He reached for the handle and pulled.
The door creaked open, and Charlotte's figure filled the doorway.
"Ah, Charlotte, I was just about—"
He was just about to say that he was about to call for her but before he could even finish, her hand clamped over his mouth.
With surprising strength, she dragged him inside, shutting and locking the door behind them.
"Mmph, I… it'"Mmph, we can't do that yet, we aren't married…" he mumbled nonsense against her palm.
But Charlotte ignored his muffled protests. Her eyes sharpened, and with her free hand she raised a single finger to her lips, commanding silence.
After making sure the room wasn't under surveillance, Charlotte finally released her hand from his mouth.
"Huff… huff… what were you trying to do?" he spat out between heavy breaths. "We can't do that yet, we aren't married! And if my mother finds out, then… I don't even know what she'll do."
At his words, Charlotte's face turned red, like a ripened apple. Her heart pounded furiously as she stammered, "W-we aren't going to do anything like that! So stop saying such stupid things!"
"But we aren't even enga—huh?" The realization struck him mid-sentence, and he let out a startled exclamation.
"Ahem…" He coughed awkwardly, eyes flicking toward Charlotte, who was still red with embarrassment. "So… ahem… why did you do that to me?"
Charlotte pressed a hand to her chest, trying to calm her racing heartbeat. 'This idiot, I am not even prepared for a kiss and he is skipping to the end part.'
Meanwhile, Vivian's mind was spiraling into despair.
'Damn it… I thought I'd finally lose my virginity today. But no, it was all wrong! And I acted like a complete moron! Damn it!'
That's why they say don't act in a hurry or you will lose every bit of face.
Composing herself, Charlotte finally managed to speak. "I did that to check first, whether there was surveillance or not."
"B-but… why would there be any kind of surveillance?" he asked, a flicker of hope sparking in his eyes. 'If she really wanted to do that sort of thing, then of course making sure they weren't being watched would be necessary… right?'
But her response washed away all his hopes like ash.[1]
"It's because the 'eye' suddenly vanished from me when we entered our rooms. But in yours, I could still feel it," she explained, her voice low. "I haven't felt it on me since we got here."
"Eye? What… what ey—?? Ahh…" His expression twisted as realization dawned. She had mentioned it before, that they would refer to whoever was secretly watching them as the 'eye.'
Instead of joy, disappointment sank heavy in his chest.
'Damn it… I thought wrong again.'
He swallowed his disappointment as he hummed thoughtfully.
"Hm? Now that you mention it, I didn't feel the 'eye' moving from me either."He paused then looked around as he continued "Honestly, I felt the 'eye' on me the whole time, so I forgot about it, thinking of it as natural."
Charlotte's expression went serious. "So, do you understand who the 'eye' is following?"
He shrugged, trying to sound confident. "Well, yes. Isn't it obvious? They're keeping an eye on you and me."
Charlotte shook her head. "No, they aren't watching me. They're watching you." She nodded, thinking it through. "There are people who might be after you. They sent those 'eyes' to watch and report on you."
"But who would dare do that?" he asked. "I know our intuition is... different, but the knights are capable too." He trailed off, eyes scanning the room before lowering his voice to a whisper. "Besides, my obsessive parents wouldn't leave me alone, they'd surely have sent the black shadows to guard me. So who on earth would target me?"
"You're right," Charlotte said after a pause. "But there is someone who would do that." She hesitated, then added, "And if our intuition weren't different from ordinary people's, we wouldn't even have noticed."
"Someone who'd target me? Do you know who it might be?" he asked, bewildered. Who in their right mind would go after the eldest son of House Zenithara?
"I can't tell you, not for certain," she answered, her gaze softening as she thought, 'If you weren't such an idiot, I might've told you. But knowing you… I can't risk it. They might change their plans if word leaked.'
Vivian ran a hand through his hair, confusion plain on his face. "So what do we do now?" he asked.
Charlotte drew a slow breath and leaned closer, her voice dropping to a near whisper. "We'll catch that 'eye' tonight. Be ready, keep your door open. I'll come when the time's right."
She outlined the plan: where she'd wait, how Vivian should position himself, what signal she'd use, and what to do if the 'eye' moved.
Vivian nodded along whenever she paused, the motion small but earnest.
"I'll meet you tomorrow," she said before slipping away. He watched her go, returning the nod as she crossed the hall, but his attention had already drifted.
Midway through her explanation a pale blue screen had flashed to life in front of his face. He'd been pretending not to see it, but now he could read the massages that had popped up .
A faint chime echoed in his ears.
*[New Quest Created]
Catch the Eye
Reward:
Immunity: +2
Strength: +3
Agility: +2
Failure: None
Vivian's eyes widened as he reread the glowing text.
The quest appeared the moment she said 'we'd catch the eye…'
His heart skipped a beat. 'Does this system… have its own eyes?'
The thought settled in his chest like a stone, and the eerie blue glow reflected in his gaze as the screen lingered before fading away.
_____
1*I noticed that authors often use metaphors in their own mother tongue, but I don't know many in mine. So I tried making my own: 'wash away like ash'—like when you pour a bucket of water over a campfire and the ash washes away.