The announcement of the ball caused many different reactions to fill the room. Many looked greedy, mainly for the chance that they might win over the princess into their family, gaining both an impressive dowry and a connection to the imperial family that could do nothing but benefit them and shower them in power. The imperial ball was also a chance to get closer to other nobles as well, since it was one of the few rare events where nobles of every rank would mandatorily have to join, which was invaluable in the world of both business and upper society as well. Even if winning over the princess might fail, there was always that chance that two nobles might catch each other’s eye who might never have met at a regur function.

  And of course, unsurprisingly there were those who frowned, completely unappealed to by such an inescapable event.

  Sien was one such person.

  While his uncle continued to stare at him, Sien quickly got up from his chair and made his way out of the meeting room amongst all the commotion, not wanting to get caught up in the crowd of people that would soon be hastening towards the door. And most importantly, he had to rescue Ritt from such a thing as well; The wind had told him that Ritt hadn’t budged from his spot at the door for the entire duration of the meeting.

  As Sien dashed out of the room and closed the door behind him, he hurriedly grabbed onto Ritt’s hand and began to lead the surprised man away, the two of them only barely making it steps down the hall before the crowd of nobles burst out from the meeting hall, stirring up a loud murmur as they spoke amongst each other.

  “Hah, just in time! I’m gd I was able to get you out of there!”

  Ritt blinked several times, looking back over his shoulder at the avanche that they’d just narrowly escaped. The scene elicited memories of yesterday, when he’d been mobbed by the nobles that asked him seemingly never ending questions. The possibility that he could have been caught up in a simir situation again made him shudder.

  “...Yes, thank you for that, Sien...”

  “No problem! But hey, Ritt? I know you said you wanted to wait for me, but you know you’re allowed to take bathroom breaks and stuff, right? I mean, that meeting went on for almost 6 hours! How did you just stand there like that the whole time?”

  Ritt’s eyes returned back to the front towards Sien, and then bashfully down to the hand that was holding his own, leading him along. He bit his lip, debating on whether or not the whole truth would be appropriate in this situation.

  “W-well I don’t… really…”

  His cheeks blushed, unable to fully get out his words. Ritt already felt like a monster enough, without having to admit to his closest person, the one he wanted to impress and keep up a good image for, that he rarely, if ever needed to go to the bathroom. The mages had deemed such a function wasteful and unnecessary, and had messed with his insides enough that such a thing only happened once in a blue moon, or when his body had ingested too much poison and needed to purge it somehow.

  How could he ever admit such a thing to Sien?

  Sien looked back at the disgruntled and embarrassed Ritt, chuckling a bit at the new funny expression on his face.

  “Hey, if it’s something you don’t wanna bring up then it’s okay; Everybody has their secrets! I was just teasing you is all.”

  “Oh… If… If that’s the case, then ok.”

  “Hee, you’re such a worrywart, Ritt.”

  Ritt wanted to frown, feeling like Sien’s words seemed to be very much correct tely. But when he saw the dazzling, if not cheeky, smile that was on Sien’s face, he quickly lost any notion of frowning, entranced by the view.

  ~~~

  As soon as the door to Sien’s room closed, he immediately began to remove the stuffy official attire that he’d had to wear to the meeting. Ritt averted his view, feeling as if he were seeing something that he shouldn’t have been, but when Sien began talking to him, he couldn’t help but take a few peeks here and there as he listened.

  “So, did anything end up happening while you were waiting? I knew Reece and a few of his ckeys should have been in the meeting, but did anyone else show up and do anything?”

  Ritt sat down on a cozy couch at the side of the room, csping his hands as he thought back to his hours of waiting. It had been mostly quiet and uneventful. Waiting was easy for him, as he’d spent most of his life in the mage tower doing just that in-between his many tests and treatments. At the very least the hallways in the pace were well lit and beautiful, and Ritt had found many ways to pass his time while waiting there, as opposed to the dank and non-descript darkness that he was used to.

  But it’s true that there was one small highlight that had happened while he was waiting.

  And it was also true that Sien would be able to tell if Ritt lied to him about it.

  “...What will you do if there was?”

  “Huh? Isn’t that obvious?”

  Sien made his way over to plop himself down on the couch with Ritt, leaning himself against Ritt’s side as he always did. His head tilted back cutely to look up at Ritt’s face, but the smile that Sien fshed up to him was anything but kind and benign. His auburn eyes seemed to glow like fshing daggers as they caught the light.

  “Clearly they’ll have to be punished for bothering you!”

  Ritt pursed his lips and fidgetted, worried about what would happen if he spoke.

  “Um… But is it possible to not punish them for it…?”

  “What? But why? Why wouldn’t you want those stupid rats to get punished, Ritt?”

  The way Sien tilted his head childishly like he was truly confused was quite cute, but the fact that the twisted smile hadn’t left Sien’s face yet was still gravely concerning to Ritt.

  “Be… Because they didn’t do anything wrong…?”

  “Oh? …Well, you’re not lying, but somehow I don’t believe you. How about you tell me what happened, and I’ll be the judge of whether they did something ‘wrong’ or not?”

  As Sien’s eyes narrowed predatorially, Ritt couldn’t help but feel himself grow more and more filled with angst. He was absolutely sure that nothing bad had occurred, but he was also fairly certain that Sien would somehow find a way to fault the person involved. As much as Ritt cared for Sien and truly believed him to be a kind person, he was aware of just how cruel the man could be, and how quickly he could fly off of the handle.

  If he wanted to keep that person safe from Sien’s inexplicable wrath, then he was going to have to keep quiet and put himself in danger’s path instead.

  “I’m… sorry, Sien, but I don’t think I can tell you.”

  “...Huh? Really? You’re not going to tell me???”

  Sien’s surprised look was as comical as it was adorable. Ritt wanted to smile at it, as he normally would have, but he did his best to keep his face as composed as possible and not let his will break down.

  “Yes. I think it’s for the best if I don’t.”

  For a moment Sien continued to stare at him in shock, but then his face shifted into a pout, his lips pursing and his cheeks bulging out.

  “Whaaat… I can’t believe you’d just not tell me. You have to tell me, Ritt! You have to!!!”

  “No, I-”

  “You have to! Come on, tell me!”

  Sien shoved his face closer, leaving only a short distance between the two.

  “Tell meee!”

  “N-n-no Sien-”

  “Tell. Me.”

  Every time Sien insisted, his face came dangerously closer and closer, causing Ritt to grow more and more flustered and flushed. Ritt wasn’t even sure what words he was saying anymore, so bewildered and embarrassed by the situation he’d found himself in. Sien, now almost nose to nose with Ritt, paused and stared deeply into Ritt’s eyes, his hands coming up to firmly grasp onto Ritt’s shoulders with a surprisingly steely grip. And just when Ritt finally scraped together enough nerve to try and say no again, Sien gave him a very quick but soft kiss.

  The absolute shock and surprise on Ritt’s face immediately had Sien throwing his head back and bursting out in ughter.

  “Haha, Ritt! Your face! Oh man! You’re adorable!”

  “Wh-what, Sien-!”

  “Hooo, oh gods!”

  Sien wiped at his eyes, having ughed so hard that tears almost came out. And then, when head calmed down enough, he gave Ritt an almost irresistibly mischievous and roguish smile.

  “Now will you tell me?”

  Ritt caved in an instant.