After looking around, Ezekiel soon entered a nearby cafe. A cafe? There was no cafe mentioned in the schedule the priests had told her about… Cynthia followed behind Ezekiel with questions in mind. 

She waited about ten minutes outside the cafe Ezekiel had entered, then carefully went in to avoid being caught. Luckily, the diagonal back seat behind Ezekiel was empty. It was the perfect spot to secretly observe Ezekiel.

Cynthia ordered jasmine tea from the employee who came to take her order. Jasmine tea was Cynthia’s favorite among all teas. She held the warm cup in her hands and sipped the tea. Her nervous heart from secretly following him since morning seemed to calm down a bit.

Cynthia began wondering why Ezekiel had entered the cafe. Had he made a private appointment with someone? Surely that couldn’t be it? 

While she worried and observed Ezekiel, he took out one of the books he’d bought from the bookstore and began reading. It was ‘The Shackles of Fate.’

The Shackles of Fate! It happened to be the same book Cynthia had bought at the bookstore. Cynthia carefully opened her book following Ezekiel’s lead. 

To think she was sitting in the same cafe as Ezekiel, reading the same book. Just thinking about it made her heart pound. She felt like the two of them were sharing something.

Could this be fate? …Of course, to call it fate when Cynthia had unilaterally copied him was a stretch. Anyway, since Ezekiel seemed to like fate too, she decided to consider it fate on her own.

Seeing Ezekiel reading his book intently, she became curious about what content could make him concentrate so much. Cynthia looked down at her open book. The letters were too small and the paper was too wide. 

She didn’t think she could concentrate and read it. But, but since it seemed to be a book that appealed to Ezekiel’s heart, she decided to give it a try.

‘Goddesses who sing of fate exist on this earth.’

The book that began this way was talking about fate. It dealt with what fate was, why humans rejected fate, and so on. Boring content continued for a while, then content related to ‘love’ appeared. 

Love? This seemed like it might be interesting. Cynthia had been carrying on a passionate love for a long time.

‘What is unavoidable among the fates humans face? Undoubtedly, it is love. Even humans who reject fate casually ab*se words like “destined love” without a care. 

Even those who reject fate and want to pioneer their own lives become irrationally enthusiastic when it comes to love. Humans don’t try to turn away from love or overcome it. They simply fall into rapture and accept it.’

‘Then what is love? Love is a poisoned chalice. It may seem magnificent, but you die the moment you drink it. And humans fall in love recklessly. Even knowing they’ll die the moment their lips touch it, they inevitably reach out and drink.’

‘And from that moment, the shackles of fate begin to turn.’

Is that so? Is love such a negative thing? 

Cynthia put down the book she had been reading, completely absorbed. To Cynthia, love wasn’t something negative. From the moment she encountered Ezekiel, Cynthia’s world had changed anew. 

If asked to pick the most brilliant moment in Cynthia’s entire life, she was confident she could choose that time without a moment’s hesitation.

To describe her love in such a way was nothing short of an insult to Cynthia’s love. Cynthia felt rebellious about the book’s content and slammed the cover shut loudly. Hmph, her love isn’t something like poison!

She’d wasted time reading the book for nothing. She should have looked at Ezekiel’s face more closely during that time. With that thought, when she looked toward Ezekiel, he had also put down his book and was thinking about something. 

Even his profile glimpsed here and there was like a sculpture. Indeed, it seemed better to appreciate Ezekiel’s face rather than the book.

Ezekiel read his book intently, pondered here and there, and made notes about something. Even watching that was entertaining. Around the time she finished her jasmine tea, Ezekiel stood up from his seat. 

Cynthia covered her face with her book in case her identity might be discovered. Fortunately, Ezekiel didn’t seem to notice and passed right by Cynthia’s seat. Cynthia also followed behind Ezekiel.

After leaving the cafe, Ezekiel began walking around various places. Most were places Cynthia had never been to before. 

Ezekiel walked along walking paths full of blooming flowers, walked along the riverside sparkling in the sunlight, and walked through the center decorated splendidly for the upcoming Empire Day.

It was somewhat different from the schedule the priests had told her. Rather than examining believers’ lives, it was more like… well, it felt like a real date course. To dismiss it as Cynthia’s excessive self-consciousness, every path they took was overflowing with couples.

Of course, this was good for Cynthia. She really felt like she was on a date with Ezekiel. It was everything Cynthia had wanted. Sharing tastes, strolling the streets, looking at flowers. 

By this point, she regretted not giving the priests double the money. Cynthia felt like screaming from the heart-tickling excitement.

After wandering around like that for a while, the sky gradually began to be dyed with sunset colors. She could feel her heart pounding at the perfect scenery.

The sunset-lit plaza was beautiful, and Ezekiel standing before it was even more beautiful. And even the black eyes looking at Cynthia… The eyes?

Cynthia, who had been admiring in a daze, finally realized that Ezekiel was looking at her. To pretend not to know and pass by, Ezekiel was staring at her far too precisely. 

Uh, uh, when did he notice? 

Not knowing what to do, Cynthia concluded it would be better to pretend to recognize him first.

“Ezekiel?”

“Yes, my lady.”

“To meet Ezekiel outside the temple, what a coincidence!”

“A coincidence?”

