"Isn"t this a great place? The breeze feels nice, doesn"t it?"
"Fuun, are you nervous?"
Sharina was taken to the terrace on the other side of the venue. The hustle and bustle she had heard until just before felt so far away.
"I"m very sorry for the inconvenience. I"m alright now. Please return back to the venue, many are looking forward to seeing you, Your Highness."
"Fuun. They can just keep waiting, then."
She desperately held her tongue. Her nausea had increased.
"Today is a welcome party for new students. It"s intended for the freshman, including you. As your senior, I"m just showing you some hospitability—what"s wrong with accepting it?"
"Then please grace those in the venue with some of your hospitability, as well. I"ve received enough. Please go back to the other freshman."
"Ho… your mouth is good at turning around things, as always."
—thinking about it, it was such a good start.
She took Riol"s hand to the party venue, but somehow ended up alone with Prince Leonarcissist on the terrace—in short, things went from heaven to h.e.l.l.
…that"s right. Where"s that attendant of his?
That attendant whom was always not present during crucial times. I don"t know your circ.u.mstances, but please keep your Lord on a better leas.h.!.+
"You"re truly a Uniquely Furred Cat. Others would certainly be happy when I—the Prince—talk to them like this."
—nope. There was mixture of feelings, but none of them was delight, it was more like nausea.
You have too much pride in yourself.
"You receive special treatment from me, the Prince, however, you don"t seem pleased. Nor were you with my previous gift of expensive jewelry. That jewelry with the royal crest was my token of grat.i.tude for your sandwich. However, I haven"t thanked you for your cookies, yet."
Leonardo laughed, then shrugged his shoulders. "You sure are giving me some problems."
—no, you are the one giving me the biggest problem, here.
How much effort do you think is required to act this civil with you?
"What should I give you? What is it that would please you? You don"t care for status, nor wealth…"
—No.
Rather than "what to give", the problem here was "who gave it". If the present was given by the person she liked, even a wild flower would appear like the world"s largest bouquet of roses. If it was given by someone she hate, it would end up being nothing but th.o.r.n.y, p.r.i.c.kly, trash.
I wouldn"t see them as flowers—not even as wild flowers, to me, they"re just garbage. I feel bad for the flowers, as they were innocent—but if they are given straight from a Trash Can, they"ll remain utter garbage.
"I don"t need any luxurious items. Those cookies and sandwiches were made by an amateur—I don"t deserve your grat.i.tude."
In fact, she was okay with being bestowed actual garbage by him.
Pachin—Leonardo snapped his fingers. Immediately, a magic circle appeared in the terrace.
"…then, let"s do it this way. I"ll show my grat.i.tude through something other than "items"—"
"—eh?"
Leonardo stood and approached her from the end of the table. Then, he took the still stunned Sharina"s hand.
"Let me escort you. This is an invitation towards the vast, starry, sky of the night."
Her hand was pulled strongly and her chair toppled over. Sharina was about to fall when he caught her—suddenly, they were in a position as if they were about to dance.
"Let"s head straight above."
Surprised, Sharina"s breath was caught in her throat. Leonardo had already jumped onto the terrace fence. The terrace, which was rarely occupied and mainly used to enjoy the scenery, had a fence so low it could be jumped over even by children.
"—wait—!!!"
At the same time Sharina was about to scream, the terrace"s door opened, revealing a figure—
"—Riol—!!!"
Sharina spotted him and her tears threatened to fall.
"Please wait, Your Highness—!! It"s dangerous—!!"
"Fuun. As expected, you came. I thought that this should be the time you came to interrupt."
Leonardo laughed shamelessly, his arm was wrapped around Sharina"s waist.
""It"s dangerous", you say? You doubt my magical expertise?"
"That"s not what I"m saying…"
"Be honest. Where did you put those amulet this time?"
Riol"s face, which was out of breath, turned blue.
"If you don"t answer, I shall conclude that you didn"t put any and take off with her right this instance. There"s no way my magic will fail—unless your amulet intervenes with it."
The fence clanked, creating an unnerving noise. Leonardo was ready to leap off at any given moment. In the unlikely event the triggered amulet cancelled his magic, Sharina would fall to the ground. The outcome would be terrible.
"…it"s on the root of the corsage"s leaves."
While answering, Riol clenched his fist in regret, his eyes closed.
"Fuun. As I thought."
After he made fool of Riol, Leonardo"s hand extended towards Sharina"s dress—
"W, wait—!!"
"You"ll be fine, now, Cat."
Right at that moment, the blood-sucking flower corsage was ripped from her dress and was thrown away. The shocked Sharina reached out too late—
"—seize that Black Rat until I return, Edward."
"Understood."
