Sure enough, Arcueid's mood quickly shifted from being awkward to conflicted. On one hand, there was the present, and on the other, the future—both were important.
After some thought, the future seemed a bit more important.
"Alright, I agree. But you have to promise me something too."
"What is it? Just say it."
"Not only do I want to travel the world, but I also want to watch all the latest movies I missed while sleeping. And we have to go to Disneyland, which we couldn't visit last time. Plus, in that online game, we played before, I was killed, and I didn't get a chance to take revenge—"
As Arcueid went on and on, it seemed like she wanted to make up for all the time she spent sleeping. Shinji quickly interrupted her.
"Stop—are all of these a single request? This is already several things."
"I don't care, I don't care! Just say you'll agree or not."
Arcueid shook Shinji's hand back and forth, completely lacking the dignity a princess should have.
Shinji rolled his eyes.
"Where did you even learn this way of acting cute?"
"From TV dramas! The girlfriends in them always act like this with their boyfriends."
At that moment, Shinji suddenly heard a faint "crack" sound, like something breaking.
Turning his head, he saw that the noise came from the short whip in Lorelei's hand. At the same time, he noticed her face, which was filled with a low-pressure atmosphere that could turn into a storm at any moment.
Suddenly, Shinji felt a chill in his heart. He forced a few awkward laughs, muttering "Okay, okay, sure," before using the excuse of time being tight to flee as quickly as possible.
It wasn't until his figure disappeared into the night, which was gradually turning to a glassy hue, that Lorelei's expression slightly improved. She then looked up at Arcueid and asked:
"Can we drive now?"
"Sure, everyone follow me—huh, why is your weapon cracked?"
The next second, Lorelei's brow darkened again, and the already cracked short whip shattered completely—crushed in her grip.
"Oh, it broke."
"…"
And yet, Arcueid continued to add fuel to the fire, further convincing Lorelei that her family's policy was correct—there's no such thing as a good vampire. However, since many notable figures from the Clock Tower were present, she refrained from losing her temper to maintain her image.
She took a deep breath and silently chanted to herself—For his sake, I won't stoop to her level. Then, she coldly replied, "Yeah, it broke. Must've been poor quality."
Hearing this, many people had strange expressions, and Waver almost burst out laughing. The Lord of the Clock Tower's first family, the Lord of the most prestigious household in the magecraft world, who wields more power than anyone else except for a few ancient beings whose whereabouts are unknown, uses a weapon that's poor quality? How could Barthomeloi's reputation survive this? How could the Mage's Association live this down? Lying shouldn't be this blatant.
Of course, saying this out loud would get him killed by Lorelei. Even Gray's Holy Lance wouldn't protect him, because he knew why Lorelei was angry, and he also knew how terrifying a jealous woman could be, even if she was the renowned Queen of the Clock Tower.
Come to think of it, Waver was like Kenneth—both supported Shinji and Lorelei getting married. That guy was too much of a troublemaker; an ordinary woman wouldn't be able to handle him. But Waver kept this thought to himself because Shinji had too many women around him. Although none of them had the same status as Lorelei, none of them were easy to deal with either. As for himself—oh right, he had been enhanced once, so he was now stronger than many magus who didn't focus on physical prowess. Strictly speaking, he wasn't exactly weak. But compared to that group of powerful women—let's just say, comparing oneself to others can only bring despair.
Women are indeed troublesome—looking at the naturally oblivious Arcueid and the sulking Lorelei, Waver once again confirmed that this saying was the ultimate truth.
The small undercurrents between the two women didn't affect the train's operation. The familiar, remotely controlled by Rozay-en, led Arcueid into the driver's cabin, and the train soon restarted. Passengers outside began boarding one after another, signaling that this magical journey full of twists and turns was finally coming to an end.
The last two passengers to board were Luvia and Caules. Behind them, Fiore, dressed in black, stood still and didn't step into the train.
"Sister?"
Caules turned back in confusion.
"I'm not going to London. I'll get off here."
Fiore looked at her brother, a hint of reluctance in her clear eyes.
"Caules, study hard at the Clock Tower. Lord—no, Professor Velvet is an excellent teacher. Make sure to learn as much as you can from him. The lightning magecraft he teaches is very suitable for you."
Then, she turned to Luvia.
"Please look after Caules for me. If he encounters any trouble, help him as much as you can."
"Don't worry, your little brother is my little brother too," Luvia responded cheerfully with a nod.
Fiore smiled and teased, "Little Brother? You're not even older than Caules. If anything, you're more like his younger sister."
Luvia chuckled and snapped open her sky-blue velvet fan with a sharp "clap": "Do you want me to call you big brother, Caules?"
To be fair, Luvia's smile was beautiful, and her demeanor was impeccable, but the invisible pressure she exuded made Caules break out in a cold sweat. He quickly shook his head, "N-No need, just Caules is fine, Miss Luvia."
"Hmph, you can't even handle that? Useless."
With another "clap," Luvia closed her fan.
"Fiore, is this your brother? Besides his appearance, he's nothing like you."
"He's more like me than you think. Caules is usually more easygoing than I am, but when it comes down to it, he's even tougher than me."
Fiore reached out and patted her brother's cheek, wiping away his sweat and straightening his slightly disheveled clothes.
"He was the one who quietly told me that no matter what decision I made, he would support me. When I ran away from home, he even covered for me."
"Oh? I wouldn't have guessed."
Luvia's eyes sparkled with interest.
"Maybe he's more suited to inheriting the Forvedge family than you are."
"Not maybe—definitely."
Fiore's calm demeanor radiated confidence.
Caules, on the other hand, looked troubled.
"Sister, you're overestimating me."
"If you never leave the family, you'll never know how big the world out there is, or how much greater your potential is than you think. Believe in yourself, you can do it."
"Sister…"
Caules hesitated for a moment before softly saying, "You seem… different from before."
"People change. Compared to this world, this universe, the Forvedge family is really, really small."
Fiore's eyelids fluttered as she spoke in a low, solemn tone that somehow exuded a sense of sacredness.