Chapter 468: Time with Her Siblings
Tala’s smile in response slowly faded as it was replaced by a slight frown. This girl looked familiar, and now that she thought of it, her name sounded so as well. A moment later, she remembered a Verla from long ago, as well as some of things her brother had said on previous meet-ups. “Are you the Verla who went to school with Caln?”
Verla smiled at that, seemingly grabbing onto her own lifeline in the conversation. “Yes. Apparently my shyness led Caln to believe that I was uninterested in him all these years.” She flushed a bit at that. “I wasn’t really as good at demonstrating my feelings as I thought.”
Caln stepped in, coming to her metaphorical rescue. “It was only recently—a bit more than a year ago—that I realized, to my great shame, that she was waiting for me to notice her interest.” He chuckled good naturedly. “She had to come to me and ask for us to go to dinner.”
Verla colored a bit more. “I… I followed some bad advice and tried to ‘make him see my interest’ instead of just talking to him. When I finally ignored that advice and just approached him, things went as I’d always hoped. I’m just glad that he was open to my interest as well.”
Rane chuckled. “It can be scary to express how you feel, yeah. Generally, men are more open to being approached than women, though. At least that’s how it always seemed to me. Women often have men approaching them so often it feels pointless to throw your hat in the ring, as it were.”
Verla covered her mouth and let out a little laugh. “That is likely quite wise, Master Rane. I know that I had several men approach me during that time, and I… I am not sure that I turned them down kindly in looking back on it.” Her smile turned a bit sad. “I did not see the parallel to how I was feeling, to how I would have felt if Caln had told me no. I do wish I had been kinder.”
Rane gave a comforting smile. “Well, hopefully, it won’t be an issue ever again.”
“Indeed.”
And, at that point, Tala realized that she didn’t really know what to ask next. She settled for a generic well-wishing, hoping someone else would steer the conversation, “Well, regardless of how it happened, I’m glad for you both.”