Although Allea was quite surprised by the offer, she gently nodded her head and extended her hand. After all, rejecting Neonidas in front of everyone would be too cruel, even for her.
As Neonidas and Allea held hands and walked toward the stage, Neonidas noticed the astonished gaze of the man a few meters away.
That man seemed unable to understand why Princess Allea had agreed to dance with Neonidas.
As the dance floor echoed with the steps of Neonidas and Princess Allea, the eyes of the nobles filling the hall were on them. The intense attention from the crowd did not bother Neonidas; instead, he treated his entrance like a performance. Confidently, he held Allea's hand and began to dance in sync with the orchestra's melody.
At first, Allea felt a bit hesitant. Neonidas's natural confidence still surprised her. However, as their steps aligned in harmony, his calm and determined demeanor began to put her at ease. As Neonidas gently wrapped his arms around the princess, he didn't forget to gaze at her with admiration—or rather; he made sure it appeared that way from the outside.
"Have I ever told you how beautiful you are? Because you truly are, Your Excellency." Neonidas said with a slight smile.
"Yes, you did, Duke... Can you tell me what happened to you? How could you change so much?" Allea asked, accompanying Neonidas in their dance with elegance and grace.
"A river can change its course after a while, Your Excellency." Neonidas replied.
Allea looked at Neonidas thoughtfully after his response. His words were clever, but they held a mystery. The princess, remembering his once timid and faint demeanor, now found it hard to recognize the confident and charismatic man in front of her. As their steps continued in rhythm with the music, Allea asked another question.
"No river can change its course this quickly... So, are you still insisting on our engagement?"
Neonidas only smiled at her question for a moment. Changing her mind wouldn't be easy. However, for now, Allea's presence was necessary for Neonidas. It wasn't just because she might be the most beautiful woman in the empire that he continued with the engagement—Allea served as a kind of shield for him.
"Any man who even thinks about breaking an engagement with a woman as beautiful as you is certainly the disgrace of manhood."
Neonidas's words, spoken with subtle sarcasm, angered Allea.
Allea frowned slightly and looked at Neonidas. His indifferent and mocking attitude was starting to irritate her. However, with all the nobles' eyes on them in the center of the hall, it wouldn't be appropriate for her to show her anger openly. Instead, she responded with a forced smile.
"I guess it's very easy for you to say such grand words in front of everyone, Duke. But can we talk about this in a more suitable place?" she said in a calm voice, though there was a hint of reproach behind her words.
Neonidas found it amusing to see the princess get upset. Her gentle but pointed responses made the dance even more enjoyable for him. He leaned slightly and whispered in her ear.
"No, I'm not available right now, Your Excellency. If you're fine with it, I'd like to continue dancing with this lovely lady by my side, but I promise I will fulfill your request when I'm satisfied."
Allea tried to hide the discomfort she felt from Neonidas's words, and her smile grew a little more strained. His arrogant and indifferent demeanor seemed to be testing her patience. Still, due to her royal upbringing and the situation she was in, she tried to maintain her composure.
"Of course, Duke. But I'd like to remind you that my patience is not endless," she replied, emphasizing each word with subtle weight. Neonidas, however, smiled in response to the princess's small challenge, clearly enjoying it.
As the dance continued, the whispers among the other nobles in the hall grew louder. The false harmony between Neonidas and Princess Allea had caught everyone's attention. Despite not being a particularly beloved figure in the empire, Neonidas's close relationship with the princess was surprising. Especially the man… the one who had been part of Allea's inner circle during the war, and who now seemed to send a mocking message with every glance at Neonidas.
In fact, it wasn't just him. Dozens of powerful men in the room were now eager to kill Neonidas. After a while, Neonidas and Allea, drawing everyone's attention, walked toward a private room. Of course, this would likely be the topic of gossip for the next few days among all the nobles. After all, why would a woman and a man, especially if they were engaged, want to move to a more private room?
However, things were definitely not as they seemed. As soon as Allea entered the room with her fiancé, she made sure no one was watching before firmly grabbing his collar with her strength. Neonidas, knowing he couldn't resist Allea in any way, remained still, like a deer caught in a lion's mouth.
