[Third Person's PoV]
Cid was relaxing on a lawn chair in front of a pool with Celeste laying back on his chest, wearing sunglasses that were way too big for her face. He held her in place with one hand and had his other hand behind his head.
To his side, Alpha was also on a lawn chair, though instead of relaxing, she was in a meditative position. Even while pregnant, she didn't stop her training and had decided to focus on learning about the Sun.
In the pool, Delta and Zeta were moving wildly, trying to hit each other with a volleyball, water splashing everywhere as they grinned ferociously.
Alexia appeared from the side, running toward him with a newspaper in hand. "Cid, you're going to want to see this!"
Alexia handed Cid the newspaper. "It's about Rose!"
Cid took the newspaper and opened it in front of Celeste's eyes.
"She's going to marry Perv Asshat. You have to stop it from happening," Alexia said with a pleading gaze.
"Don't worry, this was within expectation. I'm meeting up with Epsilon in a few minutes," Cid informed her as he stood up. He kissed Celeste's cheek and handed her off to Alexia.
Cid snapped his fingers for dramatic effect as slime moved from his shadow, wrapping around his body to form a formal suit.
Most of Alexia's worries vanished as she held Celeste. Meanwhile, Celeste looked at Cid in his formal wear and began clapping her hands, her large glasses sliding off her face.
Cid said his peace and disappeared into his shadow, reappearing in Oriana Kingdom's capital. He started making his way toward the large royal castle while casually whistling.
As he arrived at the main gate, the guards pointed their weapons at him. "Halt. Who are you and what is your business?"
Cid almost rolled his eyes, but Epsilon jumped in and put her arm around his. "Sorry for the inconvenience, sirs. This right here is my apprentice. I thought he was lost, but it appears he arrived before me."
"L-Lady Silon's apprentice!?" the guards asked in astonishment. "Many apologies, we had no—"
Epsilon simply held up her hand. "It's alright. You guys had no way of knowing."
"Thank you for showing such kindness," the guards bowed and opened the gate for them to go through.
As they walked, Epsilon clung to his arm, squishing it between her chest.
"You're playing a dangerous game… Sensei~" Cid teased.
Epsilon batted her eyelashes at Cid while tilting her head cutely toward him. "And what game would that be?"
"I think you know," Cid said. "By the way, might I say, you are looking quite beautiful today."
Epsilon blushed and swayed side to side. Epsilon gained a mysterious glint as she then asked, "So, are you saying I wasn't beautiful yesterday… or the day before?"
Cid understood the trick Epsilon was trying to pull. He leaned over and whispered, "I'm saying that each day that passes, you are more beautiful than the last."
Cid and Epsilon then began chuckling and giggling between themselves. "You always know what to say, don't you?"
"It's a gift," Cid playfully shrugged as they entered the castle.
They appeared in what looked like a fancy banquet with a large table, music, and nobles talking among themselves.
The person who walked up to them was, of course, Perv Asshat. He put a hand on his chest as he greeted Epsilon.
"Ah, if it isn't Lady Silon. And may I ask who— It's you! What are you doing here?" Perv asked, his expression growing unpleasant.
"Have you two met before?" Epsilon asked, looking between the two of them.
"Unfortunately so, despite my best wishes," Cid happily smiled.
The frown on Perv Asshat grew. "Lady Silon, I must know, what is the relationship between you and this crass, rude boy?"
Epsilon held out a hand, her expression showing she was upset by Perv Asshat's comment. "I will have to ask you to please not insult my student."
"Your student?" Perv Asshat asked with distaste. "Forgive me for my words, Lady Silon, but surely you could have done better than choosing this boy as your apprentice."
Epsilon's expression grew colder. "I will not stand here and have you insult my student to my face. If this is how you treat your guests, then I have no further business in this place. Come on, let's leave," she said, grabbing Cid's hand and turning to leave.
'Why was that so hot?' Cid wondered to himself.
"Wait!" Perv Asshat said, trying to stop her from leaving. "I hope you can forgive me. It's just that we are under a lot of stress. There are some rumors that outsiders have infiltrated this place. Actually, due to security reasons, we have changed entry regulations recently.
I'm afraid that even your apprentice would need an entry permit. So forgive me if it appears I was a bit hostile. How about this: why doesn't he play a piece to show everyone he really is your apprentice? That way, he wouldn't need the entry permit. Let his skills speak for themselves."