The shock was too overwhelming, Sharina was unable to speak.
In the meantime, his attendant whom had just arrived reached Riol"s shoulders.
"Your Highness, please stop fooling around—!!"
"I"m not fooling around, I"m being serious, here."
"What—!? Your Highness—!?"
Riol"s desperate plea was drowned by the roar of the wind.
"You"ll love the view of the ground from above. Let"s go."
Her body t.i.tled upwards, while also being pulled by gravity. A strong wind blew against her as she soared into the air—
"Are you amazed, yet? Beautiful, isn"t it? Open your eyes, Cat."
The ground was so far below, she felt faint. It only increased her desire to escape. She hated it. She felt so disgusted.
However, she was wary of speaking her mind to that man. After all, if he could hurt her beloved person like swatting a fly—what would stop him from dropping her down below…?
"No jewels gleam as brightly as the stars. Stars s.h.i.+ne on everyone—without caring who they are—and can"t be bought with gold—I thought that this would be the right present for you."
"…ugh."
She wasn"t joking around about the nausea—right now, she was ready to vomit.
"…Sharina—!!!!!"
"Rio… l…"
It pierced the raging wind—the voice that uttered her name.
"Intermediate water magic—Water Column! Heed my commands!"
"Huh—!?"
Her mind was in shambles, she was unsure of what she said—however, it was just for a moment. What use was there in summoning intermediate water magic at that time?
The answer to that—
—Sharina"s specialty was water magic. Of course, her magical expertise couldn"t compare to that of the Prince—hence, her spell couldn"t dispel his magic. The water column was only thick enough to be held with both arms—
—but then,
"—Water, the source of all things, the shapeless flow, become a pillar and penetrate the heaven—!! Aqua Column—!!!"
"Wha—what are you doing—!?"
She didn"t need to hesitate. She believed in Riol. I have to think of something—!! Sharina"s voice echoed the spell"s incantation. Due to fear, not only her voice was squeezed, her eyes were also tightly closed.
"Wha—what is this—!?"
"Eh?"
Sharina felt something cold touch the tip of her nose and opened her eyes—before her was a pillar of water that could engulf one or two people in an instant. It grew from the terrace like a giant tree.
"O, oi, wait—!!"
Sharina shouldn"t have that much power to manipulate water, however, she never doubted Riol. She felt like she knew what he was aiming—
"—dive in!!!"
Her body moved without even being told. Even though Leonardo was embracing her, he was only using one arm, unlike before. Her strength alone was enough to break free from it.
The water pillar was so close, part of her body was already soaked. That was how easy she jumped inside.
"This insolent Rat—!!!"
The abandoned Leonardo"s words were almost indiscernible underwater. She slid slowly using the water flow that reached towards the sky.
"Are you okay—?! Are you hurt—!?"
"Keho—!! Geho—!!" She was suddenly pulled out of the water. Apparently, she had landed on the terrace.
"I"m, alright… Riol. But, how…?"
Her feet were firm on the ground again. Riol was also right in front of her. There was no relief as big as what she was currently feeling.
"It"s another one of my magical amulets. This one amplifies your magic. I originally tried to make something that would enhance your magical output with only a little input. However, when the amulet is triggered, the field of magic formed forcibly absorbs the magical power of those who are nearby, instead, and regenerates your own."
"Wait. I see. That explains the fallen attendant over there."
"It seems that he lacks magical power. On the other hand, your magical prowess is quite a deal. Even if you have a large amount of magic, it"s useless if you"re unable to control it." Riol scoffed at himself for his failed product.
"It isn"t a failure! It"s superb! It"s truly amazing, Riol!"
Sharina, with her eyes gleaming, was about to take Riol"s hand—however,
"…I"ve had enough from you, Black Rat."
***T/N: MY G.o.d. THIS CHAPTER LEGIT GIVE ME CHILLLSSS, FINALLY, A HEROINE THAT COULD ACTUALLY DIFFERENTIATE BETWEEN ROMANTIC GESTURE AND ACTUALLY DANGEROUS, OFFENSIVE, REPULSIVE BEHAVIOUR OF A CREEP (SHE ALSO FEELS TRULY DISGUSTED AND SCARED OF HIM, WHICH IS SUPERRR REALISTIC AND COMMON SENSICAL) !!! MOREOEVER, SHE ALSO STAND UP FOR HERSELF, WITH MAGIC-!!!
actually, my mind was screaming MURDER HIM!!! with supreme ardor through the whole sharina"s magic phase.
SHARINA, WE GOT YOUR BACK!!!! THE POWER OF FANFICTION COMPELL THIS IMMATURE p.r.i.c.k OF A PRINCE TO GO TO THE BLOCK.
Next chapter>
~a budding translator~