Kapitel 22: Chapter 21
(A/N Notes: I am a simple man with simple ideas and simple desires)
-
"…"
Lysette stood silently as she looked at her surroundings, all around her she could feel the gazes of the guests going toward her, some showed surprise, others showed shock, but all of them showed fear. But she was used to it, before she got engaged it was common for small children to cry at seeing her and for other nobles to cower in fear of her position and rumors of her unparalleled talent in magic, however, such gazes still weighed on her.
Especially so, as she began to imagine Edward being amongst such fearful eyes, he was the only person she couldn't endure such a gaze from, he was too important for her, and just the thought of Edward fearing her was enough to cause her to feel something dark surging through her heart. But before such feeling could even take hold of her, Lysette was embraced…
"Eh!?… … … Huh?"
But such a romantic embrace was quickly ruined, by the person hugging her, worriedly touching her back, shoulders, arms, and even head, as if he was searching for injuries on her, and seeing that she had no visible injuries or appeared to be hurt anywhere, Edward sighed in relief as he properly hugged her this time.
"Whew! Thank god, you're fine, Lysette-sama…"
"E-Erm?… Hmm?… Y-Yesh…"
Suddenly receiving another hug, and a more gentle one this time, Lysette couldn't help but start blushing and feel like crying from the relief of seeing Edward this worried about her well-being. And in the heat of the moment, she hugged him back and rested her chin on his shoulder as she felt her tension disappearing from inside her.
Around them, the silence slowly began to change to murmurs about all of the events that happened in such a short time, a show that things were returning to their previous excitement. And feeling that everyone's gazes were moving away from her, Lysette decided to speak.
"Edward-sama, shall we go back to our table"
"*Nods* Of course, Lysette-sama"
With a happy smile at seeing Edward talking and looking at her in the same manner as he always did, Lysette hugged his arm in a bright mood as they returned to the table reserved for them. But in doing so, they both saw, Nanako making a melancholic face as she appeared to be regretting something.
"Nanako…"
"! Ah! W-Welcome back, E-Edward-sama… Lysette-sama…"
Not noticing their arrival, Nanako nervously greeted them back as she forced herself to show a smile. But the two easily saw through her newcomer facade.
"Nanako, is something wrong?"
"N-No…"
"… If you don't want to talk about it now, I'll respect your decision. But if you ever feel like talking about it later, I'll hear your worries with open arms, Nanako"
"… *Timidly nods*"
"And if you feel too embarrassed to talk about it with Edward-sama, you can always come to me, Nanako-san"
"Y-Yes…"
The two decided to not pry any further into what Nanako was concerning herself about, but the two, especially Edward, still felt worried about it. As he thought of what to do to improve her mood, Edward noticed that the music that had stopped due to the events from earlier, was returning, and the melody being played was the one used to remind the guests that the next ones were to be dance at their tune.
Remembering that Lysette had allowed him to use the time of the celebration to stay with Nanako, he came up with an idea to make Nanako forget about her worries, at least for the time being. Getting up from his seat, he turned and offered his hand to Nanako again.
"Nanako, may I have this dance with you?"
"Eh? B-But I-I don't know h-how to dance…"
"It's okay, I'm not that good at dancing either"
"…"
Nanako in her nervousness kept glancing at Lysette, in hopes that she would help her in her dilemma, however…
"Nanako-san, you should go. I am sure you have been going through some difficulties today, so you should just take this opportunity to forget about your worries, and just enjoy a dance with Edward-sama" <ANd besides I'll have Edward-sama all to myself later, fufu>
"… O-Okay… E-Edward-sama, p-please t-take care of me…"
"Of course"
Thanks to Lysette's words, Nanako timidly accepted Edward's hand, and went with him to the center of the dancing hall, as she continued to get the attention of the various onlookers, which was causing her to feel conscious again of her clothes and position.
"…"
"Nanako"
"! Y-Yes?"
"Extend your right hand like this"
"O-Okay"
"Left hand here"
"*Nods*"
"Feet like this"
"Mm"
"Good, now…"
"!?"
