- Inside the corridors of the Castle, Ersten, Kingdom of Apollyon –

- a day earlier -

- 0717hrs, local time -

“this way Sir Wolfenford,” the maid said as she guided him through the corridors of the castle. Earlier during sunrise, when Jaeger who just finished doing some morning exercise was surprised when a butler came to the pier right when he just finished and told him that he was to be summoned to the castle by someone named “Rosmaria-sama”. Immediately, he changed his clothing into his officer outfit, without his exoskeleton and went along with the butler to the castle.

The maid then stopped at a certain decorated door and told him to wait for “Rosmaria-sama” to finish bathing as she wanted to have a word with him. The maid bowed down to him and left him alone to wait, leaving him slightly confused about why in the world he was called to the castle and who is this Rosmaria. He waited for several minutes, taking some moments to eavesdrop inside the room while looking inconspicuous by using a small wall contact microphone he always brought with him inside his pockets just in case. He could hear many footsteps inside and also the sounds of water flowing. Though, after a few minutes, the water sounds stopped and someone’s footsteps slowly got louder from a distance, he knows it was a female’s footstep as the thud isn’t that loud. And from the sound of it, the many footsteps he heard earlier surrounding the lady. “ah, must’ve been her maids helping her” he thought.

Soon after, the door opens, and a flood of maids scrambled away from the room, carrying a stack of clothes which he assume to be [Rosmaria-sama’s] nightgown. One of the maids then said he could come in as they were done and she was waiting for him. As he turned around the corner of the door. The one who called him is none other than the third princess herself who he knows.

“your highness? Are you the ones that called me? And who is this Rosmaria actually? Your other name??”

She giggled at his questions, “Well… it’s my name too you know, ah~ where are my manners…” She bowed down like one graceful royalty as she was, lifting her black dress’s skirt which she once wear when they arrived at the outskirts of the kingdom back then. “I’m Rosmaria Aurora von Apollyon, guess our introduction is finally formal isn’t it? Hehe~”

“I guess it does. Anyway… why you called me your highness?”

“Oh, well…” she turned around, opening the massive curtains behind her. With a puppy-eyed look, she looked at him from her shoulder, her bright emerald green eyes shone beautifully as it reflects the sunlight, “Can you accompany me to buy something in the market near the port? I need some ingredients for my experiment” she continued.

Jaeger, looking confused, raised his eyebrow. She could’ve gone with some of her knight escorts or even just asked her maid to gather it for her and yet, she wanted Jaeger to escort her, she even asked him personally even “Why me? Can’t you asked out your subjects to do so instead without you going out of the castle?”

“aren’t you also part of my subjects though?”

“I’m technically still registered as an earthling on paper so… I don’t think I am”

“hmm… that is quite a fair point.” She then twirled herself 180 degrees back at him, giving a bright smile at him, “Then as your friend, will you fulfil my self-centred wish?” the man could only stand there, still in his stoic face yet his mind going like a bullet train as it’s going everywhere. [why me? Can’t she ask her brother instead?], [why is she acting like this? Is she… no, that’s impossible] and those kinds of thoughts were spinning around his mind on and on until she called him again.

“Jaeger?”

“ah- well…” he cleared his throat, clearing his doubts and calming himself down. [I’ll take the chances, who knows something interesting could happen] he thought before continuing. “I guess it won’t hurt”

“I’ll take it as a yes then, hehe~. Ah! But first…” She then closes her eyes, trying to imagine something. As she reopens them, a blanket of Mana aura blanketed both of them with a bright light for a few moments, and as it dissipates, Aurora checked herself in a mirror, looking left and right at her face. Nodding as she affirmed something, she then waved her hand to Jaeger, telling him to come to her.

Confused, he walked to her that was checking on the mirror, and to his surprise, he could see a face that he never knew, even though it was him instead. Not only his face that was changed, but Aurora’s face also looks different, yet still has that charm she has. But it only appeared in the mirror, not between them. “Wha-! What in the world-“, his reaction made her giggle cutely.

“My, first time using a [Disguise] spell? It feels intriguing, isn’t it? It only affects the one who is looking at us and is visible in the mirror”

“I’ve been using disguises a lot in my infiltration missions back then, but this… this is just way out of the league of it, it’s too perfect! Did you make this spell yourself?”

His unexpected praise made her blush slightly, “I-I see… well, it is a spell that I modified so in a way, It is my spell” though, right after she said her remark, she muttered the word “thank you, I’m glad I met you” in a low voice yet he could still hear part of it.

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“huh? Why thank me?”

“eh- ah-! It’s just… it’s quite unlikely for someone to compliment me that much for my efforts in my research on magic” She glance back at him, her left eye was slightly covered by her bangs making her could only see him from the chin down to his foot, whilst her right eye made contact with his eyes. “you didn’t hear the last part right?”

“What?”

“… never mind that then” She then proceeded to grab his right arm, looking back at him with an excited look. Pulling him as she set herself to run, “Let's just go shall we? we don’t want Miss Clarissa to lecture us with her complaints about running away from the castle wouldn’t you?~”

he sighed, “Well then… lead the way milady”

“My, My~ shouldn’t it be the gentleman leading the way instead?”

