“H-Here are your drinks...!”
After placing the drinks on the table, the waiter fled as if running for his life, leaving only the four of them trapped in this cramped space, where even the air seemed to have frozen.
The silence inside the private room weighed heavily on everyone's chest like a massive boulder.
Greg and Vivian sat side-by-side on the bench on the left.
Greg hung his head, hands resting on his knees, his eyes fixed on the teacup in front of him as if it held the ultimate secrets of the universe.
Vivian turned her face slightly, her aqua-blue long hair cascading down to obscure most of her face. Though her expression was hidden, the tight line of her lips and her slightly trembling fingertips made it clear that her mind was far from calm.
Allie sat directly opposite them.
Crossing her arms, she sat straight and sharp, her gaze sweeping back and forth between Greg and Vivian with an unvarnished scrutiny and coldness.
She did not speak, but the silent pressure was more suffocating than any fierce interrogation.
Wendy sat by the window, holding a cup of tea but not daring to take a single sip.
She felt as if she were sitting on the edge of a volcano, liable to be swallowed by erupting magma at any moment.
Shrinking silently into the corner, she did her best to minimize her presence while rapidly calculating in her mind—if they actually came to blows later, would she be able to leave here alive?
“Your Highness Vivian, we haven't seen each other in three years, have we?”
Allie finally spoke.
Her voice was calm, yet carried a sharpness that could not be ignored.
Vivian's body stiffened slightly. She slowly raised her head to meet Allie's gaze. “...Yes, it has been three years.”
“I remember my young master telling me that the last time you two walked together in the royal capital, it was just a coincidence.”
Greg couldn't help but speak up. “Um, Allie, let me explain—”
“Shut up, you idiot of a young master!”
Allie spat coldly, not even giving him a full glance.
Greg immediately shut his mouth.
He grumbled silently in his heart: Who's the master here anyway? And I'm at least a Bishop of the Dark Night Order, your superior, okay?
Of course, he didn't dare say that out loud.
He knew all too well that in this situation, his status as a Bishop carried absolutely zero weight.
Seeing that even the Bishop couldn't get a word in, Wendy was even less willing to court disaster.
She shrank back into the corner, minimizing her presence as much as possible while praying for Greg in her heart: Bishop, you're on your own. Good luck.
Allie continued, her tone still calm, but the power contained in that composure seemed to drop the temperature of the entire room by several degrees:
“So this time, was it a coincidence too? A coincidence that led you two to go see the sunset on the small bridge together? It's almost like a date.”
Vivian's lips parted, but no words came out.
“Last time, I believed the young master.”
A trace of hard-to-conceal coldness slipped into Allie's voice.
“Because I thought that since Your Highness chose to leave back then, you wouldn't look back. But it seems I was wrong.”
Vivian's fingers tightened slightly, her nails nearly digging into her palms.
She remained silent for a long time before speaking, her voice somewhat dry. “...I had my reasons for leaving back then.”
“Reasons?” Allie's gaze narrowed slightly. “What reasons?”
Vivian didn't answer immediately.
She lowered her head, her gaze falling on her tightly clasped hands, her voice low and slow:
“Back then, he... became a stranger to me. He shut himself off, full of hostility toward everyone, including me. I tried to get close to him, but he rejected me, so in the end, I chose to leave.”
Her voice trembled slightly, but she continued:
“I always thought it was his fault. I thought he had changed, that he had pushed me away. It wasn't until recently that I found out... everything he did back then was out of necessity. He didn't truly want to hurt me; he just... had no way of telling me the truth.”
She raised her head, a complex emotion in her eyes:
“So, I don't want to repeat the same mistake. Even if what I can do now is very limited, I still want to stay by his side.”
Allie's gaze lingered on her face for a long time.
Those eyes, which usually held a sharp edge, showed little emotional fluctuation now.
She remained silent, as if processing Vivian's words, or perhaps recalling some distant memory.
After a long while, she slowly spoke, the coldness in her voice fading slightly, replaced by an indescribable complexity:
“...How many times did you try back then?”
Vivian froze for a moment. “What?”
“You said just now that you tried to get close to him.” Allie looked straight at her. “How many times did you try?”
Vivian fell silent for a moment, then answered softly, “...Until I could no longer find a reason to convince myself to hold on.”
