It was not difficult to deal with thugs without weapons. It was no different from light stretching before training.

I lightly beat the three men who rushed towards me.

“Uwaaaaaa!”

First of all, the one who was most excited ran up to me with his fists raised recklessly. I slipped aside and hit him on the back with my parasol.

“Kaaagh!”

The second man swung his hand to grab me by the collar. I avoided it a few times before I was caught.

When he finally got hold of me, the man’s expression turned confident.

But only for a while. I turned my body around and stood before the fellow, then I stabbed his chin as hard as I could with the tip of the parasol.

“Uuugh!”

The man eventually sank with a gasp. He didn’t seem to have the energy to attack twice. An unenthusiastic fellow.

But the third guy was cautious.

Seeing the his two friends fell apart as easily as fallen leaves in autumn, he quickly picked up a piece of wood nearby and stood in front of me.

“Oh, you’re going to use a weapon? Your brain has done some work there.”

I smiled and complimented the man.

“Heh, one needs to have some tricks!”

As soon as he held the weapon in his hand, he seemed to have gained confidence, and immediately rushed at me.

I held each end of the parasol in both hands and blocked the wood. There was a crackling sound from the parasol.

The man smiles with his teeth exposed as he thought he had won the game.

“What are you laughing at? Your bottom area is open.”

“What? … Aaargh!”

You think you can win if you take down my weapon?

I kicked the unblocked man’s lower leg as hard as I could.

The man tossed his wooden pole away and started to roll on the floor while clutching his lower leg.

My deepest condolences to your second generation.

“If your brain had worked a little bit more, you would’ve just knelt down in front of me.”

I said bitterly to the three fallen bastards.

Of course, none of them agreed. All three of them were so busy crawling on the floor.

“Ah… You…”

As I was pleased with my performance, a timid woman’s voice came from behind me.

Only then did I realize the existence of a victim who was squatting in a corner and whimpering.

“T-Thank you. I was so scared. Hicc. Thank you.”

The woman, who was sitting on the floor, began to cry, tears dripping from her eyes. She seemed to be relieved now.

I patted her on the shoulder with pity.

“Everything’s alright now. You can rest assured.”

“H-How am I supposed to repay this favor…”

“What do you mean favor? It was a good stress-reliever for me.”

I said with a smile.

It wasn’t empty words. Even if it didn’t seem like it these days, I had been getting stressed.

Keeping the empress in check. Count Brande was being annoying as well. I wanted to rest, but there were many people who wanted me to teach them swordsmanship.

Then I was so worried about dating that I’ve never experienced before that I felt like I was losing my hair.

“Come on, let’s go. Before those scumbags get up.”

“T-Thank you! Thank you very much!”

The woman wiped her tears and got up and disappeared into the crowd. After the woman left, I turned my head and saw that the thugs who were scolded by me were also scrambling and running away towards an alley.

“Whoa… It’s been a long time since I had such a fruitful day.”

I muttered as I wiped the nonexistent sweat from my forehead with the back of my hand.

I was so happy that I got some action for the first time in a long while.

“Are you relieved?”

Before I knew it, Caesar approached me. I smiled at Caesar.

“Mm!”

At my smile, Caesar also smiled happily. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen such a warm and bright smile.

“I’m happy that Helena looks happy.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes, but can I tell you something?”

“What is it?”

Caesar answered my question with a tilt of his head.

“We’re late for the opera.”

“… Oh my!”

I totally forgot!

By the way, why is this bastard just keep smiling around? If you knew, you should have urged me!

I shouted, grabbing Caesar’s hand.

“Let’s run!”

Then, I began to sprint without hearing an answer.

An aristocratic young lady who raced down the street, dragging a man who was taller than her in a dress. Naturally we got people’s attention.

Moreover, neither I nor Caesar were inferior in terms of physical strength, so it was obvious how fast we must have run.

However, the way people looked at me was the least of my problems right now.

The opera! The romance! My perfect data-based dating course!

“Waaaa, hurry up, Caesar!”

