[37.2] Oh, How the Turned Tables

I checked my face out in the mirror, "Okay. Looks good."

My mother chuckled, "You seem attentive to your appearance more than usual today."

I played with a curl in my hair, "It's my first real date here. I have to look perfect."

She smiled at me mischievously, "Ufufu. I can't believe my ears. My daughter is excited for her first date with her little Prince~"

I paused and puffed out my cheeks, "No… I'm excited about the show."

She chuckled and nodded, "Mhm. Sure."

I glanced back at my reflection.

Although… It's not a total lie to say I'm excited.

I glanced down at my light blue dress with white lace covered in jewels for decoration.

I pursed my lips, "Do you think this is too revealing? It goes a bit low."

My mother placed a white shall over me, "In a mother's opinion: It makes you look much older and I don't like that... But you're growing up so I have to accept it."

She bent down and kissed the top of my head, "I think it looks beautiful on you. Now come on. Let's go see how your father did with Zephyr."

We left our room and walked down the stairs to see the Headmaster standing in exasperation.

Zephyr was trying to rip off his tie.

My mother laughed, "What's going on here?"

The Headmaster glanced at my mother, "He won't keep his tie on."

Zephyr cried out, "IT'S A NOOSE!"

"Eh. He will get used to it eventually." My mother motioned to me, "Doesn't our daughter look beautiful, Aldrich?"

He nodded, "Very beautiful."

I straightened up proudly.

The Headmaster clicked his tongue, "Go change."

I deflated, "What!? Why?!"

His expression darkened, "It's bad enough I have to worry about committing treason against a royal family member. It'll be worse if I have to become a mass murderer."

My mother sighed, "Oh, Aldrich. Why must you always resort to violence?"

I laughed, "It's good to know I have an assassin for anyone who hits on me."

The Headmaster stared at me, "Just let me know who to punish and I will."

I pulled up my dress uncomfortably, "Ugh. It's probably a good thing I have you to swat away annoying flies. I feel like I'm going to have a wardrobe malfunction in this."

Zephyr stopped pulling at his tie and gawked at me, "Whoa. I guess you're not as flat as I thought you were."

The Headmaster smacked him over the head.

Zephyr held his head and screamed, "Oi!!"

I turned to my mother, "Are you sure this dress will be fine?"

My mother checked my dress, "I don't see any issues, so just relax. It looks lovely on you, my dear. I'm sure Prince Cyrus will have a heart attack when he sees you."

The Headmaster glared menacingly, "I'm going to gouge out his eyes."

My mother ignored him, "Are they going to come to pick you up?"

I nodded, "Yup! Cyrus prepared a carriage to get us since my ice chunk will ruin our outfits."

Zephyr clicked his tongue, "And kill us."

I glared at him, "Oi. I'm a magnificent driver."

My mother nodded, "She is! She takes after me in that aspect."

Zephyr raised an eyebrow, "So you're both equally as terrible?"

A knock came at the door.

My face lit up, "They are here!"

I rushed to the door and pulled it open. Cyrus was standing in front of me a bit surprised I opened the door so soon.

"Goldilocks!" I spun around in my dress for him, "Well? Do you like it? I got a new dress just for today."

Cyrus looked at me with a warm smile, "Wow… Reika you look… Incredible."

The Headmaster turned to walk into the kitchen.

My mother raised an eyebrow, "What are you doing, Aldrich?"

He answered calmly, "I'm going to grab a spoon."

She quickly grabbed him and held him back, "Aldrich! There's no need to resort to violence!"

Cyrus's complexion turned pale, "What are you going to do with a spoon?!"

He slowly turned to look at Cyrus, "I'm going to scoop out your eyeballs."

Cyrus froze in fear.

"Stop wasting time! Let's go already!" I grabbed Cyrus's arm and started pulling him out the door. I shouted behind me, "I will be back after the concert."

My mother chuckled, "Don't rush home! Take your time with Prince Cyrus~"

The Headmaster looked at Della as if betrayed, "Della!?"

She smiled back at him, "What? When I was her age, I was already pregnant."

The Headmaster called to me in a panic, "DON'T GET PREGNANT!"

Cyrus stiffened, "P-Pregnant!?"

"You don't have to worry about that, Papa." I looked at Cyrus with a mischievous grin, "Or does he?"

Cyrus gulped, "Well- I, uh. I wouldn't mind-"

"Zephyr!" Hazel went inside to grab Zephyr by the arm, "Are you ready for our date?"

