description implies that everything is as she wishes. Komugi tries hard to hold back the tears. She knows Chimera Ants don’t celebrate the festival. "How dare I require so much to you and others? You are too nice to me... Why you want do all these for me?"
The question eventually makes Meruem totally speechless. From the moment he made the decision last night, to the whole night of running around and picking out gifts, and the preparations that made the three guards flip over, all he considered was how to prepare all of this as much as possible, and never thought about this question. Obviously it has nothing to do with satisfying his own desires, but is an act of expending effort for another individual. Even he himself cannot clearly explain the reason, the action is still natural to him.
"I don't know, maybe because... I want you to be happy."
She clutches the music box.
Inside the box is a crisp and clear melody, not as lively and joyful as the past choruses, but they are the same melody.
The water droplets melting on the face, the aroma of barbecue, the sound of dancing footsteps, the smell of cake, the laughter of family, the warm bed, the clean room, the first Harvest Festival gift, the crisp melody, the warm fingers, the gentle voice, all these eventually turn into snowflakes, accumulating bit by bit and exist quietly in a corner of heart.
“The only thing makes me happy is celebrating with Meruem-sama…I don’t need special celebrations or family reunion. All I want is being with you, this year, next year, and all the year after. That’s all”
The crisp melody continues to float between the two of them. Finally, he gently wraps her hands and squeezes.
"So do I."
"Meruem-sama."
"Yes?"
She opens her mouth, having so many to say in her heart. But in the end, all she could say is a sentence.
Today, she finally understands that’s gratitude, joy, blessing, the most sincere wish in her heart. Hoping every day in the future, this guy would obtain the same peaceful and pleasure as she has now.
Komugi takes a deep breath, smiling.
"Merry Harvest Festival, Meruem-sama!"
Fin