After those last three numbers that Drimi blurted out; she quickly took off, and sprinted down the sidewalk. Damien didn't pay attention until one millisecond later but then he ran down the sidewalk as well, sprinting behind Drimi.

With the dampness lying within his body; he is already feeling exhausted. Could it be all the walking he did earlier? Or was it the blistering heat of the summer season? Either way, he could hardly get past Drimi; until one child from behind him yelled.

"You can do it!"

A random child cheered him on from behind. The voice that sounded like a young boy. As Damien is sprinting down the sidewalk; feeling the surging adrenaline fill inside him; Damien turned to the child whilst running, and saw that he also had dark hair and grey eyes. The child could've been seeing Damien's appearance and thought it matched their own. So, of course, the child cheered him on.

Damien quickly smiled and turned his head. He saw that Drimi's figure is far from his vision. The heatwaves in the distance impaled the sidewalks, and Damien noticed that there is a Paris-like styling to the structures next to his left and right sides of his sight. Paris is the one famous for its signature delicious ice cream, so he kept that idea to heart and sprinted faster than he ever has before; towards the Resteraunt.

"Ngggghhhhaa!! I'll get there ahead of you, I swear!"

His two legs hastily moved back and forth; harshly tapping the bottom of his shoes to the concrete. The pace of his breathing grew heavier and heavier. The sight of Drimi slowly moves away from his sights; vanishing towards the heatwaves; approaching the Resteraunt.

"Ugh, it's...too far... away!"

Why is my endurance so low?

His voice echoed over the walls, and the people surrounding him stared. He slowly limps forward to the Restaurant; breathing heavily. Sweat drenched his face, and a foul body odor lingered within his dark sweater. Drimi stood in front of the Restaurant; tilting her head to him with a questioned look on her face. Her dark dress glimmered over the sunlight, and the soft two fingers of her right hand slightly pressed against her mouth.

"W-Was that too much for him?"

"Hahh.... hahhh.... haah.. I'm here.... I'm okay..."

His two palms were pressed against his thighs; kneeling down inhaling and exhaling roughly. The look on the white-haired girl's eyes looked both stunned, surprised, and worried. She slowly kneeled down to him and whispered with a tone that sounds worried.

"A-Are you okay... Damien?"

"Yeah... I'm... I'm fine...."

Man, did my endurance degrade after I stopped going outside three years ago? Ugh... I didn't know my health didn't change with my appearance. It stuck with me.

Soon afterward, Drimi quickly gripped Damien's wrist and hastily pulled him inside the Restaurant.

* * * *

Drimi whispered to Damien, while the neighboring people looked at both of them with a worried look

"Calm down, Damien, I don't want attention drawn to you and me, we could get caught!"

Damien did everything he could to calm down after hearing that response that Drimi was the one who placed the device in his wallet. The sound of other humans walking through the concrete pavement filled their eardrums. The city felt a little bad to Damien. It's odd to see a well-advanced city, only to reveal that there isn't a sight of any vehicles anywhere. It weirded him out dramatically.

The steps grew stronger and stronger over his ear. An image of an occupied city burst into Damien's mind. He's still thinking about the constant amount of walking around the city every single day. That's a memory that wasn't erased, so he grew familiar with it very well. It was always filled with people, from left to right, from corner to corner.

He is reminded of a large urban city in his world, and soon afterward, he felt a slow pain in his heart. Like he got lost in a large store. However, that image disappeared into Damien's mind while the waitress was ready to distribute the menu. The waitress had a cute pink skirt and black knee-stocking on her legs.

She has long, beautiful brown hair that extends to the edge of her hips. Silky and refined to the touch. Damien is flushed when he first saw her. A little growth near his private area began to be visible to them. The waitress and Drimi blushed heavily, and the waitress commented.

"S-Sir, it seems... um."

Just when Damien's about to get aroused, Drimi hits him near the genital area. Damien felt a stinging pain. It's like getting hit by a truck ten times. A pain that surrounded his stomach. The impact was so hard that he felt cold that he would never have a child close to his future. He cried out in pain while gliding his two hands touched directly at the impacted spot. He let go of a hard breath and resisted not shouting at Drimi.

