19 – Date
‘Wow…’
There was something about her appearance that tugged at a man’s heartstrings.
‘Is it because of those clothes?’
Her outfit, which somewhat resembled military dress.
Even though it was not a skirt but pants, the uniform of a female gave an oddly attractive feeling.
There were minor regrets, but very minor.
‘If only there were more curves… No, no.’
I shook my head lightly, scattering the wicked thought that momentarily surfaced in my mind.
From Noble mtl dot com
“I’m, I’m sorry for being late?”
Her short hair, redder than her blushing cheeks, swayed as she ran lightly towards me.
At her somewhat awkward greeting, I nodded my head.
“No, I just arrived too. Shall we move?”
“Huh? Yes…”
As I took the lead in moving, I felt that she did not follow from behind.
“E-excuse me…!”
“Yes?”
Turning around as she suddenly called me, she clenched her fist as if she had made up her mind and blurted out.
“You look truly splendid today! Ah, no. Beautiful!”
I was taken aback.
“Beautiful…? What is?”
Despite her odd compliment, I quickly collected myself and dismissed it from my mind.
‘You idiot!’
Although I have had very few real dates, it was unbelievable that I, who had consumed immense amounts of subculture material, could make such a mistake!
The first thing to do when meeting the heroine on a date,
I ended up letting her do this first!
“Betty, you’re really beautiful. Ah, no. Impressive. Your uniform suits you well.”
This is, of course, a compliment about appearance and clothing.
At first, I praised according to my values, but then suddenly remembered the values of this world and corrected myself.
‘Hmm? But there’s something déjà vu about this…’
Didn’t she just compliment me in this way? I wonder what was going through her mind.
“Well, let’s get g-going now!”
Betty, her face flushed to her ears in excitement, started walking ahead.
I followed beside her, mystified.
On our way to the first destination, the restaurant,
“…..”
“…..”
Neither of us spoke as we walked.
‘Is it okay to be silent like this? What did I do then…’
Although I had had blind dates before, it was almost 10 years ago and I hardly remember it.
When I glancing at her, it seemed that she too was uncomfortable in this situation.
I saw her fumbling with her left hand on my side, clenching and releasing and pulling away and drawing near again.
‘She seems awfully uncomfortable’
While pondering if there were any small talks, I suddenly thought of something and spoke.
“Ah, Betty. Have you ever tried 32?”
“3, 32? What’s that?”
I asked thinking that at her age, she would have gone out with friends and tried it at least once…
Being a noble, she must have money.
“Oops…”
Just then, I remembered the personal information Anderson Clan said about her.
“They said she has no friends and loves fencing…”
It seemed like a good opportunity.
I didn’t get a chance to have fun the last time when I gave it to a commoner girl, and I wanted Betty to experience the same.
Since there’s plenty of time before our dinner reservation.
“It’s a store that serves a dessert called ice cream. We have some time, shall we go?”
“Oh, Ice cream! I’ve heard about it. It’s a dessert developed by the Anderson Clan!”
Hence, we headed to the ice cream store.
On the way to the shop, she continued to fiddle nervously with her left hand.
Being on her left, I found myself becoming more and more concerned.
‘No way… No, it can’t be.’
Though I tried hard to deny my thoughts, her persistent fidgeting continued.
‘Should I ask?’
Are you wanting to hold hands?
Even though my romance cells were practically dead, something felt off about asking directly.
So, I bore the odd feeling within myself and subtly stretched out my right hand towards her, not daring to look her way, keeping my gaze straight ahead.
Just about when I began to feel a sense of heat in my ears, I felt something wrapping around my right hand.
It was warm, soft, and small.
Peeking over to my right, I saw the tips of her ears, pinkened since a while ago, colored a brilliant red just like the color of her hair.
‘Surprisingly, she has no callouses.’
One of my immediate thoughts.
Despite practicing fencing daily, there was not a single rough spot on her hand. It was as soft as a baby’s hand.
Even I, a mere beginner of fencing for barely a month, had significant callouses…
‘Well, she must have achieved something like a complete transformation.’
Being a fan of genre material, my thoughts naturally went in that direction.
‘But, everything’s somehow calming down now.’
What I thought was a cringy action was becoming grounding once I held her warmth.
The time it took to reach the ice cream shop felt like an instant.
The front of the store was bustling with customers, living up to its reputation as a popular place.
