Faust hesitated. "Have we... met before?"
The young woman smiled and shook her head, her golden hair swaying with the movement.
"Nope. I'm the only one who knows you, really. From where you're standing, this should be the first time you've seen me."
Faust wanted to ask more, but the mysterious girl stepped closer first, her delicate nose twitching as if trying to commit the intoxicating scent of his pheromones to memory.
"Mmm..."
She let out a satisfied sigh, closed her eyes, and made a soft, contented sound like a kitten purring. She seemed to be humming some tune, savoring this moment of closeness and quiet.
Seeing this, Faust had no choice but to match her steps and wait for their dance to end.
But her stamina seemed endless. She showed no signs of stopping, dancing one song after another. It wasn't until the night deepened and dawn approached that the golden-haired girl reluctantly pulled away.
"Time's up. I have to go back."
The girl's slender white fingers twirled the hair at her shoulder, her expression full of reluctance.
"Can't you stay a little longer?"
Faust tried to keep her there. He'd barely exchanged a few words with her.
The mysterious girl lowered her eyes without responding.
Seeing this, Faust could only sigh. "That's too bad. At least let me see you off."
But this perfectly reasonable request was refused. The girl shook her head gently and said, sounding dejected:
"Even though I'd love to invite you home with me, when that time comes... you won't like me anymore."
Then she lifted her skirt, turned, and left, practically fleeing as she jumped into the carriage.
"Clop clop clop..."
The unicorn immediately drove the carriage away from the palace with a swiftness completely unlike any normal horse-drawn carriage.
Faust immediately gave chase but stopped at the palace gate.
Because that unicorn carriage, right before his eyes, crashed straight into the wall. With a series of ripples, it vanished.
Just then, Eleanor walked over. The princess's sage-blue eyes gazed at the wheel tracks the unicorn carriage had left behind, which still sparkled with tiny points of light.
"It's Mystery..."
"Mystery?"
Hearing his sister say this, Faust suddenly understood.
So-called Mystery was the element that gave this world its fantastical quality.
Whether it was inward-seeking talent, deeply studied craft, strange and wondrous artifacts, or blessings granted by the Fae... anything supernatural could be called Mystery.
A high-ranking sorceress like Eleanor went without saying, but even Faust himself had received the inheritance of a monarch from his adoptive father, making him a genuine mystical noble.
But Mystery also had its hierarchies. In situations like this one, Faust couldn't analyze it at all. His path in Mystery was the Hero route, inherited directly from the old king.
It was an extremely orthodox royal mystical inheritance, specializing in command, conquest, and subjugation.
However, in the realm of knowledge, it fell far short of the Sorceress path.
"Sister, can you tell which path of Mystery this is? Or can you track it directly?"
Eleanor's slender white fingers rubbed the light particles left by the unicorn carriage, then she shook her head.
"This is quite powerful Mystery. I can't interfere with or understand it."
The silver-gray-haired princess wasn't just any sorceress; she was a high-ranking sorceress with extremely deep knowledge of the mystical arts.
ut it this way: if Eleanor weren't a member of the royal family, the Kingdom of Aurum would have a hell of a time securing her service.
For Mystery that even she couldn't analyze, that was no ordinary level.
"Do you like that girl?"
Eleanor looked at him sideways. The silver-gray-haired princess's gaze remained calm as always, her clear voice making it impossible to discern any emotion.
"Is it that obvious?"
Faust smiled and pressed his hand to his chest, admitting frankly: "Yeah. I haven't felt this way in a long time... no, I should say I've never felt my heart race like this before.
This feeling is incredible."
Eleanor said slowly: "Your state seems off... Is it really just because you're attracted to her?"
"I've said before that when you get horny, you're like a caveman. But no matter how much you fool around, you've always known your limits. You said it yourself: smart people don't fall in love."
When Faust fooled around with the noble ladies of the capital, whether they were sweet and innocent, seductively mature, proud, energetic, saintly, or youthful... the prince's attitude from beginning to end had always been the same.
Screw all of you freeloaders!
It seemed unlikely for such a man to become this infatuated.
"Isn't her beauty alone enough?"
Hearing his sister's doubts, Faust immediately felt annoyed and instinctively retorted:
"Thanks for your concern, sister, but I'm ten... no, ninety percent certain that she's my soulmate!"
