Chapter 9: Change of Heart

"You look like you’re about to fall over."

"Mostly because I did my best to not let you destroy our university, Ephraim."

By this point, Ephraim had already gotten used to Lydia’s new personality. He only smiled politely at her jab but it didn’t reach his eyes.

A blue holographic interface appeared above Ephraim’s wrist after he tapped the bracelet on his wrist. With another tap, a small bottle materialized in his hand.

"Wait. That’s... Lillet Pop!"

"Right. It should help with the residual effects of miasma exposure." Ephraim nodded and handed it to Lydia. "Go on. It’s yours."

Even by House Valendorf’s standards, this was an expensive drink. One bottle cost around 100,000 Gold, roughly what a middle-class worker in Adelstein earned in an entire year.

The tonic was a revolutionary product developed by Ludenberg Co., specially designed to help purify miasma corruption that could remain in the body after entering a Dimensional Rift.

And this was not an ordinary flavor.

"My favorite! Star Apple flavor! They were so rare that even collectors went crazy for them in auction!"

Exhaustion disappeared for exactly three seconds from Lydia’s whole body as she admired the tonic.

"You know it?"

"Of course I know it. Brother Vincent almost blew up my head for ordering a crate of Star Apple Lillet Pop when Ludenberg Co. first released them!"

"You ordered a whole crate?"

"Lillet Pop with Star Apple flavor were limited edition and could sell up to 300,000 Gold per bottle. But hey, it was so delicious."

"That doesn’t answer my question."

"Drink it up, then. You better not be thinking of selling it, or—."

Lydia immediately opened the bottle and downed it in just a few gulps. The tonic was gone before Ephraim finished his words.

Lydia wiped her lips with her handkerchief, looking completely satisfied. For a woman who had nearly died in a Spiritual Domain today, she suddenly looked remarkably cheerful now.

Apparently, a 300,000-Gold bottle of medicine was enough to restore her spirits.

What a simple woman.

Ephraim quietly watched Lydia with an amused smile. He tapped his bracelet and transferred something to hers through the holographic interface.

"I’m a man of my word. Go and check, little white dragon."

"What now?"

"White dragons sure love to hoard shiny things. Just like my particular someone."

A huge burst of green light shot out from his bracelet and flew straight toward Lydia’s.

"What..."

The amount of Magic Crystals inside nearly made her eyes pop out of their sockets.

There were mountains of them.

Green crystals filled with concentrated magical energy, along with several enormous chunks of Mana Stone.

Those weren’t ordinary Mana Stones! They came from the SS-Rank Chimera from that Dimensional Rift.

A pure Mana Stone of that size could easily buy you a summer villa in the heart of Illisa, the capital. For an ordinary middle-class worker, that kind of wealth could change their entire life.

"Are you trying to bribe me by giving me these Magic Crystals and Mana Stones, Ephraim?"

"Bribe you?"

"Yes. I wonder what kind of ulterior motive you had. Especially after you gave me something this valuable after trying to annul our engagement. I have to sleep with one eye open from now on."

Ephraim raised an eyebrow.

"I thought you should be more concerned about where to keep them."

"I am. Even my bracelet was unable to keep them properly."

Despite her words, Lydia kept smiling from ear to ear as she reached for a small pink pouch hanging at her waist.

The pouch looked completely ordinary. It was small enough to fit comfortably in Lydia’s palm, with delicate golden thread sewn around its edges.

Nothing about it suggested that it could possibly contain enough space for the mountain of Magic Crystals and Mana Stones Lydia had just received.

"What’s that small pink pouch?"

"This is called Angel’s Bag."

"Angel’s Bag?"

"Someone sent it as a gift to House Valendorf. Brother Sylvain interrogated me for an entire day about it because he suspected I had a secret admirer."

Ephraim’s expression darkened at her words.

"We should BURN that bag."

Lydia gasped.

"Don’t!"

She immediately pulled the pouch away from him and patted it twice. The pouch meowed.

"Wait. Why could a bag meow?"

A tiny mouth appeared in the middle of the pink fabric then it opened wide.

Far too wide.

Rows of sharp little fangs were protruding like spikes. The pouch expanded in Lydia’s hand, stretching until it was roughly the size of a cat.

