"Why are you crying?" Aether asked gently, his voice filled with both worry and concern as he noticed a single tear slipping down from the corner of her eye. His grip on her hips instinctively tightened, grounding her against him.
Stella blinked, snapping out of her thoughts, and quickly rubbed the tear away. She forced a soft smile onto her lips and muttered, "I... I was just happy to see that you have a gift for me," she said, her voice shaking slightly as she tried to act normal, her expression shifting into something strange and unreadable.
Of course, Aether could see through her lie immediately. He didn't press her on it, though. Instead, he simply nodded in silence and reached into his storage to pull out a wrapped package.
It was... food?
Stella blinked again, her brows knitting together as she looked at Aether with a puzzled expression.