Most of them seemed to be children of nobility.
We stood at the very end of the customer line, without letting go of each other’s hands.
When the queue had shortened by about half, two guys who had just bought ice cream caught my eye.
One of them was incredibly handsome – no, beautiful.
“Dick! Let me have just one bite of yours!”
The man who appeared to be his friend then plunged his spoon into his ice cream.
‘Who names a person Dick…’
Inevitably, I found myself thinking inappropriate thoughts about his name, which was totally incongruous with his appearance.
“Oh.”
Betty, who had noticed the two late, was startled and pulled my arm.
“Tom, wait a second. This way.”
“Huh? Wai-wait…”
Desperately, she almost dragged my right arm, pulling me to the right side of the waiting line.
‘She, her strength is enormous…’
I was almost dragged along.
The place she led me to was in the blind spot of the two male students who had just come out.
But…something felt strange about my arm.
– Slick.
I felt two large and soft objects pressed into it.
The sensation pressed tightly against my arm was something I had never felt in my life, pure joy itself.
“Oh, ah…”
An pathetic sound unwittingly leaked from me.
When I turned my head to see what was happening to my arm, she quickly let go of it.
“Oh…”
I sighed at the disappearance of the joy from my arm.
I felt the truth that what tortures a person the most in this world is giving them happiness and then taking it away.
“I-I’m sorry.”
She apologized for grabbing me and glanced over the waiting line.
“Did they leave?”
“The male students?”
“Yes… Actually, there was a situation at the square earlier.”
“Hmm…”
Well, everyone has their own issues.
Rather than prying into hers, I instead cast surreptitious glances at her chest.
‘It didn’t seem like that before…’
Her bosom was just barely beyond flat-chested. It certainly did not possess the volume I felt earlier.
‘Could it be…’
The legendary physique often featured in subculture media?
‘The type to look slim when clothed’
The thought is ridiculous, but this is an alternate world where magic exists.
Or, who knows, I might have unwittingly possessed the character of some story!
If so, it’s not entirely implausible!
I chuckled dryly at my foolish thoughts and desperately diverted my attention.
Right, if I keep thinking about her chest, I might mess up today’s date.
‘Concentrate.’
We safely bought ice cream and left the shop.
It’s another story how she pressed my hand with incredible strength and paid the bill when I tried to do so.
We sat on a bench in a nearby small park.
“It’s so good!”
She took nearly half of her ice cream in one bite and exclaimed, puffing her cheeks out.
She chewed a few times and then swallowed.
“Uh-uh…”
She closed her eyes and grasped her head with both hands.
“Of course, you would feel like this if you eat cold food too fast~”
I found her reaction cute and teasingly laughed.
Maybe it was due to our age difference, but I did not feel an uncomfortable barrier I often feel with women my age and felt at ease.
I also take a spoonful of ice cream and taste it.
“Hmm?”
I wasn’t expecting much, but this…
I quickly take a few more spoonfuls.
“It’s similar.”
It almost perfectly recreates the flavor of 31.
“Someone else… someone has been here besides me.”
The taste of this ice cream, for just 500 won.
I was now almost certain. They said this was developed by Anderson, didn’t they?
Could it be…
Did an ancestor summon that person, like I did?
For the purpose of a strategic marriage, like back then?
My mind becomes complicated.
“You shouldn’t eat a lot of cold food all at once!”
“What does she mean?”
As I glance towards Betty, who suddenly spouts something incomprehensible, she’s smirking as though she’s won a victory.
Only then did I realize that I’ve been scowling.
“I must’ve frowned unconsciously because my mind was so complicated.”
I changed my frown into a smile.
“hahahaha, sorry. When I saw Betty eating so joyously, I wanted to do the same.”
‘Apparently, I hate to lose on the quiet.’
After finishing ice cream, I threw cup into the specific trash can for ice cream cups nearby.
Because these cups are made of elven paper, it’s expensive, it seems it’s collected for re-use.
“Shall we go now?”
“Yes!”
Check the clock tower in the distance.
If we go now, we can arrive exactly on time for the restaurant reservation.
As I step forward, she swiftly comes up to my side and takes my hand first.
When I looked at her, a bit surprised,
“hehehehe…”
A sight of her giggling like an imp catches my eye.
“Hmm…”
A ripple of sentiment stirred in my cynical heart, aged and somehow become a pessimist.