FMV 07

Chapter 7

“So, what’s the Lady’s first plan?”

“Since I’ve already told Leonhardt that we’re breaking up, I intend to keep that shock going.”

“How?”

Elize slowly rose from her seat, the corners of her lips curling into a smile.

“Your Highness, Crown Prince of Deblen.”

Her expression was playful, but there wasn’t even a hint of playfulness in her voice.

“Suddenly?”

Wondering what she was planning now, Damian quietly watched her with curiosity sparkling in his eyes.

Elize then knelt on one knee in front of him and held out her palm.

“Would you be my partner for the Arianthon Spring Festival?”

Of course, he would accept. At least, that was what she thought as she looked at Damian’s face.

Huh……?

His surprised eyes trembled slightly.

For the first time, a trace of bewilderment passed across Damian’s usually composed face.

He immediately sprang to his feet, gently took hold of her shoulders, and helped her stand.

“It would be my honor, Lady.”

Although he casually gave his acceptance, Damian’s gaze was fixed on Elize’s knee.

“Damian?”

“But never do this in front of me again.”

“What are you talking about? Kneeling on one knee?”

“Yes. You could hurt yourself.”

He lightly snapped his thumb and forefinger.

The moisture floating through the air gathered into droplets, which then swept over her dusty dress, cleaning it completely.

“Huh? I’m not going to get hurt from something like this.”

Come to think of it, Elize had heard that Damian suffered from an almost obsessive level of cleanliness.

Judging by his actions, that rumor seemed to be true, at least.

“Even so, your body is more precious than anything else in this world. You shouldn’t let even a speck of dust get on it.”

Whether his actions stemmed from his obsession with cleanliness or simply from concern for her, Elize strangely didn’t dislike his exaggerated behavior.

“All right. I won’t do it again. Happy now?”

In the end, Elize nodded with a small smile.

Then her eyes fell upon the untouched teacup.

Come to think of it, he hadn’t taken even a single sip of the tea she had brewed for him.

“But why aren’t you drinking your tea?”

Could it be that his obsession with cleanliness prevented him from drinking tea prepared by someone else?

Elize stared at Damian, expecting an honest answer.

“Ah.”

What was even more surprising was that despite how much time had passed while they talked, steam was still rising from the cup.

“And it hasn’t even gone cold yet?”

“I cast a spell to make sure the tea never gets cold. Oh, and it won’t spoil, either.”

“Pardon?”

A spell that kept tea from ever getting cold?

It was the first time Elize had ever heard of such a thing.

And why would anyone bother casting a spell to keep tea from spoiling when they were going to drink it immediately?

“Isn’t mana supposed to be an incredibly rare resource……?”

Mana was fundamentally a talent one had to be born with, and each imperial magic tower had an average of around one hundred mages.

Among them, only the top ten percent could freely wield magic. The rest generally used their weaker mana to create and sell magical artifacts or conduct research.

And yet he was using such precious mana to preserve a cup of tea.

“Not as rare as divine power.”

Damian shrugged as though it were nothing important.

“Besides, this is the first tea you’ve ever brewed for me, and this is the first teacup you’ve given me.”

“So?”

“I think I’ll keep them as a memento. Just as they are.”

Seeing him shamelessly grin, Elize blinked rapidly, once again thinking that Damian was certainly not an ordinary man.

“Can I take them?”

“Do whatever you want.”

She nodded with a small smile.

The moment he received her permission, Damian carefully picked up the teacup with both hands as though it were something incredibly precious.

“I’m taking it just like this.”

The teacup in his hands disappeared in an instant.

Apparently, he had used teleportation.

Damian proudly curled up the corners of his lips, dusted off his hands, and then approached Elize.

“Excuse me.”

He gently placed a hand on her shoulder.

“What are you doing?”

“Protective magic.”

The moment he said those words, Elize felt something like a transparent, cool liquid flowing down over her from the top of her head.

“If it’s three months from now, that means they won’t be able to do anything to you before then. So I don’t need to keep watching over you.”

As he continued casting the protective spell, Damian looked directly into Elize’s eyes.

“Like a stalker.”

“Ahem, you’re not actually holding that against me, are you?”

