The words she desired to hear, and the words she would never hear because they would be for someone else someday were out of reach, and despite Liana’s best efforts to respond gently the painful feelings that boiled up within her chest were too much, simply too intense for someone like her to endure. The warm words whispered to her ear, the tender embrace… while they were meant to heal her heartache they only drove the pain deeper, the awareness that she never had a chance, and it was at that time she finally could comprehend the emotion behind it: jealousy.

She didn’t want someone else to become the most precious person in Liana’s life, and in a selfish way she wanted to keep that warmest of affection to herself. But it was to no avail. At this point it was even growing so painful that somewhere in the depths of her heart she wishes she had never felt those emotions, that she would have never… had their reunion? The thought horrified her, to think her heart wished they had never met or that her heart had never developed such feelings. Even the gentle kiss on her cheek and forehead and the request to cheer up, to let things return the way they were hurt so much.

How much she longed to just smile, to bottle up those emotions and act like everything was okay, but at this point that was impossible. Her emotions had gone out of control, and now she was dealing with the ugly consequences of it all. “This is unfair...” the girl whispered feebly, her eyes finally adjusting entirely to the darkness while she shook her head lightly.

But then it felt like something changed. A sudden motion followed as Liana tried to plant a kiss on Esperia’, forehead, but instead the girl had swiftly and nimbly raised her body to try to counter the motion by pressing her lips lightly against Liana’s own. It was one that lacked passion, but it would have conveyed her emotions clearly as she finally leaned backwards and explained her actions.

“You’re right… we don’t need such feelings in our current bond, even if I do desire them. But you’re correct, perhaps I don’t truly know yet what such type of love means, what means there is only one choice for me.”

She slowly rose onto her feet, a hand wiping her tears away while Agni’s eyes widened slightly. It was odd, but the feeling he got from Esperia had changed, as if she had become an entirely different person from who she was moments ago.

“I’ll figure out what it means on our journey, and then I’ll work really really hard to become such a splendid person that even you will feel your heart skipping a beat!”

That confident grin upon her lips seemed to be a trademark expression of Esperia and after raising a fingertip to her lips she hummed softly. “Consider me claiming your first kiss as the price for the tears you made me shed tonight.”

A little teasing wink followed as she stretched her arms lightly and hummed softly. “Let us go back to Alisa, shall we?”

Yet little did either of them know what a difficult and curious road her decision would lead to.

The taking of her hand led to a little smile to emerge upon the Eisenberg's lips, her fingers gently wrapping around the palm of Liana's hands as she walked at her side. For now, this was enough... To be able to walk at her side and continue as things had been before. She was sure she still had time, time to grow into an admirable person who could even make Liana's heart skip a beat and get her flustered in a way that was different from the sort she caused till now. Surely she wouldn't be swooped away by someone else so soon, right?

Agni barked excitedly as the duo left the wagon and reunited with Alisa, her gaze drifting upwards to the woman's face. Perhaps if she had an opportunity she could ask Alisa about it sometime? Get some advice from her and such?

"I'm sorry to have worried you~" a soft apologetic response was made to Alisa while her gaze drifted over Alisa's body, noticing something that was a bit familiar to her.

"Umm Alisa..." She paused for a moment, trying to think of the best way to word her next choice of words. It was after a bit she continued, tilting her head slightly to the side in confusion. "Are you part of a guild?"

Her thoughts going back to a recent meeting with a certain lady, it seemed Esperia was getting a grasp of what Snowflake meant back then...

So her assumption had been correct, Alisa had indeed been a member of the Blue Pegasus! She thought she had recognized the symbol, so when she heard Alisa ask if she recognized it the girl nodded her head lightly. "Mhmm I do~"

She couldn't help but think back on one of her first encounters within Baska, the meeting with Snowflake and the words that were spoken that day. Blue Pegasus was a home for Snowflake, and its members were all a family to one another... what in the girl's own words meant it would include her."

A hand trailed to the edge of her dress, lifting it slightly upwards due to the awareness the three of them were the only ones around as she showed the matching symbol on the upper part of her left leg, explaining in a softer tone. "I met your Guild Master when I first arrived in Baska."

She smiled briefly while she raised the glass to her lips, sipping it lightly while lowering her dress back to its normal state while she continued. "She told me a lot about Blue Pegasus and what it meant to her... and I accepted her invitation to become a part of her 'family'."

She returned her hand to Liana's side, trying to squeeze her hand once more as she continued her explanation with the same soft tone from before. "While thanks to Liana I am no longer alone, it doesn't change the fact there is only so much the two of us can do by ourselves, and if I want to reach my ambitions I need to become stronger, experienced and knowledged about this world."

Esperia's cheeks puffed up in a pout of feinted annoyance at Alisa's remark about Esperia needing someone to keep an eye on her. "Puuh~ That's making it sound like I need a babysitter!" the girl protested, yet obviously would have enjoyed it quite a lot if Liana had agreed with the idea of joining the Blue Pegasus, she'd be surely one of the reasons why the guild would have made things a lot more exciting for her, knowing her best friend was around.

