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Prepare yourself for a bit of sappy romance because I'm a sucker for it.

Fireflies

A/N This story puts the town and characters of Rune Factory 4 into a realistic environment. As such, this story will not reflect 100% how the actual game works. For example, this story assumes a normal 7-day 12-month calendar, as opposed to the game's 6-day 4-month calendar, and unrealistic characters such as Ventuswill and Pico are not specifically mentioned. I'll leave it up to your imagination if you wish to include them however.

As I sit here enjoying the cool summer breeze, I look up into the sky. It's a bit overcast today, there's quite a few clouds. I like it though, they block some of the sun's heat. Combined with the breeze, it makes the temperature perfect; it's not too hot, nor too cold. I hear a soft, almost inaudible snore from the right, and I look over. Leaning against my shoulder, my arm wrapped around her, is my wife Clorica, who is blissfully napping. Now, you might ask what I'm doing sitting here on this bench. Since I don't want to wake Sleeping Beauty over here, how about I tell you about how I met her? I've got loads of time to spare.


First off, I should probably introduce myself. My name is Matt. I'm the prince of this town of Selphia. Well, I use the term "prince" a little loosely; I'm not a prince by blood. The real prince actually lives in this town as a normal citizen, of his own will. You're probably wondering why I'm acting as the prince and not him. To make a long story short, I arrived in this town on the same day that he was supposed to, by pure coincidence. Thus I was mistaken as the prince, until the real prince came in about fifteen minutes later. After having the situation explained to him, he made a bold decision: leave me in his spot so he could live a normal life, as there were things he would like to do that he could not if he was busy doing the prince work. I guess you could think of it as a way for him to dump his responsibility on someone else, but since I was already adjusting to the duties I didn't really mind. I got a nice room and I get to order people around, so it's not all bad.

I will never forget my first actual day as the prince. So many things happened. First off, that was the day I first met her. That morning, I was woken up by the calmest, most soothing voice I'd ever heard. After wiping the sleep out of my eyes, I noticed a girl standing next to my bed. She had lavender-colored hair that was split into long twintails, and she was wearing some kind of formal outfit. The first thing I thought of was butler, but until now I had never met a female butler. Presumably she was the one who had woken me up, but if she had, she must've fallen back asleep in the few seconds it took me to stretch and get my bearings. Funny how I get woken up by someone and then I have to wake them back up a few seconds later. Anyway, after I woke her, she introduced herself, confirming my initial guess of butler. I knew there were male nurses, so a female butler honestly didn't surprise me that much.

Now, I know what you're thinking: you're a prince and you married your butler? What kind of prince are you? My answer: I'm one of a kind. Trust me, it'll make sense later.

Anyway, it turns out that Clorica is more of a butler-in-training than a full-fledged butler. She and the other butler Vishnal are training under the head butler Volkanon. Speaking of Vishnal, I met him that day too, out in the fields. In addition to meeting my future wife, this was the day I learned how to till a field. I still till it and plant crops and flowers in it to this day. And yes, before you ask, I am the acting prince, yet I also grow crops. Like I said, I'm a one-of-a-kind prince. I wouldn't have it any other way. After Vishnal taught me how to tend the field, I decided to go out and meet all the townspeople. The town isn't big, in fact it's quite small. I really like it actually, less people means I can be more personal with everyone.

And so a couple months passed. During those months, I took frequent trips to the forests and caves on the outskirts of town. Believe it or not, I found a person inside some of those places. Four, to be exact. They would just be lying unconscious for no apparent reason. Being the responsible prince I was, I got some help from some of the other guys in town to help me carry them to the town clinic when I found them. None of them remembered anything except for their name. However, it turned out that the townspeople decided to take them in. And so we ended up getting four new people in town, each living in a different place. They still live here to this day, happily I might add.

But I know what you really want to hear: how I ended up with Clorica. Let's fast-forward a couple more months after the newcomers have all come in and have settled in. Near the end of August, there's a town event we call the Firefly Festival. After sundown that day, loads of fireflies come out and light up the night. It's a beautiful, romantic evening. Now this was going to be my first Firefly Festival, so I asked Volkanon about the details, as I always went to him if I had any questions concerning the town. After telling me about the fireflies, he added "If I were but forty years younger, I would ask a pretty young lady to join me in viewing them! Sir Matt, you are young! Be bold, take life by the horns!". I can still hear him saying that to me to this day.

