The palace's hall had gone silent after the trumpets announced the arrival of the king, he greeted all of his guests with a powerful, but lively, voice that was sure to grab the attention of everyone, and his ornamented clothes, fitting for a king, ensured that everyone's attention would be retained on him.
With everyone's attention on him, the King would formally introduce his son, Ludovic, the one whom this ceremony was for, to all the guests present. His well-proportioned face and flawless looks were certain to charm many of the girls who saw him, and one of them was none other than Lysette Neville, the only child of the current head of the Ducal house of Neville.
Born in such a privileged position, Lysette was not only graced with stunning looks, but she was also thoroughly educated in various subjects necessary for administering a territory, and in all of them, she passed with perfect marks. To such a person, very few people could look her in the eyes either from fear or from impure reasons, and none could talk to her without showing even a hint of their second intentions in trying to get closer to her.
So for Lynette, when she first saw the crown for the first time in her life, she couldn't understand what she felt. She couldn't take her eyes off him, as she felt her heart beating wildly, and feelings she had never felt before. So when the crown prince began to calmly step down the white staircase, Lysette began to make her way towards Ludovic in a hurry.
Making her way out of the crowd of the children from the other invited nobles, Lysette stood right in front of the crown prince with a slightly exhausted expression, due to the amount of effort she had to do to move past the crowd.
"Your Highness! My name is Lysette Neville, and it is an honor to meet you for the first time!"
With a voice filled with excitement, Lysette introduced herself to the prince, in hopes of leaving an impression on him.
"... Likewise. As you may know, my name is Ludovic Callan, and for as much as I would like to talk with someone from the Neville family, I have other guests I must entertain as well"
The prince, who maintained an uninterested face, gave Lysette a sufficiently respectful response with a bored tone before he started walking away to leave Lysette behind. However, instead of staying put Lysette tried to once again talk with the crown prince.
"Your Highness! Then how about I accompany you as you greet the other guests? As the daughter of the Neville family, it should help you by showing that we are on good terms!"
"... I will humbly refuse, your proposal. Greeting my guests should be done only by myself as anything less or more will be disrespectful to those invited"
Yet again, the prince began walking away, but Lysette continued following him and trying to talk with him, even when he showed no interest in getting closer to her. As that happened, on the upper floor, where most of the adults were having their conversations while keeping an eye on their children, two of the most powerful men in the kingdom were having a friendly conversation, and those two were the king and Lysette's father.
After their initial greetings and the king's obvious question, Hamilton, Lysette's father, decided to not waste any more time and just jump into the matter at hand.
"You want me to engage Lysette with Ludovic, isn't it, King Robert?"
"That's correct, Sir Hamilton. I believe that an engagement between our two oldest children would be of great interest to you, right?"
"... Well..."
Hamilton showed hesitation, he knew this offer by the king was of great interest to his family, but it was as equally risky, which could even mean the loss of his family's power and position. However, the most important was whether Lysette would want and agree to such an engagement. He looked down at the lower floor, to see how his daughter was faring, and there he saw her following after the crown prince as she appeared to be trying to talk with him but was constantly ignored.
"..."
"I see that your daughter has gotten quite fancied by my son, huh?"
"... That indeed appears to be the case"
"Ludovic is a pretty genius kid and has difficulty in showing interest in other people. So, I was hoping that finding him a fiancée might help him in becoming just a tad bit more sociable"
"And while at it, ally with the second strongest house in the kingdom, after yours, isn't that right, your majesty?"
"You're correct, Sir Hamilton. You know that I'm a sly fox after all"
"Yes, I do"
"Of course... So what do you say? Your daughter has a fancy for my son, and the benefits to your family are pretty substantial. So wouldn't you like to engage Lady Lysette with Ludovic?"
"... ... ..."
Hamilton thought about the King's proposal again, as he had said, the benefits were substantial and Lysette showed interest in Ludovic, but again, the risks were many. He continued to think for several long seconds, putting his mind on overdrive to think what would be best for his family and daughter... And then he finally made his decision.
"... Very well, Your Majesty. I'll bite on your proposal this time"
"I'm glad that you accepted it, it's very reassuring to have my old friend join the royal family"
"You say that as if you didn't have second intentions"
"Would you prefer that I said my second intention?"
"Thank you, but I'll pass on that idea"
"Is that so? Alright then. On another topic, what do you think of giving both of our children a little private time for them to get to know each other better?"
"Hm... I don't much to argue against that idea, so I'll allow it"
"Excellent!"
And so, with the two in agreement, a decision to engage Lysette and Ludovic together was made, as well as having the two meet in private on this same day.
-
Minutes later
-
Lysette and Ludovic were standing in front of each other inside a very ornamented living room, on one side Lysette had an excited expression at being given a chance to have some of Ludovic's private time to try getting closer to him, and on the other side Ludovic still maintained his bored expression, but this time with a mix of annoyance at having to entertain the girl in front of him.