"I didn't get the opportunity to tell you yet~" The girl protested at Liana's comment at not having told her about the guild yet, but it was the words that followed that made Esperia's cheeks flush up in a healthy blush of happiness and embarrassment, perhaps her feelings slightly amplified by today's events and the healthy dosage of beverages she had consumed so far. "Lia..." A few nods came from the girl in response to Liana's words as she replied with a bright smile. "Mhmm! You could say that we're the Zwei Wing of the Pegasus! Alone we might be able to produce a gust, but together we can fly!"

The girl exclaimed excitedly, after a moment turning toward Alisa with a smirk while declaring playfully. "A clever choice of words if I do say so myself, right Alisa?"

Judging from the cheerful reaction of the girl it was clear that she was excited about the idea of being in the same guild as Liana! In the end, why wouldn't she be happy with the idea her best friend wanted to join the same guild in order to remain close to her?

A third member was needed for a team? A curious little hum escaped the girl's lips as she wondered about the idea of who she could find as a third person for their team. She could most certainly ask around within the guild at some point, but deep inside she already had a thought, or rather an idea about who she might ask. Then again, that idea would take a bit to be carried out, so for the time being she would just focus on the here and now. Watching Liana lift her shirt upwards had stirred a surprising reaction from the Eisenberg, her cheeks flushing up lightly while a hand reached for her eyes to cover it, as if she had been caught off-guard by the action.

Part of her wished she had asked Snowflake the protocol of recruiting and a stamp so she could have given Liana it rather than leaving things to Alisa. Perhaps the reason why despite her embarrassed reaction and the blush on her cheeks she was pouting just a little behind the hand that covered her eyes. Albeit, knowing that Liana had picked a spot similar to where she herself had her guild symbol left a rather warm feeling of joy in her chest.

"Uwaah~ next time warn me before there are any shirt of skirt lifting, my heart isn't prepared for such temptations..."

Esperia's cheeks flushed up lightly in a flustered reaction upon Alisa's teasing remark, making her protest in a soft tone. "T-That was done without any pervy intentions! I'd have you know that Snowflake has a really calming and innocent atmosphere to her, being perverted around her is quite awkward, and... my sixth sense tells me it would be quite dangerous also."

She turned her gaze away whispering softly. "Like being perverted around you would get me tied up and teased into oblivion, being perverted around her would likely get me my sixth feet underground."

Yet her focus finally turned toward Liana, leading her to smile briefly at her and nod in agreement. "It's a pretty color... I mean... it looks good on you."

The girl coughed softly to recover from the awkwardness as she finished her goblet of punch and turned to look at Alisa. "You're fortunate that you got to stamp Lia! it's quite a privilege you know!"

She grinned at the girl while looking back and forth between Alisa and Liana and after a moment of pondering scratched the back of her head awkwardly. "Why am I feeling like I unaware of the fact, said something perverted again..."

Poor Esperia... At least Agni seemed amused, barking repeatedly at the little back and forth between everyone!

Esperia, however, was pouting playfully, wondering how in the world things had escalated to a situation like this, not that she was complaining! Far from it even, her best friend had joined the same guild as she did, and they even met someone interesting through this party... dangerous but interesting for sure!

Poor Esperia, despite her best efforts to drop into her more innocent mode it seemed Alisa was adamant about making it a much more difficult endeavor than normally. The squeeze of her bust, amplifying the allure of Alisa's cleavage was only intensified with the teasing remark, causing the poor Eisenberg to scurry toward Liana, hiding behind the girl's back while she whimpered softly.

"I don't want to be tied up..." Indeed, the Eisenberg valued her freedom quite strongly, yet she was not out for the count just yet, trying to lift her head over Liana's shoulder and point with a hand toward Alisa in an accusing manner.

"Besides isn't that YOUR fetish? tying up poor girls and teasing them till they are a squirming mess. That's like one hell of a scary sort of sadism..." The girl mumbled the last bit as she shook her head softly and replied in return. "Your bust is too dangerous! High-risk high reward, but the difficulty level is almost making it a trap! Nonono~ This Espy is going to stay safe snuggling Lia instead!"

The girl protested out loud while Agni barked in agreement, seemingly wanting to be included in whatever snuggles were about to be had.

Still, she had to admit that even if she was the victim of all this teasing, Esperia did have a surprising amount of fun with their conversation, to the point she was smiling and laughing genuinely once more amidst their aticts.

Although the invitation to fantasize away was quite tempting, Esperia was uncertain how much of it would be fiction, and how much would be reality, in the end she had a good assumption that she had hit the right spot with her comment about Alisa's fetish. "I can assure you there wouldn't be any begging to get tied up! snuggling into pillows is a fair way to show just how much I like someone! Tying me up prevents that."

The tipsy girl protested, but what happened afterward was rather unexpected. Liana made a reaction, a rather strong one when Alisa's cleavage came into view, and for a moment the Eisenberg stared into the scene as the poor girl tried to escape. What in the world was it that made Liana react so strongly? Her gaze drifted away from Liana and settled onto Alisa's cleavage, but for the first time in history the girl's gaze was not a lewd one, rather it looked like she was genuinely appraising something when suddenly the girl lowered her arms beneath her own smaller bust, trying to mimic Alisa's earlier pose but to no avail, it simply lacked... umphf she guessed?

Perhaps that was the reason Esperia pouted in annoyance, believing it was the lack of a larger bust that made her unable to stir a reaction like that out of Liana.

"Lead the way pillow demon..." she whispered softly