It was that day when I decided to start considering dating one of the girls in town. In total, there were six choices. Aside from Clorica, first off is Forte. She's a bit tomboy-ish, almost always wearing armor and training like a real knight. Her enthusiasm almost motivates me to train with her, actually. She gets all embarrassed and nervous when people talk about love around her though, which is adorable. There's Amber, the energetic flower girl. She's kinda short and has that cuteness factor to her, the kind you see in younger girls. Xiao Pai is the foreign girl who runs the inn alongside her mother. She works hard, but she's pretty clumsy, often tripping over herself or dropping the dishes. She's a little short like Amber, plus she's got that foreign girl charm. Margaret is a musician who works at the town restaurant. She lives by herself, but she and the chef care for each other as if they were father and daughter. And finally there's Dolce. She's a bit quieter than the other girls, but when she does talk she tends to make sarcastic remarks. She may come off as very blunt and isn't afraid to speak her mind, but once you really get to know her she's actually sweet and warm-hearted.

No matter which way I thought about it, I always ended up coming back to Clorica. I'm most comfortable with her out of all the girls, as she was the first I met and she comes to wake me up almost every morning. Not that I'm necessarily uncomfortable with the others, I just know Clorica the best. She does have her flaws of course, she's a bit airheaded and forgetful at times, and falls asleep a lot. Actually, that's one thing I forget to mention: she has a disorder called narcolepsy. If you've never heard of it, it's a sleep disorder basically the opposite of insomnia. She'll fall asleep at the drop of a hat sometimes. Even after a year of being married to her, I'm still not completely used to it. I'm kind of envious honestly, wish I could fall asleep that easily. You might think her falling asleep constantly would be detrimental to her work, but actually no. You know how some people sleepwalk? Clorica can sleepWORK. I'm serious, she can work in her sleep. She won't admit it but she can work, eat, and sometimes even carry on a conversation while asleep.

Anyway, another reason I kept coming back to her was that I'd noticed something interesting. For the past month or so after the newcomers came in, I've noticed I've been seeing her more often than usual. For example, she would come to clean my room or find some other excuse to talk to me or just be near me. I'd also noticed that she paid more attention to her looks when I'm around and how she would sometimes hesitate when I spoke to her, as if she wanted to make sure everything she said came out just the right way. The latter was most noticeble, the first couple months or so that I was here, she didn't take that much care about that. Not that she said things in the wrong way, she never did. She just acted like you would think a butler would. Her personality was actually one of the main reasons I fell in love with her. She has a somewhat prim yet humble demeanor, and she has a bit of a ditzy side to her without being a total ditz.

So taking all that into account, on the day before the Festival, I finally worked up the courage. I can recall the scene perfectly in my mind...


I walked to her room and knocked. After hearing "Come in", I entered her room. I've seen it in passing a few times before, but this was the first time I really went inside and looked around.

"Good evening Matt." Clorica was standing near her bookshelf, organizing some of her books. Even though she is a bit of a ditz, she is compulsive about organizing some things, and her books are one of them.

"Good evening Clorica." I took a quick look around her room. "This is the first time I've been in your room. I must say, it looks quite nice."

"Thank you, I try to keep it clean and organized." She put all the books away and turned to face me. I could almost swear her cheeks went a little red as she spoke again. "What can I do for you, Matt?"

"Um... I was wondering..." Try as I might, I couldn't keep eye contact with her as I asked the question. "Do you... have any plans for tomorrow night?"

She didn't respond for a few moments. I almost thought she fell asleep on me, but when I looked at her I realized I couldn't be more wrong. Her eyes were wide and her mouth was hanging open a bit. She couldn't make eye contact and covered her mouth with her hand. I think she knew what I was about to ask her and she couldn't believe her ears.

I decided to keep going. "See, um... the Firefly Festival is tomorrow, and... well, Volkanon told me it would be better if I had someone to... watch them with me. You were the first person I thought of. So..." I clear my throat a bit as I prepare the question. "Would you like to... join me tomorrow?"

"Well... this is a little sudden..." She hesitated for a few seconds. "Can I have some time to think?"

I nodded. "Of course. Tell you what. Just meet me at sundown tomorrow in the plaza if you want to join me. I'll be there waiting for you." Unable to wipe the shy smile off my face, I turned to exit her room. I stopped momentarily at the door. "Good night, Clorica. I'll see you tomorrow." I then closed the door behind me.

Once I got back to my room, I silently fistpumped and did a small celebratory dance. Mostly I was happy I was able to ask her, but I was pretty confident that she would accept.

The next morning, she didn't come to wake me as usual, but I somehow woke up around the same time as usual. I guess I was just so used to waking up at the time. I decided to avoid visiting Vishnal and Volkanon today, as I didn't want to risk bothering Clorica before she was ready to answer. I didn't see her all day long, which I would've considered unusual in any other circumstance. I remember Vishnal came up to me about mid-afternoon and asked me if I knew why Clorica had shut herself in her room and hadn't come out all day. He had seen me go to her room last night and thought I knew what was up with her. I replied with, "You'll see at sundown tonight." I'm not sure if he figured out our conversation the previous night or not, but I'm fairy certain he realized it had to do with the Festival that night. Either way, he thanked me and returned to his butler duties.

