"Could you possibly be Alicia Stardust?"
In order to calm myself, I had to take in a huge breath of air as he spoke my name. This voice and beautiful face, I recognized it—Prince Luminos from Lusovia; the nation surrounded by water. In the game, he is one of the capturable love interests and the sole person who informs the Crown Prince about Alicia trapping the heroine in the labyrinth of flames.
Why in the world was that person showing up right now?! I hadn't even truly done anything befitting of a villainess, yet! This was like sending the final boss of the adventure game after the Hero at level one.
However, he didn't seem to be angry with me… could I allow my hopes to raise up a bit? Luminos was my favorite character in the game because of how beautiful his character was. He also approached the heroine so genuinely, and it was cute to see him experience love for the first time.
I understood that he would never fall in love with Alicia, but since this was taking place before the brutal events of the game… maybe, just maybe, I could take advantage of this chance I was given.
After thinking about all of these things, I slightly curtseyed and raised my head to meet his peering blue eyes.
"I am. What business does this prince have with me?"
Luminos's crystal blue eyes twinkled with a bit of mischief as he looked me down from heat to toe. Despite the cool demeanor, my heart might have been on the road to explosion with how many times it pulsed within my chest. Once he finished his observation, he returned the close eyed smile that he displayed earlier and spoke once more.
"How did you know I was a prince?"
His rich tone was filled with curiosity as he questioned me. This was a troublesome question for me to answer because, since he was the prince of a neighboring nation, I didn't have any excuse for knowing his name.
The only reason I knew it in the first place was because I played the game! I had to think of some way to get around this obstacle. It was then an idea crossed my mind… what if I used this situation for my benefit?
I raised my hand, yanked on the collar of his all-white robe, and pulled him closer until he was just mere centimeters away from my face. Luminos's chilling aura vanished in a moment as his face was tinted with a slight hue of red.
I shifted my head until I was right in front of his ear and I whispered with the cool chilling tone that Imagined Alicia speaking with.
"I memorize the names of all the most handsome faces and you, Prince Luminos, are number one on my list."
Just as the words left my mouth, Luminos jumped away from me and held his ear with his hand. During this process, a visible red blush tinted his expression, and I brought my hand up to my mouth to hide a smug grin that was curling my lips.
This Prince was way too cute, wasn't he?
The silence between us ended abruptly as he seemed to take control of his emotions and cleared his throat with a cough.
"Ahem, I was requested by your father to become your magic instructor."
My father got this handsome boy to be my instructor?! I had to make sure to thank him thoroughly the next time I saw him. If that was the case, then I would be seeing him daily, at least till we both entered the Royal Academy.
Also, he was without a doubt a top level mage anywhere on the continent. Despite his young age, he reached the status of Royal Court mage before he was even fourteen. The youngest ever, by an extremely wide margin. He was even a quad caster, which was very much an extreme rarity. The only one who could probably match his talent was me.
If he was my teacher, then I could definitely surpass everyone at the academy before I even entered.
"Ah, my father requested the best talent on the continent to become my personal tutor? I am very much honored."
As I met his gaze, I spoke with a beautiful, wide smile that seemed to reach Luminos. While it looked like was trying to keep control over his face, he brought the sleeve of his robe over to his mouth and looked away while speaking.
"You flatter me too much… Lady Alicia."
Just like in the game, he was quite shy and struggled to make eye contact with girls. However, If he was acting like this with me, then it meant he couldn't have come to hate me yet. I gulped slightly before I walked forward and stood right in front of him.
Startled by my approach, he flinched slightly as I grabbed hold of his hand with mine and I shook it gently and in a calm motion.
"Well then, Prince Luminos. I look forward to your guidance."
He finally looked back at me with his tinted face somehow still showing confidence and poise. His cool tone remained as he shook my hand as well. While finally meeting my gaze once more with his twinkling blue eyes that sent shivers down my spine.
"I will make you the greatest mage in the entire country, Lady Alicia. You better look forward to it!"
Luminos broke out of my grasp and took off back into the sky as he floated on the breeze gently while he still held his eye contact with me.
"Your training starts tomorrow at dawn. Don't you dare to be late."
While his words were genuine, they came off to me like a child throwing a temper tantrum and I couldn't help but let out a slight chuckle as I observed his embarrassed expression. Luminos noticed my slight laugh before his face could become any more tinted. He flew away at a remarkable speed, sending a massive gust of wind that almost swept me off of my feet.
I turned to Freya's gaze, who looked upon me with an astonished expression. Her blue eyes met mine with an obvious curiosity, so I answered her likely question before she could even ask it.
"Isn't that Prince cute?"