Chapter 99: Date (2)
“No, I really don’t need ‘this’…?!”
“Aizel, I don’t think you know what you’re talking about, but the whole point of a date is to spice things up.”
“Ha…”
Despite Blanc’s kind coaching, Aizel could only sigh.
“Hmph, too shy… Let’s see.”
With that, Blanc walked over to Aizel, who was looking at herself in the full-length mirror.
Aizel, who had turned her head to avoid Blanc’s gaze, was blushing with embarrassment at her reflection.
“This is much better than the drab Academy uniform.”
Blanc said as she smoothed Aizel’s hair.
The dress she was wearing and the ribbon she tied in her hair were enough to change her image.
“So you’re our social director again?”
Blanc jerked a thumbs-up and winked at the black-haired social director, one of the people she’d brought in for Aizel.
“Huh…We’ve got the whole continent covered lately. I thought I’d bring something fashionable, not too old-fashioned, but…”
With a satisfied smile, the social director twitches his ‘gentlemanly’ mustache and approaches Aizel.
“But this ridiculous complexion of yours, Miss Aizel…Ecstatic and electrifying…Perhaps it was a mistake on my part to try to calculate her aesthetic value, to fail to capture the full extent of her beauty, her charm…Ohhh…this is a great mistake. Please forgive me…”
The social director, who had been admiring Aizel’s beauty, bows his head and Blanc waves a hand in response.
“It’s okay, it’s a first date, don’t go overboard.”
Meanwhile, Aizel is tilting her head, wondering what’s so offensive.
‘I wonder how we’ll get along…’
Blanc and the social director didn’t pay much attention to her reaction; they simply assumed she was out of place and embarrassed, since this was the first time she’d ever been dressed up like this.
“It looks good on you, Aizel. You’ve become a very lovely girl, haven’t you?”
Blanc patted Aizel on the shoulder as she stood in front of the mirror and whispered to her.
“…Lovely.”
Aizel repeated Blanc’s words in a low voice.
“Would I lie to you?”
“Why are you doing this for me?”
Blanc tilted his head to make eye contact with her and looked at Aizel, who was looking at her shyly, and opened her mouth.
“You’re the reason I’m chapter leader, so what can I do for you?”
Aizel nods, “Thank you”… and mumbles a little.
Blanc, who hadn’t missed it, smiled broadly.
Now it was time to go to the appointment.
Aizel wondered what was bothering her so much, and her eyes were filled with worry.
“…Don’t worry about it. I know you’ll be fine.”
Blanc reassured her.
With that, Aizel left, while Blanc and the social director headed to the roof of a nearby skyscraper.
Once on the roof, the social director pulled out a magical telescope from his pocket.
It was an extremely valuable item, used by the Black Hand of the Information Guild for “work”. It was too expensive to be used for anything more than observing Academy cadets’ dates, but Miss Blanc, the head of the southern branch, was powerful.
The social director unfolds the magical telescope and looks through the lens to see Aizel walking down the street in the distance.
They planned to roam the building’s rooftops and observe her date to make sure she’s doing well…was the excuse.
It was supposed to be a break or a diversion. After all, when you work for the Information Guild, you see things you don’t want to see and know things you don’t want to know.
For them, the story of a lovely young girl’s budding love was a welcome distraction.
Blanc silently recalled the first time he met Aizel.
She was a very different person then than she is now.
She had come to her out of nowhere with valuable information and she sensed something strange about her.
Her eyes were devoid of any emotion and she couldn’t imagine what this diminutive girl could have been through to reach such a state of emotional wear and tear.
But now she knew how to blush, and she knew how to think about love.
Blanc thought that Aizel needed to be a little happier.
It was a small part of Blanc’s desire to give her the happiness she had lacked in her own childhood.
At that moment, the social director, who had been studying Aizel through his binoculars, opened his mouth.
“…Shit.”
A question mark appears on Blanc’s face.
What’s going on, she wonders, with a profanity spewing from the mouth of a man known for his gentlemanliness?
“What’s wrong?”
Blanc asks him, frowning.
“…I apologize, ma’am. I’ve been very embarrassed…I think you’d better check it out for yourself.”
Shaking his head, the social director held out the telescope to Blanc.
“What is it…”
Muttering to herself, Blanc takes the telescope and peers through the lens.
She immediately recognized Aizel, who looked just as adorable as ever.
Aizel was talking to a man but when Blanc saw the man’s face her mouth dropped.
“Uh…”
They suddenly understood why she had said she didn’t need ‘this’, even though they had given her a makeover.
It was a moment of clarity for them, as they realized that they hadn’t been fooled by Aizel’s appearance.
There was a bandage over the man’s eyes.
Blanc looked away from the telescope and frowned as Aizel’s words flashed through her mind.
“…We’re in the same class.”
