The act he had been perfectly playing for the past two months was crumbling before his eyes like dust.
Azriel's mind went blank.
He could only sit there, frozen, staring wide-eyed at Ragnar after hearing the words that left his mouth.
'Engaged? Who? Me? But... I am just an ordinary high school student... Oh wait...
I am Azriel Crimson now... yes, Leo is gone now...'
Aeliana stifled a laugh, holding both hands against her mouth as she watched Azriel, who didn't notice that the person next to him was mirroring the exact same expression.
Since arriving at EASC, Azriel had been steeling his mind for almost anything that could come his way—be it an assassination attempt, a void rift, another titan playing with his mind, or even betrayal.
But the word 'engaged' was never one of them.
It was a word that didn't even exist in his dictionary.
Why would he even think of such a thing in a world where one could die at any moment?
And to be asked to get engaged, not just to anyone, but to Celestina Frost, the princess of the Frost Clan, one of the main characters in Path of Heroes, and part of the protagonist's harem?
How could he have ever anticipated such a situation?
From the previous Azriel's memories, he knew that he wasn't interested in having a relationship or understanding much about love.
The same could be said for when he was Leo.
Surprisingly, as Leo, he did get confessed to at least every 2-4 months from middle to high school.
But not being really interested and perhaps even being a little scared, he always politely declined them each time.
Even though almost anyone would kill to be in his situation right now, Azriel didn't feel the same.
He simply wasn't interested and had no desire to get engaged with Celestina.
The only natural response in this situation seemed obvious to him: refuse, as he always had.
Azriel opened his mouth to object to the request but then—
Positioned next to the couch of his parents and Ragnar, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, was the last person Azriel ever thought to see.
Before Azriel could react, the person suddenly put his finger against his lips, a mischievous smile tugging at the corners.
"Don't do anything stupid. We don't want your future wife thinking you're crazy... but the fact that you can see me already proves you are. Not that we didn't already know that."
Hearing his words, Azriel surprisingly calmed down, taking a deep breath.
He had been about to attack the guy on the spot.
"You don't say! Really, perhaps you should use [Void Mind] constantly to actually have some rational thoughts, damn animal."
Azriel flinched hearing him grumble.
'You... you can hear my thoughts...?'
The person didn't respond, merely kept smiling at him as Ragnar suddenly spoke up again, trying to break the awkward atmosphere that had settled.
"Back when Joaquin and I were in the academy, we made a promise to each other. If one day we both had kids—a son and daughter the same age—we'd get them engaged."
Ragnar suddenly looked at Azriel, but Azriel didn't meet his eyes; his entire focus was on the person making his parents and Ragnar look at him in confusion.
"... We were supposed to talk about it last year but... as you know that wasn't possible."
Both Azriel and Celestina didn't seem to properly hear his words.
Ragnar could only sigh.
"I know this might seem abrupt and fast, but there was no better moment than now, since the both of you are going to the hero academy next week... We will go to the ballroom and bid our farewell to the remaining guests while the two of you can talk it out."
If Ragnar and Joaquin ordered the two of them to get engaged, there wasn't much he or Celestina could do.
But instead, they got to decide for themselves.
Azriel didn't even realize they left until he heard the door shut behind him.
Celestina still seemed lost in her own head, making him narrow his eyes at the person.
'How are you here...?'
Visibly scoffing at Azriel, He responded.
"How else? Because of your head that has gone mad, mongrel! Try actually getting more than four hours of sleep for once!"
Azriel gritted his teeth as the person tapped his temples with both his fingers.
He discovered something new today.
Getting insulted by the bastard in front of him was...
Especially when the said bastard is yourself.
Or better said, Leo Karumi.
"What are you looking at me like that for?"
As if in a competition, the two started glaring hard at each other.
"Tch, forget it. You realize you're trying to pick a fight with yourself? Honestly, how much more pathetic can you get? You damn narcissistic coward, stop looking at me when you have such a beautiful girl sitting next to you! Gods! I hate myself!"
'You... how much more are you going to insult me!?'
Azriel was getting extremely close to snapping.
How much more did he have to endure?
And what the hell did this idiot mean by just being in his head?
"Argh! Dammit, you're still thinking about yourself, aren't you!? We can have our little interrogation at a later date. Right now, you've got something, or rather someone, more important to deal with!"
Leo pointed his finger at Celestina, who seemed totally out of it, making Azriel even more worried.
'What the hell is even up with her...?'
Her face was totally blank as she kept looking at the floor.
"Probably thinking about this engagement... which, by the way, why the hell would you want to object to it!?"
Azriel looked at him in shock and confusion.
'I mean, shouldn't you know? What reason is there for me to accept?'
"Haa... idiot. Let's alter that question of yours a little, shall we? What reason is there for you to deny?"
Strangely, when asked, Azriel couldn't say or rather think of a reason.
Why did he have to deny this engagement?
There wasn't really much to lose from it.
In fact, he would only be gaining more from being with Celestina.
"Listen, what are we—no, what are you trying to do in this world now?"
Azriel looked confused again at Leo.
"All you're doing is surviving, but... is that everything you want to do? Just keep jumping into each important event for what exactly? A coffee shop? Helping heroes? What's next?
Becoming the big bad himself?"
Azriel couldn't think of anything to counter his words.
'You're saying that I should get engaged with her to have a reason to keep pushing myself?'
"Exactly! Would you look at that, I'm not that stupid after all!"
'But is that even possible...?'
"Hmm? What do you mean?"
Azriel looked at Celestina's face and felt himself getting awestruck, but... that was it.
He didn't feel anything like love for her.
'Is it even possible for someone like me to fall in love with her? I haven't fallen in love with a girl ever. You know that. Why would this time be different...?'
Leo slumped his shoulders in disappointment.
"How can I be such a coward? Fighting an entire organization hell-bent on killing the future heroes is fine, but interacting with a beautiful girl and maybe falling in love with her is too much? Seriously?"
Azriel could only avert his eyes in shame hearing Leo.
"Stop acting so scared and just accept it. You are only winning in this situation. If you fall in love with her, then great—you finally have a solid reason to push forward. If not, then you can always go hunting for another. The amount of things in this world are surely enough to keep you excited and motivated."
'I guess you're right...'
He should just do what Leo said.
'But haven't we forgotten the most important thing?'
"Hmm? Important? I don't think so... oh."
Leo suddenly realized as he and Azriel both gazed at the absentminded Celestina.
'What does she think of this engagement?'