Although his words were polite, his expression was anything but. 'I hope you embarrass yourself in front of everyone, you brat,' Perv Asshat thought.
Epsilon looked toward Cid. "What do you say? We can leave anytime you want, just say the word."
Cid only smiled politely and nodded his head. "I'll do it."
"Lovely," Asshat replied. "ATTENTION EVERYONE, ATTENTION!" he said, drawing attention.
'I'm going to stick my foot so far up his namesake…' Cid silently swore as he watched Asshat create a scene.
As everyone's attention was on him, Asshat motioned toward Cid, patting him on the shoulder. "This young man right here is Lady Silon's apprentice, and we are going to witness him play something he learned from his master! Isn't that exciting? Please give him a thunderous applause as encouragement."
As the applause began and Cid walked toward the piano in the middle of the room, Cid's eyebrows twitched. 'I'm going to enjoy changing his last name from Asshat to Greenhat.'
Cid sat down and put his hands on the keys of the piano. As he set his hands, he waited for the applause to settle.
Cid then began to play Beethoven's "Für Elise." The rhythm was quite simple at first, but even with such a simple rhythm, it brought tears to everyone's eyes.
Everyone saw the beauty in simplicity.
As the beat picked up and became faster, emotions ran high, until it slowed down once more.
When Cid pressed the last note, there was a long silence before everyone erupted into applause. Some even whistled, and every single person around was shedding tears.
Epsilon had her hands in the air as she slightly bowed, tears running down her face. "Bravo! Bravo! It was so exceptionally beautiful!"
Even Asshat was shedding tears. "Maybe you're not so bad, young man."
'I'm still going to cuck you and steal this ring, dumbass,' Cid thought to himself as he stealthily pocketed most of Asshat's jewelry without anyone noticing.
As Perv Asshat and everyone else were shedding tears, Epsilon and Cid both snuck away.
Cid had a smirk on his face as he flipped the ring in his hand like it was a coin.
"Is that what I think it is?" Epsilon asked in surprise.
"Yup, it's the key, and most importantly, my way toward a fun vacation," Cid smirked as they both explored the halls of the castle.
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[Third Person's PoV]
Cid was leaning against a wall as he continued to study the ring. 'This is going to be interesting…' he thought to himself as he flipped the ring in the air before putting it in his pocket.
Not long after, Epsilon returned with a maid in hand, the maid had stars in her eyes as she looked at Cid.
"Here, this is Margarette. Unfortunately, I have a performance to do, so she will be taking care of you while I'm not around," Epsilon said, motioning towards the maid.
Margarette stepped up with an awestruck expression, letting out an excited squeal. "It's a pleasure to meet you! I heard your performance earlier; it was simply divine! I don't think I've ever heard anything so amazing."
"Thank you," Cid said, smiling kindly towards her.
Which caused Margarette to blush as she giggled and played with her hair.
Epsilon gave a look of disgust before looking towards Cid, who gave her an awkward smile.
Epsilon simply rolled her eyes, turned around, and walked back to where she came from.
Meanwhile, Margarette wrapped her arms around Cid's arm, sandwiching it between her breasts. "Come, I'll lead you to the flower garden. It's a place you must see!" she said excitedly.
Epsilon looked back towards Cid and Margarette and almost decided to murder Margarette upon realizing where she was putting her breast.
Epsilon took a deep breath to calm herself down. "You have a mission; the mission is more important than your jealousy," she muttered.
"... But I'm the Sin of Envy, so it shouldn't matter," she whispered slowly, turning around before sighing and shaking her head. She turned back and began walking off.
As Margarette took Cid towards the garden, she looked up at him. "I really meant it when I said your performance was amazing. Your music touched my soul."
As they explored the garden, Margarette said, "You are already qualified to be a top pianist! Ms. Silon must be a really harsh mentor if she's still keeping you as her apprentice."
"I'm sure she just wants to keep her very handsome apprentice all to herself," Margarette said, like someone who had discovered the world's greatest secret while walking ahead.
She then spun around and in a hushed tone whispered, "How about coming to work for my family instead? You might be surprised, but they're actually pretty well off. We can do about 70 million a year. How about that?"
"Are you sure you can make such a decision without your parents' confirmation?" Cid asked in amusement.
