Chapter 163

[Third Person's PoV] 

Cid was leaning against a wall as he continued to study the ring. 'This is going to be interesting…' he thought to himself as he flipped the ring in the air before putting it in his pocket.

Not long after, Epsilon returned with a maid in hand, the maid had stars in her eyes as she looked at Cid. 

"Here, this is Margarette. Unfortunately, I have a performance to do, so she will be taking care of you while I'm not around," Epsilon said, motioning towards the maid. 

Margarette stepped up with an awestruck expression, letting out an excited squeal. "It's a pleasure to meet you! I heard your performance earlier; it was simply divine! I don't think I've ever heard anything so amazing."

"Thank you," Cid said, smiling kindly towards her.

Which caused Margarette to blush as she giggled and played with her hair.

Epsilon gave a look of disgust before looking towards Cid, who gave her an awkward smile.

Epsilon simply rolled her eyes, turned around, and walked back to where she came from.

Meanwhile, Margarette wrapped her arms around Cid's arm, sandwiching it between her breasts. "Come, I'll lead you to the flower garden. It's a place you must see!" she said excitedly.

Epsilon looked back towards Cid and Margarette and almost decided to murder Margarette upon realizing where she was putting her breast.

Epsilon took a deep breath to calm herself down. "You have a mission; the mission is more important than your jealousy," she muttered.

"... But I'm the Sin of Envy, so it shouldn't matter," she whispered slowly, turning around before sighing and shaking her head. She turned back and began walking off.

As Margarette took Cid towards the garden, she looked up at him. "I really meant it when I said your performance was amazing. Your music touched my soul."

As they explored the garden, Margarette said, "You are already qualified to be a top pianist! Ms. Silon must be a really harsh mentor if she's still keeping you as her apprentice."

"I'm sure she just wants to keep her very handsome apprentice all to herself," Margarette said, like someone who had discovered the world's greatest secret while walking ahead.

She then spun around and in a hushed tone whispered, "How about coming to work for my family instead? You might be surprised, but they're actually pretty well off. We can do about 70 million a year. How about that?"

"Are you sure you can make such a decision without your parents' confirmation?" Cid asked in amusement.

Margarette held his hands and looked at him with excitement. "That's the great thing about Oriana Kingdom. We spare no expense when it comes to great talent."

Margarette's expression then turned a bit downcast. "But… things have been a bit gloomy recently. The entire kingdom is a mess, thanks to Princess Rose."

Before she could continue, they were interrupted by someone shouting towards them.

"You there!"

When they turned towards the voice, they found a skinny-looking guard with glasses, holding a sword and pointing it at Cid.

"Stay away from my Mar– I mean, from that maid over there! You damn pervert!"

"Who's that?" Cid ignored him and asked Margarette.

Margarette had an unpleasant expression. "That's Kevin, a guard. I really hate his guts."

'How dare that nobody call my liege a pervert! My lord, let me kill him,' Beru asked, glaring at Kevin from his shadow.

Kevin felt a shiver down his spine, causing him to look around with his sword.

Cid had a look of amusement as he denied Beru's request.

"He's always ogling at me from far away. It's really creepy!" Margarette said with a shiver.

Cid pointed towards a flower to the side. "Hey, what's that flower called?"

Margarette turned towards the flower in confusion. As she was distracted, Cid formed a hand with his Ruler's Authority and flicked Kevin away.

Hearing a scream in the distance, Margarette stopped looking towards the flower and looked to where Kevin once was.

"Where did he go? You know what, thank goodness he's gone– wait, where did you go!" she asked, looking around in confusion as she didn't find Cid next to her.

...

Cid was seen leaning on a balcony just outside Rose's door. When he looked inside, he found Rose crying to herself.

Cid leaned forward, knocked on the window, and leaned right back onto the balcony.

Rose looked towards the door in confusion. She quickly wiped her tears, stood up, and walked towards the balcony door.

Her eyes widened in surprise as she opened the door, seeing who it was. "Cid!" Rose excitedly yelled as she rushed into his arms.

Immediately, as she was in his arms, tears began to flow down her face. "What are you doing here? You can get into a lot of trouble if you're found out," she said with a sad look.

Cid grabbed her face, pushing her hair away, and wiped the tears from her face as she looked up at him. She closed her eyes and leaned her face on his hand.

"Why do you think I'm here?" Cid asked.

'Is he here to take me away like in Natsume's story, when the prince comes and takes her away from all that is evil? Unfortunately, this isn't a fairytale.'

"I'm sorry, Cid, but I just can't be with you," Rose said, biting her lips.

'I think this was the first time I was rejected,' Cid thought in amusement.

'I can't tell him about my mother… I'll just be a burden to him,' Rose thought to herself.

Cid sighed. 'It looks like I'll have to put on a performance of the century.'

"Since when have you become so weak?" he asked, looking at her coldly.

"What?"

"The Rose I know isn't some whiny little princess that acts all helplessly. Do you remember when I gifted you my power?"

(A/N: Chapter 98) 

Rose thought back and slowly nodded, "You said power in the hands of someone with no will to keep fighting is meaningless and worthless."

"Do you think I gave you my power simply because you were beautiful?" Cid scoffed as he led her inside.

Rose looked down with shame, shaking her head.

"The reason I gave you that power is because I saw a powerful will in your eyes. You had the eyes of someone who wouldn't stop at nothing to accomplish their goals."

Cid lifted her chin to meet her eyes, causing her to bite her lip in sadness as more tears gathered in her eyes.

"But I don't see that will anymore. I see someone who has given up and doesn't see the way forward anymore. Tell me, do you think I was wrong about you? Do you think I chose wrong?"

Rose shook her head. "No, you weren't wrong," she said as they both sat down on her bed.

"Then prove what I saw in your eyes that day was the real you and not this sad excuse of a princess… because this is not who you are… you are better than that…"

There was a sparkle in Rose's eyes as she looked towards Cid. She stared into his eyes before looking down at his lips.

The two slowly moved towards each other, feeling each other's breath before Cid brought her face closer and began kissing her.

As they became more passionate, they heard a loud knock on the door. "Rose! Is there someone in there?!"

Rose's eyes widened in surprise and fear…

Perv Asshat burst through the room and found Rose wiping her eyes. "What?"

"I heard someone in here! Who was in here with you?!"

Meanwhile, Cid was out on the balcony with a piece of cake in his hands, happily eating it.

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