Isn’t the wannabe Villain too cute?

"Aren't you, Sir Austin?"

Turning on reflexes since Austin had never sensed anyone coming this close to him, his eyes found a girl not older than him, standing there with a bright smile adorning her face.

She was about an inch shorter than Austin with shiny platinum blond hair over her head, tied in a proper braid. Wearing a beige shade gown, the girl looked extremely adorable, just like a doll, with her fluffy cheeks adorned with a slight flush as she gawked at Austin like she was witnessing something marvelous.

Austin became slightly awkward being seen like an antique, as he asked in a neutral tone.

"Yes, I am. And who you could be?"

Since the ceremony has already commenced, given the slow music flowing from inside, there weren't many people left near the entrance, where these two were standing currently.

Upon hearing Austin's question, the girl's eyes went round before she smiled subjectively before introducing herself.

"Sorry for the late introduction, Sir Austin. I am Tiara der Gramduör. First princess of Gram and also a big admirer of yours."

Austin's back straightened as he learned her identity before formally introducing himself.

"Sorry for being rude until now, Your Highness. My name is Austin. Please to meet y- eh? Admirer?"

Austin's words broke in half as he raised his head with perplexion currently spread on his face. In the fluster of greeting a royalty, he registered Tiara's words quite late and so reacted accordingly.

Hearing such a late response, Tiara broke into a small laugh.

"How amusing you are, Austin-san. And yes, I have been an avid admirer of you for a not-so-long time."

Austin tilted his head slightly to the right since he never understood what made her admire him in the first place. Austin never liked the spotlight. That's why he did everything using Kyouki's name except for the war against the demon on the Academy's ground.

He was pretty numb-minded at that time.

So being praised by such a prominent figure made him confused.

"Me?"

"Yes, you, Austin-san. There are so many reasons that it will take a looooot of time for me to tell you. So why not we discuss it over tea sometime in the future and go inside first?"

Austin wasn't sure whether he would meet this princess again or not, so he just nodded casually, and as she walked up to him, Austin turned toward the entrance.

"Are you nervous, Sir Austin?"

The curious voice, which was devoid of any hidden intent, came from the princess as Austin halted before responding.

"Well, not now when I talked with your highness, strangely."

Speaking of his honest thoughts, Austin was about to ask Tiara to lead the way when she entangled her arm with his and marched forward without minding Austin's perplexed expression.

"Y-Your Highness, wait!"

Despite looking frail, the princess walked with such force that she pulled Austin up to the red carpet taking advantage his bafflement.

"Knowing your personality, I knew you wouldn't have escorted me, Sir Austin, but when we are already under so many gazes, will you really leave my side and let my name get shamed off?"

The princess whispered with her sapphire eyes shining in innocence.

Austin's lips twitched since he felt like snatching his hand away from this plotting minx. Still, as she said, indeed, various people have already watched them, so being disrespectful here would only become a pain.

"I will take this honor as a gift from my avid fan, Hime-sama."

The princess just giggled in response as she saw the troubled expression on her escort's face while they entered the celebration hall.

The choir was playing very calming music with the bright lights spread like a beautiful sheet.

People were chatting in a shallow tone to maintain the decorum of the hall as they sipped elegantly on their drinks.

The lighting, the decorations, and the exquisite-looking people made Austin blinded for a second before he lost when the person beside him disappeared.

Well, even though he noticed, he was somewhat relieved.

Standing in the middle of the hall, Austin felt a bit out of place as he walked with quiet steps toward a corner; he took a glass of fruit beer while he tried to fix his gaze on the blinding surroundings.

'As I thought, it was a bad decision. '

His train of weary thoughts came to a halt as he sensed someone approaching him from his left. Turning his gaze, he found an extremely beautiful girl he was acquainted with walking in his direction.

Her crimson dress was complimented by her amber-shade hair, with the one-piece dress adorned by her sculptured body. Her curves moved in the best way a woman could portray as she made her way beside Austin.

"You came alone? Where is Luna?"

As Venessa asked with her eyes focused on the front, she secretly calmed her heart which seemed to beat slightly faster after seeing Austin in his current appearance.

"She has gone to meet her relative. What about you? Isn't Kyouki around?"

Celebratory event without a hero was close to impossible when it concerns Eden's Academy, so Austin's question wasn't baseless.

"He came with Sicily. See..there they are."

As she gestured with her eyes, Austin saw a couple consisting of a handsome black-haired youth and a charming girl who was chatting with others in quite a harmonious mood.

"They blend with people, quite comfortably."

Austin sighed as the words leaked in slight admiration for the two since what he was bad with was his social skills. The lack of normal interaction with high-class people made him someone who instead prefers to disappear in a crowd rather than become the centerpiece of their attraction.

"Well weren't you a noble before? These kinds of social gatherings must be quite normal for you, no?"

Vanessa's question was legit since before the ordeal during their first expedition, Austin was a proud son of Count Vincent. But even before that, he barely attended any gatherings since his parents didn't want to introduce him to many people.

Reason. Obvious.

But he wasn't going to bother telling such details to the girl, so he just countered with his own query.

"Isn't it the same for you? Sir Charles's social status is equivalent to an Arch Duke. Why you're in a corner with me?"

A blush erupted immediately on her face as Venessa glared quite timidly toward the blunt-tongued guy beside her.

But soon, she gathered her thoughts as she sighed in defeat and decided to speak truthfully.

"Well, you can say, on the battlefield, I am pretty a big-mouth, but these kinds of events just make me feel heavy. Like I don't belong here. Sometimes I feel everyone is watching me, and sometimes I feel lost even with many familiar faces around. Hmm....now I realize I am pretty strange."

Austin, from start to end, felt Venessa wasn't describing herself but reading his personality and pouring them into words.

With his eyes slightly wide, he looked at her for quite a long half minute before he responded in a serene tone.

"Well, you aren't alone who thinks like that. I somehow can relate."

Vanessa just hummed in response before silence befell in between them.

The music was still flowing across the hall, with slow chattering along with occasional clinking of cutlery resonated as these two stood silently with no words traveling in between.

Suddenly with her eyes unfocused and mind wandering in a strange direction, Venessa muttered under her breath.

"Hey Austin, can you tell me something honestly?"

Austin raised his brows for a second before answering in a neutral voice.

"If only to a certain extent, then yes."

Vanessa inhaled deeply before she asked something which she had been contemplating for a long time now. The thing which has made me quite muddled and guilty about.

"Were you always like this?"

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A/N: - Should I continue this chapter from this point or should I just skip the event?