Chapter 218 - Side Story 10.1 (1/2)
After Mike fetched Francisca at the airport, they made their way into her hotel.
Along the way, Francisca talked about their wedding preparations, and Mike just listened to her. He looked at the woman beside him. What Rozarria said rang in his ears.
”Do you love her?”
Is that important? He thought. All the women he dated, his feelings for them were the same. But only Francisca didn't demand his attention nor affection. She was the only one who didn't mind his lack of expression.
Looking at her, her golden curls freely forming her beautiful face. Her eyes were shining, creating a bright blue and her full lips were mesmerizing as she spoke..
She was also tall—almost the same height as him.
He bet their children's genes would go beyond the scale. The important factor why he chose to settle with her.
Mike inwardly sighed. He was always like this. He lacked sympathy and other feelings a human being had. He didn't know if it was a congenital disability or if there was something wrong with him.
He had himself checked, and he was normal. But still, if Francisca died at this moment, he wouldn't even bat an eyelid. He would just resume his day.
He was definitely a . . .
”Oh, look! A flower shop,” Francisca said, pointing at a newly opened shop.
Mike's attention went into the shop. It was small, but it looked cozy and inviting.
”That's rare. I didn't know that you can grow flowers in this climate,” Francisca said with a laugh.
Frizkiel's' weather was indeed harsh. And most of the time, it was snowing, and worst, a blizzard hits. But it didn't mean that there were no longer flowers in the area. There were specific breeds of plants, mainly the ones that were grown indoors.
But Mike felt it was a lot of effort explaining, so he just settled, with an ”Mmmm . . .”
”Let's take a look! I'm curious as to what types of flowers are being sold there,” Francisca said and asked the driver to stop at the flower shop.
Mike didn't want to, but Francisca wasn't from Frizkiel, so he might as well indulge if she was curious about his homeland. It was better that way if they were to be wed, they'd be spending their life here after all.
The little bell chimed, signaling for a customer, and Francisca uttered a low, ”Wow. Its . . . cramped here.”
The space was enough for just a single person to move around because the display took a lot of space.
”Now I see, they are growing it indoors with hydroponic technology. That makes sense.” Francisca nodded to herself.
The flowers displayed were typical plants. Nothing out of the ordinary. They were beautiful because of their rich colors in contrast with all the white snow in Frizkiel. It was healing to the eyes.
Francisca was roaming around while having a one-sided conversation. Mike was following behind her with a closed mouth as always.
There was just a grandma, and a child in the store and Mike found it strange. Though the shop was small, it would require an ȧduŀt to take care of the plants. The grandma was too old to even move while the child was . . . just a child.
Mike's eyes drop. It didn't matter. They probably had another stuff inside that closed door.
The bell rang and came in a group of boys. One of them looked at him for a brief second before he went towards the old woman. Mike wouldn't care about it if only he was not sėnsɨtɨvė to his surroundings. The sudden heaviness in the air when the boys came and the dark faces of the grandma and the child at the sight of them.
Mike wanted to laugh at himself. He was insensitive to people but not to his surroundings. It was due to his upbringing. Being the firstborn and male at that, many was just a number with the amount of people who targeted his life. If he wasn't alert all the time, his corpse would have rot underneath a long time ago.
But when Eric was born, their father considered making him the heir because he lacked the emotion to being considered human, and Dimitri was a lost cause. Not that he minded.