"Who are you? What kind of devil could take over a human so perfectly... Mahloat? Or Limahlat?"
Neonidas kept his composure against Allea's sharp movement and question. He locked his gaze with the princess's fiery eyes, his usual mocking smile still present on his face. Deep down, he felt like he had been waiting for this moment. However, he hadn't expected to face it so soon.
"I think I've seen this scene before... Princess, I am definitely Neonidas. We both know that no devil, after taking the form of a human, can escape your gaze. So please, let me go."
Indeed, some devils or dark sorcerers could take on the form of a human, but even the strongest devil could never do so perfectly. Yet, Allea's suspicions still remained. Neonidas sat on a chair and then faced her.
"Speak. Who are you? Even your aura is now so different. If you deceive me, you can be sure that you won't leave this room alive."
Despite Allea's threatening tone, Neonidas remained calm, sitting back more comfortably in the chair, his eyes following her every move, as if testing her nerves. The reason Neonidas was so relaxed was simple: he was a master liar.
"That's right, I'm not Neonidas... Actualy I'm Neonidas from the future. After my death, I'm the Neonidas who returned to the past thanks to a god who pitied my poor existence."
Allea hesitated for a moment after Neonidas's words. Shock replaced the anger in her eyes. However, she had no intention of immediately accepting what he said. Neonidas's mocking demeanor made it hard to tell whether he was telling the truth or just playing a game.
"Die? Who could have killed a duke like you?" Allea asked, frowning in disbelief.
Neonidas chuckled softly. "The person who killed me was the woman I loved my entire life, the one whose scent I always longed for, the one true love of my life... The one who killed me was you, Allea. You killed me mercilessly with your own hands."
Neonidas's smile never faded, but there was a deep sadness hidden within it now. Even his eyes were misty as he recalled that horrible moment.
Shock was evident on Allea's face. What Neonidas had said could not have been a lie or a mocking game; the fragility in his voice, even for just a moment, seemed sincere. Narrowing her eyes, Allea stepped closer to him and took a deep breath.
"This... nonsense! I... killed you, did I?" Her voice trembled, revealing the confusion in her emotions. "Why? Why would I have done that?"
"Because you chose another man over me... That bastard hero ... But I understand... I've always been useless, unnecessary, and a trash of a person, but you didn't have to cut me off like this... You didn't have to kill me like a dog after saying we'd always be together when we were kids... There was no need to stoop this low..... I was already going to kill myself after seeing you with that man..."
Neonidas paused for a moment, his eyes beginning to fill with tears. He lowered his gaze to the ground and took a deep breath. His voice continued, trembling.
"I think about every moment when you betrayed me... But you made me believe everything was actually my fault... I didn't want to live like this... Do you remember when you'd visit us every week when we were kids and always brought me gifts... I still keep those gifts... I was still waiting for the day you'd come until the day I died. When you hugged me and swore about the future, was I really the only one who believed in it?! Tell me... You never loved me, did you? I never asked for much... Maybe just a little attention, but you even thought that was too much for me, and in the end, with those delicate hands I was too afraid to touch, you killed me... Because I was always an obstacle for you.... Just fucking obstacle"
Neonidas's words stirred a storm in Allea's mind. For the princess, considering that what Neonidas said could be a lie or a game would mean questioning everything she remembered. She could clearly see the pain in his eyes and the fragility in his voice, but this still prevented her from knowing what to do.
As she thought about how to respond, for a moment, it felt as if her vision had gone dark. Wasn't this man someone who had been in her life for years? What had happened in the future for everything to change so much? Maybe she had pushed him aside and chosen another man… But to kill Neonidas? Allea didn't want to believe that she could do such a thing. How could she kill her childhood friend? But those few tears running down Neonidas's face seemed to scream that he was not lying, and there were memories he hadn't even shared, memories that no demon could possess.
"Did... Did you really come from the future? This can't be possible," Allea said, though she knew in theory that traveling back in time was possible. And surely, a divine being could do that.