A Date by Design

"A date?"

Esmeralda's smooth eyebrows shot up in surprise when she heard what Princess Luciana had said.

The princess nodded slightly.

"Well, I don't really want to think of it that way, but I can't ignore it since he kissed my neck before he left."

She looked embarrassed as she described what happened between her and Prince Vritra the night before.

Normally, Esmeralda would have been intrigued by such juicy details, but this time, the more she listened, the more irritated she became. She clenched the sides of her uniform, trying hard to stay composed.

Princess Luciana, sitting cross-legged on her bed and hugging a pillow, continued.

"It just felt really strange. It was almost like the whole thing was scripted. I'm not saying God Vritra isn't perfect… most ancient gods are, but it felt like I was living through one of Fumiko Montclair's stories."

The princess's mood was as bright as the early morning sun.

She was full of energy and could hardly contain her excitement.

… Tee-hee!

It showed in the way she hugged her pillow tighter as she talked about last night.

She couldn't explain it clearly, but she wasn't just captivated by Prince Vritra himself; it was the scene he created that felt so strange.

It was as if she wanted to dislike him, but the memory of last night only made her want to be with him even more.

『Our relationship, especially last night… feels a lot like that very popular work by Lady Fumiko, Lover's Crossroads. Yes, that's it! God Vritra reminds me of Rameo from the story, with his roguish charm, but he's not as impulsive. God Vritra is much calmer, more composed, and more confident in himself.』

As Princess Luciana was lost in thought, she didn't notice when her cheeks turned red.

… Eh?

When she finally realized, she blinked several times and rubbed her cheeks with her moist palms, as if trying to wipe away the redness.

Esmeralda was still unhappy, but she didn't want to show it in front of Luciana.

『In the end… the princess's happiness comes first…』

After taking a deep breath and exhaling softly, she put on a smile and leaned back on the Luciana's bed.

"So, have you informed His Majesty yet?"

"Oh, Father? Yes, I tried to find you first, but when I couldn't, I decided to report to him. He said it was the best outcome we could have hoped for. He knows God Vritra will make it difficult for us to form an alliance, especially with how unreliable… Pri-, Prince Lumis has become."

"I see. So, that means you've agreed to go on this… date with God Vritra?"

"Well, it's not like I have much of a choice."

"...Yes, I suppose you're right."

The conversation had started with bright smiles, but now both of them felt uneasy.

Luciana was troubled by how her relationship with the Deva Prince seemed to be deteriorating, while her connection with the Asura Prince was unexpectedly growing… though in a questionable way.

As for Esmeralda, she simply felt inadequate and empty at that moment… there were no better words to describe it.

『Lately, I've been feeling jealous, even though I know I was never meant to have God Vritra all to myself. I'm no one… just a privileged servant, so I don't understand why these feelings are coming up now. It's honestly pretty arrogant of me… I really should remember my place.』

With a sigh, the head maid rose from Luciana's bed, bowed respectfully, and then left to prepare the princess's clothes.

With Esmeralda gone, Princess Luciana fell back on her soft bed and forced out a heavy sigh. She shifted to one side of her bed and reached for the thick-covered book a small reach from her and then stared at the name.

After Esmeralda left, Princess Luciana collapsed onto her soft bed and forced out a deep sigh.

『God Vritra… you're a strange man.』

She rolled over to one side, reached for the thick-covered book nearby, and stared at the title on the cover.

… Lover's Crossroads by Fumiko Montclair.

That was what it said on the cover.

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Meanwhile…

Prince Vritra was in his chambers as well, reading the same book that Princess Luciana had in her hands.

But unlike her, his face showed clear disinterest.

… Hrmmm

Every word he read seemed to make him feel sick, as if he had to fight the urge to throw up with each line he consumed.

『It's clear that this Fumiko Montclair is likely from my world, or maybe a parallel one that's similar in basic ways like countries or language, given that her first name is definitely Japanese. But that's not really what interests me.

… Sigh~

『What really catches my attention is the fact that she's stealing and using information from her world to create these so-called works of art. Trust me, I understand better than anyone how smart it is to use knowledge from another world in the semi-ancient period of this one, but she's not even doing that. She's just outright stealing ideas from popular authors like Shakespeare and passing his work off as her own.

『Tsk, tsk! Lover's Crossroads is just another name for Romeo and Juliet… she's not even trying to hide it. Then again, they'd have to cross over to another world to know she's plagiarizing.

『Maybe I'll pay her a visit one of these days. After all… she could be a transmigrator like me.』

Feeling he had read enough, Vritra shut the heavy book and looked up at the ceiling.

『My plans are still flawless so far…』

His face calm and expressionless.

『I was curious about what kind of woman Luciana was, so I had Neron dig up some information on her. I found out she's a big fan of romance novels, like the ones Fumiko writes.

『One big reason women read these novels is for escapism, and that alone was enough for me to trap her. The one trope that seems to be popular in these novels is the Enemies to Lovers storyline.

… Keh~

『I plan to alternate between being hot and cold with her, keeping her in a state of confusion while building some chemistry and tension between us. She won't realize it, but her subconscious will push her to play along, trying to recreate the scenarios she's read about in novels.』

A wide, thirsty grin appeared on Prince Vritra's face.

『Trust me, Luciana, you're not a cheap woman. In fact, your specific character traits work completely to my advantage.』

But first, the young lord needed his early morning nap.

…

Five hours later…

"Young lord…?"

"Young lord~?"

"Young lord~?"

Prince Vritra felt someone tapping him awake from his deep sleep. When he opened his eyes, he saw Ghislaine up close, her usual curious look and wide red eye staring directly at him.

She looked like a curious mouse.

"Ghislaine… what's this?" Vritra asked.

Ghislaine grinned slightly and stepped back. She put both hands on her relatively small hips and sighed, shaking her head as if she were a disappointed mother.

"It's like you've forgotten about your appointment today, young lord! That old fart, Neron, told me to wake you up."

She spoke in her usual loud and energetic way, but what made her voice stand out was that it always had an oddly sexy, sassy tone to it.

Vritra stared at Ghislaine for a long time with a blank face.

『Hrmm, this one…』

He still hadn't said a word.

Noticing his gaze, Ghislaine blew him a kiss.

… Mwah~♡

Next, she winked.

"Mhm~? What's this? Do you want to take this young lady to your bed and spoil her again?"

She tried to sound heavily mature and sexy like Esmeralda, but it didn't quite come off that way.

Prince Vritra was completely unbothered.

He looked at her with his eyes half-closed.

"If you're going to try to seduce me next time, remember that a wink doesn't look very good when you only have one working eye. Have you ever thought about that?"

Hearing this, Ghislaine immediately flushed with anger, turning as red as a hot chili pepper.

"That's mean, young lord!"

She pouted with puffy cheeks.

Vritra saw her reaction and smirked.

"I don't th──"

Just as he was about to reply, the doors to his chambers swung open, and Neron entered, bowing his head.

"Sorry to interrupt, young lord. You have a beautiful guest."

Neron then stepped aside to let Princess Luciana in.

"God Vritra. I hope you had a nice slumber."

She was dressed in a simple but elegant royal blue and gold dress that highlighted her graceful curves.

But that wasn't the only striking feature of her casual royal outfit, of course.

Ghislaine's eyebrows shot up when she noticed the two large bulges on Luciana's chest.

『Holy crap, that's a pretty large size…!』

She glanced at her own flat chest, then looked over at the two perky mountains on Luciana's chest.

Even Prince Vritra was visibly surprised.

『Did her breasts grow bigger…?』

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