I Think My Fiancé Has Regressed

Chapter 69: Her Summon (3)

Arianna returned, obviously dejected, and I did not see her for some time in the aftermath of the incident.

First and foremost, she dragged me, a royal, around until dawn.

The second was that she had taken five high-level spell books from the palace library without permission.

Lastly, it took a very long time for Ariana’s disappointment to dissipate.

The first and second ended in a mild punishment of a month’s ban from the palace, as I vigorously defended her actions but it took over two months for her mood to lift once she was down.

…Well, it’s not as if I don’t sympathize with her.

Being rejected on the brink of a contract with the highest ranking elemental is not a situation that even the strongest of minds can easily handle.

And when it happened to her five times in a row, it’s no wonder she’s broken.

After the last spirit, Raela, left. It would not have been strange for her to lie down in the mountains in despair.

It’s just that Arianna’s character was strong enough to keep her from falling apart.

So seeing her now, chatting happily with her summon, made me feel all the more fortunate on a personal level.

Perhaps Purr’s presence could help her heal from the wounds she had suffered that day.

“Purr, I feel sorry for you, that you have to go through life without ever tasting this delicious dessert.”

“Pooh?”

“I don’t know how delicious my magic is, but I’m sure it’s not as good as this dessert, a specialty of Eloreal.”

“Kuu, Kuu!”

“I see, you’re craving some magic power too, so here you go.”

Seeing her grab her summon without missing a beat, even in the middle of eating dessert, Ariana was definitely not going to be an evil person.

“Purr, could you cut this with the air cutter?”

“Kuu!”

Purr’s sharp wind blade sliced through the sugar dessert with precision.

Scooping up the bite-sized dessert with a spoon, Ariana held it in front of my eyes, not her mouth.

“Here, Alex.”

“…Huh?”

“For some reason, I feel like you’ve been looking at me for a while now. Didn’t you want to eat it?”

…I hadn’t been able to keep my eyes off her since we arrived at the café.

There was no reason to turn down a dessert from Ariana, so I opened my mouth to accept her favor.

“How do you like it, Alex?”

“…Yeah, it’s sweet.”

Though, to be honest, it was a bit sweeter than necessary for my taste.

It was pretty and topped with whipped cream, but it was really just a lump of sugar.

Eamon has been back three times already to tell me how much he liked it, and apparently he hangs out with a lot of younger kids, so his taste buds are leaning in that direction.

“I’m glad I took the time to come back here again, I would have been quite disappointed if I hadn’t tried the flavors.”

“Did you like it that much?”

“Well, yes, but with this kind of food, satisfying curiosity is part of the flavor.

It’s half about the sweetness of the dessert itself, and half about the pleasure of finding out what you’ve been hearing rumors about.”

Despite this, the spoons and forks never seem to stop moving toward the sugary confections.

Ariana was so focused on the dessert in front of her that she didn’t even notice the whipped cream smeared on the side of her lip.

I quietly pulled a handkerchief from my pocket.

“Ariana, can you be still for a second?”

“Yes?”

“Yes. Sit still and put your face this way.”

“…Okay.”

Ariana listened to me and carefully stretched her face closer to mine.

She didn’t even bother to close her eyes.

I carefully wiped the mooncake whipped cream from the corner of her mouth with my handkerchief, then told her I was done.

“I’m done.”

“Yes……?”

“You didn’t seem to realize you had cream on the corner of your mouth, so I wiped it off for you.”

Ariana’s face flushed slightly at my comment, and her voice trembled slightly as she replied.

“Well, I see, I had a very strange misunderstanding….”

“A strange misunderstanding?”

“Oh, it’s nothing, you don’t have to worry about it.”

Ariana looked like she was in a hurry to move on from the subject at hand, but the mention of a strange misunderstanding naturally drew my attention to her.

She could easily misunderstand what I meant when I asked her to stay still and turn her face toward me.

As I recalled Ariana’s cautious face with her eyes slightly closed, I quickly realized the nature of her strange misunderstanding.

“…….”

And the way she sipped her cinnamon cappuccino with a slightly disappointed look on her face.

I felt a little guilty that I’d unintentionally made her feel a little worse.

…I don’t think I’ll be able to get away with it.

“Ariana.”

“Yes?”

I brought my face close to Ariana’s, who was caught off guard.

The sound of a light kiss, audible only to the two of us, came from one of the café’s terrace seats.

The feel of her lips, moist and soft, was immediately transferred to mine.

“…….”

Even when I returned to my seat, smelling the cinnamon on her lips, Ariana still didn’t seem to understand what had happened.