“Ahaha.”

I was such in a hurry, but Caesar just kept laughing as if it was funny.

I truly didn’t know why.

***

“We’re late… Huft…!”

Well, it was foretold.

We left the cafe just in time, but I wasted quite a bit of time dealing with thugs.

The opera had already begun. I felt like my shoulders were losing strength.

Unlike me, Caesar, standing next to me, still only laughed.

“Hehehe.”

“Oh, stop laughing!”

“Ouch.”

I hit Caesar with disgust. This child had been laughing out loud ever since we met the gangsters. What was so funny?

“We can still enter, Helena.”

“What’s the point of watching from the middle?”

I let out a long sigh.

“I wanted to show it to Caesar. I said that this is really popular among lovers.”

“Who said it?”

“The Red Knights trainees.”

“They said that? Well, I don’t think it was a very emotional content.”

Caesar Hmm’ed.

“The content is typical, but the music… No, wait. Caesar, do you know what this opera is about?”

“I know. I was invited to the premiere.”

… What?

I jerked my head up and glared at Caesar. This annoying person smiled and tilted his head to the side as if asking What’s wrong?

“You’ve already seen it? But why didn’t you tell me?”

“Well, Helena was very excited about something for once, and she seemed to be having fun.”

“You fool!”

My face flushed with excitement. 

What’s that!? It’s like I was the only one who got excited!

Caesar eventually covered his mouth with his hand and burst into laughter. It was so annoying because it felt like I was made fun of. I wanted to kick him to the point where he got an internal injury.

“Cough. Anyway, what about Helena? If you want to see the opera, should we go in now? I don’t think a lot of songs have passed yet.”

“It’s… It’s fine. Actually, I don’t even like opera very much.”

I don’t like opera very much because it has a lot of depressing endings.

“Ha… I thought it was a perfect date course, but this is a challenge.”

I covered my eyes with one hand.

I felt like I messed up the schedule by interfering with other things, so I was sorry and upset.

I wanted to repay Caesar with something. It was my first time in a relationship, and I was not good at expressing my feelings to someone.

‘I wanted to do it like everyone else.’

I wanted to do everything that everyone else was doing.

“Alright. So let’s skip the opera.”

“…?”

Caesar said, holding my hand. I lowered my hand that was covering my eyes and glanced at him.

He was still looking at me with a friendly smile.

“Let’s move on to the next course. The Mont’s Cathedral, wasn’t it?”

“Mm? Oh, right. To see the night view. But it’s still a bit early… Wait a moment. How do you know that?”

“Come on, let’s go.”

Caesar pulled me out of the opera house.

I asked in bewilderment as I hurried behind him.

“How do you know? Huh? How do you know that!?”

“A fairy told me last night.”

“Lies! Don’t tell me you knew everything! Did you order the whole cake too?!”

“No. It was the fairy.”

You knew it all, you bastard!

There must be a traitor among the Red Knights trainees! These bastards, I’ll give you a taste of hell at your next training!

As I walked in fury, Caesar glanced back at me.

“Ah. Just in case, the thugs really have nothing to do with me.”

“I know that! Look forward and walk!”

I shouted with all my might at Caesar, who was smiling mischievously.

***

Stairs to the square in front of the Mont’s Cathedral.

It is said to be famous for its night view, but there were not many people because it was still early.

I let out a shallow sigh as I watched the panoramic view of the city unfolding beneath my feet immersed in the red light.

“We’re supposed to see the night view from here.”

“The sunset is nice too, though.”

“I’m sorry. I feel like I messed it all up because I got sidetracked.”

“Hmm.”

Caesar made a short sound.

Are you angry? I glanced at him, but his gaze was towards the city, making it hard to guess.

“The cake, was it bad?”

Suddenly, Caesar opened his mouth.

“No, it was really good. I’m sincere.”

“What about the sunset?”

“Mm?”

“It’s not the night view we’re looking at right now. Do you hate the sunset?”

As Caesar urged with a Hmm? with a tilt of his head, a red glow flashed over his face.