"AHH! W-what was it for?! Do you know how... much... that hurts?!"

Drimi sneered at Damien, with a look of envy. It's like she's got some kind of resentment for certain actions that Damien's presenting. He tried his best not to act like his predecessor, but with much pain, he had no choice. He tried to act confident like if the pain wasn't that bad. The pretty waitress looked at him with a shocked tone and asked.

"Is everything all right, sir? Do I have to call a nurse?"

Damien slowly responded to the waitress, whilst still trying to recover from the hit. The pain is so severe, it made him fall into tears.

"N-N-No, I'm sorry, that was just a little bit of an exaggerated reaction... to your..."

Damien's mind is lost, and so is his heart. He doesn't know what to say anymore, at this point he is casually blurting out random compliments. Drimi kicked him again, but even closer and stronger than the last one. The pain stacked upon each other, and Damien released a high-pitched wail.

He quickly realized the people around him were staring directly at him, and immediately lowered his voice so others would not look at him, like now. While he was flattening his fingers near his area, Damien calmed down and spoke to the waitress. He breathes heavily, trying not to cry.

"Uh. Uh, I'm sorry about that. It was just a side effect of a disability in the past... I think. I scream sometimes when I sit still. There is no need to be upset. I'll be..."

He coughed; unable to resist the pain any longer. It is too much for Damien to put up with, or rather, in this case, any man to take. However, even with the atrocious pain that slowly warms up, he still remains calm. Trying not to ruin himself on the second day of being summoned to another world.

Damien knew it was a lie. A clearly unbelievable lie, that almost no one would believe, except the waitress. He looked at Drimi; hoping she wasn't angry anymore. Damien is unable to take any more hits, or he truly will be defeated.

He saw a little cheeky grin on her soft face. Like if she did it just because of her amusement. Damien quickly squinted his eyes and gritted his teeth, filled with a pure approach of rage. The waitress looked worried and embarrassed. Even though she knew that a woman was standing right in front of Damien, she fell into a little shock of interest to his look as well.

It seems she gained an attraction to Damien's looks. Inside her mind, she thinks Damien's face is cute, and his white hair is beyond attractive. Trying to resist her urges, she also fell into interest when it comes to his body.

But, being locked to one woman, is painful enough for Damien to handle. He is forced to not form a harem, it couldn't be done.

Damien's looks are so attractive, he doesn't even realize it. His long silky, bright white hair; his soft face, his glittering grey eyes. His flat chest. Almost everything about him is appealing. Nothing close to his previous appearance on Earth.

The size and delicate shape of her hair seemed to please a woman's eyes. But the power of Soulmark made sure Drimi belonged to him. This compelling force is preventing Damien from looking away from Drimi.

* * * *

The sight of the restaurant is pleasing to Damien's eyes. It's mixed with a beautiful French style when it comes to outdoor dining, but on the inside, it's something of a restaurant from Spain. Both of the two themes, fit the romantic setting. After a long abrupt silence, finally, the waitress asked.

"What...what do you want to order?"

Damien seized the menu made with his soft hand and lifted it up quickly. It has a rectangle shape, with red edges close to the four corners of the page, traced with a black outline near the laminated pages. His grey eyes forwarded horizontally through the many food options. Surprisingly, the food options on the menu are similar to the western and European food options in Damien's previous world. But they also contained Middle Eastern, Northern, and even Eastern foods.

Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.

The food selection ranged from nice, basic steamed cut steak to something more refined and etiquette like Gratin dauphinoise. Near the corner of the page, rests a nice image of a nice glass of fine red wine. Damien quickly turned to the next page, to quickly get greeted by Eastern Food options such as Soba, Yakitori, and the most familiar eastern dish to Damien, Sushi.

He quickly questioned himself, noticing the food options.

"Wow, most of these meals are from Earth, that's odd. Something is off about this place. It's like, this city got teleported from Earth to here. Well, I shouldn't question it, this IS a fantasy world after all."

Drimi slightly murmured, whilst peering her face on the menu.

"Damien, it's probably at the likes of the Intertwined Star. I never heard meals such as this to also take presence in other worlds too?"