"Your Highness Ludovic. Once again, it is an honor to meet you again tonight"
"... It's not like you stopped following me after our first greeting, however, in any case, let us end this quickly. Please have a seat"
Rubbing his eyes from annoyance, Ludovic gestured for Lysette to sit down on the sofa next to her, where she could see a chessboard neatly organized on the table between the two sofas of the room. And once they had both sat down to play the game, Ludovic spoke again.
"... Since the white piece is on my side, I will be picking the first move"
"Understood, and also, I never once lost at a chess match, Your Highness"
"..."
Without showing any expression on the outside or inside, Ludovic started the match. Lysette responded to his move with a very orthodox move, which Ludovic was able to see what she was planning on doing, and he swiftly countered all of her moves.
"Check mate"
Having barely started the match, it was already over in the blink of an eye, with a complete victory by Ludovic, who showed no emotion in winning as usual. Lysette on the other hand...
"..."
She was completely silent at her utter defeat, in fact, this was the first time that she had lost in a chess match.
"Your Highness, let us have another match!"
"*Sigh*... There is no point in having a second match because the end result will be the exact same. I do not have interest in people who only try to entertain me with the sole intention of getting close to me due to my position and looks"
"..."
This was the first time Lysette had lost, and not only had she lost, but her opponent looked down on her and ostracized her skills. Yet, she couldn't take her eyes off the crown prince. No, instead all she felt was a burning desire to make him look at her no matter what.
"Your Highness, next time I will get better, and I will make sure to defeat you, and have you look at me properly!"
"..."
Without saying anything, the prince simply listened and ignored her declaration, seeing him act like that made Lysette walk away to make the prince look at her, and only her.
. . .
Time passed, the two became aware of their engagement, enrolled at the Royal Academy, and spent more time together, both from obligation due to their engagement, and from school activities. However their relationship never changed, Ludovic continued to ignore Lysette's advances and challenges, without ever bothering to look her in the eye from a lack of interest and recognition of her presence.
This unchanging attitude of his, slowly eroded Lysette's confidence and esteem, even as she continued to put on a front in front of others, she was now nothing more than a desperate person looking to receive even a little attention from the person she fell in love with, and who she had an obligation to get along with. And things would finally break in her second year in the academy, as she walked down an empty corridor, carrying documents for the student council president, in other words, Ludovic, who would give a speech for the new students.
"... Such a nice day... Perhaps I should His Highness to an afternoon tea..."
As she continued to delude herself, Lysette looked outside the window, and from there she saw the crown prince talking with a student... As he smiled...
"..."
The shock from seeing the prince smile, caused her to drop the documents she had been carrying until now, and as she continued to look at the scene unfolding outside, the more and more she felt like exploding.
The prince, who never showed interest in anyone, was happily talking with a girl who was a freshman, this girl, in particular, had a rather rare black hair color, which matched perfectly with the description of a commoner student who was admitted at the academy for "special reasons."
"Why?... Why??... WHY???... WHY CAN'T YOU LOOK AT ME!?"
Unable to hold herself back, Lysette began shouting in rage and envy at the girl. For a year, she did her best to get the prince's attention, and to be able to stand by his side. Yet, never once had he paid attention to her, and now a commoner girl was acting all intimate with him? Lysette couldn't forgive her, she was not allowed to because if she did, everything that she had done until now would have been for nothing.
She was going to get that commoner away from the prince one way or the other.
.
.
.
*Birds chirping and singing*
The sound of birds chirping outside alongside the few rays of light coming through the curtain, signified that morning had come, all of which were enough to wake Lysette up.
"... Hm?" *Rubs eye*
Slowly waking up, Lysette looked around the room, and she quickly noticed that it wasn't her bedroom, she was accustomed to seeing it every morning. But more than that, she could feel something warm pressing against her chest.
"?... ... ... !?"
When she looked down, what she saw was her arms tightly hugging Edward's head close to her bountiful chest covered by a plain white night dress. Seeing herself doing such a thing, caused her to blush intensely from shame, but at the same time, she couldn't bring herself to let go of Edward, at least not yet. Instead, she embarrassedly tightened her hug, only causing Edward's pained, and seemingly, sleeping face to look ever slightly more pained, almost as if he was having trouble in enduring something, by having his head tightly pressed against Lysette's chest.
In doing so, Lysette could feel her worries brought by the weird dream she had, slowly going away as she felt Edward's warmth close to her. But as she did so, she noticed a weird mount on the opposite side of Edward, which she knew didn't belong to him, since his body wasn't that large.
"..."
With a suspicion of who that mount belonged to, Lysette lifted the blanket hiding the cause of the mount. And just as she had suspected, it was none other than a soundly asleep Nanako who was also tightly hugging Edward from behind in her sleep.
"... *Pouts*"
Lysette in seeing Nanako hogging Edward, just like her, made her possessiveness act up, which was shown by her cute pout as she tightened her hug on Edward's head even more, and as a consequence only further buried his head between her two soft mountains.
And of course, that did nothing to make Nanako let go of Edward, instead as Lysette looked at Nanako with jealous eyes, she noticed that Edward's fade was turning redder and redder.
"... E-Edward-sama? A-A-Are you a-awake?"
