Chapter 176 - More Sentimental Than He Let On (1/2)

Abby was intrigued by a country of people who were capable of creating things from her home without needing explicit instructions on how to do so. She wanted to hear more.

”I would love to hear about them. And everything you've been up to the past year,” she confessed.

Blaise seemed pleasantly surprised. ”Really? I thought the same thing about you. I have heard a little about your exploits here and was curious to know more. You have acclimated here very well. I'm glad.”

Her traitorous heart flip-flopped in her chest. Did that mean he had worried about her? She wanted to ask but had yet to work up the nerve when another Warrior plopped down at their table unceremoniously with Mitzi in tow.

”These sandwiches are so much better than the rations we normally get,” he sighed in contentment. ”I wish we could have them every day. Especially if such pretty girls bring them to us.”

Mitzi giggled and blushed at his comment. Ah, teenage infatuation. It could be fun to watch. Abby's only hope was that the girl wouldn't get her heart broken by someone who planned to go back home at the end of the mission.

The Warrior raised an eyebrow after seeing Blaise lift his arms to take a bite of his sandwich. ”What happened to your ribbon? I have never seen you without it on your wrist. Did the girl dump you or something?”

His face turned completely red and he refused to say anything by shoveling the remainder of his sandwich into his mouth at once. Abby tried to meet his eyes but he wouldn't so much as look her way.

He had worn it all the way back in Shibatsu? Had he been wearing it the entire time? Then why did it look so nice? He must have washed it. Washing ribbons wasn't the easiest thing to do either; you had to be very particular about it.

Now it was her turn to have a red face. That was far more sentimental an act than she would have given him credit for. A man wouldn't wear something so girly unless he truly cared about the woman who gave it to him; she had seen other young men in the village do the same thing when their betrothed gave them a trinket of hers.

”Kel, I think that was her ribbon,” Mitzi whispered to the man next to her.

Alarm filled his violet eyes and he was immediately penitent. ”I did not mean to offend either of you! I was only teasing.”

Abby hadn't wanted a hole to appear in the ground and swallow her up this badly since the day she accidentally said ”love you, bye” signing off a phone call with her boss when she was in college out of habit.

When she lamented her fate to Katie, her unsupportive sister had howled with laughter over video chat. She laughed so hard that she fell over and off screen but Abby had still been able to hear her crack up from her place on the floor.