It usually wasn't proper to just barge in mid-festival to open a booth. The festival organizers generally wouldn't be too receptive of it either. It caused issues and delays for the original plan. So Shuraina contact the festival organizer before she tried to open up her own booth.
She was a bit anxious and nervous that she might be rejected, but she was thankfully approved. They were almost uncomfortably welcoming when she said that she would be attending as Shunivalen.
The product that Shuraina was trying to market as Shunivalen was none other than a device that used mind magic à la black magic. It was something that could read someone else's thoughts using mind magic. She was inspired by other magicians' circles and racked her brain to add a circle that would read someone's preferences or tastes in an instant. Shuraina would create a lot of products using this circle herself, but she made sure to make extra to sell to various organizations or companies to get an ever bigger profit.
She just drew a sketch of the product. The only thing she had was a sample of the sample. She was planning on signing a contract with a company or organization that would back her, and then observe how the circle was used and spread before creating a suitable product. Or she could write up another contract with the company or organization that needed and sell it through them. Anyway, the product came later. Shuraina hadn't given up on her knighthood just yet.
"Are you Shunivalen? Welcome!"
Everyone was incredibly polite to Shuraina as they guided her through the festival. Shuraina pulled the hood on tighter at the amount of interest and care that came her way compared to Michol. They took Shuraina and guided her to somewhere she could open her own booth.
The area that had been provided for Shuraina definitely wasn't here yesterday. The festival organizers had added additional space for Shunivalen. Shuraina stared at the large expanse of space that had been provided for her. She felt uncomfortable because she was veering closer to her hobby rather than the job she had planned for herself, but she decided to forget it for now. She took out the product samples, blueprints, circle samples and more from her dimension pocket and put it all on display.
She felt like she was going to use a lot of magic today, so she didn't change her appearance. Instead, she made sure to pull her hood further down her face to hide it.
"No way…."
"They must be real.... The mysterious one is here..."
"Did they come here after getting contacted by us?"
"Hey, there's no wa-! No... Seriously? I did get a notice that the message had been sent."
When Shuraina put a large sign that read [Shunivalen] on the side of her booth, people began to whisper.
She was hoping the reaction would be good. Shuraina had her hands on her back as she rocked on her heels and waited for the visitors.
She was ready to get her blueprint and samples backed after explaining them. She was ready to go home with a sore throat from speaking too much. Am I ready? I'm ready. Bring it on.
But people just stared at her booth from a distance and whispered. Nobody came close.
The only people currently left in the festival were magicians. Shunivalen was incredibly popular amongst them all and they were known for their incredible magic skills, but the reason behind this was because the heir of a powerful magician's family was famous for being a Shunivalen stan.
They stopped themselves from approaching the booth, thinking of the one person who was desperate to meet Shunivalen. They were all kind magicians who were willing to wait their turn until the high-ranking, excited one could finally have his wish come true.
"Respected Shunivalen, Shunivaleeeeeen!"
"Move! Move! Cory is first!"
Shuraina was surprised as she stared blankly at the group running her way.
"Please, please know our group leader's desperate love for you! Please meet them, just once!"
"Our Cory's lifelong dream is finally coming true! Meeting them in the flesh! It must be like a dream, right Cory?"
"Hic, it's so touching. It's the same for us, but for Cory to finally see Shunivalen in the flesh!"
"Go and get their signature, get it!"
A giant group ran towards her with Cory on their backs. Unlike the excited group, Cory flailed as hard as he could. Cory yelled that they were being a nuisance and they needed to stop, but nobody heard him in the commotion.
"Stop it! Let me down! Aaaaaah."
"Cory. Your face is totally red! I mean, the Shunivalen of your dreams is standing right in front of you. You have to greet them first out of all of us!"
The Shuval Stan Group had no idea that Cory and Shunivalen were already acquainted, and that Cory had confessed to Shuraina yesterday. They thought that he was so excited that he couldn't stop flailing when it was actually him flailing around in embarrassment, scared to see her face.
"Have confidence! You're the successor of the DuBois family, so you might even get a handshake!"
"Nooo! That's not it!"
Cory remembered the conversation they had during the last Shuval Stan Group meeting. At the open question of "How would you feel if Shunivalen actually came to the festival," everyone gave their responses. Shuraina was still refusing to get in touch with everyone at the time and he had never given her notice or anything about the festival, so he thought she wouldn't come. So he had said something.