“don’t ask me the impossible, I don’t have most of my equipment with me right now, I’m practically unknowledgeable about this city” She giggled at his remark

“Don't be too serious, I’m just slightly teasing you~ Now come on!” she said, as she starts running while dragging him along. The man just followed her on a whim, yet he just wanted to fulfil her wish that she wanted to do currently so he didn’t complain whatsoever as he was dragged around by her.

Later on, at the market. The two that were supposed to be inconspicuous weren’t being one at all as their disguised face was eye-catching since both of the faces that were made by the spell were quite good-looking. Some even thought they were weird nobles who decided to shop on their own without any guards. Unlike Jeager who’s overly conscious of the surroundings, Aurora on the other hand just cheerfully trots around the market while dragging him along like a little girl on her trip to the zoo. Along their walk, she stopped at several stalls, buying ingredients she needed like, potions, monster parts, etc. which made Jaeger realized that this world is truly a fantasy world yet it existed, and part of him has some guilt as him and his higher-ups going to gave them the knowledge about the industrial revolution and beyond which he feared that this world would turn the same as his. Shrugging his fears, he hoped that the people here wouldn’t use their technology for misdeeds like how they did.

Aurora’s ingredients were stored in a bag that has Storage magic in it, which holds up to more than 300kg of items while still being light on the outside. Later on, as she has done her shopping, she took him to a district far from the market. Along the way, Jaeger kept asking her where are they going and yet, she always answered with the same word as she winked at him, “You’ll see~”

Tired of asking, he just went along with the flow, following her whilst his left hand is still being held firmly by her. It didn’t take long for them to reach the place she wanted to go to. It’s some sort of a sightseeing area within the noble district, below the wooden railings was a beach which is connected to a stone staircase several meters away from the place they’re standing at.

She let go of his hand and rests her hands on the railings, staring away towards the sea. “it’s quite beautiful isn’t it?” she said, as she admires the view. it is true, the view of the blue sea even on another planet is still mesmerising, even for the mercenary that spends most of his time on doing his contracts. Jaeger leaned his back to the railings slightly away from her, resting his right arm on it, also looking at the sea.

“Indeed. It’s no different back in my world”

“… Jaeger, how long are you planning to fight?” that question caught him off guard, though it didn’t irk him like usual, though he questioned why he isn’t, usually if someone asked him that question, he would retort with a cold stare and yet, he now has a long-expression as he gave his remark, “I… I don’t know, but I still need to complete-“

Aurora interrupted him he hasn’t finished. “Deep inside, you actually wanted all conflicts to end, don’t you? You know I… I’ve seen part of your memories…” he changed his stare towards her as he wanted to disagree but the concerned look on her face changed his mind. The man just went silent as she sighed. “it’s fine if you don’t want to tell me the whole story behind it, especially why you’re willing to sacrifice yourself for a world that has no affiliation to you. But in all honesty…” She put her palms on top of his resting hand alongside a sincere smile towards him.

“If you need someone to talk to, even to cry to… I’m here for you, no matter what happens”

he looked away slightly flustered, “W-why are you being kind to me? We only just met several days ago”, the way Aurora say those words slightly reminded him of a certain person in the past, it hurts his heart slightly as those memories came back but he felt relieved and safe as someone still cared for him and it also sparks a feeling he once felt, yet he shrugged it off as he doubted it. The sweet lady also got flustered at his reaction, realizing what she just said, “O-oh my, I may have been too bold today…”

“Indeed you are”

“you don’t need to emphasize it even more! Geez…”

They then talk until the afternoon about everything, sharing small laughs and giggles. They stopped their chat as their stomachs started to grumble in sync, giggling at the moment. Jaeger then stood properly and returned to his stoic expression, “Shall we go then your highness?”, he said while he reach out his hand to her.

“you’re quite a gentleman today aren’t you?”

“well… this is secretly a date in the first place isn’t it?”

“Hehe~ So you realized?”

“I’ve known since the beginning, there’s no way a princess would go out their way to ask a random guy to escort him to buy ingredients and try to comfort him as well.”

“You really are a peerless one aren’t you?”

He smirked, “What can I say? Experience is the best teacher” She giggled at his remark, [I’m glad I met you…] she thought, giving a small smile which is hidden as she looked away to not make him see her blush. She regained her composure quickly.

as the sea breeze flutters her hair, she twirled back towards the mercenary that's having a date with her, her right hand fixing the right side of her hair. the man in question was still stoic as usual, yet his face is honest with his feelings. That time, she seemed to be someone that looked like an angel as her look was stunning, and her elegance radiates a lot.

"My, my, did you get flustered again, Jaeger? You have seen me with this attire beforehand remember?" she teased him while letting out a giggle, as his face slowly got redder every second spent with her right now. “… you’re having fun teasing me aren’t you?”

“Why wouldn’t I? You always have something interesting to show me~”

“This girl…!” he sighed. “so, are we going to have lunch or not?”. Aurora then firmly held his offered hand, giving a smile in reply. “Of course we’re having one! I’m quite famished already”