Translated by Jyzciel

An unexpected accident occurred while I was decorating the Christmas tree. Thankfully, Chronos came to my rescue. All that remained to complete the task was to place the star on top.

"Hey, Chronos-san."

I turned to Chronos with a beaming smile. "You know, Chronos-san, let's decorate this star together. When it comes to who decorates this star, my siblings and I used to argue a lot when we were kids. Decorating this star is really important."

"I see. Its my honor to put this up." With those words, Chronos effortlessly lifted me with one hand.

"Hey... Chronos-san!!" I hadn't anticipated being lifted and carried in this manner, and my eyes widened in surprise.

The height took me by surprise, and I instinctively wrapped my arms around Chronos's neck, holding onto him lightly.

"Instead of using a step ladder, this is faster. Even if Kina and the others bump into us, I won't let you fall, Rinsakura-san! Now, let's decorate it together."

With a happy smile and a carefree demeanor, Chronos placed his hand over mine, holding the star, and guided me to the top of the fir tree.

"....."

And so, we successfully placed the star.

"It looks nice," Chronos said, smiling contentedly as he looked at me.

I couldn't help but feel a bit flustered by the closeness of the moment.

Surprisingly, his eyelashes are quite long, I thought to myself as I observed Chronos. Although he had amber-colored eyes, the center had a subtle hint of gold. And even within his animal ears, there was an unexpected fluffiness.

Being this close to Chronos allowed me to make many new discoveries when observing his face in such detail. In turn, I realized that Chronos was also observing me.

Suddenly, Chronos muttered with a serious expression, "Rinsakura-san's eyes are as beautiful as obsidian." I felt the intensity of his gaze, and my face began to warm up.

"Chronos-san, your amber-colored eyes are beautiful too." I unintentionally muttered.

"Rinsakura, I..." Chronos placed his hand on my cheek.

Just then, a loud voice interrupted us. "Captain, where's Rinsakura-san?"

"Noam, you can't just barge into someone else's house." soon a stern voice scolded.

Both of us froze for a moment upon hearing the voice. But it was too late.

"Ohhh!! The Captain and Rinsakura-san are about to kiss!!" Noam pointed at us, wide-eyed.

"....." Carl had a look on his face as if he couldn't believe what he was seeing, his mouth hanging agape.

For a while, Carl and the others remained silent.

Seeing Chronos holding me closely and gazing into each other's eyes from such a short distance, Carl and Noam completely misinterpreted the situation.

However, Carl, being the Vice-Captain he was, quickly recovered. As if nothing had happened, he covered Noam's mouth and tried to leave the veranda.

"Wait! You guys, hold on. What are you misunderstanding?!" I shouted.

"Yeah! It's not what you think!" Chronos added.

Panicking, we managed to stop Carl and Noam. We stumbled over our words but managed to explain the whole situation and finally convinced them. It was now snack time, as usual.

Now, it was time for our customary snack break.

"Oh, I see! So that's what it was. I got seriously worried seeing the vice-captain, who is so clueless in matters of love, doing something like that out of the blue in broad daylight" Noam said with a mouthful of madeleines, wearing a cheerful smile.

Then, suddenly, there was a loud thud as Chronos smacked him on the head.

"What do you take me for?" Chronos thundered.

"Yeah, that's right! The Captain, who is notoriously clumsy in matters of love, so I didn't think he would do something like that." Carl, who seemed to be attempting to play the peacemaker, delivered the final blow.

"Carl... you too." Chronos grumbled in disbelief.

Chronos seemed disappointed, and his animal ears and tail drooped as if to say, "Really..."

"Haha~ Quite the scolding you got, Captain." I couldn't help but laugh.

"Even you, Rinsakura-san..."

"Hehehe... I'm sorry." I apologized while still giggling.

"Oh, right. I caught five Hyunaflycshes yesterday." Noam proudly announced.

"Heh heh! I worked hard for Rinsakura's sake. I'm currently draining the blood, but I'll bring them tomorrow." Noam said, puffing out his chest as if seeking praise.

Someone suddenly tapped Noam on the shoulder.

"Hmm?" Noam turned around to find Schnappy there.

"Hey, you? Can't you see we're in the middle of an important conversation?" Noam grumbled.

With an annoyed expression, Schnappy shook a leaf and seemed to be trying to convey something. It appeared he was pointing towards a certain area in the garden.

When everyone turned their attention in that direction, they saw a huge pile of Hyunafleisches.

"NO!"

Schnappy danced as if to say, 'What do you think of that?'

"Noam, Schnappy just showed you up," Chronos laughed heartily.

"Rinsakura-san, can I... burn that?" Noam's eyes were dead serious!

"Noam, stop it. Hold back and I'll talk to him later. Schnappy, behave!"

Schnappy turned his back to us in a huff.

"He's really taking this rivalry seriously." Carl said with a playful glint in his eye.

"I won't forgive him, no way."

"Having a rival can make both parties push each other to become stronger."

I couldn't help but wonder if it was typical for plants to have rivals, but I decided not to dwell on it.

For now, we had all the ingredients we needed! Thanks to everyone, we could make a large batch of roast chicken.

Chronos and the others promptly prepared the game that Schnappy had brought, and I began preparing the roast chicken.

We planned to roast it in the oven on the morning of the day itself. The day after tomorrow seemed to be convenient for everyone, so we decided to have a Christmas party.

Carl mentioned that he would bring delicious champagne.

Today, in various ways, I felt exhausted, so I decided to go to bed early.

Chronos and the others also left looking completely worn out. The only take away for today was madeleines. Sorry... I'm out of energy.

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