"Louise?" I asked with a frown.
Louise smiled elegantly and bowed. "Prince Claus, it has been a while."
I stared at Louise with a strange gaze. I remember that the last time we met she use a mocking tone to speak to me. But now, she even bowed?
Maybe she is a masochist and fell in love with me after I defeated her? I laughed inwardly at my own joke.
Anyway, I decided to follow her game. After all, I'm curious about what she is thinking.
"I don't remember our relationship being so close, miss Louise." I said with a smile.
Louise looked at me without changing her expression, but I could feel a bit of interest and curiosity in her gaze.
Thinking about it, Louise was very beautiful. Her long blond hair and green eyes were very eye-catching, and her body was almost perfect. Moreover, she was wearing a green dress that made her beauty to stand out even more.
I could feel many gazes looking toward me. Some of those gazes were filled with curiosity, and others with hostility. The number increased noticeably when Louise began to talk to me.
Moreover, one of those gazes was particularly full of hatred. I briefly looked in direction of that gaze and saw a youth looking at us while gritting his teeth.
"Why, prince, are you uncomfortable speaking with me?" Louise asked at that moment.
I looked at her with a smile.
"Actually, I was feeling that this party was a bit boring when I saw you. I was a bit surprised; you know? After all, I never heard that prince Claus liked parties." Louise said.
"I don't." I answered. "You can say that I was forced to come."
"Is it so? Well, if prince Claus is bored, then I think it's alright if I accompany you, right? After all, even if our families are enemies, there is no problem with us chatting for a bit."
Seeing the smile on Louise's face, I chuckled and drank a sip of my wine. "Very well, I'll accompany you tonight."
"Many thanks." Louise giggled and grabbed a cup of wine nearby. She then began to walk beside me.
"I must say, I was very surprised when prince Claus defeated me a few days ago. I'm sure that nobody expected that prince Claus was so strong."
I stared at Louise and grinned. "So, it's the reason you are here, huh."
"???"
"Do you want to get information about my strength, right? No, it's about my teacher. Mmm, your father probably ordered you to get close to me to get that information."
Louise put on a startled expression before laughing awkwardly. "Why do you think so?"
"You are pretty bad at this. If you wanted to get information from me, you first had to speak with me for a while and try to get me drunk. Once I was drunk, you could try to seduce me while asking your questions. It wouldn't have worked either, but at least it's better than trying to get the information as you did."
Louise looked at me blankly for a few seconds before smiling wryly. "I did not know you were so observant, prince."
I put on a mysterious smile and chuckled. Louise could not help but blush briefly after having her intentions seen through so easily.
"... You are right, father asked me to get information about your teacher. It's harder than I expected, though."
"But..." She continued. "I'm truly curious about your abilities. Actually, no many people in my generation are able to defeat me, but you, prince, did it despite being younger than me."
"I was just lucky." I said without any sincerity. "I'm sure miss Louise will not be defeated as easily if we fight again."
Louise stared at me for a moment and then curved her lips up. "Actually, I think the same. If we fight again, you will lose for sure."
"Oh? You are very confident, huh?"
"Of course, I even trained in a new spell to face prince Claus's technique."
For an instant, a gaze filled with battle lust appeared on Louise's eyes. She was looking at me with a strong desire to battle and unwillingness due to having lost the last time she faced me.
However, that gaze disappeared in the blink of an eye. Instead, her expression turned gentle and elegant again.
However, I could feel the powerful battle intent hidden behind her smile.
How interesting.
At that moment, though, I felt that someone stopped looking at us.
"Huh? It looks like someone is no longer interested in our talk." I smiled and looked in the direction of the youth that was looking at us with hatred.
Louise followed my gaze and frowned. "He is my fiancée. A good for nothing, though. I don't understand why my father agreed to our engagement."
"Politics." I sneered.
Louise put on a pensive expression and sighed. "You are right, but we can do nothing about it. Prince, I just discovered that it's pretty nice to talk to you. It's a shame that we are enemies."
"You are right, we are enemies." We both looked at each other and chuckled.
Louise and I continued talking for the remaining of the night. We conversed about many topics, from politics until magic. None of us mentioned our enmity or our families and we simply did our best to enjoy our conversation.
Little by little, the distance between us began to close. I asked Louise if it was alright if she was so close to me, but she said that her father told her to get close to me anyway, so it doesn't matter.
A few hours later, and after drinking more than two or three cups of wine, Louise and I leaned against a wall while observing the party.
"... It was a nice night." Louise said with a sigh.
I sipped my wine without answering. I could feel Louise's hesitation and reluctance through her words. She knew that after tonight, our relationship would go back to normal.
It was impossible for us to be friends, much less something more than it.
However, I was thinking. Louise will not betray her family easily. She is a very proud girl, and even if for some reason our relationship goes beyond what is allowed, she still will side with her family.
But for me, her pride only makes things more interesting.
While I was thinking about my next course of action, a piece of information appeared on my mind.
In the next instant, my expression turned ugly.
"It looks like some people don't know the meaning of death huh."