(A/N:-To all my readers, especially my female readers, this is probably the first time I have written a full chapter from a woman's perspective so I apologize in advance in case I wrote something which isn't plausible.)
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(Mayumi's P.O.V)
I closed my eyes and let Erik use his magic, I could feel his breath brush against my ears due to him being a half-a head taller than me, it felt a bit ticklish as the air hit my ear lobe.
My hands were firmly on his chest, holding his shoulders as I felt the firm muscles beneath his suit. My eyes were closed and I turned my head, so to avoid him from looking at my face.
I didn't want to appear defenceless or weak to him.
At first, I couldn't understand why but whenever Erik spoke to me, i-it felt nice, he was the only male other than my brothers who directly ignored my status and treated me like a normal girl, not some princess.
Unlike Naotsugu-san, who was gentle and caring towards everyone he met, Erik always had his calm demeanour every time he interacted with anyone.
Of course, he wasn't just calm or boring, joking with Mari, discussing tea with Suzune-san, talking about club activities with Katsuto-san.
He also teased me whenever I tried to make fun of him, acting like a big bad meanie who loved bullying me, that was the most we have seen from Erik other than his ever calm attitude.
But I couldn't even bring myself to be angry at him, I-I just couldn't.....
What's wrong? I asked this question to myself so many times, I wanted to know why was Erik-san seemed so attractive to me.
I thought it was just me having a crush on him, after all, it was completely natural to be attracted to Erik. He was the most handsome man I had ever seen, known for being on par with Kudou Minoru who was considered otherworldly handsome.
Plus he demeanour, the way he spoke, the way he engaged with others, too somehow was attractive for me.
I didn't realise that my feelings for him, that I thought temporary, were slowly solidifying, my crush increased to something more....
It wasn't love, after all, we had only known each other for so long to understand a bit about each other, but it was near that level.
I would lay on my bed, holding a pillow within my hands to hide my face whenever I thought about the way he would talk to me.
I would sometimes spend hours thinking about our interaction, again and again until I felt satisfied. My daily practice of Speed-Shooting was also sometimes unfruitful due to me not focusing on the task at hand.
My younger siblings have also become suspicious of my behaviour, My sister Saegusa Izumi, whom I cared deeply for asked me about my behaviour, though I managed to divert the question into something else.
On the other hand, my other sister, Saegusa Kasumi, who as loveable as Izumi, shocked me by her overprotective nature concerning myself.
After all, I didn't want her to say something she shouldn't when I invite Erik and Mari to my birthday party. As polite as Erik was, he still was the current owner of [The Saltzman Coorporation], even the old man had to respect the Emperor of the World's biggest Business Empire.
The Saegusa family received an invitation from the Juumonji Clan, my family of invited to the [Foundation-Day Party] hosted by Katsuto-san himself.
I was chosen to attend the party due to my elder brothers being away from the city, and it wasn't appropriate of Old man to attend the party since even the Juumonji Clan Head wouldn't be present there.
I, of course, was bored at first but then I thought about the possibility of Erik attending the party, and couldn't help but be excited after all his status did qualify to be a part some a party arranged by Katsuto-san himself.
It was the perfect opportunity for Katsuto-san to cement his position as the heir to the throne and even showcase his connections to powerful individuals at a personal level, after all, Erik-san and Katsuto-san do get along.
Anyway, so I dressed and did some makeup, I wanted to look as beautiful as I possibly could without overdoing it.
The only problem I had with Erik was, his lack of reaction towards me, don't get me wrong, I love the fact that he sees me as a normal girl but all this time he didn't have any kind of reaction that would give me the idea that he too liked me, or at least a little bit.
He would always smile at me, but he did that to everyone, he would compliment me, but he would do that to others too, he would tease me, but that was most likely due to me trying to tease him first.
It didn't seem that Erik considered me anything more than a friend, and to tell the truth, it frustrated me, not to praise myself but I know for a fact that I am attractive enough to get anyone's attention.
I am talented, beautiful, try my best to behave like a proper lady, a lot of people are impressed by these qualities but Erik, that fool never looked at me with a different intent.
I knew that suppressing my budding feelings for him or pushing them on him wouldn't work. So I tried my best to maximize my chances of attracting him.
And it did work! His eyes looked at me for quite some time, I could feel his gaze, it felt similar to how he always looked at me but this time, there was a little something else too, he looked absolutely fabulous in his suit by the way.
I knew for a fact that even though Erik had a usually high resistance to woman's charms, he still did feel something! Meaning that there was a chance that I could slowly burrow my way into the soft spot in his heart.
Of course, I will have to fight tooth & nail to have him look at me as someone more than a friend.
However it seemed that doing so would be very hard considering Erik's personality, but before I had the chance to ponder on this, we were attacked by a terrorist organization.
Those bastards ruined my perfect chance to deepen my bond with Erik, and it wasn't even the worst thing that happened, they broke the pillars supporting the ceiling of the main hall, wanting to bury us alive.
I immediately acted, activating my C.A.D, I was going to cast a spell to create an ice-dome around us, to protect us from the collapsing ceiling but before I could proceed with my actions.
I felt a hand grab my waist and pull, my dress was backless, I felt electricity course through my body as his fingers brushed through my back, settling down on the waist.
Of course like always, Erik wore his white gloves which covered his palms thus there was no direct contact between his palm and my skin, though I wondered how his touch would feel.
I once did ask his the reason behind him wearing the gloves, he replied saying that it was due to his magic being too strong, he had to cover his palms to avoid potentially hurting anyone.
Now that I think about it, I don't even know which type of Magic does Erik specializes in.
Whatever so he pulled me towards himself, I had to put my hands on his chest to maintain balance as I raised my head to look at his beautiful eyes.
He gave off a powerful feeling, the pressure coming from his eyes forced me to avert my eyes.
I heard him saying "Close your eyes..."
He didn't have his usual calm tone, it was more assertive and commanding when compared to his tone. I didn't resist and did what he said, I closed my eyes, like a good girl.
Even though I couldn't see his face, I knew for a fact that he was pleased, and it excited me, I was happy to know that our relationship which had seemed to stagnate was finally moving forward, no matter how slow it seemed.
After opening my eyes again, I was in a different place, still within his arms, one floor beneath the main hall...
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