Chapter 51: Outing
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 51: Outing
The silence was awkward, once again.
It was probably because this was the first time they were meeting like this—personally, with no connection to their contract.
“…”
“…”
Noel and Aiden silently looked at each other.
While Aiden had merely groomed himself to be a bit neater than usual, Noel had clearly poured every ounce of effort into her appearance, from head to toe.
Hadn’t this woman always just worn her uniform, even to banquets hosted by the imperial family?
Stay calm.
Aiden took a deep, internal breath. Noel looked anything but normal; she was practically radiating anxiety. She was so flustered that she seemed completely unaware of her own actions. Or maybe she was just terribly nervous.
Either way, he needed to keep his wits about him.
It was a truth he’d considered before: the more favor someone showed him, the more alert he had to be. The closer two people became, the harder it was to handle the fallout from a single mistake.
“Is there anywhere you’d like to go?” he asked.
Noel snapped out of her daze with a jolt and squeezed out her words with great difficulty. “G-Going to the movies, or eating something delicious… isn’t that what a date is? Though I don’t really know.”
“…Then for now, should we at least grab a meal—”
“W-Wait a moment, please! I have a list I prepared!”
“…”
Aiden stared, speechless, as Noel pulled a notebook from her coat and began flipping rapidly through its pages.
Well, it wasn’t as if he was totally unprepared. He’d looked up a few basic things to do beforehand, but it was nothing compared to the meticulously handwritten lists in Noel’s notebook, which were covered in all kinds of circles, checkmarks, and annotations.
Just how much had this woman prepared before coming out?
Overwhelmed by her thoroughness, Aiden followed her without a word of complaint. Inside the restaurant she led him to, he looked around, his face turning slightly pale.
“…Dame Noel.”
“Yes?”
“…Isn’t this place a bit too nice?”
The place she had dragged him to was unmistakably, dreadfully expensive—far too high-end for someone like him. When he opened the menu with trembling hands, it was filled with prices that made him want to leap out of his seat and flee.
For Aiden, who had spent his days feeling the constant financial strain of a small household with his father and younger sister, these were figures that threatened to give him a heart attack just by looking at them.
“Shall I bring out all the menu items on this page?” the waiter asked.
“Yes. Thank you,” Noel replied.
“…”
And Dame Noel, who had so boldly ordered everything, was on another level entirely.
…Once again.
It was a fact he had been reminded of time and again, but it showed even in these minor details. This woman and he lived in completely different worlds.
“You don’t look well. Is something bothering you?”
“…No.”
And if he really thought about it, the fact that such a person was even more nervous than he was, constantly trying to read his expression, only made the situation stranger.
While being in this seat was uncomfortable enough, something else was compounding the problem.
…What is she doing over there?
He could feel Katya’s gaze piercing his back. She was trying her best to hide her presence, but she kept entering the perception range of Aiden, who was highly sensitive to fellow Divine Power users. She had quietly stalked them all the way here and was now watching them from a distance.
For Aiden, this was nothing short of sitting on pins and needles. Katya’s current Bond Type toward him was ‘Obsession.’ If he let slip any unnecessary words, there was no telling how she might react. The best course of action was to keep the topic as natural as possible, delicately navigating the conversation without upsetting Noel. Honestly, if things went wrong, there was no telling what kind of trouble Katya might cause.
“You’ve seemed busy lately. Are you alright?”
Official business was the simplest topic. Katya wouldn’t have much of a reaction to that.
“Actually, it’s been harder on me because of you, Aiden.”
“…Pardon?”
“There was so much I wanted to tell you, but it was so difficult for us to be alone. Her Highness Katya lacks tact and wouldn’t even guarantee you personal time—”
He could vividly imagine sparks flying from Katya’s eyes. Even without turning his head, he felt a sharp, chilling glare pierce his spine.
Aiden hurriedly steered the conversation in a different direction. “I’m fine, so you don’t need to worry about that. Anyway… Dame Noel, you’ve been summoned to the Imperial Palace quite often recently.”
In truth, this was something Aiden himself had been curious about. The Imperial Prince and the Administrative Minister were supposed to be keeping a low profile. Even if they were maneuvering behind the scenes, they weren’t in a position to cause a major incident. Yet, he recalled seeing Noel being summoned directly by the Emperor for frequent discussions. It was happening often enough that even an outsider like Aiden could tell something was afoot.
Noel let out a deep sigh before answering. “The Aslan Grand Ducal House is causing trouble.”
At that name, Aiden’s eyebrow twitched.
…The Aslan Grand Ducal House?
