True Love's Seventh Kiss

Ch.44 Royal Date

Prudence rolled her eyes. "I am doing you a service by sharing my time with you. Should you not be a little more attentive?"

"Pardon me, I was under the impression we were both merely doing what was expected of us. Don't tell me that I actually caught your attention? Was it my dazzling smile or my footwork?" Marion teased with a wink.

A vein bulged in Prudence's forehead. "Of course, it has to be your sunny disposition."

"You're not a very good liar are you. Did you pull a muscle complimenting someone other than yourself?" Marion teased

"I promise, I am the most charming lady in the empire, I have no fault in looks or manners. I assure you, that you will be hard pressed to find a peer that is my equal." Prudence bragged.

"Does that not make me the most singular young count in the empire then? To be sought after not once but thrice by the Violet Rose of the Empire. I wonder if it is wrong for me to grow an ego under such fruitful conditions?"

Prudence grinded her teeth. "I have never met someone of such low class acting so audacious."

"Do you hate it so much?" Marion asked. "Is it not even the slightest bit refreshing to speak to someone as an equal? To meet with even the slightest bit of frictions instead of having the masses cow down? Doesn't it feel even a little bit lonely never hearing anyone's true thoughts while being surrounded by placating lip service?"

"You talk like an aged man. How am I supposed to feel any comradery from a peer when I feel like I am getting lectured by my grandfather?"

"I can be more casual if you want your purpliness?" Marion Joked.

Prudence cracked a smile at the unexpected jab. She covered her face as she tried to hold back her amusement. "No, don't. ki kik. I hate that!"

"You're right that is terrible, it makes you seem as if you have a decent personality. One where you might giggle or even crack a joke." Marion shook his head. "I can't call you the violent Violet, if I do I'm just egging on the 'violence' toward myself. Persnickety pumpernickel, no that's too long." Marion pondered with a predatory grin.

"I don't know if you are brave or foolhardy... Do you understand just who you are mocking?" Prudence smiled but it wasn't without its share of both frustration and belated curiosity. "You also resemble a dirty creature I am familiar with, a mana-touched dusk badger. A small and aggressive creature prone to agitating much greater predators without fear. And once mana-madness sets in, their white fur glows red and they attack everything on sight like a mindless beast. A dirty mindless beast... with a poor sense of vision since I'm obvious the most beautiful girl you've ever seen and will ever see." Prudence snickered as she jabbed back.

Marion's eyes glittered and renewed his toothy smile. "How fitting. I think I like that description since Dusk badgers are some of the most tenacious survivors even when mana-madness sets in. With resistances to piercing and slashing weapons along with many types of magic they are hardy predators who no one can look down on if they wish to escape an encounter with one unscathed. Truly a creature whose bite is worse than their bark."

Marion angled his eyes just so that his purple eyes peaked over his glasses and Prudence felt a shiver of fear as the eyes of a mad predator looked at her as if she were a meal.

Nobody had ever looked at her this way, nobody had ever spoken to her this way. He was the son of a count and yet his gaze held all the dignity of something a little more mature and touch more feral. No matter how she thought about it she couldn't help but get the impression that he was looking down on her as if he were a cat playing with a mouse.

Which... he was, since no matter how 'pretty' she was; she was still a child in Marion's eyes. Although some of the lines were blurred since he had been in a child's body for so long and he was going through puberty a second time. He couldn't help some of the chemical reactions that happened but at least there were less surprises this time around.