After Nanako got into the pose as requested by Edward, she felt a lot of surprise, when he pulled her close to him, as he wrapped his left arm around her waist. Not used to this, Nanako began to blush as her eyes started to spin from her embarrassment. But then the music stopped, and a few seconds of silence engulfed the hall, only for a slow melody to start.
"Nanako, we'll do this now. Step with the left, step with the right, and then left again, got it?"
"Y-Yes!"
"*Nods* Now… Left. Right. Left"
"…"
Following Edward's voice, Nanako nervously followed Edward's steps, she occasionally lost her balance, but with Edward tightly holding her waist, she never fell, however with each time she repeated those movements, her mistakes decreased at a fast pace.
"Very well, Nanako"
"T-Thank You…"
"*Nods* Now Nanako, after we do the third step three times, we'll change directions, like this"
"!"
Edward gently began to hold Nanako's left arm and extend it, while his right arm was the one that began to wrap around her waist from behind. Which again, made Nanako's cheeks turn red from her becoming conscious at how close she was to Edward right now.
"1, 2, 3… 1, 2, 3… 1, 2, 3, and change"
"…!"
"Got you"
"!?"
Again, Nanako almost tripped with her own legs, however with Edward paying extra attention to her, he was able to pull her close to him and prevent her from falling, but as a consequence, Nanako was pulled even closer to Edward, only making her bashfulness worse. Yet, she continued to endure her flustered self and kept on dancing as she followed Edward's instructions.
Just like before, she quickly got the hang of the instructions and rapidly stopped committing mistakes. As the two continued dancing, Nanako slowly started to forget about all of her worries that had been gripping her, since her arrival at Lysette's birthday celebration, and as such, her smile which had been stiff so far, began to loosen into a beautiful happy and bright smile.
"Nanako, now for the last part of this dance… 1, 2, 3 and… Spin"
"!?"
Nanako closely followed Edward's instructions, but when he made the last move of making Nanako do a single spin as he held her hand, she was caught completely by surprise, and just like before she almost fell, but again, Edward softly held her before she could reach the floor. But this time, in doing so, he brought Nanako's face very close to his, finally making Nanako remind herself of what she was doing, and as a consequence, her entire face turned beet red, as she remembered all those times Edward kissed her on the lips.
"… … …"
"… Do you want me to give you a kiss?"
"!? I-It's not like that!"
"I know. Let's leave for once we're alone"
"… … … O-Okay…"
With her face completely red, Nanako buried her face on Edward's chest, forcing him to return to just the three-step phase, as he gently smiled at his embarrassed fiancée. However as the two had become too absorbed in themselves, the two hadn't noticed all the gazes looking at them, although their dance was the simplest one, the atmosphere between Edward and Nanako was such that it captivated anyone who looked at the two dancing at their own pace.
.
.
.
And one of such gazes, was from Lysette, as she watched the two dance with a small hint of jealousy as she also felt a lot of anticipation to dance with Edward later, while she continued to sit at the table reserved for her.
As she continued to watch the two dance, she couldn't help but make a small smile, at seeing the two enjoying their moment, and also reminiscing about all of the moments Edward strived to make her happy.
"…" <I wonder if I hadn't met Edward-sama, would I be feeling that dark feeling all the time?>
Lysette remembered the dark feeling she felt in her heart, back when she worried about Edward's reaction to her magic talent, she always felt that there was something hidden inside her, but at the same time, she could never bring it out, no matter how much she tried, she was never able to grasp it or feel it on her own accord.
And now, she barely felt that anymore, rather, she could feel that whatever was hiding within the confines of her emotions and heart, was getting weaker over time, and the only times she ever felt it again, were on her first meeting with the crown prince, and from the event of earlier, yet after seeing Edward's concern and being hugged by him, that same feeling seemingly disappeared without trace.
"… *Whisper* Edward-sama… Thank you for everything…"
As Lysette smiled while deep into her thoughts, she didn't notice a pair approaching her in a hurry.
