A few hours has passed and Justine and Philip are still talking to each other while having a meal and snacks as they kept conjuring delicious food in front of them
"You know, I'm craving for desserts"
"Me too"
"Here, I have a dessert in mind that I recommend to you"
Justine swirled her hand in the air and a dessert conjured in front of Philip
It was a 4-layer toasted waffle with cream in between, vanilla ice cream sitting on top of a butter spread with hot maple syrup drizzled all over the top, whipped cream, and assorted berries such as strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries on the side
Justine chose this dessert since Philip mentioned that he like that one waffle with cream and syrup that he ordered in a house of pancakes when he was a child
She just wanted to bring back Philip's childhood when he was happy. She knew that he would be happy because he was slightly smiling when he was telling his story
"Oh? This looks tasty! You intentionally chose this, didn't you?"
Justine could giggle from Philip's question. Of course Philip would notice her intentions since he was that observant
"If you're going to recommend me dessert, then I'll give you one, straight from my mind!"
"Oh? Surprise me!"
Philip closed his eyes and concentrated on the best dessert that he could come up that Justine will like
Why is he doing this much for Justine? Because he took a slight liking to Justine after learning about her past and her perspective on everything. Also, it's only right to return the favor to her
A plate then appeared in front of Justine with a half of a Toffee Crunch Cake with mint whipped cream plastered around the surface of the cake. At the other half of the cake is a chocolate ice cream cake that are divided into four parts of Rocky Road, Double Dutch, Chocolate Chip Overload, and Sea Salted Dark Chocolate that are separated with caramel walls
Philip then opened his eyes and the full dessert has been conjured. His mind became exhausted just by making a complicated cake when he could easily create a supermassive black hole and stop time earlier
"Wow! This is an interesting cake you got me here"
"Yeah, I based it on your favorite flavors. Mint and chocolate"
"Ohh! I love it! Let me try"
Justine took a bite directly from the cake with a spoon having both the toffe crunch cake and chocolate ice cream cake
"Oh my god!! Mmm! The taste... It's too good! Oh my god!"
Justine was extremely surprised as if stars formed on her pupils at how delicious the dessert is. At this point, Justine kept digging into the dessert without stopping. Seems that Justine was having a some sort of foodgasm
Philip watched with a slight smile on his face while slicing a part of the waffle and savoring every bite to the point he had to close his eyes
At this moment, the modern house disappeared and they were transferred into a place where nothing was found except for the endless sea of ethereal clouds that became the ground. The cool night breeze flowed through the air that was neither cold nor warm
The table and chairs that they are sitting on became glass that sparkles every so often. Glass vase stood in the middle of the table with one thorny red rose and one thorny white rose siting inside. The candelabra and the candles disappeared, as well as the wine bottle
Justine was surprised by the sudden change of scenery. She was plenty shocked by beauty and astonishing sea of clouds, the table and chairs, and the roses. She then subconsciously looked up as something caught her attention. Her eyes widened from what she was seeing
It was night and the moon was nowhere seen in the sky but stars that fill the night sky. The stars are countless and it stretched through the horizon. Several shooting stars flew through the sky and auroras are also seen waving near the horizon. Several colored stars of different sizes ever so twinkle gently as a calming Lo-fi music was playing in the background
The sky was mesmerizing that it suited the current atmosphere of two people enjoying a meal quietly
Justine gazed at the night sky that is full of twinkling stars and shooting stars. The light from the stars were being reflected from her golden eyes
"Pretty..."
Justine mumbled with longing eyes. Philip gazed at Justine as she was looking at the stars as her blonde hair flutters from the night breeze. He slightly blushed from seeing her
He gotta admit, Justine looked attractive and beautiful to him. He slowly saw Justine in a new way
Justine closed her eyes when she felt that Philip was gazing at her. She lowered her head and spoke
"Thank you for showing me this scenery... It was my first time and I loved it..."
Justine half-opened her eyes while looking down. It was obvious that she was deep in thought
Philip observed her behavior and spoke
"It was just on a whim after I ate the waffles. It's because it was delicious since you made it"
"Hm, it's surprising that you can imagine something this beautiful despite you having negative thoughts and emotions almost throughout your life. Especially since that destruction earlier"
"Well, as the Yin and Yang Principle stated, there are good in every evil, even though I'm neutral. Also, my imagination is too vast that it's unpredictable"
"Hm, I guess you're right..."
There was several seconds of silence between them as Justine only looked down on her plate with the spoon and Philip continued to slice a part of his waffles
The calming Lo-fi filled the area as silence between the two ensued, until Justine broke the silence
"So, what is your perspective on love?"