He knew that name well. They were the shield of the Empire against the Northern Void Zone and one of the most distinguished martial families in the nation. Although the martial artist regarded as the absolute strongest in the Empire was Lionheart, the fact that everyone ranked beneath her hailed from the Aslan family was a testament to their formidable power.
For Aiden, the name was also familiar for a different reason.
The key figures of Chapter 2.
Wasn’t this the family that served as the primary stage for Act 1, Chapter 2—Night of the Hunt?
“…Did something happen over there?”
“Well… there have long been rumors about Grand Duke Aslan’s health. The problem is that every single one of his successors is ambitious. It’s common knowledge that the Grand Duke’s son and daughter have a bad relationship. It’s a typical succession dispute.”
“…”
Once again, the information differed from the original story.
…Grand Duke Aslan is sick?
Originally, Chapter 2 was a quest where the player worked ‘together with the Grand Duke’ to nip a demonic beast commotion in his territory in the bud. Yet here it was, twisted from its very foundation.
I have a bad feeling about this.
Furthermore, if an internal feud over succession was already underway, it was the perfect environment for the Imperial Prince and the Administrative Minister to slip in and take advantage. In the story, Grand Duke Aslan and his territory were immensely influential elements leading from Chapter 2 to Chapter 3. What Noel had just said was not information to be taken lightly.
“—More importantly, Aiden.”
“…Yes?”
“Right now, things like that aren’t important.”
And with that, as if to snap Aiden out of his thoughts, Noel cleared her throat and spoke.
“In this place, right now… I mean—” Noel faltered, her eyes darting back and forth. The way she squirmed, it was as if uttering these words required every last drop of courage she possessed. “—I would like us to talk purely about ourselves.”
“…”
“Th-There is so much we don’t know about each other, isn’t there? After all, we’re going to be a married couple in the future.”
“…Is that so? Is there something you’re curious to know about me?”
In truth, her request wasn’t strange at all. Though they were bound by a sham marriage, they knew almost nothing about each other. Wanting to have a real conversation wasn’t odd—
“I think I would prefer a son over a daughter, but what do you think, Aiden?”
—Aiden’s body froze solid.
Though he couldn’t see her, he was certain Katya, watching from behind, wore a similar expression.
“…Was that a strange question?” Noel asked.
“…Quite.”
It was certainly not a question to bring up on a first date. Especially not when an uninvited, obsessive guest was listening in, already displeased just seeing them together.
At his response, Noel’s face turned slightly pale. She seemed to be wracking her brain for a better question…
“Then shall I change the question to how many children you would like to have?”
“…”
Please. No.
He realized, once again, that this woman possessed a disastrous inability to moderate herself when it came to topics like this.
“…Shall we talk about something a bit different, Dame Noel?”
“…Which baby care products would be good to use?”
I’m begging you, please get your mind off of children.
As Aiden squirmed, trying to steer clear of questions that had no business being asked on a first date, the glare from Katya grew sharper and sharper. He felt his blood run cold.
“…”
Please. Save me. Someone save me from this hell.
Just as Aiden squeezed his eyes shut with that thought—
—saviors stormed into the restaurant.
“Get down!”
“Put the money in here! Right now!”
…They came in the form of men wearing ski masks and aiming guns.
“…”
And he wasn’t wrong to call them saviors—they had, after all, freed him from this predicament.
Robbers had become a rare sight these days, especially the classic type wearing masks and brandishing guns. In a world full of people who could smash rocks with their bare hands by wielding Supernatural Abilities, the number of audacious fools who would try something like this had naturally dwindled.
In fact, weren’t two people who stood at the absolute pinnacle of such individuals sitting right here in this restaurant?
“Get down! Move a muscle, and I’ll blow your head off!”
“Wallets! Take out all your wallets and put them in the sack!”
In that sense, the emotion Aiden felt watching the men scream and brandish their guns was far closer to relief than fear. While all the other customers dropped to the floor in a panic, his eyes darted between Noel and Katya.
“—Haa.”
A thick vein bulged on Noel’s forehead as she let out a sigh. Refined Qi, so pure it looked like white vapor, pulsed with her breath.
“When someone went out of her way… to finally pluck up the courage… to arrange this date—”
“…”
Aiden broke out in a cold sweat as he watched Noel’s eyes glint with a demonic aura. The knife and fork in her hands crumpled into a twisted mess of metal.
“—you damn criminals had to go and ruin it without a single shred of tact—”
It was a bit funny that her rage was focused on her date being interrupted rather than on the crime itself, but regardless—
Behind them, Katya was scraping her fork against her plate, a serene smile on her face. She didn’t look the least bit tense.
Instead, it was Aiden who was starting to get nervous.
…What kind of trouble are these two about to cause?