There's No Love In the Deathzone (BL) novel Chapter 300

Chapter 300: Chapter 292. Serenity

The grandma’s lunch was as warm as the grandma. It had the familiar feeling of a food made with the person who ate it in mind, just like Ayya’s cooking, or Bassena’s. Zein had calmed down a bit thanks to the esper, but eating warm food prepared with care further soothed his heart.

Perhaps that was why he could partake in the lighthearted conversation around the table, although it was mostly the grandma and Bassena doing the talking. But it was peaceful; a much-needed peace before he met his mother.

"You’re going to see your mother, boy?" the grandma asked after they were done with the scrumptious lunch and Bassena had received the recipes.

Zein liked it that the grandma said it as if Lucia was still alive, and just waiting for Zein somewhere in town. Made it feel less bleak. It felt like the time he visited Bassena’s mother. Despite the sadness that the esper displayed the night before, they visited Svadiva’s grave as if they were just going to her vacation home.

"Yes," Zein nodded with a smile on his face, and the grandma stroked his cheek gently.

"Mm, it’s better to smile and show her that you’re happy," the grandma nodded.

Well, Zein thought he would introduce Bassena to his mother today, so that should be enough happiness to show. At least, her mother would be glad that he had a protector now, instead of fighting to survive by himself.

With the grandma’s nice advice, they proceeded to go to the cemetery together after Bassena took the car from the parking lot. Ria, Sherri, and Hana all ride together in the back seat, giving directions to the driving esper.

Before the cemetery, however, they went to a flower shop; a nice one where they kept all kinds of flowers regardless of the season, thanks to the might of a greenhouse and magic. It was way more expensive, but what was money for two high-profile sentinels?

But they weren’t there just to flaunt their buying capacity. They were there to purchase Lucia’s favorite flower. It was a rare breed of very beautiful hibiscus, carefully cultivated so it had a rich blue hue. Lucia saw the flower once in this particular flower shop, and she used her precious salary to purchase one.

"She would always purchase one on her birthday," Ria told Zein with a soft voice and a complex smile; one which was filled with nostalgic joy and persistent sorrow. "She specifically told us not to purchase it because she wanted to gift herself every year. A congratulation for living another year, she said,"

Bassena almost chuckled at that; truly, Zein grew up to take his parents’ traits despite their absence.

"Lucia said she wanted to have a garden full of this flower someday..." Sherri said, before stopping because her voice cracked at the end, tears threatening to fall again.

"A garden, huh..." Zein muttered, touching the glass wall of the greenhouse.

"We have a garden plot," Bassena said behind Zein, leaning his chin on the guide’s shoulder. "We only need the seeds."

Zein chuckled at the way the esper said it as if they already decided on the matter. "What kind of flowers do you think she planted on the lake house?" he asked, and Bassena gasped.

"Oh! We can plant it there!" Bassena snapped his hand. "You have to tell that uncle before he starts on the garden."

"Later," Zein turned toward the store clerks, who had been looking at them in a daze from the moment they realized it was the Serpent Lord and his guide. "We’ll take this."

"Y-yes! How...how do you want to process it, Sir? Should I make it into a bouquet?"

Zein turned his gaze toward Ria and Sherri, since he never visited a columbarium before, and Bassena didn’t need to bring any flowers to her mother’s grave, seeing that the grave was surrounded by flowers already.

"Ah, please put it in a vase," Ria informed the clerk, who was in turn asked what kind of vase they wanted to use.

So Zein ended up looking over rows and rows of vases together with Bassena, before they decided on a pearl white one with blue patterns on it that matched the flower well. The vase had the same preservation formation carved on it that the shop used for their greenhouse, so it would keep the flower fresh longer. Hana had to wipe the sweat rolling down her temple when she heard the price of that small thing.

As they watched the florist arrange the flowers neatly inside the vase, Ria told Zein more about the flowers. "There’s a book that talked about how people in the Old Era liked to give meaning to flowers," she said. "We found it in the library once and read it together; us and Lucia."

Zein stared at the blue hue that almost sparkled beneath the light of the flower shop. "Is there a meaning for a blue hibiscus?"

Zein opened the glass door and solemnly put the vase of blue hibiscus there. A small framed picture of Lucia during her graduation was there too, and Zein lingered his gaze there for a few seconds before closing the locker again and taking a step back. He pulled his mask down and spoke quietly, as if he wasn’t confident about how his voice was going to be. _{frёewebηovel.cѳm}