CLINK!

"Alexis, dear, what's wrong?" Adelaide worryingly asked him after he placed his teacup down forcefully, but it sounded rather a teasing comment than a genuine concern. "No, I am alright, Your Majesty." Alexis threw off her question, but the Queen simply wore a slightly smug smile.

"Ciel, do you like Violetta?"

He immediately lifted his head to meet his mother's eyes, "Of course!"

'No hesitation huh?' Shin thought to himself, he was still concerned about the future where Ciel would break off their engagement. Luckily as of right now, they weren't in one.

"Then do you love her?"

"I... I do! I love Violet."

Violetta, who just received a confession, blushed furiously, hiding her face in her hands. Adelaide paused, sneaking small glances at Alexis to see his reactions. Seeing how he continued to remain calm, she continued to press on. "Then do you want to marry her? Perhaps in the future?"

"I think that's enough. We should have this talk at a later time. After all, they are so young right now." Alexis interjected Ciel, who was still processing what his mother just asked. His brain went into a short overdrive, only recovering after a few minutes. "Royal Mother, are you serious?"

"Ciel, I don't think you should take her seriously."

"My, isn't that a little rude Alexis? Even though your mother is my friend, don't you think you are a little disrespectful to the queen?" She looked at him as she smiled coldly. Alexis placed down his teacup gently, before taking a deep breath to answer her, "I apologise Your Majesty. I was simply concerned about my sister. Personally, I do not know if I can trust her to Ciel, even though he is my friend."

"..."

"Say Cece, how did your son become so mature? Are you sure he's the same age as Darcel and Lucius?" She grumbly turned to her friend, who was enjoying another cup of tyvantra tea. "Why of course, he is ten years old like your son." Although she didn't show it and was strict on him, Cecelia still doted on her son as much as she did for Violetta. "I think it was reasonable for him to be so concerned about his sister."

Adelaide gave up, she couldn't defeat this family's protectiveness over their daughter. "Perhaps I was asking the wrong people. Ciel, I'm sorry I didn't get to hear you earlier. Can you tell me your answer again?"

"Of course! I want to marry Violet. I don't want to like anyone else but her." Ciel held her hand while declaring his answer. "But... But I like Eldest Brother the most!" Violetta interjected, refusing Ciel's proposal. "I don't want to get married to you."

"Hic... hic... Why are you so mean to me, Violet? You're not mean to Eldest Brother or Brother Darcel but you're so mean to me?" Ciel started to sob lightly; big, fat tears rolled down his cheeks, landing on their hands. "But I don't like you."

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"But you don't have to mean to me." More tears began rolling down as he looked Violetta in the eye. "Why don't you ever play with me? I like you so much but you don't like me as a friend. Even Brother Alexis says that I'm his friend."

"But.. but... I get so nervous when you're around. I can't stay still. I don't like it when I'm like that." Violetta suddenly confessed her reason, her eyes were slowly tearing up as well.

'So Vio likes Ciel too. Who would've thought that the game would still force itself to continue, even way before it has begun?'

"Ciel, do you think you can make Vio happy?" As much as Shin wanted to prevent their engagement, he didn't want to take away the possibility that she would be happy with him.

"I promise. I can make Violet happy. I hope you believe me, Brother Alexis."

Shin really wanted to believe in Ciel but he also wanted to protect Violetta in case she had her engagement broken. He sighed, giving in to Ciel, "I hope you don't prove me wrong. If I see that Vio is crying because of you, I'll have to step in."

Ciel's eyes lit up, "Thank you, Brother Alexis! I won't let you down!" He left his seat to hug Alexis but he dodged him, giving him a ruffle on his head instead. "Brother Alexis, why did you dodge me?" Surprised at his question paired with his innocent eyes, Alexis nervously laughed. "I don't really like hugs... Well, not when people are giving it to me."

Ciel gave a small pout but quickly recovered, returning to his seat next to Violetta's side. Shin heaved out a sigh, his old habit from his previous life kicked in again. He avoided hugs unless it was him initiating it. For some reason, he was fine with all other types of physical contact, he just avoided hugs. Pushing aside this thought, his mind drifted back to the game, how else could he change the future?

He could tell that Ciel was more attentive to Violetta and liked her more, and he had already restricted information about their second element. He paused and pondered on that last thought, realising that perhaps he was too hasty. He had a rough inkling of how nobility worked but it was so small that Shin felt like he was detached from that world. After all, he was only eighteen years old, a fresh high school graduate in his previous life. He hadn't even gotten into university yet.

But in a way, it was good because the 'Alexis' now was still young so it wouldn't be awfully suspicious if he didn't follow the rules. Although the characters' parents were barely mentioned in the game, he could tell that they genuinely cared for their children and were supportive of them. He went into a mini-debate about whether or not he should tell the adults about their second element, thinking that it would be better to have more reliable allies that could protect them until they themselves were adults.

But if he told them, he could be exposing his friends to more danger. As much as he was certain about the game's story and setting, he could never know if his actions would cause a ripple effect. Certain relationships were never explained or the game didn't go in-depth because it wasn't relevant to the story. Two he could pick from the top of his head were his childhood friends and their parents. It never mentions how close they were or their childhood days; the player just knew that they were childhood friends.

The parents were barely mentioned in the game, only having small appearances here and there when they were needed. Personally, Shin really liked Elijah and although they only appeared during Alexis's route, he was still fond of the character.

As Shin went into deep thinking, he didn't notice that Darcel and Lucius were tightly holding his hand under the table. Darcel was worriedly looking at Alexis while Lucius continued to have a conversation with Ciel but would regularly glance at him to make sure he was okay. "Lex, are you alright?" Lucius asked but couldn't get a reply from him. They could only wait until he came around himself.