Coldsnap: The Billionaire Alpha's Fated Pregnant Princess (GL)-Chapter 183 - Friendly Dinner Over Fresh Fish & Fresh Shock

I stood there for several long minutes alone. Looking at the ground where we had been. At the ceiling she must have seen behind me, if she had focused on anything other than me at all. Trying to process what had just happened out of what felt like nowhere.

> What I’d done. What I’d started. What I might have finished if not interrupted. <

Knowing the wolf had probably peeped the entire time, I still quickly share it all with Vrika anyway. My spiraling thoughts as the memories flood toward the spirit caused my original fox form to roll and scream in my mindscape.

Until a black furred canid ambled up and forcefully stomped a paw on my chest to stop and calm me down. After a few whines at the creature, I fade my representation out and focus back on the reality around me.

"I’ve been interrupted before, but I usually just shrug it off..."

While wondering if it was something about this new body, the person I missed out with, or perhaps just the weeks it had been even before I came here - Anise peeked her braided blonde head inside her private space.

"They’ve left. You going to keep staring off into space here? Lets talk." frёewebnoѵel.ƈo๓

She left quickly after speaking, wearing that same knowingly mischievous expression from before. I smoothed down my shirt and shorts before brushing out my hair with my hand. Like all the nerves I might have had before suddenly hit me at once.

Walking over to my dropped jacket, I find my clutch in the large interior pocket. Inside it is an actual comb that I use to fix my hair better before placing them back up in my twintails. To make myself look composed as I stepped out of the private room.

"Well, that was certainly educational. I’ve learned some things about who does what that I wasn’t expecting."

"I don’t want to talk about it."

Anise was moving around the main area, tidying some things up, and she had spoke without looking at me. But I could hear the smile in her voice. There is no way my outfit - even this jacket - is going to knock off all the mirth she’d gained tonight.

"Of course you don’t, and I don’t blame you. Which is exactly why we’re going to dinner."

"What?"

I’d begun walking towards the exit but that stopped me in my tracks. Turning around to see her with one hand on her hip and another adjusting a fashionable purse hanging from her shoulder. Anise slipped a few things inside before zippering it with the same arm it hung by.

"Dinner. You know, that thing you came here for in the first place? The thing social people do when they consume food with each other?"

"No, I get that, but-"

"I made reservations at eight, figuring whatever happened here would work up an appetite between you two. Looked to me like I was going to be right, but-"

"You planned this..."

She laughed openly at me when I accused her, before shaking her head and smiling.

"How could I have planned you asking to grab a bite on the same day she was here? But before you get all upset about anything, you’re welcome for my improvisation. Now come on, I’m starving and you look like you didn’t have anything near your fill as well."

"That’s..."

She grabbed and waved her coat at me as she passed by - clearly not going to take a weak no for an answer. But it wasn’t like I had a better option planned... exactly. Either going back to the Perigee Residences or...

Well, I found myself following her toward the exit. Food was food, and I was still coming to terms everything that all of us had let happen.

⧖ ☾ ❄ ☽ ⧖

I tried trailing behind in a daze for a bit through the city, but the seamstress was having none of that either. The second time I got distracted and looked in a direction, she locked her arm in mine again and tugged me along.

> She makes friends fast... <

"Where exactly are we going?"

"That place we ordered from before. Tsukisushi. When I called ahead, I’d reserved a private room... since I thought we might have one more person with us."

"How thoughtful."

"I try. Still, I’m not going to cancel it. Figured you might appreciate the quiet space and company."

Her meddling earlier caught me off guard. But it wasn’t her fault I did any of that.

> If it was anyone, it was Kyrie’s fault! She could have told me to stop. Really... <

I clearly wasn’t in my usual headspace. Wasn’t thinking of anything except her there in front of me. Even when I look back in my memory, I don’t even recall the blue edges of the system. Consequences outside of the primal danger of her had all faded.

"Earth to Citra, we’re here."

Anise stepped forward and held the door open for me. The very urban exterior immediately clashed with the high quality wood and paper insides. Soft lighting that made everything feel intimate and peaceful.

The scent of fresh fish and seasoned rice filled the air along with plenty of other things I couldn’t exactly identify but that made my stomach clench with sudden, desperate hunger. Like it had forgotten and just remembered the point of contacting her.

A familiar figure approached us - the same young woman with the distinctive twin buns who had delivered food to the boutique before. Reina, I believe her name was, bowed gracefully before leading us through the restaurant.

The room was smaller than I’d expected if it was booked with three or more in mind, with a low table surrounded by cushioned floor seating. Paper screens around the framing created an enclosed, intimate space that felt completely separate from the rest of the restaurant.

Small grandeur that seemed like it was designed to be the height of what could be achieved while still holding down traditional aesthetics of their culture. It sent a small pang through me that had nothing to do with hunger.

> I miss it more than I want to admit. <

Instead, it was homesickness. As I have not seen very much that reminds me directly of my kingdom. And this floor seating is still only a near thing...

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