Eleanor said flatly: "Didn't you say you wanted to find a princess who could bring allies and support to the kingdom?"
"Uh..."
At the mention of this, Faust also froze, seemingly realizing this deeply conflicted with his past principles.
The prince frowned and pondered for a long while, finally only managing to squeeze out:
"It doesn't have to be a foreign princess. The key is value. Her mystical talent is so high.
If the position of queen consort could get the kingdom a grand sorceress in exchange, that wouldn't be a bad deal either."
"Anyway, she's different!"
Probably feeling this reasoning wasn't convincing enough, Faust then hurriedly left under the pretext of having official business to handle, afraid the silver-gray-haired princess would continue interrogating him.
"Hmm... Is that so?"
Eleanor's eyes lowered slightly. Her sage-blue, ethereal eyes watched Faust's retreating figure, and she shook her head.
...
The matchmaking ball the king held for his heir wasn't just one day, but a three-day celebration open to the entire kingdom.
Though it was called the entire kingdom, in reality, only the 200,000 residents of Aurum's capital had the opportunity to attend.
But that was still quite a lot. The entire Kingdom of Aurum had fewer than 500,000 people.
Even in this fantasy world full of kingdoms, it counted as a small nation with a sparse population. Therefore, the kingdom's noble class was also very small, and they all knew each other.
The position of the crown prince's consort was something every noble family eagerly pursued.
Throughout the Kingdom of Aurum, every unmarried young lady with even a bit of confidence came to compete at the banquet.
Then they all became background characters.
On the second night of the ball, that mysterious girl continued to arrive at midnight and leave when dawn approached.
During this time, the prince only danced with her. The other beautiful noble ladies had no presence whatsoever in Faust's eyes.
Seeing this, many women at the ball were deeply disappointed.
No one hoped to win the prince's favor anymore. Every observer could tell that Faust's attention was entirely focused on that mysterious golden-haired girl.
And on the final night of the banquet, Faust arrived at the dance floor early, absentmindedly chatting with guests while occasionally glancing toward the palace gate.
"Dong dong dong..."
Finally, after the bells chimed, that magnificent carriage pulled by a unicorn appeared in view once more.
Faust glanced at his wristwatch. It was exactly quarter past midnight.
The prince naturally walked to the front of the carriage and extended his hand just as the door opened.
"Your Highness!"
A delicate hand landed in the prince's palm. The girl leaped forward, throwing herself into Faust's arms, then spun around playfully before stepping down.
The mysterious girl had changed into a brand new dress, but it was still unbelievably gorgeous and dreamlike, perfectly accentuating her otherworldly beauty. Her soft, lovely face wore a smile.
"I've kept you waiting."
"Not at all. You're right on time."
Faust bowed elegantly and took her hand, leading her to the dance floor plaza.
The girl's full chest pressed tightly against the prince's body, their fingers interlaced. The two looked like lovers in the throes of romance.
"Since the night we first met, I've thought of you day and night. No matter how many times I see you, I can never be satisfied."
Faust stared intently at the girl's beautiful, lovely face and said softly.
Feeling the prince's burning gaze, the mysterious girl's cheeks seemed to flush slightly pink.
"I feel the same way, looking forward to seeing you, Your Highness... It's just like a dream."
The golden-haired girl murmured:
"Someone like me... I can actually dance with Your Highness."
The dim yellow lights of the plaza shone on the girl's face, making her already otherworldly beauty seem even more dreamlike.
Just watching this scene, Faust felt his breath catch. He couldn't help but grasp the girl's shoulders:
"What do you mean, 'someone like you'? If you're willing, after the ball ends, you can stay at the palace for a while. No... I mean, you can stay here. This ball, only you..."
Before the prince could finish, the girl frowned and shook her head:
"The magic I've shown will completely disappear after this ball. You won't like my true appearance. It's so dull and pathetic, so repulsive to you..."
"That's impossible!"
Faust interrupted, gripping his collar tightly: "No matter what your identity is, no matter what you look like, it doesn't matter!"
"Your existence makes me happier than anything else in the world!"
Hearing this, the girl's deep purple eyes brightened slightly, and a heartbreaking sadness showed in her expression:
"Your Highness... hearing you say that makes me so happy. Though it's a bit greedy, I want one more kiss. May I?"
"...Of course."
The prince certainly wouldn't refuse such a request. In fact, he'd wanted to be closer to her for a while now, but out of consideration for her, he hadn't dared to cross that line.