Allie was silent for a moment before speaking:
“Unlike you, I've never given up. If he resists me, I'll just beat him up until he stops resisting.”
She picked up her teacup, took a sip, and set it down. “So, after everything, do you think you still have any right to keep him all to yourself?”
Vivian lowered her head.
Yes. After everything, she indeed had no right to keep him all to yourself.
She was the one who had chosen to give up; she was the one who hadn't held on until the end.
What right did she have now to demand that he belong entirely to her?
Being able to stay by his side was perhaps already the best outcome she could hope to strive for.
...
Silence fell over the private room once more.
This time, the silence was even heavier than before, as if everyone was weighing the gravity of those words.
Greg didn't know what kind of face he should make. Through their conversation, he had at least figured out one thing: Vivian really did seem to have fallen for him.
The identities of the women he was sure liked him were already complicated enough.
There was Allie, who had the potential to become a Sword Saint; Silvia, the Candidate Saintess of the Church of Light; and now Vivian, the First Princess of the kingdom...
Honestly, he didn't know if this lineup would even give him a chance to build a harem in the future.
But he knew that if he wanted to strive for that chance, he had to stand up right now.
He looked at Vivian's lowered eyelashes, then at Allie's expressionless face. Taking a deep breath, he spoke up, bracing against the pressure that threatened to crush him:
“Allie.”
Allie's gaze shifted to him, carrying a hint of scrutiny.
“I know you're angry.”
Greg kept his voice as steady as possible.
“I also know you have every right to be angry. But I believe what Vivian said was sincere. I'm not trying to make excuses for her, it's just... we've already gone through so much together. She is my companion now, and that won't change.”
He paused, then added:
“Besides, I was the one who invited her to take a walk. If you want to slash someone, slash me!”
Vivian looked at Greg, her eyes widening in shock.
Greg continued, “But please leave me with a breath of life, because I wouldn't want to see you look sad afterward either.”
“...”
Allie's gaze lingered on his face for a long time without a word.
Just as the atmosphere was about to freeze again, Wendy also set down her teacup.
She cleared her throat slightly and spoke in a gentle yet measured tone:
“Lady Allie, if I may be so bold as to say, it is indeed not our place to comment on the past between Lady Vivian and the Bishop. However, now that everyone is gathered in the Imperial Capital, each with their own stance, rather than letting old entanglements drain our energy, it would be better to stabilize the current situation first.”
“After all, some accounts can be settled slowly, but some opportunities are fleeting. Moreover, the Bishop certainly has many things to prepare for next. If he carries a heavy heart, it might affect him... What do you think?”
Her tone was neither rushed nor slow, neither favoring any side nor avoiding the core of the issue. Instead, she tactfully wove the idea of there being plenty of time ahead into her words, using Greg's upcoming schedule as a buffer to give Allie a face-saving way out.
Allie's gaze rested on Wendy's face for a moment, then she let out a cold snort and took another sip of her tea. Although she didn't speak, her sharp aura clearly softened.
Greg and Wendy exchanged a look, both letting out a long sigh of relief in their hearts.
As expected of my Chief Steward. I really hope you'll be by my side every time something like this happens in the future.
Vivian stood up and gave a slight bow to Allie. “I am very sorry about today. I will head back first.”
She then turned to Greg, a trace of complexity in her eyes. “Thank you.”
With that, she turned, pushed open the door of the private room, and quickly departed.
Her silhouette cast a long shadow under the lights outside, quickly vanishing down the end of the corridor.
The remaining three in the room fell silent for a moment.
Allie held her teacup, her gaze fixed on the darkening sky outside the window, her thoughts unreadable.
Greg leaned back against his chair and closed his eyes, feeling his heart finally drop back into his chest from his throat.
He picked up his cold tea, downed it in one gulp, and let out a long breath.
Wendy cautiously observed Allie's expression, then softly asked Greg, “Bishop... are you alright?”
Greg waved his hand, saying nothing.
The most dangerous hurdle had been crossed. Next, he just had to find a way to make Allie happy.
Compared to a jealousy-fueled battleground, this task wasn't particularly difficult.
After all, what bad intentions could a silly maid have?
Rate on N.U.