“……ah.”

She strokes her own lips with one hand, long overdue, and cautiously extrapolates what just happened.

“…Did you just, like, kiss me?”

“Yeah.”

“What, so suddenly?”

“For some reason, Ariana seemed to be wistful.”

“…….”

“Did you not like it?”

“Oh, no. Of course not….”

It was cute to see Ariana’s pale skin now as red as her hair.

It’s actually the first time we’ve ever kissed while sharing a bed, though I’m surprised to be honest.

Once I realized it, my face started to heat up a little too.

“…Let’s do it one more time.”

“Huh?”

“I’m saying that I didn’t feel it properly because I wasn’t thinking about it, so do it one more time.”

Ariana’s face was in front of mine in an instant, as if she wouldn’t take no for an answer, and I was the one to steal her second kiss.

Our lips stayed together a little longer than the first.

“…….”

“…….”

After a moment of intense affection shared on a whim, the return embarrassment was ours to bear.

* * *

Our long journey through the Eloreal Empire has reached its final days.

We almost had a crisis along the way, but thanks to Ariana’s efforts, we were able to end it without any damage.

She also gained a cute little summon as a result, so that’s a small price to pay.

Dale appeared before Ariana, pulling the carriage we had traveled in on our way to the Empire.

She had considered purchasing a new multi-seater carriage for her servant, Elise, but Elise had insisted that such consideration was unnecessary.

So it seems that Elise will sit with Dale in the coachman’s seat on the way back, just as she did on the way to the Empire.

It’s not so bad, after all, it’s a little less tiring to take turns driving the carriage than it is to drive it alone.

Eamon and Charlotte had already set off well ahead of us.

It wasn’t so much that they wanted to get to the Academy first, but rather that they were going on a date in a country halfway between the Eloreal Empire and the Kingdom of Leavrov.

I felt a little jealous of Eamon, who was able to spend time with his fiancée without much thought.

As I opened the carriage door to leave the Eloreal Empire, Ariana and I climbed in.

In the distance, a group of robes-clad wizards came out and approached Ariana’s carriage.

They were the familiar faces of the Academy’s professors, faces that had come and gone during her time at the Academy.

“Greetings, Prince Alexandros, and Professor Emeritus Ariana Anastasia.”

The man who appeared to be the youngest professor greeted us, so I returned the favor.

“What brings you here?”

I didn’t harbor any particularly good feelings toward Imperial mages after the events of five days ago, so the answer naturally came out of my mouth a bit bluntly.

The young mage gave me an apologetic look and bowed gingerly to Arianna and me.

“I have come to formally apologize for what happened five days ago, before the two of you left the Eloreal Empire.”

As I watched the other mages bow their heads in unison at the mage’s words, I was momentarily stunned.

I hadn’t expected any self-respecting Imperial mages to admit their mistakes.

“I am truly sorry that I did not listen to Professor Emeritus Arianna’s advice and used my magic to make the situation worse.”

“I’m sorry that the old man got a little carried away by a powerful foe he hadn’t seen in a long time, but if I hadn’t intervened, the situation wouldn’t have gotten so dangerous….”

Now that even the two Archmages, who were almost certainly the main culprits, had lowered their heads, the ill will towards the Empire naturally began to fade.

Most of all, I liked the fact that they were respecting Ariana with the title of ‘Professor Emeritus’ like any other Academy student.

“…It was unavoidable, it was your first encounter with the Witch of Walpurgis and you were not prepared to deal with her properly.

I’ll accept your apologies, but is Alex okay with that?”

“He’s the one who suffered the most from this, so if he’s okay with it, I’m okay with it.”

As soon as Ariana said she would accept the apology, the Imperial Mages thanked her.

She really does have a knack for attracting people wherever she goes.

This time, it was the proud Imperial Mages.

I wondered how far her ability to attract people would go.

“Oh, I wonder if anyone has paper and pen?”

Ariana suddenly remembered something and asked the Imperial Mages if she could borrow some paper and pen.

Several wizards rushed forward and handed her their writing supplies.

Ariana took two pieces of paper and scribbled something on each of them.

Folding the two pieces of paper separately, she returned one to each of the two Archmages.

“If you are truly in my favor for this, I would ask that you two read them later.”

After handing them the slips of paper, which I wondered what the hell she had written on them, Arianna quickly climbed into the carriage bound for Leavrov.

I climbed in behind her, the carriage door closed behind me, and the carriage began traveling straight toward the kingdom.

“Ugh, I should have gotten a suspension….”

I’m carrying Ariana, who is still suffering from motion sickness with her back pressed against my thigh.