That night, as the sun crept toward the horizon, I left my room and headed for the town plaza. It was a little early, so I wasn't surprised to not see Clorica yet. Looking around, I noticed a bench off to one side. It was the very bench I'm sitting on right now, as a matter of fact. I didn't have to wait long before I saw that familiar head of lavender come out of the butler's quarters and look around the plaza. When she looked over in my direction, I waved to her. Even from a distance I could tell her cheeks were bright red as she walked toward me.

"Decided to show up, huh?" I chuckled a bit, teasing her as I occasionally do. Her response was only a shy smile as she sat down next to me.

By this time the sky had filled with fireflies. Their lights blinking on and off were an amazing sight, it was every bit that Volkanon told me it was. "They're beautiful, aren't they?"

"Yes, they are."

I didn't look over at her, but I could tell from her voice that she was happy. "Thank you for joining me today. I was afraid I would have to take in this amazing sight alone."

When I didn't hear a response, I looked over at her. She couldn't form words, so she merely nodded, unable to keep the contented smile off her face.

We sat there for a while and admired the sights. Suddenly I felt something touch my right shoulder. I looked over and saw that Clorica had fallen asleep and subsequently had fallen over a bit so her head was now resting on my shoulder, much like it is now. Not wanting to jostle her awake, I resumed watching the spectacle that was going on before my eyes. I pretty much expected her to fall asleep, but I could think of much worse things to be doing than sitting outside on a nice cool night with a pretty girl sleeping on my shoulder.

Eventually though, I was getting uncomfortable and had to shift my weight a bit, which had the unfortunate side effect of waking her up. Sighing, annoyed at myself for disturbing her, I asked "Did you have a nice nap?"

After a yawn, she replied with "Mmm, yes. I had a nice dream." She then realized she was leaning against me and straightened up, blushing even more. "Was I... leaning on you the... whole time?"

"Yup."

She covered her mouth with her hand and looked away, embarrassed.

"It's alright, Clorica. There's no need to be embarrassed." I placed my hand on her shoulder.

"Matt..."

"Clorica, I have to admit something to you." The words came out almost too fast to stop myself. But there won't be a better time to ask her. "This might seem weird, but... I think I might have... a crush on you."

No reply. After ensuring she hadn't fallen asleep on me again, I decided to continue.

"I know I'm a prince and you're a butler and a relationship between us is not a typical one, but... they say there's a first time for everything. I want to know... how you feel. About... me."

After another few moments, she finally speaks up. "When you asked me last night, I was... very happy. So happy, I couldn't sleep all last night." She paused for a couple seconds, as if collecting her thoughts. "But...I don't know if this will work. I'm very forgetful, you know, and I just know I'm going to fall asleep on you in the middle of something important, and-"

"Stop right there." I squeeze her shoulder a bit to get her attention. "Yes, you're forgetful, yes, you fall asleep a lot, but... that's why I love you. I want you to do those things, because if you didn't you wouldn't be Clorica. If I didn't want you to do those things, we wouldn't be having this conversation right now."

At this point, I start shedding some tears. Manly tears, I assure you. "Clorica, I just have one question for you." I get up off the bench and stand right in front of her. "Do you love me?"

She looks up at me. I can see the debate raging behind her eyes; her feelings for me are battling her rational thinking, which is telling her it will not work out.

"If you truly love me, we will work this out. We can and will. So, I'll ask again: Do you love me, Clorica?" I extend my hand to help her stand.

She gazes at my hand for a few seconds. Finally she looks up at me and grabs my hand. "Yes. I do love you, Matt."

I pull her up and into a hug. "Thank you for returning my feelings, Clorica."


And that's basically how we started dating, and the rest is history. The townspeople were very accepting of the new relationship, and Volkanon constantly reminded me to keep her in line. Even though we were dating, I didn't want to take her away from her butler duties, so I didn't want to go visit her frequently. She came to my room often enough, and I always tried to ask her out on days that I knew she didn't have as much work to do. We had our fair share of arguments and disagreements, but we pulled through and here we are. Looking back on it, when I first got here, the thought of marrying her seemed almost ludicrous, but I am so glad I finally did. You know what's funny? Turns out that she had been consulting with one of the older women in town about me before we started dating, a fact that was revealed during the wedding. She was embarrassed as all get out, but I thought it was really cute. It's also interesting how I'm not even in town for a year and I already get married. Funny how that works.

So that's the story of why I'm sitting here on this bench while my wife contently naps on my shoulder. Speaking of, we have been here for quite a while. I might need to wake her up and get her back to her butler responsibilities. Even though we're married, she still insists on working as a butler, so I don't stop her. Thanks for listening to my long story, it's nice to reminisce about last year. I'm not going to forget it for the rest of my life.