"I don't think they'll come, but if they did I'm going to be the first one to shake their hand and get their signature and get a hug from them, and I'm going buy every single magic circle in their booth as I leave. Wow, I really wish that could come true."
He had said that as a passing whimsy, but it was half-true. Everyone looked touched as they heard this and they all yelled that they would make his wish come true.
And that was what brought him to the present. The members all got permission from the surrounding crowd to let their president go first, and they dragged Cory, who was going to miss out on the scene of dreams because of his embarrassment, in front of Shunivalen. It was generally considered rude to surround a noble's heir like this, but Cory didn't care for manners so they didn't either.
Most of the important visitors were gone from the second day of the festival onwards, so the festival was relaxed and generally free. Everyone, including those who watched Cory approach Shunivalen and the surround magicians, all began to clap.
Cory hid his blushing face behind his hands the entire time he was on their backs. Die, past Cory.
Shuraina was a bit taken back at the chaos in front of her, but stared at Cory as he was placed directly in front of her. He stood there, ramrod straight, with both of his hands still covering his face. Even his hands were blushing red.
When he stayed there, wordlessly standing there with his head hanging down, everyone cheered from the sidelines.
"Cory! What are you doing, just standing there? You have to do what you wanted to do! Shake their hand, introduce yourself! Don't get nervous! You can do it! You can't lose this opportunity–we somehow got Shunivalen's contact information and invited them over! Ack! Just watching makes me nervous."
One of the members whispered this into Cory's ear before handing him a paper and a pen.
At the sound of everyone's cheers, Shuraina's scarlet eyes curved into a half-moon as they watched him. Cory peeked a glance towards her and looked. Her eyes, hidden behind the hood, were smiling. His heart thumped even as her gaze had a hint of teasing as they stared at him. He inhaled deeply and bit his lips. He soon opened his mouth to speak.
"Th….. Signature please."
"Heh. Okay, okay."
Shuraina just snickered, enjoying the situation.
Cory, now armed with her signature, immediately tried to leave. They must've shaken hands and hugged countless times in the academy, but he wanted to shake hands again and hug her again and stay with her longer, but he was embarrassed. He was embarrassed at having been caught still being her fan, too. He was embarrassed at the confession and he was just happy to see her again and he was embarrassed at how pretty she was.
"Cory, didn't you say that you wanted to hug Shunivalen if you ever met them? This is the only oppo….mmph!"
"...S, shush."
Cory was surprised when more information just flowed right out of everyone's mouths and quickly blocked their mouths. When he couldn't hide behind his hands any longer, he hung his head down. He pondered for a while before speaking again.
"Then, can I…..just once? A hug...."
Cory seemed like he was exhausting every single drop of his dignity as he said it. All of the magicians who were close to him were in shock. He really said it! They had pushed him to say it as a joke–they were just surprised when Cory actually asked. Everyone thought that Shunivalen would be surprised and uncomfortable at his request, but they were surprisingly calm with a smile on their face.
Then, Shuraina tugged at Cory's sleeve and dragged him closer before whispering into his ear.
"I did it before though."
Cory whispered back.
"Do it again, please."
Cory whispered, pulling her robe back slightly. Shuraina was the only one who could hear it.
"Hug me again please."
He opened his arms with his head hanging low. Shuraina couldn't muffle her laugh as she nodded and wrapped her arms around his torso.
"What, are you really hugging him? Me too, me too! Please let me hug the legend of the magical world!"
"It's so unfair! Please hug me once too! I'll treasure these clothes forever!"
When complaints began to pour out from behind him, Cory just completely hid Shuraina in his arms. He rested his chin on Shuraina's head and wrapped his arms around her shoulders.
"No."
Her body was thin, even though she practiced the blade. In actuality, he was probably the one that was going to be broken in half if Shuraina hugged him any tighter, but she was thin enough for him to think that she would break first. His senses were all awakened as he inhaled her scent. She wriggled around in his arms like a cute little caterpillar.
If he hugged her too long, people would get suspicious. He soon let Shuraina go.
Now, there was only one more thing he needed to do.
"This table and that one. From the left to the right."
He gathered all of her documents, magic circles, and samples, and then placed his hand on the pile.
"No matter what plan you have in the future,"
Cory was nervous and excited at finally being able to do what he had wanted to do for so long. His heart pounded in his chest. Thump, thump.
"I'll fund everything."