The first kiss.
It's special, too special in some cases, actually.
You feel the special, tingly sensation that you have only imagined in your mind.
The feeling of two lips touching each other, the warmth, the taste as you eat your partner's lips, the feeling of being one…
It's an experience that breaks your world. And if this special experience is achieved after a long wait, after suffering for time unknown, after longing for this one sensation of having the partner all to yourself, it has a unique, ineffable feel to it that they can't possibly put into tangible words.
It's special, and it becomes more special from person to person.
People remember their first times, and the feeling when you feel their lips, their tongue, and their soul, for the first time, is always inseparable.
The feeling as that ever-burning fire inside them clenches, the feeling as the person lost in the sea finally finding a piece of land, the feeling of salvation, the couple who wait for the perfect kiss that grants many of the things they had wished for in their lives, in their time of suffering, and when they actually get it, when they truly revive the fiction perfect kiss they had starved for… it is this moment that strengthens that already unbreakable bond of closeness.
They receive the thing they had longed for, they fulfill their wish, they become one with their partners, and then… neither of them would want to stop.
Who wouldn't want to just continue this blissful sensory input? It is sweet. It is giving them the pleasure they had waited for. It is hot and burning, something more than what they might have expected.
It is an amazing feeling… more so when the partner is someone like Rein, who had lived for more than a hundred years without feeling this grand ecstasy.
Eon was different in this aspect. He had far deep experience with human bodies from all the experiences of his last life.
He was an expert, so he knew all the things. And still, in that instant, as they dived into the experience of their magical moment as everyone watched the two with even more diverse feelings, they were lost in their world.
They had got what they wanted; he had achieved his goal, and they should have just finished with a soft kiss, but even if their minds wanted it, their hearts didn't allow them to stop with just that much.
So, their moment was stretched, and they were lost, and both of them knew it wasn't good to be there anymore so…
-Ooooooooong-swish!
Rein used her shadow travel skill, and the two vanished from the grand hall.
It confused people how the two just vanished from there, but it wasn't as surprising as what had happened in the past few seconds.
They had just witnessed an engagement. An engagement of two of the most influential young people in their empire.
This was a special moment, and it was very wrong in many eyes.
So, as soon as they vanished from their spot, they burst out in loud noises filled with confusion, dissatisfaction, questions, and anger.
The hall was left in chaos as Nolen talked with the emperor and two empresses.
The music from Rein's dad resumed, and it helped to calm the people down.
The other ladies and the dads went down and started handling the chaos.
There were some people causing a ruckus and were so exasperated that the knights had to step in to handle them.
Their grand plans to get close to Heliox or Atraxia had been crushed, so even some young ones there were agitated.
The aftermath of a single event that the two of their families had waited for such a long time was handleable overall and there was no great physical damage.
They handled it and things returned to the moment before Nolen introduced their two young daughters.
There were fewer people than before, but the volume was still great enough.
It was difficult for them, but as the parents were doing all that, the young people had their own unique reactions to the lovely moment they had witnessed.
Carla was relieved that the two people she looked up to were finally together, but the feeling as she watched them kiss sure was tingly for her.
Alf was better in that aspect, but he was just as happy that his big brother finally got together with the person he liked for that long time.
The young wyvern in his pocket, his amazing familiar Utopia, was also happy to see her uncle and aunt truly getting together.
She was a cute one. And after these years, she had also grown up into a strong being. She was still not big enough to have someone ride her as they fly over the clouds, but she was larger, smarter, stronger, and still just as cute as ever.
The second princess of this empire, princess Isabella, had a clear blush on her face as she hid behind the fountain of liquid chocolate.
She was unfamiliar with things like these, and the one person that ever piqued her interest was standing just ahead of her.
It was difficult for some reason and she herself had no idea what was going on, so she just hid away, contemplating what was wrong with her.
The pale prince Alpheus with a weak body, the one possessing the pinnacle skill of wisdom, was just happily smiling at the two people.
He knew something special like this was going to happen. And this was an inevitable event, anyway.
But the way Eon orchestrated this whole thing, starting from the exact group of people in this room to the exact moment when he had the most attention of people here, the whole setting of the place allowed everyone from any angle to see that exact spot, the lights, the food, to every last detail… everything was set for that one special moment.
He invited mostly those people he could profit from, had a connection with, were influential, could tell the story with exaggeration, and spread rumors as naturally as breathing without knowing themselves.
The food was good, and the ingredients used heightened their sense of hearing ever so slightly that not even strong people like his family members would notice.
The drinks were good. Too good, actually.
The amount of alcohol and its concentration was a little bit greater than the usual drinks served at any event.
There was a quote that went like this: 'A drunk audience is a magician's best friend.'
And this person, this person he wanted to befriend, was a grand magician so terrifying, a person like him who actually noticed all these things got goosebumps just from thinking about what kind of thinking he must have gone through to set this perfect of a stage.