Justine asked as she looked at Philip with uninterested and discerning eyes
"Actually, that is the only question that I don't have a concrete answer on"
Philip placed down his fork and knife on the side after seeing Justine's serious demeanor
"I'm neutral when it comes to love, I don't find it and I let it come to me. Unless it is literally right in front of me"
Philip tried to avoid looking at Justine to avoid misunderstanding but he ended up looking at her anyways. Justine slightly blushed after noticing the hidden meaning behind his words
"I guess it's nice to have something like a romantic partner, but I don't think I deserve it"
Philip continued as he looked down. When talking about love, his memories of his past and mentality started clouding his head
"I'm too broken... I'm afraid of hurting my significant other even though I know that I would never hurt her. Maybe I'm just afraid that I'll never meet her expectations"
Philip continued as he pushed the waffles dessert in front of him to put his elbows on the table. It was also because he just lost appetite and the taste on his tongue will disappear
"I think that's all..."
"I see... You had it hard, huh?"
"Yeah... I don't really care at all. I think I prefer to be alone"
"Really? What if there was someone out there that will accept you for whoever you are?"
"I highly doubt it"
Justine quietly sneered from Philip's answer
"With how good looking you are, I bet there's someone out there will like you, and if they learned about your past, they would eventually understand it"
"Doubts, doubts everywhere"
"Mu~"
Justine pouted from Philip's retort and disinterest
"I haven't told you something that is a crucial part of this love and you'll be surprised after you knew about it"
"And what is that?"
"I don't have a heart"
"Excuse me?"
"I don't have a heart"
"Like, emotional heart or..."
"I don't have an actual human heart"
"Aww... You're so broken that you're saying that your heart is broken to pieces... Who hurt you?!"
"No, I literally don't have an actual heart"
"Really?"
"Yeah, here look"
The chairs shifted in the ground and both Justine and Philip were sitting side by side. Justine leaned towards Philip and placed her right ear on his chest, trying to hear his heart beats
Justine should easily detect the heart beats using Vector Contemplation since it's a form of wave and waves are vectors
After a few seconds, Justine didn't hear nor feel anything. She pressed her head harder on Philip's chest and she knew that this should at least make his heart race since there is physical contact with the opposite gender and a beauty at that
Philip felt that Justine is pressing her head harder so he held her head and pulled it towards his chest
After a few seconds, Justine still didn't hear anything nor detect anything from her Vector Contemplation. She was very confused even though her heart was the one that is beating after being in this position for almost a minute now
Any maidens would have their hearts race, especially since that Philip was holding her head
Eventually, Justine pulled her head and sat upright
"You're right! W-what happened?"
Justine was about to ask what Philip is but she decided not to since she already knew extraordinary existences such as the Old Man, Jude, and Alucard
"My heart was destroyed after being stabbed by a large metal spike in the Mystical Academy during a test"
"Huh?! How?!"
"It was the an Expertise Test and it tested my Pain Denial ability"
"What? That's too much! They had to make a metal spike stab your heart?"
"Yeah"
"So, what did the Headmaster say?"
"Apparently, the Headmaster arranged the whole test and he personally prepared the test specifically to me?"
"What?!"
"I guess he was testing me and since I kinda have the same ability as his, my guess is that he's planning on training me as a successor"
"Really now?! When I visit next time there, I'm going to have a piece of mind to the Headmaster!"
Justine punched her left hand with her right hard and clenched it, as if she was already threatening Yozu
"It was unfortunate for him though because I left the academy"
"Why did you leave the academy anyways?"
"Nothing much... It was primarily because of my Fate Control and Future Vision"
"So, as I understand it... There was a future and you controlled the fate towards that future?"
"Yes"
"And you left the academy because of that?"
"It's also because... I have nothing to do there anymore"
Philip's voice quivered and Justine noticed this. She turned her head to the right to look at Philip with worried eyes
Philip sighed since he knew that Justine caught him
"There was this two girls that liked me so much. I was scared and I left them just like that without daying goodbye. I was afraid of their love that I don't know if I can return"
"So, that was the main reason..."
"What?! No!"
"It is..."
Justine looked down in disappointment
"Hm... I guess you're right. That might be one of my worse mistakes"
"So, you thought that was a mistake?"
Justine muttered in an annoyed voice. Philip didn't reply since he knew that this was a precursor to a rant
"That was not a mistake! That was selfishness!!"
"You chose to leave them because you can't handle their love or at least understand their love!"
"Why did you leave them?! Why?!"
