"Why are you here again?" Colette asked with a frown when she saw Princess Anastasia inside their Guild Headquarters, holding onto Lux's right arm.
The adorable Dwarf was waiting patiently for Lux to arrive after a very eventful night in Whitebridge City.
She even repeatedly rehearsed the lines that she was going to say in order to convince Lux to marry her sister so that he would officially become part of their family.
Unfortunately, her greeting was spoiled by the appearance of the clingy princess, whom she felt had feelings for her Big Brother.
"Oh my, is that the proper way to talk to the Princess of this Kingdom?" Princess Anastasia arched an eyebrow. "I just happened to be free today, so I decided to accompany Sir Lux here. Do you have a problem with that?"
Colette wanted to say that she did have a problem. However, she held back her retort because she didn't want to get her sister into trouble with the Royal Family of the Kingdom of Gweliven.
Because of this, she pouted with a face filled with injustice, making Lux shake his head helplessly.
"I came here to talk to your sister in private, Colette," Lux said as he lightly patted Colette's head in an attempt to calm her down. "Is she free?"
Colette nodded. "She's already waiting for you in her office."
"Good," Lux replied. "For the time being, please accompany Princess Anastasia. I'll be talking to your sister."
Colette wanted to disagree, but since Princess Anastasia was escorted by Four Rankers, including Millie, she could only smile and nod her head obediently.
When the Half-Elf was no longer in sight, Colette gave Princess Anastasia a side-long glance before inviting her to the guest area.
Along the way, Princess Anastasia looked around her surroundings with great curiosity.
"I've heard that the Eternal Guild was promoted to a Gold-Ranked Guild by my father," Princess Anastasia commented. "However, the design of this place is quite simple. It doesn't look like a Gold-Ranked Guild at all."
"That's because my sister doesn't like fancy stuff," Colette replied in a heartbeat. "She would rather use the funds supposed to make the guild look fancy to arm our members that would ensure their safety when facing off against Monsters."
"I see. She is a good Guildmaster."
"I know, right?"
As Colette chatted with the Princess, Lux arrived at Aina's office and knocked on its door.
"Come in."
Aina's voice, which sounded like usual, came through the other side of the door.
When Lux entered the office, he found Aina busy reading some documents that were piled up on her table.
"Please take a seat," Aina said without even lifting her head from the document she was reading. "I'll be done in a minute."
Lux didn't mind the short wait and sat on the chair in front of Aina's table. The Half-Elf then stared at the doll-like beauty, who had a strong effect on him due to how closely she resembled the idol he loved back on Earth.
'She looks almost exactly like her, but there is one major difference,' Lux thought as he stared at the dwarf who was being courted by countless nobles from Solais and Elysium because of her beauty that was too good to be true.
Lux had noticed that Aina had this 'standoffish attitude' and that most of the time, she had a deadpan expression.
A face that didn't show any emotions, which made the Half-Elf wonder if the doll-like beauty in front of him had lost her heart somewhere.
Two minutes later, Aina set the document down and raised her head to look at the Half-Elf who was looking back at her.
"I'm sorry for making you wait," Aina said as she set her beautiful eyes on the Half-Elf, which made his heart skip a beat. "First and foremost, I would like to thank you for everything that you have done for me and my sister.
"As a Guildmaster, I can't use my authority to make the Guild repay the debt that our family owes you. However, as an individual, I am willing to do anything to repay you as long as it is within my power. So, tell me, Lux Von Kaizer. Is there something you wish for that I may be able to grant?"
Lux pondered for a bit. The reason why he helped Colette was because she was his first friend in Elysium and, whenever possible, he didn't want her to get hurt.
Since Aina was Colette's sister, he felt that he couldn't turn a blind eye on those who wanted to harm her as well.
The Half-Elf was certain that if anything bad happened to her sister, the first one to be devastated was none other than the adorable Dwarf, who had made Lux feel that he was welcome in Leaf Village when he first arrived more than a year ago.
"How about a smile?" Lux asked. "I've never seen you smile before."
"A smile?" Aina looked at Lux with the same emotionless face, "You want me to smile?"
"Yes."
"Okay."
The doll-like beauty and the Half-Elf stared at each other for nearly half a minute. During this time, the Half-Elf noticed that the corner of Aina's lips was twitching, as if resisting something that it wasn't used to doing.
A few more seconds later, the twitching stopped and Aina informed Lux that she had finished smiling, which almost made the Half-Elf choke on his saliva.
"Y-You call that a smile?" Lux asked in a dumbfounded manner.
"Yes," Aina replied. "I don't smile often, but when I do, that is the best that I can do."
Lux didn't know whether he should laugh or cry when he heard the doll-like beauty's reply.
Now that she had said it, his initial assumption that Aina was unable to express any other emotion on her face, with the exception of her eyes, was now proven true.
Aina, who didn't know what Lux was thinking at that moment, went on to ask a question that she had been thinking of for the rest of the night.
"What really happened last night?" Aina asked. "Seeing how confident you were when you returned to the inn, I am sure that you have handled this matter in a way that satisfied you."
Lux nodded and explained to the doll-like beauty everything that happened. Unlike what he had told Nevreal, Robin, Princess Anastasia, and Millie, he told Aina the truth without leaving anything out.
Since the doll-like beauty and Colette were the main reason why he took the initiative to capture Lucius, he thought that the Guildmaster of Eternal deserved to know the truth about what really transpired a few hours ago.