Faust leaned down, suppressing his wildly pounding heart, and kissed the golden-haired girl gently.
The girl's lips were cool and soft. The instant they touched, Faust's mind went blank, as if he'd become a naive, inexperienced boy who didn't know what to do.
So he could only let the mysterious girl take the lead, but she was visibly awkward and clumsy.
She had no idea how to properly kiss, just clumsily rubbing their lips together as if that counted as kissing.
Even so, the mysterious girl seemed quite satisfied with this childish kiss. She smiled with curved eyes and said:
"Ah... This memory will stay with me for life. Let's stop here, Your Highness. I'm not ready to go further yet."
With that, she turned to leave, departing as quickly as the previous two nights.
"Wait... wait!"
Faust snapped out of his daze. Seeing the girl's retreating figure, he immediately panicked.
The carriage pulled by a unicorn was clearly a high-level mystical vehicle.
Legend had it that this type of vehicle traveled through the ethereal spirit realm, making it impossible to track by worldly means.
If he let the mysterious girl leave, finding her afterward would be too difficult. How could Faust allow that to happen!
The prince roared and immediately lunged forward. The girl pulled away, tilting her head slightly with a meaningful smile:
"Since you want me so much, then come find me. If it's you, you'll be able to find me, right?"
"Click..."
Just before jumping onto the carriage, one of the girl's dancing shoes accidentally fell to the ground.
But in her hurry to leave, she couldn't worry about that. The carriage accelerated, breaking through the palace guards' encirclement and charging straight into the void, disappearing without a trace.
"She still left..."
Faust glanced at the empty road and sighed with frustration. Then he picked up the dancing shoe the girl had left behind.
The mysterious girl had worn different outfits each night, but every single one was ridiculously magnificent. Not just the dresses, the shoes changed too.
On the first day, the girl wore boots as brilliant as silver. On the second day, golden high heels. And today, dancing shoes like crystal.
Stroking this smooth crystal shoe, Faust fell into thought.
He sure as hell didn't want to give up so easily. If the mysterious girl didn't appear again on her own, then he would search for her. Right now, only this shoe counted as a clue.
In that case, he'd try to see who could wear this dancing shoe. Even if he had to dig up the entire kingdom, he would...
Just as Faust was about to make this determination, he suddenly shuddered, his reddish-brown pupils dilating slightly.
Wait. A prince... a dancing shoe... a mysterious girl at a ball...
Cin... Cinderella?!
"Dong..."
When the familiar elements came together in his mind, it felt like suddenly surfacing from the ocean floor, or like a great bell ringing out.
The prince immediately felt dizzy and disoriented.
"Your Highness!"
Seeing the prince stagger and nearly fall, the attendants around him panicked and supported him, escorting Faust back to his chambers.
They wanted to call for a physician, but Faust refused. After dismissing everyone, the prince sat on the edge of his bed, wiped the sweat from his brow, and stared grimly at the crystal shoe in his hand.
He reviewed the past three days' experiences, breaking into a cold sweat.
Something was wrong. Very wrong.
The moment he saw that "Cinderella," it was like he'd been possessed. His mind was full of nothing but her image.
He couldn't eat or sleep properly, tossing and turning restlessly.
He'd even cast aside his principles, completely turning into a lovesick fool. Was that normal?
Love at first sight? Don't make him laugh. He'd read Schopenhauer!
No matter how much she matched his tastes, Faust would never abandon reason and self-respect to grovel so pathetically.
Also, despite having just parted ways, when Faust tried to recall that "Cinderella's" face, he couldn't remember at all what she actually looked like.
Considering this was a fantasy world, Faust had good reason to believe he'd been sabotaged!
But that shouldn't be possible.
Though the Kingdom of Aurum was a backwater little kingdom, as a member of the royal family, Faust wore protective artifacts specifically designed to guard against Mystery. Even if they couldn't block it, they should at least warn him.
Not to mention Eleanor, a high-ranking sorceress close to becoming a grand sorceress, was there.
Even if it were Fae magic, she should have been able to detect it. How had he been affected without anyone noticing?
Just as Faust was utterly perplexed, he felt the curse mark on his arm begin to burn. A low whisper sounded in his ear, the voice like a distant song drifting from afar:
[Child of Man, you have awakened from the enchantment]