"It’s your reward."
Evelina smirked, resting her head on her hand, waiting for me to react.
"My reward...?"
"Yes... I have to say, my previous promise was definitely... too vague to say the least."
Evelina chuckled, remembering her promise to reciprocate my feelings, and realizing how that wasn’t really something she could do.
And while faking it was definitely up there, with how powerful and skilled I was, she’d rather not risk hurting my feelings and turning me into an even riskier variable.
I was someone that she didn’t want to easily lie to.
"So, I decided to make it a bit more interesting, consider this... a date."
Evelina grabbed a wine glass, swirling its contents as she observed it boredly. "I’m yours for the day, so do your best to earn my affection the traditional way."
A date?
An entire day to win her over?
That was... more than what I had initially expected.
I knew her previous promise was likely false, but even then, I was fine; even fake affection could work for me for a while.
But now...?
An entire day...? There was no way I couldn’t get her to like me even a little bit.
This wasn’t the first time I had to swoon someone over, and while Evelina was definitely not any normal woman or man, there was no way my years of experience with subterfuge and persuasion would go to waste.
"Give me a few minutes."
I reply, bowing as I disappear.
[Profaned Step]
Evelina raised a brow.
"Guess he needs time to prepare... although, I do hope he doesn’t prepare too much."
She shuddered; even someone with a brain like hers couldn’t possibly predict whatever I had planned, because while someone smart had patterns, an obsessive stalker was... well, crazy.
"A mix of both... good thing he isn’t against me..."
[Profaned Step]
I reappeared, but instead of the obvious formal attire a noble would wear to date.
Instead, I looked like I was about to go spelunking for treasures.
And well... that’s exactly what I had planned for today.
"E-Excuse me...?"
Evelina blinked twice, not sure if she was hallucinating. She knew I was unpredictable. but to the point where even my attire was something she couldn’t guess?
That was on another level of unpredictability.
"What’s that for?"
She asked.
But my answer was simple.
"A noble like you should have already experienced everything a boring date would have, so why not for a change of pace?"
I tapped the dagger launcher on my wrist, freshly retrieved from the guard at the entrance. I didn’t even need to surrender it to him if I could just teleport in and out whenever I wanted.
"What do you have in mind?" Evelina asked, her curiosity piqued.
This entire continent was filled with relics from the past, most hidden, quite literally unsolvable until a specific chosen one - ahem - Julius would arrive.
But who needs a chosen one when you have someone else who knows exactly how to cheat through them?
"Goldenglow Cave, I’m sure you’re familiar with it."
"Didn’t that place lose its usefulness centuries ago?"
"Yes, but we’re not really hunting for gold now, are we?"
Evelina laughed, standing up.
"And here I thought you’d be just like any other courter."
’Two people of the opposite gender... exploring a damp and cramped cave all alone? Is this your solution to the... concern I talked to you about?
’Shut it, demon.’
***
[Profaned Step]
"Here we are."
I teleported us both to the entrance of the cave, and while I didn’t know exactly what it looked like, it had more than enough pictures from old newspapers to allow me to teleport to it.
God bless having a stronger teleportation spell.
"Are you okay with that attire?"
"You seem to know what you’re doing, and you seem to like it. I don’t see a reason to change."
Evelina smirked, looking past me behind her shoulder. "Also, I’ll grant you the permission to talk to me casually, this is a date after all, don’t hold back."
"Then can I ask you to drop the tough act for now?"
"W-What...?"
Evelina looked surprised. Was she really that obvious? There was no way, right? Never once did she break character, not in private or in public.
"How—"
She looked at me, but my expression didn’t change, like always, it was focused on her, the same combination of obsession and love in my eyes.
Of course... she wasn’t actually obvious, if I didn’t have the novel’s knowledge, I probably wouldn’t have guessed she was hiding an even softer side.
It wasn’t explored much in the novel due to her being the main villainess, of course... but it was still enough that I could use it.
"Y-You could tell, huh...?"
She looked uncharacteristically embarrassed, looking forward and avoiding eye contact.
’Why the hell is this affecting me so much!?’
Evelina whined inside her head, storming off into the cave on her own to try to clear her mind of being flustered.
An emotion she hadn’t felt for quite a while.
"That was successful..."
I muttered, tilting my head. I didn’t expect that to be so effective.
I was even preparing myself to get scolded.
But... that was a good start.
Also.
She looked cute, embarrassed...