Chapter 74: Tonal Whiplash

“Well, that was disappointing…”

Evelina sighed, pouting and pinching the bridge of her nose.

She was less interested in Julius’s sudden improvement in close-range combat and more focused on the fact that the Owl was weaker than she had initially thought.

“You aren’t concerned?”

I asked, normally, seeing the lover of your rival get stupidly strong would be a cause of worry. For Evelina’s case, that was the norm.

But…

“Why would I be? I have you, don’t I?”

She expressed herself with a wicked smile, giving me a peck on my cheeks.

Her comforting words were enough to make me feel like I’ve been stabbed straight in the heart.

“Y-Your right… he got better in close-range fighting, but when it came to me—”

“He doesn’t stand a chance.”

I laughed when she finished my sentence for me, but now there was another thing… what were we supposed to do now?

“Would you like me to save him?”

“No… he’s way too weak and impulsive to be useful.”

“Then what about messing with Lillian and Julius?”

Evelina took a moment before she could reply, staring at where Julius and Lillian were currently tying the Owl up with ropes they packed in advance.

It looked like she was having conflicting feelings, once again confused at new emotions she had never felt before.

“I’ve decided that… It’s more fun to spend time with you instead.” She clasped her hands behind her back, chuckling.

“You’re going to eventually kill me talking like that if you don’t give me a warning next time.”

“Then I’d just summon you as a demon and make a contract with you.”

She leaned closer, inches away from my face, the moon behind us providing a beautiful backdrop, but it also made us very visible to anyone looking at the right moment.

But that didn’t matter to me.

The way her hair and skirt flowed in the cold wind, and how her crimson eyes and smile caught the moonlight on her skin, took my breath away.

“Enjoying my beauty?” Evelina tilted her head, amused. “Nevermind, that’s a dumb question, you always do.”

She reached out, fingers brushing against my sleeve first, testing, deliberate, before slipping her hand into mine. There was no hesitation in her grip, only certainty.

“Think anyone’s watching us? Two silhouettes on a rooftop holding hands?” She whispered in my ear, making my spine tingle.

“Even if they are, they won’t get a good look at their face unless they’re skilled.”

I placed my free hand on her waist, a touch she reflexively leaned closer to.

“What are you planning?”

Evelina teased, noticing the way I was raising both of our arms, which were intertwined.

“Have you danced with someone before?”

“No, I haven’t, but I do know how.”

That was enough confirmation for me to continue, moving as I gently guided her into a slow turn, our joined hands lifting as if the rooftop itself were a ballroom.

The city below us faded into background noise, the distant clatter of streets, the muffled echoes of combat resolving itself; none of it mattered. All that existed was the rhythm we set between us.

Evelina caught on instantly.

Her steps were precise, elegant, almost instinctive, as if she’d always known how to move like this but had simply never been given a reason to. Her free hand settled on my shoulder, light at first, then firmer once she realised I wouldn’t pull away.

“Oh,” she murmured, surprised. “So that’s what you meant.”

“You’re a fast learner,” I replied.

She scoffed softly. “What do you expect?”

We swayed slowly, not to music, but to the shared understanding between us. The wind played the role of an orchestra, tugging at her hair, carrying the faint scent of night and her perfume. Every step brought her a little closer until there was barely any space left to close.

“We look insane…” she admitted quietly, as if the words themselves embarrassed her.

“I’d rather you call us graceful instead.”

“Dancing without music on top of a roof under the moonlight?” She smirked. “I guess you could call it that…”

“But I still think it makes us look insane.”

She laughed, both of us continuing to move in tandem, no efficiency in our movements at all.

“That isn’t an entirely wrong description as well, isn’t it?”

“Insane? Me?” Evelina expressed fake shock before leaning more into my touch and moving with even more enthusiasm.

Evelina was a lot of things, and that included self-awareness; she knew that being sadistic and cruel wasn’t very… normal.

And she embraced that, but now she had someone to share it with, someone equally as powerful, and equally as wrong in the head.

“Julius…”

Lillian whispered from below as they literally placed the unconscious Owl into a sack.

“Anything wrong?”

“A-Are you seeing what I’m seeing?” Lillian pointed to a rooftop where two silhouettes were dancing under the moonlight.

Us, basically.

“What in the gods’ name?”

Julius took a step forward and beyond the alley, trying to give himself a better view of the strange sight.

“I-Its—”

Julius couldn’t even finish his statement; he was absolutely shocked by what he had seen to the point he dropped the sack that contained the Owl onto the ground.

THUD!

“What was that for!?”

Lillian reprimanded Julius, but stopped quickly after seeing his face.

She couldn’t tell what in the world he was even feeling.

Shock? Disgust? Bewildered? Impressed? Or a mix of every emotion known to man.

For Lillain, it looked like he was staring at something so terribly eldritch, something so terribly weird and out of place that he didn’t even know how to react.

“I-Its… Evelina and Cael.”

“W-Wait…” Lillian covered her mouth like she had heard something scandalous, looking back at the silhouettes on top of the rooftop.

Narrowing her eyes until she spotted one defining feature.

Crimson eyes and white hair.

That was enough for her to believe in Julius.

“Don’t look!”

Lillian immediately covered Julius’s eyes, forcing him to look away.

“What are you doing, Lillian!?”

“It’s rude to stare at a couple like that!”

“That’s what you’re worried about!?”

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