~Chapter 22~
“This dress should go with these shoes, right?”
“Yes, that would be… hmm?”
Mary started to agree out of habit but stopped when she looked at the design.
The pointy, lace-up boots looked like something a dwarf fairy would wear, and didn’t match the light, chiffon dress at all.
Seeing Mary hesitate, Eliana kindly asked,
“Do you really like these?”
“T-that is…”
Mary’s eyes trembled.
‘She probably thinks it’s not right either.’
Eliana, who had deliberately picked shoes that didn’t match, laughed out loud.
Mary looked confused.
“Why are you laughing?”
“Princess, who is the main character of this ceremony?”
“Of course, it’s me,” Mary said, as if that was obvious.
“Then why are you letting everything be decided by me?”
“Well… because you picked everything so carefully. I thought you’d know better than me since you’re preparing all of this.”
Mary flinched, as if she thought Eliana was accusing her.
Eliana smiled gently and answered softly,
“Of course I worked hard, but it’s all for your sake, not mine.”
“The most important thing in this meeting is not my taste, but yours, Princess.”
Mary tried to avoid conflict,
“My taste isn’t so different from yours, Eliana.”
It looked like Mary thought Eliana was picking a fight.
Eliana gave her a warm look, to show she wasn’t upset.
“If I insisted on these fairy boots, would you really wear them?”
“T-that…”
“Don’t you think they really don’t match with the dress, Princess?”
“Eliana?”
Mary still didn’t seem to understand Eliana’s intention, and looked uncomfortable.
Most of the time, people just accepted whatever Mary wanted, so this was new for her.
This time, Eliana made a fist and even puffed up her cheeks, acting like she was upset.
Just as Mary flinched, Eliana shouted, almost defending Mary,
“If I were you, I’d say, ‘Would YOU wear these?!’ and throw the design at me!”
“Isn’t that a bit much?”
Mary stared at her, shocked.
Eliana answered proudly,
“Does it matter if it’s too much? If you wore these shoes at the ceremony, people would tease you about it forever!”
“No matter what…”
Mary mumbled, her eyes shaking.
Eliana pressed harder,
“If it were me, I’d probably be up at night, wondering how to get revenge on the person who picked these shoes for me.”
She even waved her hand, as if imagining it made her shudder.
Mary stared blankly at Eliana.
She realized Eliana was right.
If she wore those shoes, she wouldn’t be able to take a step without blushing.
Eliana, sensing Mary’s hesitation, grinned slyly.
“You imagined it, didn’t you? Your face is all red!”
“T-that’s not…”
Mary tried to cover her face with a fan, but Eliana stopped her gently and said,
“So just say it. Tell me you absolutely won’t wear these shoes. Tell me, ‘You wear them instead.’”
“I-I can’t! How could I say that?”
Eliana thought maybe she’d gone too far, so she softened her tone,
“Okay, then just say, ‘I will never wear these shoes.’ It’s only hard the first time. If you keep doing it, saying no gets easier.”
She held Mary’s fan and looked her in the eye, urging her.
It was clear Eliana wouldn’t let it go until Mary said something.
Finally, Mary mumbled in a teary voice,
“…these shoes…”
“What was that? Say it louder, Princess.”
Eliana pretended not to hear, acting innocent.
Mary stared at her for a moment.
Maybe it was because she felt that Eliana would accept her no matter what.
Mary finally spoke up.
“I… won’t wear these shoes.”
Her voice was so small that it would have been hard to hear if they weren’t close.
Eliana smiled happily and soothed her,
“Louder, please.”
Mary’s face turned bright red. With a determined face, she shouted,
“I-I’m NOT! I’m not wearing them! …Hiccup!”
It was a fierce voice.
It was the first time Mary had ever shouted like that. She was so startled that she hiccupped.
She had never yelled at anyone before. Her hands were shaking.
But it felt strange.
Why did it feel a little refreshing?
Had she ever shouted like this in her life?
“Hic!”
Mary, hiccupping after shouting so boldly, looked very cute.
She tried to watch Eliana’s reaction, still nervous.
But Eliana was staring at her with big eyes.
Mary’s heart almost skipped a beat, but then Eliana gave her the warmest smile ever.
Eliana even clapped, giving her an enthusiastic round of applause.
No one had ever smiled and cheered for Mary when she didn’t smile.
For Mary, being told to speak up if she disliked something was new.
“Well done, Princess. From now on, if there’s something you don’t like, please shout it out.”
“…That’s strange.”
“What is?”
“…Nothing.”
Mary shook her head, mumbling.
Her hiccups stopped, and her nerves seemed to ease a bit.
It was an unfamiliar feeling, but not a bad one.
The tension she always felt when talking to others seemed to loosen, even a little.
Maybe she even felt a bit lighter.
“Alright, should we pick again from the start?”
Eliana rolled up her sleeves and showed Mary the dress designs again, just like their first meeting.
Mary asked, surprised,
“Weren’t these already chosen?”
“We have to choose again, according to your taste, Princess.”
Eliana answered as if it was obvious.
Mary stared at her, feeling a little sorry for undoing hours of work.
“Is that okay?”
“Of course!”
Eliana answered cheerfully, and patiently waited for Mary to choose every item again, never complaining.
‘Even when I talked to Callius, I never felt this comfortable…’
A small smile appeared on Mary’s face.
It was the first truly relaxed conversation she’d had in a long time.
Meanwhile, Velkirei smiled lazily like a well-fed beast.
He had gotten much healthier in just a few days.
Lying alone in his quiet bedroom, Velkirei’s eyes glowed red.
His right eye was no longer human.
A clear contract symbol was engraved in it—a small snake swallowing a huge gold coin.
It was the sign of a snake hungry for power.
Velkirei, who always had a gentle smile, now looked cold and expressionless.
“It’s still strange.”
He bit his lower lip and closed his eyes in thought.
A bit of pain throbbed in his head.
‘Did my strength already run out?’
Velkirei naturally thought of Eliana, who had gone to meet Mary, and waited for her return.
Whenever Eliana touched him, the pain disappeared, so he found himself depending on her more and more.
Ever since Eliana Musieux entered his world, the demon’s power had stabilized quickly.
Especially after kissing her, the headaches would disappear for days.
He still couldn’t fully accept the demon’s power, but as long as the pain lessened, he felt like he could survive.
If things hadn’t improved before Mary’s debut, he would have had to create a double. But now, he didn’t need to.
As long as Eliana stayed by his side, he could control his power.
Velkirei became curious about the source of Eliana’s ability.
When he first found out she was a magician, he tried to steal her mana core, but it was pointless.
The mana in her core was the same kind as his own magic.
If he took it, there’d be no benefit, and she might even die.
“We definitely made eye contact,” Velkirei muttered under his breath.