"LYSETTE-SAMA!!!"
"LADY LYSETTE!!!"
"!? Wha!? *Gasp* A-Ahem… *Deeply breaths in* How can I help you two? Lady Sofia, Sir Moss"
"Lysette-sama! Please tell us how you managed to make a sextuple magic casting!"
"And how you were able to maintain such magic on a standby mode for such a long period!"
"Yes! That as well!"
" "Please tell us!!!" "
"Ahaha…"
The two research freaks that were Lysette's friend, Sofia, and her fiancé, Moss, who was also Edward's friend, began to kowtow in front of Lysette in their desperation to have Lysette answer their questions, to which she could only dryly laugh with a troubled face.
"… Erm… … … Lady Sofia… Sir Moss… I will have to apologize to you two, because… I do not know how I managed to cast six magic spells at the same time…"
" "… … … Why!?" "
"!?"
"Lysette! This is the discovery of the century! We need to know how you did it so that we can use it as a reference for our current research on dual casting!"
"That's right! Please, Lady Lysette! Do that again, you can even use the weakest magic that you know! We just need to see how you did it!"
"I-I am truly sorry, Lady Sofia, Sir Moss! But I genuinely do not know how I did that! All I know is that when I saw Edward-sama in danger, I just acted without thinking!"
"Eh?… T-Then you're saying you made a sextuple casting… Without any prior knowledge of it… And by instinct?"
Hearing Sofia's despairing tone as she asked her, Lysette was only able to give her a small nod while showing a troubled and sorry expression. Receiving the confirmation, both Sofia's and Moss' expressions finally broke into one of shock and despair, at losing their only chance of seeing simultaneous casting in action and how it worked. Having their researcher hearts destroyed, the two apologized to Lysette for the fuss they caused and depressedly walked away.
"…" <I really, really am sorry about this matter, Sofia-chan!, Sir Moss!>
Seeing the back of the two, Lysette could only apologize to them for a third time, but only inside her mind this time. After those two, Lysette's other friends and their fiancés all went to check on her, while Edward was still dancing with Nanako. After a good while, the dancing music finally ended, allowing for Edward and Nanako to return to the table, with Nanako in particular, having her mood greatly improved after she completely forgot about the other guests as she danced.
"Lysette-sama, we've returned"
"…" *Bows down*
"Edward-sama, Nanako-san, welcome back. And that performance of yours was truly amazing"
"Thank you, Lysette-sama. I'll make sure to give you a performance just as good later"
"A-Ah! T-Thank you, I-I am looking f-forward to it as well…"
Lysette felt flustered at Edward's words, and in an attempt to hide her embarrassment, she gestured for him and Nanako to sit back down onto their seats, after they did so, Lysette rested her head on Edward's shoulder, as a little payback for saying such thing to her without any reservation. But all that did was cause Edward to pat her hair, and make Lysette blush even more.
.
.
.
The celebration of Lysette's birthday would continue for a few more hours, but after the main event that was the dance, the guests slowly started to take their leave after giving their farewells to Lysette, and one after the other, the estate which was bustling of activity slowly returned to its usual calm. The last guests to leave were Lysette's friends, and Edward's friends, who they were engaged with. They all had a final conversation for the night about what they had been up to these past few days.
Once all the guests, except for Edward and Nanako, had left the premises of the manor, the many servants of the Neville family, began cleaning and organizing the dancing hall, as that happened, Edward began doing his part of the deal of giving all his time and attention to Lysette after the party was over.
And because of how much attention Edward was giving her, Lysette rapidly felt overwhelmed by his affection, and was forced to make another tactical retreat with her face beet red, after she calmed herself down to be able to look at Edward again, she was told by her servants that Edward was waiting for her at the dancing hall so she made her way there.
"…"
Lysette stood in front of the double doors of the dance hall in silence, as she felt anticipation and nervousness at the thought of pushing those doors open. Even so, due to the time being close to midnight, Lysette had already taken a bath and changed into a simple and cute night dress, very similar to the one Nanako lent to her when she spent her first night at the Harding Manor.
