Written In the Stars

Alice's butler gives us a nod and opens the door.

"Good morning, Milord," he says.

"Lord?" I ask.

"I apologize, but Milady insisted on me addressing Milord as such."

Alice giggles.

I don't know much about noble etiquette, but there's probably a relationship between Milord and Milady that I don't want to take part in.

Alice lifts her robe and steps up the stairs leading into the cabin. She offers me a hand once she has taken a seat in there.

I guess it would be rude not to.

I take Alice's hand and embark onto the carriage. Her skin is soft, a little bit like Abigail's, but also has Astra's silkiness. I shiver at my own thoughts. Since when did I have such a database to compare girls' skins? Ugh. Something must have gone terribly wrong.

The interior of the carriage is not any less fancy than the exterior. The seats are covered in red velvet, and there are openable windows made of thin lambskin on walls. I take a seat opposite Alice.

After the butler closes the door, Alice stands up and walks over beside me.

"Can't you just stay on your side?" I ask.

"I feel closer to you this way," she says and sits down. Her arm faintly brushes against mine.

I don't exactly want to feel closer.

I hear a door creak behind me, followed by a light shake of the carriage. A second later, the wheels start turning, and we are on our way.

"Krissy, I have heard so much about you," she says as she sets her hand down on my knee.

I grab her hand and move it away.

"You have?"

"Of course."

She puts it back. Eh, whatever.

"From where?" I ask.

"The shrine. I went there yesterday to pick up my brother, and all that everyone was talking about, including my brother, was this mysterious Kris Kaplan guy," she says.

"Oh."

"You are so amazing. I can't believe you went from rank D- to A- in a few days. It took my brother two years to go from C+ to B+."

I am actually ranked A now, but I don't see the need in correcting her.

"I guess something went wrong with the assessment and gave me a low initial rank," I say.

"Maybe, but either way, you've really made yourself a good candidate."

"A good what?"

Alice sighs. "My father wants to personally vet all the bachelors who have the intention of court me, which mind you, is a long line."

"But I am not a bachelor."

Or so she thinks, nor am I trying to court her.

"Minor details, right?" She says.

"But I thought it was blasphemy to get with more than one person. Won't you get excommunicated from the Church?" I ask.

"No, no. That's a common misunderstanding. It only applies to the laity. For nuns and above one can not have extramarital affairs, but they can marry as many people as they want."

I swear Astra said something about that not being the case, or did I misunderstand her? Also, how can one marry more people without having extramarital affairs?

"In fact, Her Holiness has multiple lovers," Alice says.

"The pope? Isn't she like sixteen years old?"

"Well, not the current one, but most of the previous ones did."

That does not match my image of a pope whatsoever.

"Right…"

"How do you not know about this? Don't you also have multiple lovers?" Alice asks.

Hmm, it seems like Alice thinking of me as unfaithful doesn't exactly deter her from her pursuit, so I suppose I should clear up the misunderstanding to preserve the little dignity I have left in her eyes.

"Yeah, about that. I don't," I say.

Alice's brows furrow.

"You don't?"

"Yep."

"What about the elf, the Blesses Beast, and the nuns?"

Hearing her say it out loud has really made me realize just how deep of a hole I dug for myself.

"You could call them friends?" I say.

"But they are your servants, no?"

"Yes."

"And you haven't done anything to them?"

"No, no, no. I have not 'done' anything."

She stares into my eyes without blinking.

Is it really that surprising? To find at least one decent human being?

"Don't you have any other servants than Greg? Does that mean you might have done something to them?" I ask.

"I would, but they are my father's servants. He assigned ones to me that I would not find attractive just so I don't do that."

What is going on in this country?

"And you said you are still a virgin."

"Yeah, but that's because my father is really strict on premarital relationships. Whatever, there's nothing interesting about me in that department. What about the nuns? That little girl at the door, you must have done something to her."

Oh boy.

"No, please don't think that. I have not done anything, to anyone, ever," I say while waving my hands in the air to emphasize my point.

Alice's mouth begins to widen. "S-So you are…"

"Yes, yes, that's right. I am in the same boat as you."

Thank the Goddess I got that over with.

"That means we are perfect for each other!"

Nope, not yet, I guess.

"How…?" I ask.

"He-he, you know how." She smirks and pokes my arm with her finger.

"No, I don't know, and you know what, I don't need to know."

I need to change the topic, and I need to change it quickly.

"Your brother," I say, "He is still in rank B+?"

"My brother? Yeah, why?"

"Does he not have Holy Weapons that allow him to climb the ranks faster?" I ask.

"We do, but he says he doesn't want to rely on power that's not his. His goal is to reach rank A before using a Holy Weapon."

"I see."

"I think you and my brother would hit it off, which is nice, since he will be your brother soon, too," Alice says with a smile.

Right back to where we started.

"Kris, I want to ask you something," Alice says as she lifts her hand from my knee.

"Yes? What is it?"

This sudden shift in tone is a little odd from Alice.

"What do you want?" She asks with all seriousness.

"What do I want?"

"That's right. What do you want that I can give you to make you fall for me?"

I guess that's the most seriousness one can get out of this girl.

"I don't think you can give me what I want," I say.

"That's silly. Just tell me. What is it that you want?"

What do I want? Truth be told, I am not quite sure, either. My life's purpose is to save Earth, but is that what I want? No, not really. I couldn't really care less what happens to those guys. They brought it upon themselves. I would love to save Cisca, and maybe Sophia, but by the time I can do that, I might as well just save everyone else.

Or do I want something here, in Eden? Status? Power? Wealth? I had all that, and while I do miss it a little sometimes, it's not a want of mine. There isn't much in the physical world that I want, but that doesn't mean there is nothing that I want.

I stare deep into Alice's whirling hazel eyes.

"I want my name to be written in the stars."

I hear Alice's breath being taken away as her heart begins beating faster.