Chapter 171 - Lovebirds?

*gulp*

Rex was completely nervous. He had no idea as to what to say right now.

He started to sweat profusely for some reason because she was the first person to have ever asked that. But then again, he noticed that she wasn't completely sure. It seemed as if she was trying to confirm if what she thought was the truth.

Therefore, he had a bit of an upper hand. He could redirect whatever she said or could just nod and tell her the truth. He could also feign innocence as if he knew nothing.

But then again, he wanted to know the source of the information from where Emilia found this out. Of course, he doubted that she thought this up on her own, but then again, there could be someone else that exposed this to her.

It could be anyone, maybe his familiars or friends from long ago, or even the Gods since he believed that the gods were the ones that let him reincarnate.

Then he thought of another possibility that closely related to Emilia's case. Though he doubted his thought, he ended up speaking whatever came to his mind,

"Don't tell me, you reincarnated?", was what he said.

He neither mentioned 'Too' nor did he mention 'Like me'. It was as if he was just asking her a question.

'Wait, why is he asking me this?'

'Could it be that he really did reincarnate?', was what she thought.

But then again, after seeing Rex's perfect acting in which he acted as if he was completely innocent and was deriving the logic from many fairy tales, she thought otherwise.

"Ahem, no, of course, I'm living this life only once...."

"Reincarnation only happens in legends and fairy tales, how could I be born again?', she laughed and tried to brush it off.

But her acting was awful and the way she mentioned made Rex realize that his thoughts were completely true.

'So she really did reincarnate?'

'And living the life twice? What did she mean by this?', Rex started to winder. 

Of course, he was staring at blank space while thinking and Emilia started to feel insecure.

'Don't tell me, he is trying to figure out something...', her eyes widened after seeing Rex space out for a bit.

She wanted to divert his attention due to which she almost immediately grabbed his hand.

"Eh?", indeed, he was surprised by her bold move.

Only couples or loves were allowed to hold hands. Of course, siblings could too but that was a different case right now.

Rex was shocked because Emilia grabbed his hand. Well, holding hands in dancing is way different when compared to holding during other times.

Indeed, they weren't dancing at the moment so it was indeed weird.

'What is she doing?', to Rex, this was quite common.

Holding hands were quite normal back in his world so it wasn't that much of a thing to him, but what he was actually surprised was about thinking about the principles and rules of this word.

He had learned that only lovers, couples, siblings, or family members could hold hands so he was puzzled.

'Is this her way to say that she loves me?', he asked himself.

'Wha-'

'What am I doing?', Emilia was flustered.

"..."

An awkward silence was filled in the air. Rex was staring at her face while she stared at the ground while failing to perform eye contact.

"Are you perhaps...", Rex wanted to confirm if what he thought was right or not.

"Are you perhaps in love with me?", he asked it right on her face.

"Eh?", the moment he asked that she raised her head and stared at him.

Both of their eyes made contact. Her eyes were shaking. They were watery but probably because of happiness.

In any case, she was surprised when he asked that. She could hardly think anything straight at the moment.

"I..."

Her mind went blank and she forgot what the initial situation was. Her heart was beating faster than it ever did.

"It's nothing like that!", right after saying that she stopped grabbing his hand.

She was quite embarrassed due to which she thought about running away from the place, but she couldn't.

Her legs were numb for reasons unknown.

"Is..."

"Is that so?", Rex felt weird for asking her that earlier.

In any case, now the chat was over and both were quiet for a while.

Rex wanted to know the exact reason for which Emilia asked her about reincarnation. Also, he wanted to work on the appraisal skill a bit more.

"Why don't we talk while sitting in the garden?", Rex asked.

"Yes sure!", she answered almost immediately as if she was quite excited.

Well, she didn't care about the hall or the party that was taking place. Needless to say, she knew that she had to return soon enough but she still had time and for the time being prioritized Rex over others.

Both of them entered the garden from another entrance. They went and sat on the bench that was just near the entrance.

They sat near the edges while maintaining an appropriate distance. All this time Emilia had her fists clenched. She kept thinking many things. 

"So, will you tell me why you asked the question about reincarnation?", Rex asked.

"..."

Emilia, who was flustered, now became a bit serious. Her expressions changed right after hearing the question.

'Should I tell him?', was the only thing she wondered about.

Of course, both of them had been reincarnated, but the difference was, Emilia was reborn as if she had returned to the past.

That was why she was aware of most of the things that others didn't know about. Probably that was why she was able to notice the difference between the past Rex and the current. However, she failed to realize the reason for such a change.

She thought that the only possible way for Rex to be so different from the past self could be by Rebirth and nothing else!

Whatever the case may be, she now trusted Rex. Of course, that was probably because he had saved her once already, but she could feel a weird sensation that originated from her heart. It was as if her whole body, heart, and mind as well, told her to trust him and tell him.

"Listen Rex..."

Address 'prince' seemed not to be necessary since she was discussing a much more complex and important topic at the moment.

While she tried her best to gather the courage and trust to tell him, Seria and Elina were hiding while looking at them from a bit far away.

"Don't they look cute together?", Elina asked Seria.

"They do..."

"But..."

Of course, after referring Rex to some monstrous thing, she couldn't possibly let her child sit near him. 

"But?", Elina asked with a bit of surprise.

"I think we shouldn't let them chat here..."

"After all Emi needs to be in the hall right now...", Seria made up a reason in order to bring Emilia along with her and separate her from Rex.

Just what the heck did she see in Rex that made her behave in such a manner? Was she scared or was she just worried?

Whatever the case may be, it was confirmed that she didn't want Emilia to be with Rex. Of course, she didn't particularly hate him, but it seemed like she didn't like him either.

"Yes, you are right...", right after saying that, both Emilia and Seria stood up from their little bent position and walked towards them.

And when Emilia was about to tell Rex, Seria appeared in front of her and held her hand near her wrist and pulled her gently, but with a little force.

"Mother?", she was surprised to see her here.

"Ah, mom...", Rex looked at Elina who stood just next to him. 

Both of them appeared at the right time, just when a secret was going to be revealed.

"Emi, shouldn't you get back?"

"The dance hour will be over within a minute or two, you need to be present in order to receive the gifts and thank all of them personally!", she said with a scary eye.

"Yes, mother..."

Right after saying that she tagged Seria and went to the hall. Of course, Seria asked Elima to come with her, however, she said that she had something to talk about with Rex.

"Hehe, I never expected my son to like a girl...", she said with a creepy laugh while looking at Rex.

"It's not like that mom...", Rex sighed.

"Oh come on, don't lie to your mom..."

"Tell the truth, how did you two lovebirds meet?", she started bugging him.

'Seriously? Why would I ever fall in love with a kid?', he asked himself in his mind.

"..."

To be continued...