The mansion's dining room was illuminated brightly with the dancing of flames. The crystal chandeliers reflected the light like twinkling stars.
The chamber was filled with the sounds of glasses clinking and muffled chewing. Garren stood to the side of Nevaris at the head of the table, watching him devour plate after plate of dishes ravenously.
Lilith and Ana watched on in amusement and curiosity between their own bites of food. Both wondering how he could eat like a starved beast yet still look quite refined.
Of course this was due to the strict education of Caleum's adoptive mother in his old life. Adopted son or not, no child of hers would ever grow up without the basic dinner table etiquette.
As he ate he listened to Garren's never-ending barrage of questions.
"So you really are you, young master?"
"That's what I said."
"You aren't some ghost or old perverted witch possessing this body right?"
"By the gods–No Garren! Can I eat my dinner in peace!?"
"B-But you are so different. This morning you were still the same scrawny, weakling and now you're–you're…"
"First of all, I am your employer, show some respect. Second, keep insulting me and I will tell my mother."
That got Garren to shut up immediately. Lilith and Ana tried and failed to stifle their giggles as they watched them bicker.
Coughing lightly, Garren put on the mask of a competent, professional butler once more. But the faint reddening of his ear tips gave away his embarrassment.
Glad for the opportunity to eat without interruption, Nevaris continued to enjoy the delicacies before him while sinking into his own thoughts.
'With my system offline I have no way of understanding the changes that occurred to my body. Of all the times to crash, it chooses now.' he muttered inwardly in resignation.
Chewing absentmindedly on a steak bone, Nevaris shifted his gaze to his shy second fiancee.
Seeing her not touch her food and contentedly sipping a freshly brewed cup of tea, he finally asked the question that had been on his mind the whole time.
"So Ana, what's the deal with the iron death trap over your head?"
Though he had all the memories and experiences of the previous Nevaris, the old him had never paid any attention to the news of his new fiancees, instead choosing to once again isolate himself in self-loathing and fear.
Thanks to this, he knew close to nothing about either of them. Up until a few moments ago he didn't even know their names.
Caught off-guard by the sudden question, Ana's hand shook and she ended up slipping tea on the table and her dress.
Deeply embarrassed by her own clumsiness, she scrambled to grab a cloth to clean up the spill while apologizing profusely.
"I-I-I'm s-so sor–sorry! I-I-I didn't m-mean to…" she began. Her voice, though muffled by the mask, sounded choked with mortification.
As she rushed to wipe away the stain she had made on the expensive dining table, a large, deceptively soft hand held hers firmly. The sudden intimate gesture caused Ana's mind to go blank as she turned her head in a daze toward the amused face now standing above her.
"Enough, you're gonna sand a new hole into the table before you even finish cleaning it. It's just spilt tea on an old table, what's the big deal?" Nevaris spoke in a chiding tone.
Hearing his words, Lilith nearly choked on the fruit she had just swallowed before glaring at him and cursing inwardly, 'JUST a table!? If I didn't know what this was I would almost believe you, you spendthrift bastard. This "table" is made of Elderwood, just half a foot of it costs more than an average city's entire annual income!'
Garren's expression beamed with pride as his eyes began to water again, 'Ah, the young master has finally grown up! This is the attitude befitting of a dragon descended from Emperor Hyperion.'
Ignoring the strange and murderous gazes directed at him, Nevaris held Ana's hand with an almost delicate reverence. His thoughts focused entirely on the softness and smooth texture of her olive skin.
Feeling him rubbing her hand seemed to snap Ana out of her trance. Before anyone could react, Ana hurriedly jumped out of her seat and pulled her hand away while she cried.
"NO, DON'T TOUCH ME!"
The dining room fell into a stunned silence as they all stared at Ana in shock. But the shock only lasted for a moment before Garren's face darkened in fury.
Putting personal feelings aside, Nevaris was her husband-to-be and the son of the Third Princess of the dragon race. Such disrespect could not be ignored. Just as he was about to step forward, Nevaris growled out towards him.
"Stand down."
Though wanting to speak, Garren kept silent at the sharpness of Nevaris' gaze. Turning his sights back to the frightened, unraveling woman before him and felt his chest tighten.