At this point, Justine stood up and moved her hands in an exaggerated manner. Philip understood that it seemed that Justine was pulling something deep in her heart
"Were you not ready for commitment?! If so, why did you let them fall in love with you in the first place?!"
"With you leaving them without saying goodbye, they should be very sad and maybe crying because the one that they loved suddenly disappeared!"
Tears started to form in the corners of her eyes
"Was I not enough?! You left me when I was at my worse! You left because you had enough of me and became tired of me!"
"You shouldn't have asked me out if you can't handle me at my worst!"
At this point, tears broke through Justine's eyes and flowed in her cheeks. A silhouette of a man is also forming in the distance while being covered by the ethereal clouds
Philip decided to move and interrupt Justine. He reached his hand and held her right arm
Justine was startled and abruptly turned to Philip with tears on her eyes and cheeks. Her eyes were sorrowful and her lips were quivering
"Justine, I'm Philip... and I'm broken"
At that moment, the silhouette of the man fell down in the clouds in a poof and Justine's facial expression changed. It's as if she just realized something and regretted her actions without understanding the story of the other party
She immediately sat back down and wiped her tears
"I'm sorry... I was just overwhelmed with emotions"
"That's fine, it's okay to let everthing out once in a while"
"You're one to talk! You never let everything out and kept everything inside if you"
Philip also mentioned to her about how he manipulate his emotions to erase it in his head and let it mix and condense inside of him
"Haha, that's true. But if I let everything out, I'm afraid that the world will end"
"Huh, do you think you have the power to do that?"
"I wonder..."
Philip and Justine's eyes drifted in the colorful night sky that is full of twinkling stars as silence filled the air again
After a while, Justine leaned her head on Philip's left shoulder. Philip was startled and a cold shock flowed from his left shoulder all the way to his entire body. His shoulder became stiff as he stared straight because Justine was way too close
They both kept watching the starry night sky
"This truly is beautiful... I can look at it forever"
"That's an exaggeration"
"Probably..."
Silence filled the air once more as both of them kept watching the scenery
"So, if theoretically, by chance... Someone out there really liked and loved you the way you are..."
"Then I'll be lucky and if such person exists... I would love her back the best that I can and increase my love as time passes"
"I see..."
Philip was confused by Justine's answer. He just shook his head to erase the possibility of thoughts in his head
~~~
A few hours later, after watching the mesmerizing starry night sky, Philip already had his eyes closed while his head was leaning on Justine's head
Philip abruptly opened his eyes and pulled his head away from Justine's head. Justine also pulled her head away from Philip's shoulder
Justine stretched her arms upwards and yawned
"Uugghh! I'm getting tired, should we head back?"
"Yeah, I'm also sleepy..."
"How much time has passed anyways?"
"Hm, let me see... It's already 8 pm?! 10 hours has passed!"
"Wow, that's a long time! We really enjoyed our conversation and company, huh?"
"Yeah, I guess so, I didn't realize"
"Me too, must be a good chemistry"
"Sure..."
Philip felt a cold sweat forming on his forehead. He began to notice the small signs coming from Justine
'No way, right?!!'
Philip muttered in his head
"Let's head back, maybe some of the others are waiting for us"
Philip changed the topic. He was expecting that everyone was waiting for them on dinner
"Nah, most of them probably are in their rooms at this time. It's common for everyone to have their own meals in their own time"
"Oh..."
Philip was speechless. He thought that with this big of a mansion, everyone would gather and eat like the welcoming dinner last night. Turns out that everyone gathering for dinner is only for a special occasion
"Where are you staying by the way?"
"Usually it's in the special room with the double doors on the second floor of the left wing"
Philip abruptly turned his head at Justine after hearing where she is staying in the night
"What's wrong?"
Justine felt Philip's gaze
"Nothing"
Philip shrugged his shoulders
'What is this cliché plot development anime trope?!?!!'
Philip screamed in his head as he was a little bit troubled by the sudden development
~~~
Justine and Philip went out of the Pocket World and exited the basement. They walked through the main lobby and up the stairs to the second floor
"See you tomorrow?"
Justine asked before going forward towards her supposed room
"Yeah, sure"
Philip casually answered
"Alright then"
Justine then walked towards the end of the hallway on the second floor of the left wing, at the only room that has double doors
Philip looked at Justine's back from the distance while his eyes were narrowed. Justine felt his gaze and she slightly smiled
After a few moments, Philip looked around the main lobby and tried to find the room of a certain someone
He used an ounce of his Future Vision to see which room belonged to Jude
He went downstairs to the first floor and walked towards the left wind at the end of the hallway
He wanted to ask Jude a few questions regarding the sword