Its enormous mouth remained open as Lydia tapped her bracelet and poured all of her items into the bag like it was the most natural thing in the world.

Streams of light in various colors flew toward the Angel’s Bag and vanished inside. Magic Crystals and Mana Stones followed, only for the pouch’s enormous maw to chomp down on them one after another.

Ephraim’s expression became completely blank.

Crunch. Crunch. Crunch.

The pouch swallowed everything with ease.

When the last Mana Stone disappeared, the pouch’s mouth closed. Its body shrank until it was once again small enough to fit inside Lydia’s palm.

Then it hissed at Ephraim aggressively.

"You’re angry because he wanted to burn you?"

The pouch bared its fangs at him, but a few affectionate strokes from Lydia calmed it. The bag rubbed itself against Lydia’s fingers and purred.

"Remind me not to get too close to that... horrifying thing. Why can a bag even purr?"

"Some things were better left unexplained, Ephraim."

He silently agreed. Ephraim didn’t want to think too deeply about a magical pouch with a mouth, sharp teeth, and the personality of a spoiled cat.

Lydia tucked Angel’s Bag away, satisfied that her precious hoard was finally safe.

Then another matter came across her mind.

"Oh, right. The annulment paper. You still have it, right?"

At the mention of the annulment paper, Ephraim’s smile faltered a bit. But Lydia caught the change immediately.

"Come on. We survived an A-Class Rift, an SS-Rank Chimera, and your little Mindless episode. We might as well finish the paperwork and secure my compensation."

Silence stretched as Ephraim’s expression became unreadable. For a moment, Lydia wondered if he had lost the paper somewhere.

Instead, he reached into his coat and pulled out the silver capsule containing the annulment paper.

Ephraim unfolded and held it in front of Lydia.

"Ephraim?"

Without answering, he tore the paper in pieces. Before they could reach the ground, Ephraim burned them to ash with his Resonance.

"What are you doing?! My compensation! Pension fund! Damn you Ephraim! You just burned my financial freedom!!!"

Lydia’s lips trembled as she watched Ephraim calmly brushed the last trace of ash from his fingers.

"I changed my mind, my beloved fiancée, Lydia Valendorf."

Lydia’s brain stopped working.

"Beloved fiancée? You...."

She barely had time to process his words before Ephraim planted one hand against the wall beside her head, trapping Lydia between him and the wall.

"E-Ephraim?"

He leaned closer to close their distance. Lydia’s heart began pounding so hard that she was certain Ephraim could hear it.

He was too close. Dangerously too close!!

Lydia instinctively tried to run away, but the wall was directly behind her.

"Why did you have a change of heart?"

Ephraim’s crimson eyes remained fixed on hers as he leaned closer to her flustered face.

This was not part of the plan.

Why did he cancel the annulment?

Was he seriously trying to kiss me after burning our annulment paper?

How about my compensation?!

"No, no, no..."

She pressed a hand against his chest.

"Ephraim, wait."

Lydia’s mind went completely blank.

Just before Lydia could decide whether to punch or kick Ephraim, a sharp sound cracked through the air.

SLAP!

Ephraim’s head turned to the side from the force of the blow.

Lydia gasped.

A tall, gorgeous woman with long pink hair stood between them.

She had just slapped the Crown Prince!

She had just slapped His Royal Highness!

In public!!!

"CREEEEEP! The prince was kissing a woman against her will! He molested and sexually harassed her!!"

The surrounding students fell silent for a moment before the entire campus erupted into chaos, with students shouting over one another as the news spread through Belfort University like a wildfire.

"What?! Who is that?!"

"She just slapped the Crown Prince!"

"Did the Crown Prince really force himself on his own fiancée?"

"Wait, is that girl defending her?"

The pink-haired woman suddenly turned toward her. Before Lydia could react, the girl grabbed her wrist and yanked her away.

"Come on!"

"W-Wait! Who are you?!"

For some reason, the gorgeous woman’s furious expression vanished as she winked at her.

She dragged Lydia through the stunned crowd without slowing down. Behind them, the campus descended into complete chaos.

Ephraim remained where he was, one hand resting against his cheek as dozens of students swarmed him with questions.

Who the hell was this woman?

But judging by that wink, Lydia had a feeling that this was only the beginning of her problems.