Glittering Gold | ONC 2024

Chapter 6: A Walk to Remember

CONTENT WARNING

This chapter contains violent themes and a lot of profanity that may not be suitable for a very young audience.

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Danilo felt like he could smell Dulnuan as they walked side by side--the sweetness of earth and fresh mint of leaves. He glanced at her from the side of his eyes.

Her hair fell over her cheeks, covering part of her face. He could glimpse her thick lashes and the point of her nose. Beautiful, like a true queen.

"How was your day?" Dulnuan asked as they strode on the pathway rounding the lake, guarded by planter boxes of bushes and trees.

Danilo shrugged. Apart from what happened at home in the morning, it was a pretty standard and boring day--a usual routine of receiving money from tourists and stealing from his boss. "It was okay. We didn't get a lot of customers at the stall since it's a weekday. We're mostly busy on weekends when people from outside the city come to visit."

She nodded. "Do you enjoy your work?"

He thought about it. He couldn't deny that some days were good, especially when generous tourists gave him big tips. But he still wished he had something else--something that would prove he wasn't a failure to his family, something he could hold high like a trophy of his success. "It's alright."

They took a few more steps in silence until a bird cooed from a tree, and he looked around for where it came from. The park wasn't deserted. A few steps away, he saw a man sleeping on a bench, his cart of treasures parked beside him.

If anyone saw him walking around at this time of the night and talking to nothing, they'd likely think he was crazy. "Let's go this way." He led Dulnuan away from the homeless man, reaching to hold her by the shoulder but grabbing only air.

She followed, and they turned back to where they started. "The lake is beautiful at night, isn't it?" she asked, gazing at the water.

"Yeah," he said, but he was looking at her. "But you're more beautiful."

Dulnuan stopped and giggled. "I am not." She tried to deny it.

Danilo also stopped and watched how her cheeks turned red. He didn't know spirits could do that--color their faces with the heat of their blood. "It's true. You're the prettiest ghost I've ever seen."

"Spirit," she corrected. "And I am the only one you have ever seen."

"You're the prettiest girl I've ever seen then," he supplied.

"Now, you are only trying to flatter me." She continued to walk, passing him.

He wasn't one hundred percent lying. She was indeed one of the prettiest girls he had ever seen--and he had seen plenty. Compared to modern-day women, Dulnuan wore no makeup to hide the little flaws she had. She was almost perfect. "Is it working?"

"What?" She looked back at him over her shoulder.

"Are you flattered?" he asked, smiling.

She stopped again and turned to face him, tilting her head to the side before answering. "Perhaps. But I have received compliments during my days from many suitors, so your flattery does not affect me much."

"Oh?" He raised a brow. He bet he could affect her. Having practiced on their female customers, he usually got tipped bigger than expected. He'd told them they were youthful, skinny, had excellent fashion sense, and everything girls wanted to hear. After years of working at a boat stall, he was a master of that one thing--flattery.