"... ... ... *Slowly opens eyes* Yes..."
"... !?!?!?"
Receiving an answer from Edward, Lysette's previously pouty and jealous expression, immediately turned into one of extreme embarrassment, as she also let go and moved slightly away from Edward due to the surprise and shock of such revelation.
"W-W-Why d-d-d-didn't you say anything!?"
"... Well... Because you appeared to be enjoying it and..."
"A-And?"
"... And because I was enjoying it as well..."
"...!!!"
At Edward's troubled, but honest, response, Lysette got even more embarrassed by her action, yet she also felt happy at the fact that Edward enjoyed it as well. However for Edward, her silence looked as if she was angry at his perverted reasons for not saying anything, so he tried to somewhat soften the blow by continuing his response.
"Ah! B-But, I tried to make you stop from hugging me like that, but... You wouldn't budge it, and force me to sleep with you like that"
"... Huh!? Y-You're saying t-that i-it was m-my idea t-to hug you like that!?"
"Erm... Well... Yes..."
"... ... ... Edward-sama... Is there anything else you're not saying?"
With a concerned and embarrassment-filled glare, Lysette questioned Edward again as she did her best to stop herself from showing an unsightly act to Edward.
"... ... ... Well... Lysette-sama. Last night, You also..."
With an initial hesitation, Edward was unable to endure Lysette's glare and ended up relenting to her demands.
"Pinned me down on the bed and hugged me... while you buried your head on my chest... And afterward, you asked for... Me to hug you, and for... a lot of kisses as well..."
"... ... ..."
Hearing that, Lysette suddenly made a serene face as she gently smiled, almost as if nothing was bothering her anymore. Then she picked a pillow and buried her face on it.
*Muffled scream*
"!? A-Are you okay, Lysette-sama?"
"No, I'm not! How!? How could I ask and do all those embarrassing things last night!? And show you an unsightly image of myself!"
"... I think you were acting very cute last night, Lysette-sama"
"Fueeeeeehh!? Erm!? Ah! Aaaaaaaahhhhh???"
Hearing Edward calling her cute like that, only caused Lysette to become even more embarrassed and bashful, as for Edward he could only stay silent and hope that Lysette wouldn't get angry at him from all that. However, there was someone else that the two had momentarily forgotten about, who had just heard everything.
"It's not fair..."
" "?" "
Hearing those two words, made Lysette and Edward look at the owner of the gentle voice filled with jealousy, who was none other than an awakened Nanako.
"It's not fair for Lysette-sama to be the only one receiving hugs and kisses from Edward-sama!!!"
" "!?" "
"Even though Lysette-sama is the first fiancée, it's still not fair for her to monopolize Edward-sama's kisses all to herself, when we're supposed to share him! Even more so when I'm always holding myself back when Lysette-sama is not here!!!"
" "..." "
The two remained silent for a moment at Nanako's complaint, but considering the situation Lysette was in last night, Edward attempted to calm her down...
"N-Nanako, you don't need to-"
"S-S-She's c-c-completely r-r-right, E-Edward-sama! Y-Y-Y-You s-s-should h-hug a-and k-k-kiss, N-N-Nanako-san!"
"!?"
But before he could say anything meaningful he was cut off by a desperate Lysette, who in her desperation to flee from her embarrassing situation, tried to instead make Edward and Nanako embarrassed, by agreeing with Hanako's demand to get hugs and kisses from Edward, all of which only made the person who was supposed to do all that become ever more confused at how things were going.
When he turned to look at Nanako again, all he saw was her acting cute as always by showing a cute angry pouty face, as she also showed a lot of expectation in wanting to get hugged and kissed by him. Then he looked at Lysette who was desperately and worriedly looking for him to do exactly that to Nanako, as if she was expecting him to feel embarrassed.
"..."
Convincing himself to do what Nanako complained about, Edward approached her and hugged the expecting Nanako who was already with her arms open for a hug.
"Ehehehehe... ... ... Eh?"
And with just that, Nanako's foul mood disappeared without a trace as she showed a happy smile from just being hugged by Edward, and with her initial anger and jealousy gone... Nanako realized what she had just demanded from Edward, and then she noticed Edward moving again, but this time to kiss her, realizing that she wasn't ready for it yet, Nanako tried to bail out due to her rapidly growing embarrassment. But it was already too late...
"W-W-Wait, E-Edward-sama! I-I-I-I n-n-need t-to- Mmnnph..."
"..." *Freezes*
When Edward and Nanako's lips touched, Nanako began to blush intensely and was unable to escape because of the hug, she continued to turn redder and redder with each second more Edward kissed her, and whenever she tried to break away or say something, the sensation of her lips moving and touching against Edward's lips only caused her body to twitch from the excitement it caused on her.
Lysette on the other hand, at seeing the two kiss, froze on the spot, as instead of making her feel less embarrassed, it caused the exact opposite as she realized how she and Edward kissing would look like to someone else. But that was not all, the scene caused her to vividly remember all of the events from the last night, that she had subconsciously suppressed because of the embarrassment it would cause her, which further multiplied her current embarrassment a hundredfold.