Dinner passed by without much issue, Circe and Ezekiel simply ate beneath the heavy, uncomfortable silence, not daring to look up from their plates and risk meeting eyes with either Creston or Lysander. Silas’ mother, Esmeralda, did not join them today, as she always eats at her own place.

With the sun falling past the horizon, the crescent moon rose in its place. Zeke changed into a simple tunic and pants, choosing the lightweight fabric for its comfortable texture. His feet carried him over to one of the guest’s rooms, where a gentle, nightly breeze brushed against his face as he made his way to the terrace.

There sat Ruelle Peregrine as she stared ahead at the bright arch above, its presence robbing the stars of their shimmering lights. With the only celestial body glistening in the darkened sky, her focus remained solely on its brilliant beauty. She would’ve continued to admire it in the comfortable silence if not for the weight of Ezekiel’s own eyes piercing her side.

”Why are you just standing there?” As she shifted her gaze towards him, her fingers swept a strand of hair behind her ear, attempting to prevent the breeze from blowing the locks into her face. “Take a seat. No one followed you, right?”

“Ah,” Zeke strolled over to the chair opposite of hers, avoiding looking into her sharp, glimmering eyes. Quickly recomposing himself, he sat down and locked his focus to the scenery of the sky instead. “Yep, not even Sir Einar knows I’m out of my room.”

Circe stared at him briefly before speaking. “…Why are you suddenly awkward?”

“I’m not awkward?” Without looking at her, Zeke summoned the Witch’s Codex and shifted his attention to its pages instead. But simply refusing to acknowledge it wouldn’t get rid of the real blush reddening his face.

“Is it because I’m wearing a nightgown?” A dubious smirk crept up her lips as she placed her elbow on the armrest, leaning her cheek into her knuckle. Circe had chosen comfort over style as well, her plain, white nightgown had long sleeves to combat the chilly night, though the low collar exposed much of her neck. “It’s fully covered though, I can’t tell what you’re thinking at all.”

Zeke glanced up from the book, his eyes narrowing from the annoyed frown on his face. “You should be more conscious of yourself…since you’re a woman.”

His words earned him an amused snort from Circe. “It’s a nightgown, sure I might not be wearing anything else underneath but it’s not like you will do anything.”

“I’m serious!” He raised his voice, but instead lowered his head. “You’re right, I won’t do anything, but what if I was someone else?”

Circe rolled her eyes. “Only you would get worked up over seeing a woman in her bedwear. You’re starting to sound like my mom.”

“Then your mother is teaching you well.”

Seeing Zeke’s frown deepened, the big grin on Circe’s lips began to fade. She remained smiling as she dragged out a shawl from behind her and covered her shoulders with it, wrapping it around her exposed skin. “Of course I know what I’m doing, I brought a shawl with me because of it. I only did that to mess with you,”

The stupefied look on Zeke’s face almost made Circe burst from trying to hold her laughter. As he stared at her like she was some sort of alien specimen, she let out a short chuckle. “Your reaction is cute though, I guess I can thank you for entertaining me by apologizing. I’m sorry Zeke, I made you uncomfortable, didn’t I?”

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Instead of answering, the frown on his expression loosened slightly, but he only looked away, responding with a dramatic huff. “Whatever.”

Circe’s smile froze for a moment. “What’s with the tsundere-esque attitude?”

“I’ll take that as a ‘Okay, I forgive you’, then.” She watched Zeke’s scowl slowly eased until his face returned to its resting expression. The Witch’s Codex appeared to have completely captured his attention.

Their little meeting tonight had no meaning, they simply wanted to relax under the night sky. With the artificial light from the room, the terrace became illuminated enough for Zeke to read in even in the dark of night.

“…” Circe leaned forward, shifting her elbows to rest on the table between them. Her eyes found themselves lingered on the loose threads of Zeke’s tunic, a clear result of his laziness when dressing. Did he not entrust his servants with his attire? “To be honest, your nightwear is way more provoking than mine, Lord Silas.”

Without looking up from the book, Zeke replied coldly. “…Shut up.”

.

.

.

The Salvador March has an exclusive training arena for the members of the household. Its wide, spacious area allowed for all-out sparring when needed, and the armory contained many types of swords and even other weaponry ranging from bows to maces. With the building located in a separate section from the main estate, silence and privacy is guaranteed when using the facility.

Circe and Zeke had been sneaking over whenever they got the chance, Circe especially needed to hone her combat skills for when they would require it later down the line. While she trained her swordsmanship, Zeke would be watching from the sideline, reading the Witch’s Codex in an attempt to learn a skill. But other than the magic circles, he had not succeeded.

[ learning in progress…]

”Oh! Zeke look!” Wiping sweat from her forehead with the sleeve of her shirt, Circe called Zeke over at the sudden appearance of a notification panel. They’d managed to come to the training ground under the pretext of going on dates around the estate, and with the use of the inventory, Circe could change out of her dress into something more suitable for swinging a sword.

[Congratulations! You’ve gained the Aptitude: ]

< Aptitude Description >

Name: Aspiring Swordsman

Rarity: Rare

Type: Special/Combat

Effects

* Increase bladed-weapon mastery speed.

* Grants combat insight to bladed-weapons.

<<>>

“Oh, this one is good,” Zeke commented as he glossed over the aptitude description. “I’ve gotten this one a lot for my swordsman-type characters. The Special type is just a fancy way to say it’s growth-related.”

“…This game’s developers are just trolls,” Circe dismissed the screens as she walked over to the bleachers, taking a seat on the lowest stair. “Why keep these combat aptitudes a secret feature? They clearly have an impact on the characters’ dungeon runs.”

Zeke settled down next to her, where all the papers and ink lay scattered all over the place with only one stack kept neatly placed beside him. “Dungeon Regime is all about discovery—That’s pretty much one of their slogans. Besides, it’s actually in the patch notes.”

“What?”

“The secret features section,” Zeke gave Circe an equally baffled look. “…It’s where they give hints about extra added features for the patch? You don’t seriously think that I randomly woke up one day and thought ‘Oh! I’m going to spend hours of my life pressing the attack button in the training ground.’, right?”

Circe shook her head. “Of course not, I’m just trying to think of when they released it.”

“I mean, it’s no surprise that no one’s found it yet since…the only hint they gave was ‘Keep up those Aptitude grindings!’.” He even raised his voice to sound the part.

The look on Circe’s face threaded between confusion and disbelief. “…Yeah, they’re definitely trolling.”

Zeke scoffed with a shrug. “It makes the game unique, though.”

“I guess,” Circe leaned her back against the row above her, placing her arms on it as she gazed at the sky. The gentle sunlight tempered by a cool breeze made the day a perfect choice for combat exercises. She especially enjoyed the refreshing feeling of the wind as it swept over her sweaty skin. “We also get to experience that uniqueness firsthand tomorrow.”

Zeke nodded along, though remained occupied by drawing magic circles on the small papers in his lap. Distracting himself with repetitive work, he thought maybe then he wouldn’t be stressed by tomorrow’s upcoming engagement banquet.