“… I like it.”

“Yes. That’s it.”

Caesar nodded heavily and then turned his head back to the front. His gaze was so far away that I also shifted my gaze in the direction he was looking at.

‘That’s it? You’re done?’

I said as I took Caesar’s hand.

“Yulika… will like opera, right?”

“I don’t understand. Why are we talking about Yulika Brande all of a sudden?”

“Yulika plays the piano well, dances well, and sings well. She is also gentle and obedient.”

“Yes, but Yulika won’t be able to knock down three gangsters on the street to relieve her stress.”

“Hmph.”

My brows knitted automatically.

Was it too much to suddenly knock three men out with a parasol during a date?

But Caesar’s words that followed were enough to calm my anxiety.

“I like Helena who’s like that.”

“… What?”

“You don’t have to try to date normally, Helena. I don’t like cafes with a good atmosphere, nor do I like operas, and I don’t like women who walk gracefully with parasols.”

Caesar’s gaze turned to me again.

The glow of the sunset shone deeper and deeper in his red eyes. I couldn’t find a lie in his gaze, and my heart was pounding.

“I like Helena Peresca. Only you. Because you’re special.”

Having said that, Caesar smiled innocently.

“Of course, it was pretty fun to see Helena trying to play a prank that didn’t even work.”

Affection that seemed to not fade was pouring in beyond control.

It might be an illusion, but…

“I— You are the first.”

For some reason, I felt that my voice was shaking a little.

“So I don’t know. I don’t know what to do. I don’t know what’s right. Can I do this? I’m nervous.”

After realizing that I really liked him, I was afraid of losing him.

I was afraid that I wouldn’t be able to understand before it slipped out of my hand, just as I didn’t know when it had approached me.

“Helena. You are my first, too.”

Said Caesar.

His voice was so calm and still, it was hard for me to believe he was just like me.

“But what do we need to know? I don’t care what it is as long as it makes you laugh.”

Something that can make me laugh.

Secret and tricky things that only him and I would know, a little different from ordinary lovers.

“I wouldn’t worry about destroying this world for Master’s sake.”

No, you have to worry about that.

I laughed bitterly at Caesar’s solemnity. I didn’t think it was a joke, but…

“You’re not some kind of a demon lord… A whole cake is enough, right?”

“How can my lover be so simple when the crown prince is by her side?”

Caesar burst into bitter laughter.

“So what about you? What can I do for you to make you happy?”

“Mmm, that’s right. If it’s me, I’m happy enough just to have Helena by my side…”

Caesar pondered for a moment, then looked at me and smiled.

“Now I want Helena to kiss me.”

This is too much. Too much.

I frowned slightly.

Even if it seemed that only the two of us were having a good time, in fact, there were guards attached to us in places we couldn’t see.

‘I can feel it. They’re watching this side from the other side.’

Does he want me to kiss him with people watching?

However.

‘I want to do it for you.’

I want to express it.

I want to tell you.

These raw emotions that were too clumsy to be said in words.

“Close your eyes.”

“Uh, really?”

“Hurry up.”

As I rushed to deceive my shame, Caesar quickly closed his eyes.

I opened the parasol after confirming that Caesar had closed his eyes. The parasol with its broken stand unfolded.

‘They’re over there, I’m sure.’

I spread the parasol in the direction where I could feel the gaze toward this side, and quickly put my lips on Caesar’s lips in the gap.

At first I must have been the one in charge, but by the time I was running out of breath, I realized that Caesar was leading me.

As if waiting for the rabbit to be caught in a trap, the wolf enjoyed the game leisurely.

‘My heart is about to explode.’

Is it because it is difficult to breathe, is it shame, or is it because I am so ecstatic that my head is dizzy?

The sunset quickly faded and turned into night. The city lights twinkled like gold dust under my feet.

‘Caesar, did this make you a little happier?’

I hope so.

I wish I was the one who could make him happy.

With that in mind, I gripped the broken parasol even more tightly.