Dinner was an extravagant seafood feast.
Clams, scallops, fresh shrimp, cod, salmon, hermit crabs, oysters, fresh squid, sea cucumbers, razor clams... nearly every kind of seafood imaginable had been brought to the table, and every dish tasted excellent.
Astoria looked very happy.
"Open up!" she whispered, leaning close to Jon.
Jon opened his mouth without thinking. A moment later, something soft and tender was placed inside.
It was an oyster Astoria had just shucked for him.
"Is it good?"
"It's good," Jon said.
"Then do you remember that Christmas Eve three years ago?" Astoria asked with a smile, her face glowing with deep happiness. "I fed you oysters just like this back then."
"Of course I remember." Jon smiled too. "I remember you wearing a pure white dress that night, with just a little makeup. In my memory, that was absolutely the most beautiful you've ever looked."
"Am I not beautiful now?" Astoria pouted.
"Of course you're beautiful now!" Jon quickly nodded.
"Then which is more beautiful, me now, or me on that Christmas Eve three years ago?" Astoria refused to let him off and pressed him again.
"Of course tomorrow's you will be the most beautiful." Jon blinked, neatly avoiding the young girl's "trap."
Astoria's cheeks immediately flushed a little.
She turned her head slightly to the side. "Hmph... smooth talker."
Jon picked up a napkin and gently wiped his mouth.
"Wasn't that what you just fed me?" he said. "It was very oily."
"Cough, cough."
A dry cough made both Jon and Astoria turn toward the other side of the round table.
Only then did they remember there was still another person sitting with them, Daphne.
Daphne stood up expressionlessly.
"I'm full."
Then she lowered her head, hurried away from her seat, and went back upstairs to the room at the inn.
...
Watching her sister's retreating figure, Astoria suddenly asked softly, "Do you think it was a little too much, acting like that in front of my sister?"
Jon obediently closed his mouth and said nothing.
"Say something," Astoria urged, giving him a light push.
"I..." Jon could only shake his head. "I don't know either."
"Hmph." Jon felt her pinch him gently. Then Astoria's voice came close to his ear. "Playing dumb again."
"I really don't know."
"Actually... I think it might have been a little too much," Astoria murmured to herself.
"But when I see my sister looking unhappy, when I see her secretly crying, when I see her deliberately avoiding me... I don't know why, but deep down, I feel happy."
Jon suddenly felt as if he were walking along the edge of a cliff, where the slightest wrong step would send him plunging into an endless abyss.
"Jon, am I awful?" Astoria pinched him lightly again, her voice growing softer and softer. "Am I selfish?"
"Uh... actually... it's not that bad." Jon could only answer vaguely. "It's normal."
"But who told her to try to steal things from me?" Astoria suddenly pouted.
"When we were little, she fought me over toys. Then snacks. Later, clothes."
"I could give all of that to her. I could share it with her. After all, we're good sisters."
"But not this."
"Absolutely not."
"Absolutely, absolutely, absolutely not."
"Right, Jon?" Astoria blinked, then looked into Jon's eyes.
Jon could only nod stiffly.
"Let's go see the sea." Astoria suddenly put down her cutlery and stood up.
"Sure. I have no objections."
Jon also felt the pressure inside the seafood restaurant was getting far too heavy.
He wanted to step outside and breathe for a while.
...
In the quiet night, the sound of waves could be heard faintly from the sea.
A round moon hung in the sky. Far out over the endless water, another moon shimmered on the surface, its reflection trembling with the tide.
The summer sea breeze carried a faint briny scent as it swept over Jon and Astoria, stirring their hair, brushing their cheeks, and wrapping around their bodies.
"I'm a little cold," Astoria said softly.
Jon took off his coat, ready to drape it over her shoulders.
But Astoria shook her head.
"No. I want you to hold me tight, Jon."
Jon nodded, opened his arms, and pulled Astoria close.
In the roaring sea breeze, the two of them leaned tightly against each other, as if they would never be separated.
"Jon... I'm so happy when you're by my side," Astoria whispered, curled into his warm embrace.
"Me too," Jon said with a nod. "Meeting you is the happiest thing that has ever happened to me."
"What about my sister?" Astoria suddenly asked. "Was meeting her a happy thing too?"
"Actually..." Jon's tone gradually became serious.
"The first time I met your sister was not long after I met you. If seeing you for the first time left a very deep impression on me, then seeing your sister for the first time left one too, just in the completely opposite direction."
"But later, after we had more contact, my attitude toward her changed, and my impression of her gradually improved. Not because of anything else, but because she is your sister."
"But no matter how much that changed, she is still far, far behind you," Jon said softly. "I don't know what you're worried about. From the very beginning, the two of you were never standing on the same starting line. From the very beginning, you were already far ahead of her."
"So I only met her because she is your sister. The feelings I truly have for you will always be ten thousand times more than anything I feel for her."
"Jon..." Astoria's voice suddenly grew soft and sweet.
It was easy to hear that she was truly, deeply happy.
"Then... how about I don't go back to my sister's room tonight?" she said, her voice trembling.
"You... what did you say?" Jon's voice trembled too, and beneath the night sky, his face flushed slightly.
"I'm already so embarrassed... Do you really want me to say it again?" Astoria buried her head completely in Jon's arms and refused to lift it.
...
Meanwhile, inside the Muggle inn.
Daphne stared at the mirror in front of her.
She thought for a long time.
A very long time.
At last, as if she had finally made up her mind, she stood.