His face was filled with playful amusement, but Elize, feeling strangely guilty, cautiously watched his expression.

“I’m joking. If it’s your lovely voice calling me a stalker, you can call me that as much as you want. Even the word itself would sound sweet coming from you.”

“All right, Mr. Stalker.”

“……Now that you actually said it, it does feel a little strange.”

“Pfft. I was joking too.”

The two looked at each other and laughed comfortably.

Who would have thought Damian was someone who could make others feel this at ease?

Elize never would have imagined that her image of him could change so quickly.

After all, her first meeting with Damian had been nothing short of disastrous.

She smiled faintly as she briefly recalled that day.

It had been the day of a party held at the Arianthon Imperial Palace.

Perhaps because she wasn’t accustomed to high society, she had been particularly exhausted that day.

Wanting to escape her fatigue for a while, Elize had quietly slipped out of the Great Hall and headed into the garden.

She had finally found some peace while resting alone in the garden, where darkness had settled like a thick fog, when an unfamiliar shadow slowly began approaching from the distance.

“So, you’re Elize.”

It was an unfamiliar voice, and the man was speaking informally to her from the very first moment.

Already on high alert because of the eyes that gleamed ominously in the deep darkness, she grew increasingly wary.

Then, the moment he finally came close enough to her—

“G-Go away!”

Elize immediately punched him straight in the face.

Just then, the moon that had been hidden behind the clouds emerged, casting a ray of light over them.

The moonlight slowly revealed the identity of the man she had just punched.

“Gasp, you’re……!”

She had just punched Damian, the Crown Prince of the Deblen Empire, who was infamous as a villain.

Both shocked and frightened, Elize had twisted her face in disgust and immediately fled.

That was their first meeting—so disastrous that calling it the worst possible first impression would not have been an exaggeration.

And yet, apparently, that punch had made him fall in love with her at first sight.

It was ridiculous.

But at the same time, she was incredibly grateful.

Elize had always done her best to avoid Damian, yet he had come to save her at the cost of his own life.

“Thank you, Damian.”

“It was only natural. If you’re ever in danger, I’ll come running immediately, so don’t worry. And as soon as I return, I’ll send you a guard you can trust. Feel free to use them as much as you like.”

“Yes.”

She didn’t know how Damian’s voice, which had once sounded nothing but cold to her, could now bring her such a sense of peace.

As he seemed about ready to leave, Elize gently caught hold of his sleeve.

“By the way, are you going back using teleportation?”

“Why? Want me to stay?”

Damian smiled slyly and casually ran his fingers through his red hair, brushing it back.

He probably did it without thinking, but the sight was seductive enough that newly debuted young ladies in high society would probably have screamed if they had seen him.

“That’s not what I meant.”

She turned her head to the side, trying to hide her flushed cheeks.

Then, as though she had finally made up her mind, she looked directly at him with a determined expression.

Damian, having no idea what she was thinking, tilted his head slightly, a question mark seemingly hovering over him.

But at that moment, Elize suddenly grabbed both of his shoulders and rose onto her tiptoes.

A moment later, with a soft mwah, her lips touched Damian’s pale cheek before quickly pulling away.

“Goodbye.”

Elize’s face had turned completely red as she glanced up at him.

Perhaps it was too early for her to kiss him on the cheek like this, but in high society, it was generally considered a simple greeting between people who were close.

So she had gathered her courage and done it as both a gesture of gratitude and farewell.

Yet Damian looked even more composed than he had when Elize had knelt on one knee earlier.

“All right. Then I’ll be going.”

He calmly bowed his head in farewell.

Then, leaving behind Elize, who was staring at him in disbelief, he quickly used teleportation magic.

“Haah…….”

After returning to his office in the Deblen Empire, Damian’s gait was so unnatural that he practically stumbled along like a malfunctioning puppet.

He forced his legs, which felt as heavy as rocks, to move and collapsed into his chair.

Then, slowly concealing his barely restrained excitement, he casually ran a hand through his hair as though nothing had happened.

“It was nothing. Just a simple greeting.”

Even as he repeated to himself that it was nothing special, Damian’s face was turning bright red, from his ears all the way down his neck.