The lessons Vanessa had to teach were not just one or two, nor were they as broad and abstract as things like leaving bait and being sincere. She unhesitantly and directly criticised various aspects of Nero’s demeanour, informing him about how such behavior was distancing himself from others.
He had many great qualities, that was without a doubt, and in fact, it was only because he had such qualities that he had not alienated himself. His actions, while sometimes seeming like they were meticulous and planned out, often enough contradicted his own motives.
At times he was strict and hard, while other times friendly and lenient. These were not a bad thing, for a person needed to know the kind of response a situation demanded. However, without having a distinct baseline with which to determine when to be strict or lenient, his decisions would likely be based on his mood or emotions at the time. That was a critical flaw for a competent politician, who needed to know exactly what stance he had on every topic he came across.
Naturally, it was impossible for one person to be familiar with all events and knowledge, which is why the baseline helped. In fact, Nero did have a few baseline beliefs, so this was easy for him to understand. For example, anything and everything that could help him improve in any aspect, or help him grow, he took deadly serious. Or the fact that he trusted absolutely no stranger, and oftentimes was even suspicious of those he already knew. Except for the few people he considered family, Nero trusted no one .
Whether that was a healthy mindset or not, it was at least an example of a baseline. To establish more baselines, he needed to reflect more on. A lot of things came down to reflection.
Nero had spent a lot of time gaining and absorbing knowledge from external sources, and now it was clear to make more progress, and shed the habits that were holding him back, he would need to reflect.
Every critique Vanessa gave was accompanied by examples of stuff he had done in front of her to back up her claims. In fact, she was so thorough that Nero was actually bewildered, and impressed.
Unbeknownst to him, for her, this had been a very daunting task. Most people, when presented with criticism, instinctively became defensive or angry. Sometimes even both. Considering how firm Nero had shown himself to be, she had originally thought that he would not listen to most of what she had to say, and that this might even cause a rift in their relationship.
She did it anyway because she genuinely believed in Nero’s potential, and could see that he could prove to be a very reliable ally in the future if guided correctly. She had merely hoped that some of the things she had to stay would resonate with him. Vanessa had not been ready for just how patiently Nero behaved.
So, what was supposed to be only a small portion of their conversation ended up taking multiple hours!
Eventually, there came a point where Vanessa ran out of things to talk about, which stunned her! She had prepared a long list of talking points, and now that she had run through them all, the sudden silence that was left in the room caught her by surprise. She simply hadn’t expected to get through all of her points.
Nero, on the other hand, used the silence to absorb everything she had said. Obviously, he was not going to take all her instructions and recommendations at face value. However, he could not deny that she had taught him many new tricks and concepts. After reflecting on them some more in his free time, he would choose himself how he would implement what she had taught him today.
After a few minutes, once he was done sorting through his thoughts, he looked up and found Vanessa staring at him.
"What is it?" he asked.
"Nothing. You just... look different when you’re lost in thought," she said softly. "It’s not a look I’ve seen on you before."
She left out the next line she wanted to say, which was that he actually looked cute lost in thought like that.
"I was just making sure I remembered everything you said. Is that it? That was fairly quick," he said, not even realising that hours had gone by.
"That... is everything as far as my instruction to you is concerned. Once this meeting is over, I will immediately depart for Nova, concluding my missions here. After that, it might be years before we get a chance to meet again. Or, depending on how things go, this might actually be our last meeting ever."
Vanessa did not need to elaborate. In this world, death was always around the corner. No matter how strong Nero believed himself to be, a truth he had to accept was that not even he could guarantee his own survival.
A random Mystic level curse on a random day of his life might end him, bringing all his grand aspirations and ambitions to an end. This reality was yet another reason why Kolari’s were so casual about picking partners and marrying at a young age. Who could even say they would live long enough to regret their decisions, so they might as well live life while they had the chance.
"I have to admit, I’ll be a little disappointed to see you go," Nero said. "Randomly encountering you wherever I go, all under various identities, was becoming a bit of a habit of mine."
Vanessa chuckled, recalling the time Nero had seen through her disguise in Lumina. She still couldn’t believe it. It wasn’t that her disguise was bad - Nero just had freaky instincts. That was the only way she could explain it.
"More like I was getting used to you following me around wherever I went. My time here in Kolar is something I’ll always remember," she said fondly. "But I’d hate to live here forever. You guys are too
"Of course I’ve tried dancing!" Nero proclaimed strongly. "What, so just because we’re a nation that likes to fight you think we lack culture? We have war dances that we do before going off to war. In the older days, before Great families were a thing, we had tribes and tribe dances. Even now, courting dances are quite popular. We didn’t really have a proper high school farewell, or you’d get the chance to see it for yourself."
"Hah!" Vanessa barked a laugh. "That’s a sight I’d like to see. Loverboy Nero, doing a courting dance at the end of high school. Only, I think you’d be courting a spear not a girl."
Nero pursed his lips and gave Vanessa an annoyed look.
"Can you stop calling me loverboy?" he asked. "Where did that nickname even come from? You know that nickname has spread. It’s not good for my reputation if people think I’m the lover of a princess from another country."
" My lover? Please, as if you’d be so lucky," Vanessa said, rolling her eyes. "And so what if I call you loverboy? What can you do? I’m a ’princess’ after all - in your own words."
Nero felt the urge to flick her forehead with a bit of strength. Having her annoy him was not nearly as entertaining as him annoying her.
"Beware your actions, lest I give you a nickname too?" he warned.
"Oh? What nickname can you even give me? Princess? How original. Come on loverboy , I’d like to see what you call me."
Nero barely kept his lips from twitching, but then he locked eyes with her, taking in the sight of dark eyes. One would think that dark pupils would look horrifying, yet Nero found them mystifying, as if they were an endless void, hiding all her secrets. Framed by her hazel skin, Vanessa’s eyes held the potential to hold him captive forever.
"What if I call you mine ?" he asked before he even realised it, his gaze locked with hers, his voice suddenly domineering instead of retaliating.
The words were like a clap of thunder in both their ears, freezing them in their place. Neither Nero, nor Vanessa had been expecting something like that, so when the words were uttered, both their minds blanked.
Unbeknownst to them both, standing in the corner of the room was a man in Kolari uniform, watching them. He had been there from the beginning, standing out in the open, yet neither Vanessa nor Nero had detected him.
When he heard Nero’s words, though, the ability he was using to stay hidden nearly broke as he was shocked by the audacity of that little soldier, flirting in such a cringe manner.
Unable to bear it, the man simply closed his eyes, unable to tolerate the sight of the two teenagers. His job was merely to protect Vanessa - everything else was irrelevant. Though, even with his eyes closed, he could not keep himself flinching from the cringe.