Margarette held his hands and looked at him with excitement. "That's the great thing about Oriana Kingdom. We spare no expense when it comes to great talent."
Margarette's expression then turned a bit downcast. "But… things have been a bit gloomy recently. The entire kingdom is a mess, thanks to Princess Rose."
Before she could continue, they were interrupted by someone shouting towards them.
"You there!"
When they turned towards the voice, they found a skinny-looking guard with glasses, holding a sword and pointing it at Cid.
"Stay away from my Mar– I mean, from that maid over there! You damn pervert!"
"Who's that?" Cid ignored him and asked Margarette.
Margarette had an unpleasant expression. "That's Kevin, a guard. I really hate his guts."
'How dare that nobody call my liege a pervert! My lord, let me kill him,' Beru asked, glaring at Kevin from his shadow.
Kevin felt a shiver down his spine, causing him to look around with his sword.
Cid had a look of amusement as he denied Beru's request.
"He's always ogling at me from far away. It's really creepy!" Margarette said with a shiver.
Cid pointed towards a flower to the side. "Hey, what's that flower called?"
Margarette turned towards the flower in confusion. As she was distracted, Cid formed a hand with his Ruler's Authority and flicked Kevin away.
Hearing a scream in the distance, Margarette stopped looking towards the flower and looked to where Kevin once was.
"Where did he go? You know what, thank goodness he's gone– wait, where did you go!" she asked, looking around in confusion as she didn't find Cid next to her.
...
Cid was seen leaning on a balcony just outside Rose's door. When he looked inside, he found Rose crying to herself.
Cid leaned forward, knocked on the window, and leaned right back onto the balcony.
Rose looked towards the door in confusion. She quickly wiped her tears, stood up, and walked towards the balcony door.
Her eyes widened in surprise as she opened the door, seeing who it was. "Cid!" Rose excitedly yelled as she rushed into his arms.
Immediately, as she was in his arms, tears began to flow down her face. "What are you doing here? You can get into a lot of trouble if you're found out," she said with a sad look.
Cid grabbed her face, pushing her hair away, and wiped the tears from her face as she looked up at him. She closed her eyes and leaned her face on his hand.
"Why do you think I'm here?" Cid asked.
'Is he here to take me away like in Natsume's story, when the prince comes and takes her away from all that is evil? Unfortunately, this isn't a fairytale.'
"I'm sorry, Cid, but I just can't be with you," Rose said, biting her lips.
'I think this was the first time I was rejected,' Cid thought in amusement.
'I can't tell him about my mother… I'll just be a burden to him,' Rose thought to herself.
Cid sighed. 'It looks like I'll have to put on a performance of the century.'
"Since when have you become so weak?" he asked, looking at her coldly.
"What?"
"The Rose I know isn't some whiny little princess that acts all helplessly. Do you remember when I gifted you my power?"
(A/N: Chapter 98)
Rose thought back and slowly nodded, "You said power in the hands of someone with no will to keep fighting is meaningless and worthless."
"Do you think I gave you my power simply because you were beautiful?" Cid scoffed as he led her inside.
Rose looked down with shame, shaking her head.
"The reason I gave you that power is because I saw a powerful will in your eyes. You had the eyes of someone who wouldn't stop at nothing to accomplish their goals."
Cid lifted her chin to meet her eyes, causing her to bite her lip in sadness as more tears gathered in her eyes.
"But I don't see that will anymore. I see someone who has given up and doesn't see the way forward anymore. Tell me, do you think I was wrong about you? Do you think I chose wrong?"
Rose shook her head. "No, you weren't wrong," she said as they both sat down on her bed.
"Then prove what I saw in your eyes that day was the real you and not this sad excuse of a princess… because this is not who you are… you are better than that…"
There was a sparkle in Rose's eyes as she looked towards Cid. She stared into his eyes before looking down at his lips.
The two slowly moved towards each other, feeling each other's breath before Cid brought her face closer and began kissing her.
As they became more passionate, they heard a loud knock on the door. "Rose! Is there someone in there?!"
Rose's eyes widened in surprise and fear…
Perv Asshat burst through the room and found Rose wiping her eyes. "What?"
"I heard someone in here! Who was in here with you?!"
Meanwhile, Cid was out on the balcony with a piece of cake in his hands, happily eating it.
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