He has no knowledge of the Intertwined Star and its properties, while the person in front of her, knew all about the star and its properties. All Damien knew about the Intertwined Star at this point, is that it's going to collapse, and maybe end this universe, along with others.

* * * *

After looking at the vast amount of choices on the menu, Damien finally replied to the waitress. The bright street lights glare straight on Damien's head, whilst he slowly released a long, graduated breath. He asked.

"I would like a full, well-cooked steak. Do not add sauce, do not add cheese. Just... steak, with seasoning. I'm not so hungry. I, don't know why."

The waitress stared at Damien with her beautiful brown eyes, then shook her head vertically. She nodded in confirmation and she tipped her head to Drimi and asked what she would like.

"And you?"

As Drimi's cloak covered most of her eyes, she found the food option with which she was most satisfied. She slowly slid her right index finger down the menu and replied to the waitress calmly.

"I would like a small salad."

The waitress nodded vertically with a faint hum and grabbed the fabricated menus off the table. She smiled happily at both of them as she slowly pushed herself upwards. Her skirt fluctuated slightly, along with her long beautiful brown hair. Instantly she bowed to the two and answered with a shy smile.

"We will soon be with you shortly, on this beautiful day."

She happily closed her eyes with joy and approached the inside of the dining room counter next to the kitchen to lay down the orders. Damien smiled frankly at the pretty waitress, glaring at the nice and taunting pattern of the direction her hair swayed. He muttered with a dosed tone.

"She's very pretty..."

Drimi hastily slammed the table, and lightly raised her voice at him.

"I'm right here, you know!"

Damien's grey eyes widened, and he quickly tilted his head back to Drimi.

Shortly after the waitress's presence disappeared, Drimi looked at Damien's gray eyes, as she was absolutely angry about his earlier actions. Drimi whispered to him abruptly, trying not to grow attraction to the crowd.

"What was it about the waitress? Don't you know that you have a Soulmate sitting in front of you? It's like you're turning away from me every time a woman's around. I didn't know you were stupid enough to have your thing standing upright in front of her. Have some decency!"

Damien scratched his back, listening to Drimi. He answered her nervously, as her two grey eyes pierced straight through the dark cloak, directing at Damien.

"My mind was just thinking, she was a bit attractive, okay?! Don't you understand how men act? It's not like I'm your husband or anything…"

A short, calming silence filled the atmosphere. Only the sound of gentle footsteps touching against the solid paved floor could be heard from both Damien and Drimi. A small shadow hovered over her two eyes, tilted her head down before answering Damien in a soft tone.

"I haven't been with a man. It's... been a painful time since I never spoke to a person in general, for nearly a century. I felt so alone, I felt so... isolated. Until you appeared. A shred of my loneliness faded, and it... warmed my heart."

Damien fell silent, after hearing Drimi's whisper. He never knew she was alone before he got summoned to this world. He remained silent, trying to keep himself calm. The crickets chirped. The delicate atmosphere of the empty streets resounded above the walls of tall buildings. The silence of the day came close.

All of a sudden, not a single soul is out during this day except Damien and Drimi, along with a few others in the restaurant. As Damien glared at the empty streets, illuminated by the streetlights Drimi continued.

"I never knew I needed a person next to me when I'm in slumber. Having one person to speak, understand, and genuinely awakened my heart."

In Damien's mind, he thought of a possibility that Drimi felt a small sliver of jealousy inside her soul. It could of possibly be due to the fact, that she might lose him. After listening to Drimi's whispers, Damien understood why she was so angry. She doesn't want to be alone.

He can clearly identify it, because of her obvious envious actions. It seems Drimi grew a bigger attraction to him than one hour before. Of course, Damien doesn't know, after all, it's the second day of being summoned to another world. Before his realization, he noticed that there was a white sleeve dangling over her right pocket deep inside the dark cloak. He decided to question it.

"So, uh... I saw something in your pockets. Did you buy new clothes? I was just wondering, how did you get a chance to buy it? It seems like pajamas."

Drimi answered him as if she knew that she had it.

"I always had that."

Damien's grey eyes widened. He never knew Drimi would be so quick, especially if she was right next to him.

"What? How... How are you so fast? And... why do you need to wear it when you have decent clothes right in front of you?"

