A Morning Breakfast

In a wide open room filled with steaming piles of bread and meat, a purple-haired girl was consuming ludicrous amounts of food. A young maid was bringing multiple plates of different meals to the purple-haired girl while being completely flabbergasted at how much food this little child could consume. By the side, an innocent blonde boy was wryly smiling as he snacked on a piece of bread.

"Lady Gwendolyn, how's your morning been? You fell asleep as we gazed up at the skies."

Gwen, her cheeks filled with food, turned back to Felix, "Gud." Gwen's mouth was so full that she could barely utter a word. Her memories of what happened the previous night were essentially filled with happiness and wonder. Despite her being mentally old, she seemed to have been swept along by the emotions of those memories.

"That's good, say how would you like to tour my home kingdom? I believe there are multiple places that you would like to see."

Gwen was taken aback at how direct and straightforward Felix was being, even though she had fun last night, talking about everything under the stars, she still hadn't forgotten about her main quest.

'That sounds cool but… I still need to somehow get enough power from my family. Oh yeah, that tattoo, Felix's rainbow mark was important, I remember him telling me that it blooms about true love or something. Wait a minute… my head…'

Gwen's forged memories suddenly felt her head ache as if there was something fundamentally wrong with her. She couldn't pinpoint just what the problem was despite feeling this kind of pain. Felix saw Gwen visibly be troubled as she closed her eyes, and covered her temples, trying to somewhat ease the pain she was feeling.

'Did something go wrong with forging her memories? No… that shouldn't be the case. She should just be feeling the aftereffects. After a while, it should disappear.'

"Are you alright, Gwendolyn?" Visible traces of concern propped up on his face as he leaned over to help her. He grabbed her hand tightly and tried to be there for her.

"Eek!" No. 12 unintentionally let out a shriek out of the sheer cuteness of the situation. Two innocent children were currently showing their care and appreciation to each other unintentionally.

Felix looked at the young maid who shrieked and gave her an odd look.

"Hehe, don't mind me, carry on!" No. 12's voice clearly had anxious anticipation. She rested her head on both hands while looking at the scene in front of her. This was apparently entertaining her greatly.

"I-I'm fine, say… what how did the contract work again?" Gwen's feeble voice was still audible enough to be heard.

"Ahem, by falling in love, you'll receive my talent and I'll gain your resistance to The Corruption. As there's something you'll gain from me, there's something for me in it as well."

"How does it work, exactly?"

"The more you love, the more you gain."

'So, for me to get his talent, I'll have to fall for him? Why can't it be the other way around? This might be a difficult-'

Gwen took another glance at Felix and her heart fluttered for a bit. She never realized that he was this close before, he was basically right in front of her. This made her blush a little bit. This action suddenly whirled up a reaction from the rainbow tattoo on Felix's neck. Countless beautifully colored runes filled up the air as it was siphoned out of Felix's tattoo.

These rainbow-colored runes morphed and transformed on their own as they slowly entered Gwen's pitch-black irises. The previously pure darkness now had a slight hue to light in it.

Gwen looked around as she had never seen this kind of scenery before, her vision was filled with light as she tried to grab ahold of these runes. They passed through her hands as if the physical could never touch the spiritual.

No. 12's voice broke her ephemeral experience, "Lady Gwendolyn, what are you doing?"

"Huh?" Gwen tried to look around to see where No.12 was yet it was completely covered up with a rainbow-colored light.

'She can't see them? I need to double-check.'

"Felix-"

"No one else can see them but us and your mother. Us being the recipients of the contract and your mother being the contractor."

All of Gwen's questions and doubts were easily answered by Felix, this made her look even more highly at the main protagonist's love interest. The reliability of this person shouldn't be questioned in the slightest.

'If my theory is correct then Gwendolyn completely fell in love with Felix causing her actions in the novel to completely make sense. This accounts for why she was so talented and why she desperately wanted Felix. The only question that remains is… why?'

"Lady Gwendolyn, are you alright now? Has it passed?" Felix's bright smile somehow showed that there was something to look forward to in the future.

"I'm alright now, thank you for your concern."

"I see, that's good. So about my proposal about going to my home-"

"Yeah… I don't want to go there for now. Maybe in the future."

"T-That's… may I ask why?"

Gwen wracked her brain, trying to remember anything significant in the novel that could possibly help her in this situation. The main reason why she didn't want to leave right now was because she didn't know just how safe it was outside. She had already seen how terrifying people could be and fully understood even more just how brutal anyone could be if given the chance.

'I really don't want to leave right now. Everything I remember is either only good for the future or I can't use inside the Aria Estate. Think, Gwen, think! He's just a kid so he can't possibly outsmart me here. What can I propose that'll let me stay here while at the same time keeping him close by?'

As her mind started racing for an excuse, the blinding light around her subsided. She could feel that her body seemed to have unlocked something within her. The feeling of mana.

She felt a warm sensation all around her as if it continued on to envelop her in its embrace. This feeling of being safe and sound was too addicting yet she somehow managed to pull herself back to reality. This sensation of warmth and power surged throughout her feeble body, stealing everything all around her for her own self. The thought that this was her first step toward world domination made her smile.

"Lady Gwendolyn, you seem to be smiling, what are you thinking about?"

'I've got it!"

"Teach me magic!" Gwen's immediate response caught Felix off guard.