Silence.
Elinor looked at me, and something new flickered in her gaze, something I did not yet know how to name.
"…I see," she finally smiled faintly.
Meanwhile, one thing still would not let me rest.
"This spell… Was it really me who did it?" I whispered.
"We did," Elinor suddenly smiled, and sparks were dancing in her eyes as well. "Paired magic. It is a very rare ability. It arises when two magicians are bound…"
She did not finish and fell silent. Then I decided to ask myself.
"Bound by what?" I asked.
"By feelings," she said quietly.
The sparks of magic that had been dancing around us went out. We sat in silence, looking at each other for some time.
"…Merope," Elinor began.
For some reason, I felt that this very moment was extremely important. And I decided not to hesitate.
"I know," I interrupted. "I feel it too."
"…What?"
"That you… are special to me."
Elinor looked at me without breaking her gaze.
"So are you," she finally whispered. "You have no idea how afraid I was that you would not come today… How I waited for this."
"And I… was waiting too."
We sat looking at each other, and the world around us suddenly ceased to exist completely. There was only the lake, the sunset sky, and us.
Unexpectedly, the next step happened even sooner than I had thought.
"…May I?" Elinor asked, leaning slightly forward.
I did not answer and simply closed my eyes.
Her lips touched mine.
It was as light and natural as breathing. As if we had done this a thousand times before. Her hand rested on my cheek, mine on her shoulder. The world spun and collapsed, and then came together again, but it had become different.
When we pulled away from each other, the sun had almost set. The lake had grown dark, and the sky had turned lilac.
At some point, Elinor quietly drew back from me and simply looked at me. We looked into each other's eyes in silence for several seconds.
After which…
A rather unexpected reaction followed.
We both simply burst out laughing.
"What was that?" I asked, embarrassed.
"I don't know," she answered honestly. "But I liked it."
"I… I did too."
For a while longer we sat pressed close to each other, watching the first stars light up in the sky.
Nevertheless, that beautiful moment could not last forever.
"I have to go," Elinor finally said. "Grandmother will kill me if I am late for dinner."
"Of course, go," I nodded. "We… will meet tomorrow?"
"Of course, until tomorrow," she stood up, brushed herself off, then leaned down and kissed me on the forehead. "Sweet dreams, Merope."
She smiled slyly. I, meanwhile, blushed intensely.
"…S-sweet dreams, Elinor!"
I watched her leave and felt that a real flower was blooming inside me. I could not suppress these feelings that were being born within me.
I came home when it was already completely dark. Mrs. Cole was waiting with dinner.
"You are very late today," she said, but there was no reproach in her voice.
"Sorry… I was walking for a long time."
"Oh, that's all right. Youth is like that," the woman smiled knowingly. "Now eat."
I ate, but I could not help smiling into my plate. Mrs. Cole glanced at me slyly, but said nothing.
Only when I went to bed did she finally say:
"Merope, you must have found yourself a boyfriend, haven't you?"
I felt embarrassed.
"No… I don't have any boyfriend!"
But the woman only smirked slyly. Apparently, she did not believe me at all.
"Well, well. You could have told me the truth," Mrs. Cole muttered. "I understand everything. I will not judge."
Nevertheless, although I told Mrs. Cole several more times that she was mistaken and that I did not have a boyfriend, the woman only continued to chuckle. So at some point I stopped trying to convince her and simply resigned myself. Well… let her think what she wants.
Meanwhile, that night I dreamed of Elinor.
And perhaps it was the sweetest dream of my life.