“Yes, it seems that Ms. Aizel’s partner was Cadet Zetto, the blind swordsman who was active in this open class…That’s a big deal.”
They were members of the Information Guild after all and they had simple information about the cadets who had made a name for themselves during the open class.
“Hah… Yeah, that’s a problem.”
Aizel’s carefully prepared flower arrangement was now meaningless.
She hadn’t told her who her date was, but it was understandable that she didn’t want to know. After all, the Black Hand was an information guild.
Blanc had no intention of handing over even the slightest bit of information about Aizel to the guild, but it seemed that Aizel didn’t have that much trust in her.
“Then… And the ‘firecrackers’ we prepared…”
The social director said cautiously, watching Blanc’s eyes.
This meant that the ‘special event’ they had planned for Aizel’s date was now in ruins.
Blanc clicked her tongue in disbelief and looked at Aizel but her face brightened as she realized how well the conversation was going.
“Well, at least I’ll be able to see her…”
From now on, it was all up to her.
***
It was a weekend in the Academy city, and the streets were bustling with people.
Normally, Academy cadets wear their uniforms on weekends and weekdays.
‘I used to do that too, but…’
It’s comfortable.
The only clothes I wore other than my uniform were clothes for movement and robes to hide from prying eyes when I went outside the academy.
I was worried about the shortness of the dress since I’ve never worn anything like this before.
I checked through the shop window as I walked to make sure the ribbon wasn’t out of place.
“Wow.”
“Who is that?”
“Isn’t that Aizel Ludwig?”
For some reason, the eyes of the people around me were focused on me differently than usual.
Maybe I look strange to them too.
Blanc, who had provided the clothes, said that I look good.
It wasn’t that I didn’t know what she meant, but I couldn’t get used to it, so it just seemed strange, at least to my eyes.
Even if it was true, it meant nothing to Zetto anyway since appearances had no value to him.
Still, it did mean that Blanc hadn’t done any more research on me, for which I was grateful.
This was the first time I’d been on a formal date with Zetto, including the previous rounds.
I hadn’t even met him yet, and my whole body was shaking.
‘How did I usually walk…?’
Now I was worried about my stride.
How many more steps had I taken?
The bell of the clock tower chimed, signaling the time of our meeting and I could see him in the distance.
‘…I thought he’d be in uniform.’
The Zetto in my eyes looked quite different from his usual self. He was dressed in neat and tidy plainclothes, his hair slicked back as if he had spent a lot of effort on it.
My heart tickled in my chest. To be honest, Zetto was very handsome.
‘The way he makes girls swoon in the first place…’
Normally, by the time I reached that thought, I was annoyed… but not today. Not today.
“Zetto, have you been waiting…”
I called out to him as I approached him.
“No, I just got here, too.”
He smiled as he said it.
The next person in the store, Herald, overhears Zetto and laughs heartily.
The meeting point was in front of Herald’s store.
“Kahaha! He didn’t just arrive…He was here half an hour ago, asking for the time. I was wondering who you were meeting, but it was Aizel?”
Zetto scratched his head at the Herald’s comment.
Zetto didn’t carry a watch, so he’d based his appointments on the chimes of the clock tower…He must have been waiting for me.
This was why I wasn’t annoyed.
The fact that he had made arrangements for me, that he was waiting for me, gave me a sense of security.
It was a small thing, but it made me feel very good.
Then I noticed Zetto’s hair. It was a little sloppy, maybe because he’d never brushed his hair before.
Maybe I could just brush over the hair that was sticking up there so I stepped closer to him.
“Excuse me.”
Zetto was so much taller than me that I had to lift my feet up to touch his hair.
He stood still and waited for me so I was able to safely pass a strand of hair that was sticking out.
“You’re…….”
My gaze naturally went to Zetto’s face.
“Uh…”
I’d only just realized how close our faces were.
Zetto’s lips stand out. It felt like we were about to kiss.
“Thank you.”
Zetto’s sweet voice was right in front of my nose, and as he said that, he suddenly grabbed my wrist and sniffed it.
“Is that perfume…? It goes well with Ms. Aizel… It’s a subtle scent, similar to the one I smelled the other day…”
My face burned at his flowing words.
The perfume was one of the ‘floral arrangements’ Blanc had prepared and I chose the perfume made of obsion from among the others.
‘Heh…how did you know it was the most expensive?’
Blanc said to me after I chose the perfume.
‘Zetto’s got a good nose.’
He had an excellent sense of smell.
I felt very embarrassed that he smelled the scent on my wrist, on my body so I quickly pulled my wrist out of his grasp and hid it from him.
He turned his head and said.
“…Well, let’s go.”
Everything was for breaking Zetto’s curse and winning his love.
As Herald watched from inside the shop, he muttered to himself as he wiped down the table.
“Youth, youth, youth.”