"… *Deeply breaths in*… *Nods*"
Nodding to herself to confirm her intentions, Lysette opened the double door, and in the now empty dancing hall, she saw Edward sitting at a table with a magical music device on top of it, as he looked at the full moon on the clear sky.
The lights were off, but the moonlight was more than enough to illuminate the room through its large windows and window doors. The dancing hall instead of feeling empty in comparison to the celebrations felt extremely small.
Edward noticing that the door had opened, looked in Lysette's direction, and smiled at her when he saw her figure. Then he got up from his seat, and as Lysette slowly walked down the stairs, he walked in her direction. Carefully watching each of her steps, Lysette only noticed Edward approaching when he offered a hand to her, to help her walk down the stairs, which she readily accepted with a small and embarrassed, yet happy smile.
The two then approached the table with the magical musical instrument, with Edward on the lead, and when Lysette took a closer inspection of it, she noticed that it was the same magic tool that her father kept in his office.
"Edward-sama, how did you convince Father to lend you this device?"
"I was just honest with him, and said that I wanted to give you an unforgettable experience"
"…"
Receiving those words, Lysette looked away as she blushed. As she did that, Edward activated the music device, which began playing a melody meant for dancing. Edward who was still holding Lysette's hand, let go of it only him to offer it again to her, this time for a dance.
"Lysette-sama, may I have this dance with you?"
"… Yes…"
With a shy tone, Lysette agreed, as seeing Edward doing all that for her, atop all the attention he gave her shortly earlier, was only causing her bashfulness to keep growing. But even as she felt like that, her many dancing lessons had already ingrained into her muscle memory all of the necessary moves she had to do. So even as her mind was distracted, Lysette was able to perfectly dance at the slow pace of the song.
As they continued to dance in a simple yet captivating way, Lysette noticed Edward looking at her with more intent than usual.
"W-What is it, E-Edward-sama? I-Is there something o-on my face?"
"No, I was feeling captivated by your beauty under the moonlight"
"Wha!? Uwa!?"
Caught by complete surprise from that overly excessive praise of Edward, Lysette finally ended up committing a mistake in her steps and began falling. But just like with Nanako, Edward pulled Lysette close to him and tightly held her to not let her fall. However, by doing so, their faces got so close that the tips of their noses were almost touching.
"…"
"…"
For a brief moment, the two looked at each other in silence, without anyone else there to interrupt them or bring them back to reality, Lysette who would've refused to do so if they had danced earlier. Closed her eyes, as if she was waiting for a kiss. Edward seeing Lysette ask him like that, did as she wanted and kissed her lips under the moonlight.
For many minutes, the two kissed each other to their heart's content, without anyone interrupting them. However, their kiss eventually came to an end, leaving Edward and Lysette to only look at each other again. Lysette beginning to regret her choices, started blushing as she looked down to hide her embarrassment from Edward, while he on the other hand, just smiled and patted Lysette's hair, before he opened his mouth to speak with her.
"Lysette-sama, I'll have to apologize to you"
"Eh!? W-Why?"
"… Because you only asked me to give you flowers for your birthday… But, I still felt that those weren't so I want to give you this"
Edward took a single step back, and then knelt in front of Lysette, picking a small box from his pocket, Edward opened it revealing a charming, but simplistic ring. Seeing it, Lysette felt an overwhelming amount of excitement, joy, and embarrassment.
"E-Edward-sama, i-is this…"
"*Nods*"
"!!… T-T-Thank you… … … E-Edward-sama, I-I-I really love y-you…"
"I love you too, Lysette-sama"
With the happiest smile she ever did, Lysette excitedly and nervously put on the ring given to her by Edward. So much were her emotions overflowing, that she couldn't help but make tears of joy at having Edward by her side.
Wöchentlicher Energiestatus
-- Power-
Rangliste 
-- Power-
Stein