"N-No, not him…not Nevaris…remember…he has to remember, he can't forget…please…" Ana's voice was a broken thing.
The whispering pleas. The clawing panic that was set in her voice didn't come out in screams, it sat in her throat, tearing it raw as she struggled to breathe.
That is when everyone around her realized. She wasn't angry or disgusted like her initial reaction would make it seem. No, this was something else. Something deeper.
Despair.
Watching her break little by little, Lilith's eyes began to tear up as she looked on. She felt something. An emotion she longed to forget. Something she had swore never to feel again.
Helplessness.
Knowing now was not a time for jokes or minimizing, Nevaris knelt in front of her tiny, shivering frame. His voice came out in a low, gentle murmur, his words slow, as if he were trying to wrap her frayed nerves in something soft and safe.
"Ana, look at me. Please?"
Her trembling ceased as her head whipped up, her face a mask of disbelief and something else. Something fragile and fleeting.
She didn't answer him. She just stared back into those gray eyes of his. Searching for something no one else knew.
But something had changed in her gaze. Her shoulders weren't collapsing inwardly anymore, the tension in them was slowly bleeding out as her mouth began to open.
Her voice was tight, like a cord being stretched to its absolute limit on the verge of snapping. "D-Do you know who I am?"
The question was nonsensical. If not for the seriousness of her outburst and the desperate almost feral desire for validation in her eyes, Nevaris would have laughed out loud.
But feeling her desperation he answered seriously, "You are Anantashesha. My shy and cute fiancee from the Titanboa race. We just met today and I already can't wait to undress you, throw you onto my bed, and ravish you to my-"
"STOP, STOP! Are you crazy? What are you even saying in front of everyone!?" Ana screamed in utterly humiliated embarrassment.
Not even thinking, she clamped her hands firmly over Nevaris' cheeky lips with a surprising amount of force for a girl as lithe as she was.
Though he couldn't speak, Nevaris' eyes flashed with mischievousness. The look in his eyes saying "how aggressive of you".
Ana felt as if her mask had just come fresh out of the forge. Her thoughts scrambled as she tried to focus on sealing her loudmouth fiancee. As soon as the thought crossed her mind, her body jolted as she realized what she had done.
Her eyes locked on her hands over his mouth with fear. She pulled her hands back as if they had been burned before turning to Nevaris.
"O-Oh no…I touched you again. A-Are you okay? P-Please tell me you're okay!?" she said in a panicked flurry of words.
Starting to see an inkling of what was distressing her, he pushed away his thoughts and responded with a wide grin.
"All good down here mouse. But your transitions in mood are giving me a bit of whiplash."
Ana's eyes widened in shock. The flicker of hope she had crushed earlier began to grow brighter as she looked into his eyes for any sign of a lie.
Seeing his clear, deep eyes meet hers unflinchingly, and seeing the recognition in them. Ana reached out a hand to his face. The movement was slow, delicate.
As if she was afraid that moving too fast would shatter the illusion she was in. But even when her fingers brushed the warmth of his skin, even when her palm settled on his cheek. The illusion didn't end.
It was real.
This…was real.
She wasn't dreaming. The gods weren't playing a cruel joke on her.
"I can touch you…and you haven't gone insane…" her voice was a broken whisper.
Her other hand rose to his other cheek, settling parallel to the other as she cupped his face.
"I-I'm touching you…and you still remember me. You still remember me."
Though he had questions, Nevaris simply placed his hands over hers, nodding firmly. She stood in silence, just staring into his deep, cold eyes. But right now, those eyes felt warmer than the sun itself.
When the first tear fell she didn't register it. But as more and more began streaking down her face, the salty cool sensation on her lips seemed to break open the dam.
Her sobbing was just like her. Soft and vulnerable, quiet as if afraid to disturb the world around her. The pent-up pain and despair in them could wound the soul in a way no magic could. But now, underneath that pain was a new emotion, something fragile that had just begun to grow.
Relief.
Nevaris just held her in his arms, stroking her flowing green hair. But his gaze darkened slightly, his pupils turning into swirling whirlpools.
That night, on the first day of his arrival to this new reality, Nevaris made a vow that would define him for the rest of eternity.