His eyes went straight to her chest, "Holy crap! Your bazongas are bouncing!"

Hazel giggled, "You have such a way with words."

My mother let out a sigh, "Please don't encourage his behavior, dear."

Hazel smiled and bowed to my mother and the Headmaster, "Don't worry, Headmaster Aldrich or Miss Della. I will make sure Zephyr and Reika get back safely."

The Headmaster gave her a nod, "Make sure they get home early too."

My mother pushed Hazel and Zephyr out the door, "Don't listen to him. You children stay out all night if you have to."

The Headmaster's mouth dropped, "Della!"

She turned to him with a sly grin, "Don't you want the house all to ourselves?"

The ground at his feet suddenly froze over.

We all climbed into the carriage and left the Academy. Once we were at the concert hall, I got out of the carriage with the help of Cyrus. As we were shown inside the theatre, I stared up at the high ceilings and beautiful decor in awe.

Cyrus and I were shown to our individual room while Hazel and Zephyr were brought to another.

I looked around the room with starry eyes, "Whoa! Look at these decorations! Do you think it's real gold?!"

Cyrus took a seat that overlooked the stage, "Are you really that interested in it? I'm sure the Headmaster has far more expensive things."

"Yeah, but they are mostly old antiques that aren't very aesthetically pleasing." I gasped, "THERE'S A MINIBAR!"

He glanced at me, "Do you like to drink?"

I shook my head and looked at an expensive bottle of wine, "No. Not in this body."

He raised an eyebrow, "Do you hop into other bodies to drink wine?"

"Hm… No, not exactly." I walked over to the banister and looked below at the seats under us, "I'm a bit afraid that I will become my old self if I drink it… Also, I'm not legally of age yet."

He raised an eyebrow, "What do you mean? There's no legal age. Also, you're past sixteen. Most people start drinking after they have their coming-of-age ceremony."

I turned to give him a wink, "But I never got a coming-of-age ceremony."

He pursed his lips, "That's because you were studying abroad when you came of age."

"We had a small ceremony on a beach to celebrate my birthday and my father froze the water because he was so upset I was growing up. It was pretty funny."

Cyrus let out a sigh, "I wish I could have been there to celebrate it with you."

I felt a bit sad, "I just realized I missed yours as well… I wish I could have gone to yours."

He shrugged, "You would have been bored. Felix managed to convince his father to host my ceremony, but it was only filled with people who thought they could use me by being nice to me."

"Ah, that sounds terrible."

He smiled to himself, "But I had Felix and Caldwell there to make it better."

Ugh…

Suddenly I feel really jealous…

The lights dimmed and a hush went over the crowd.

Cyrus sat up in his seat, "They are starting. Come sit down."

I went to go sit down when a mischievous idea popped into my head.

I pretended to trip and fell directly on his lap, "Oh no! I've fallen. I hope I didn't hurt you~"

When I innocently looked over, I froze upon seeing a lustful gaze from Cyrus instead of embarrassment.

His lips curved, "Oh, you fell?"

He suddenly wrapped his arms around me and pulled me close to him.

Wait wait wait!

What's going on!?

This isn't what I thought would happen!!

He whispered into my ear, "Don't you remember what you said? No one will know what we do here…. And no one will interrupt."

I felt my heart suddenly start pounding.

My cheeks started to warm up, "Y-Yeah. I guess I did say that… Hehe?"

"By the way… That dress looks lovely on you." His eyes trailed down, "Seeing you like this… I can barely control myself next to you."

AHHH! I'm not used to this version of Goldilocks!!!

When did he become such a smooth talker!?

I coughed in embarrassment, "I-It does? You don't think it looks a bit too… Revealing?"

He hummed, "It does look revealing, but that's not a bad thing."

My lips twitched, threatening to smile. I cleared my throat to calm my heart, "But aren't you worried another man will try to hit on me?"

"I don't doubt they will. I guess I will just have to show them how serious I am about you."

I laughed, "And how will you do that?"

He suddenly leaned forward and placed his lips against my neck.

I was so startled by the sudden kiss that I nearly fell off his lap.

I pulled away and looked at him in shock, "W-What was that!?"

His smile curved, "I'm showing everyone how serious I am."

I felt a sudden explosion of heat across my face.

I quickly scrambled off his lap and held my neck. I sat beside him and stared ahead, trying to calm my racing heart. I muttered silently, "You win this round."

He laughed and stared at me with honey-sweet eyes.

Thankfully, the curtains opened and the main act started.

I held my heart as I tried to pay attention to the music in front of me.