“Right? …Or maybe fate?”

Her voice trembled excessively, making it seem like the fact that she was lying would be discovered any moment. Having been practically caught red-handed, it was difficult to look directly into Ezekiel’s eyes. 

Cynthia was so nervous that her hands shook, and she ended up dropping the book she was holding. Oh no, that’s not good! The title mustn’t be discovered!

But before Cynthia could pick up the book, Ezekiel reached out first. Cynthia had to struggle to calm her burning red face. Ezekiel brushed off the sand on the cover with the long fingers Cynthia had praised. And he handed over the book nonchalantly.

It was fortunate that Ezekiel didn’t say anything. Just when she thought that and was about to receive the book, no matter how much she pulled, the book wouldn’t move. Only then did Cynthia raise her head to look at Ezekiel.

“The Shackles of Fate?”

“It’s, it’s a book I like!”

“…Which part did you find most impressive?”

“Well, that is…”

Actually, she had only looked at the beginning a little before closing it, and the time she spent stealing glances at Ezekiel was much longer than the time she spent looking at the book. 

But she couldn’t tell this fact straight out. At that moment, the sentence she had read earlier came to mind.

What is love? Love is a poisoned chalice.

“The, the part about love being a poisoned chalice.”

“…Why is that?”

“Because I don’t think of my love for Ezekiel as a poisoned chalice.”

“…”

“I don’t think of it as falling for fate’s temptation either.”

“…You’re saying the exact opposite of what the book says.”

At Ezekiel’s words, Cynthia shut her mouth with a gasp. Actually, it was a book that was difficult for Cynthia’s mind to understand. But while reading that book, she had only one thought. 

She wanted to tell Ezekiel. That her love wasn’t like that, that she didn’t regret falling in love with Ezekiel, that if falling in love with him was the shackles of fate, she would gladly follow them.

Cynthia opened her mouth to make some excuse, but somehow she thought Ezekiel was smiling. So she closed her mouth and looked at Ezekiel’s smiling face. Even an expression that could be mistaken for smiling was too precious.

“It’s gotten quite late.”

“Yes, Ezekiel.”

“Please go inside.”

“Yes…”

Ezekiel, cruelly, left only the words to go inside and moved his steps. Cynthia began trudging along behind Ezekiel who was walking ahead. 

She felt like she needed to see Ezekiel enter the temple before she could go home. But contrary to Cynthia’s thoughts, the place Ezekiel headed wasn’t the temple. Rather…

“Ezekiel?”

It was the path to Cynthia’s house. Arriving in front of her house, Cynthia blinked her eyes and looked up at Ezekiel. But because of the backlighting, she couldn’t see Ezekiel’s face properly.

“Please go inside.”

“…”

“I shall head inside as well.”

With those final words, Ezekiel moved his steps without lingering. But Cynthia couldn’t let Ezekiel go like that. She had something to say.

“…Um, Ezekiel!”

Why was Ezekiel’s face, turning around at those words, so beautiful again? 

Cynthia momentarily lost her mind and forgot what to say. Since Cynthia had called out to stop Ezekiel but wasn’t saying anything, Ezekiel tilted his head sideways.

Oh, that won’t do. Only then did Cynthia come to her senses. If she wasted the opportunity to talk with Ezekiel somewhere other than the temple, that would truly be a stupid thing to do. The most stupid thing in the world. 

Cynthia calmed her stirring heart and barely managed to continue speaking, “Ah, about what you said earlier.”

“Which thing are you referring to?”

“About fate.”

“…”

“I have more to say about that.”

Then Ezekiel’s expression darkened for a moment. Strange. Wasn’t Ezekiel a fatalist? She thought he would definitely like talking about fate. 

But Ezekiel’s expression looking down at Cynthia with no expression was too cold. 

She couldn’t take back words already spoken. And also… she didn’t want to take them back.

“To be honest, that book was too difficult for me. I don’t agree with how that book talks about love either. But if there’s one thing I understood, if there’s exactly one thing in that book I agree with.”

“…”

“I don’t know whether this is due to fate or not. I also can’t guarantee whether I’ve submitted to fate or not.”

“…”

“But according to what the person who wrote that book says, yes. I love you recklessly. Even if love for Ezekiel is a poisoned chalice, I could drink it with a joyful heart, exactly that much.”

“…”

“And I will never regret this love.”

She said it, though her voice shook terribly at the end. It was the first time she had conveyed her feelings for Ezekiel so straightforwardly. Perhaps because of that, indescribable embarrassment climbed up her entire body. 

It was a strange feeling like her heart might climb up through her esophagus at any moment. Cynthia couldn’t bear to look at Ezekiel’s face and hung her head low.

And when she raised her head after hearing no response for a long time, it was after Ezekiel had left. He had already disappeared far away, visible only as a dot. Cynthia couldn’t blink even once until Ezekiel’s figure completely disappeared.

She liked Ezekiel too much. Ironically, because she liked Ezekiel too much, she couldn’t follow Ezekiel’s outings after that day. She wanted to protect Ezekiel’s personal time. 

She had the foolish thought that the memory of just that one day would be fine for a lifetime. Thanks to that, Cynthia realized once again.

She loved Ezekiel. Enough to willingly drink it even knowing that her love for him was a poisoned chalice.