Drimi answered him nervously.

"Because... I feel uncomfortable... with you. I'm afraid your Soulmark will take possession of you, and... you could force me... to please you... and... you could form a dangerous relationship."

Damien quickly backed away, sliding his chair backward. His grey eyes widened, and his heart stopped. He couldn't believe the words Drimi just said. He quickly sat back down, and slammed his fists against the table, replying to her with a promised tone.

"Never in a million years would I decide to do such things to you, Drimi. I'm a virgin, I guess. Even if the Soulmark will try to regain possession of me, I will at least try to fight it. Drimi, you're just too beautiful for someone to do such things to you. How did that even come up in your mind?"

Her face gradually rose to a bright red. Drimi's heart beats faster and faster, with sweat slowly sliding down her pale face. Damien could see her nervous face, through the dark mist of her cloak. A face, that is both afraid, and relieved. She murmured.

"Y...You, w-would fight it? Do you really think that I'm... beautiful?"

Damien released a little laugh while staring under her dark hood. He can see it in her eyes, a small smidge of real love that resonates in her dilatating pupils. Damien whispered back.

"From the moment I first saw you, my heart raced. It's only been day two, and yet it felt like we have been together for a long time. I… don't know why they hate you so much. You're perfect. Speaking of. I know that name your’s is fake. So tell me what your actual name is-"

“Teresa.”

“H-Huh?”

Teresa had mixed emotions towards Damien's words. She is confused if they were true, or false. She had a lot of feelings for him after they just met yesterday. The absence of social interaction got to her. She wanted someone, anyone to talk to. Some to have small laughs. To mess around. To walk with. To express.

She released a small sigh and she slowly leaned onto Damien's ear and whispered. Hovering her smooth lips over the top of his ear.

"I don't know what a man wants, because I haven't seen or talked to a man for seventy years..."

Damien's eyes expanded. He quickly slammed his fist against the table and yelled at her with a confused tone.

"Seventy Years?! So let me get this straight. You're seventy years old?!"

Teresa got upset with Damien before she answered.

"Yes. I'm seventy-nine years old. Well, in this case. I still keep the appearance of a nineteen-year-old woman. Don't be so surprised, Damien. I thought you'd recognize my age, by the way..."

Damien hastily shook his head and replied.

"Never. I would never recognize you as an old woman. You look so young, it's unreal. This whole thing is weird for me. Maybe that's the typical fantasy stuff. I don't know."

Teresa interrupts him and leaned onto Damien, whilst speaking in a desperate tone.

"I just want you to stay beside me. I just want you to warm me up when I'm cold. I just want you to speak to me, and promise me that whatever happens, you'll never betray me. Not like what he did. Promise me you'll guide me to a brighter future. Promise me you'll fight for me. I don't want to be alone anymore. That's all I want, Damien. That's all I ask."

Her body trembles nervously; waiting for Damien's answer. The pretty girl is blushing... immensely. A beautiful woman who had generated extreme emotions toward him. A woman, who wants love again. Damien slowly raised the palm of his hand and then hesitated. He looked at Teresa's bright face.

Damien found it. The pungent sensation of a sense of attraction located deep inside her heart. Getting a woman without any difficulty is a blessing to Damien. After a moment, Damien made a little laugh and whispered.

"Women from another world are... otherworldly."

Teresa slowly raised her head.

"Huh?"

Damien released a faint sigh and slowly raised his voice.

"You're otherworldly, Teresa. I have never seen such a woman, as gorgeous as you. I have never seen such a heart-warming person like you. Your face, your emotions, your feelings, are all, otherworldly."

Damien grasped over Teresa's soft fingers, grasping onto it tightly, whilst whispering.

"Then, I'll accept your request. I, Damien; with all my heart and all my soul. That no matter what happens to us; mentally and physically... we will be next to each other. Our souls will intertwine with each other, never stretching apart even if we grow distant. I will laugh with you, I will warm you. I won't betray you. I won't run away. Because, no matter with all the problems ahead of us, I will still guide you to a better, brighter future."

As Damien's hands grasped onto Teresa's palms tightly, she replied with a whisper.

"Promise?"

"I promise."

He answered with a confident smile and tone in his voice.