The one having the greatest skill for wisdom was him, but every time he saw this person, this Axion, he couldn't help but be genuinely more motivated to try to become his friend.
Going on his bad side? He would be the worst bearer of the wisdom pinnacle if he even considered this possibility.
That was them and just outside the gates, in full knight armor, there was a young knight who had also witnessed the special events.
His master finally got together with someone he had been with for years.
He saw their happiness, and he was happy.
His master was strong and amazing. So he knew he would be able to achieve his goal if he served him properly…
He was outside and so were the two people, a son and mother duo, on the other side of the house.
Prince Claudius and empress Vera. They were just sitting there as he looked up in the sky at the lone moon and faraway twinkling stars.
He was sitting there for a while now, with the same calm face as before, but his mother could tell just how chaotic of a storm was passing below this surface of calmness.
The inner conflicts can very well lead to some very bad decisions in one's life and in turbulent times like these, one needs someone they could tell things to, someone to rely on, a shoulder to cry on.
He had been fine for the last few years, but now, he was feeling that inner war between rationality and his feelings toward a person he could never have once again.
He was a miserable child, she knew it the best. And she wanted to help him… even if it meant just sitting with him here for hours.
He liked her, he knew it wasn't just because of her beauty or the strange attraction everyone felt for her.
It was something more than that. He was attracted, sure, but that attraction was towards her nobleness. From how she walked to how she spoke with everyone, and mostly her smile…
He had seen it a few times, and most of them were when she was with 'him'.
He had never earned that gorgeous smile from her. He had never succeeded in attracting her attention, even with all the work he did.
He had moved on after the spar he lost on that winter festival. The one she chose, the soulmate she found by the silver of fate, was also an amazing person.
He was strong, noble like her, smart, and far better than him. He accepted that. He had moved on. Tried roaming the world in the hope of finding something the two of them had, something his mother had with his father.
He also wanted that, and he searched the empire and continent but he was unlucky. The one this nature had made for him was probably too far away from him.
He had convinced himself that she wasn't that person. He had moved on… or what he thought until tonight, when he saw the two of them looking at each other, going for something too obvious to guess.
He was feeling a strange, excruciating pain in his chest.
It was unbearable, so much so that his body moved on its own, walking out of that place with the same calmness as he had learned to maintain in his small journey.
He was miserable, and as that storm inside him calms down, the one beside him knew she would have to witness another downpour from her dear child.
She didn't like seeing him cry, even if calming him and being with him was fun.
If it was any other scenario, she would have punished the perpetrator as harshly as possible. But in this particular case… she was helpless. Again.
It was the misery of a mom and, as Eon saw them with his third eye as the two sat on their spot on the terrace after their perfect kiss, he also couldn't help but sigh.
"The world is an unfair bitch. A villain in one story originates from a simple character in someone else's story.
There are characters, there are plots, there are scenarios, and the story only completes with the presence of a villain, some undesirable things, and many wretched endings."
His sudden words astonished her, but she understood those words without needing any kind of context.
"The heroes have their heroines, who were once the hearts of someone else.
One desired her, but she belonged to someone else.
They wanted her with all their heart, but the wickedness of time was mighty.
The treasure they long to own was already owned by someone else."
Her words astonished him even more than his own senseless mumbling. She sure had quite the arsenal of fine words.
"Haaa…"
But it sure was a tough day for them.
"Dear amazing fiancee..."
He smiled and shook his head as she smiled back at him.
"It's nice to hear… directly from friends to betrothed. I like it."
And that warm smile said it all.
She was happy, overjoyed even. And he loved that happiness, his happiness.
"It was great-"
[[ *Sorry to interrupt, master. But… I checked the message from yesterday and I think you should see it too.* ]]
He heard Lucy's voice and suddenly stopped.
'It's important? Really?'
[[ *I believe so, yes.* ]]
Every time on his birthday, Lucy unlocked a message from his master.
It was mostly congratulations and best wishes. And he loved every time he got to see her again.
Yesterday was hectic and his whole day was spent in preparation for their special moment, so he didn't get the quiet time to see the message.
He wanted to have a lone time like right now and he had it, and if Lucy said it was important, it definitely was something concerning.
So, he looked at Rein and she didn't need more words to understand what he wanted to say.
It wasn't their first time he just stopped mid-sentence.
She knew a bit about Lucy and the fact that there were sudden messages he could see from his master.
She was fine, and she had already got what she wanted and she can have it again whenever she wanted now that she had the clear right to it.
He was hers now. And they weren't just friends anymore.
So it was fine…
He thanked her and closed his eyes.
The night was young, the story was about to take a new turn, the end of a long volume was near, and the journey that had started with his birth was going to start a new chapter of his life.
