Chương 105: Chapter 104: A Kiss Interrupted by a Receipt

Eleanor's private study in the Winter Palace glowed with the flickering light of the magical hearth. Outside the floor-to-ceiling window, the blizzard had stopped — only a few thin snowflakes still drifted through the still night air. Inside, a thick sheepskin rug spread in front of the fireplace, warm with the crackling scent of burning birch wood. Lucian sat cross-legged on the rug, a southern land survey map and a black leather ledger spread out in front of him.

He held a small dagger, whittling the tip of a graphite pencil, working through calculations.

"Thirty of Valois's mineral mines produce a hundred thousand tons of raw iron ore per month. Subtract labor costs and Evelyn's rail transport fees, and net profit lands around—" Rustle. A slender white-silk-gloved hand reached out and grabbed the collar of Lucian's black silk tie, tugging it sharply toward her. Lucian, thrown off balance, tipped forward. Eleanor had crossed from the armchair and was now sitting directly across from him on the rug, still fully dressed in her cardigan and blouse.

She pulled hard on the tie, closing the distance between their faces. The scent of white rose clung faintly to her scarf. Eleanor's blue eyes narrowed, calm on the surface but carrying an unprecedented resolve.

"Lucian... stop talking about money. Look me in the eyes." Lucian sat frozen. Close enough now that he could see each of her curled eyelashes trembling in the firelight, Lucian forgot every revenue spreadsheet in his mind at once. Eleanor slowly closed her eyes, then made one quick, awkwardly determined move for a tiny first kiss. Exactly a tenth of a second before contact.

Lucian's right hand, still braced on the rug, unconsciously brushed against the stone face of the spatial ring on his index finger — triggering the automatic delivery-notification mechanism of Vance Commerce's shipping network. WHOOSH! A two-meter-long magical delivery receipt shot straight out of the spatial ring into the air. Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

The thin sheet of parchment unfurled into a long strip, dropping straight down and wedging itself between their faces at the last possible second. Eleanor's lips... landed directly on the coarse, red-sealed parchment. Lucian blinked. Out of sheer professional instinct as a former finance worker, his eyes immediately scanned the bold-printed text pressed against his own nose.

"Huh... looks like the Winter Palace's heating-coal delivery invoice got double-charged twenty gold by the transport company, Princess!" Eleanor's eyes snapped open. She stared at the two-meter receipt covering both their faces, then at the ten-year-old's dark eyes, already fully absorbed in reading the discount figures printed on the page. The face of the First Princess of the realm flushed crimson from forehead to collarbone in an instant. SMACK!

Eleanor grabbed the velvet throw pillow off the armchair and swung it with everything she had, straight into Lucian's face.

"GO KISS THAT RECEIPT INSTEAD, YOU BLOCK OF WOOD!!!" Lucian toppled backward, the velvet pillow completely covering his face, legs kicking up into the air. Ting! Ting! A dim black Unified System V2. 0 notification appeared before him. [SYSTEM EVENT LOG: ATTEMPTED FIRST KISS INTERRUPTED BY INVOICE] Observed interruption object: Winter Palace heating-coal receipt. System note: Host identified a double charge before identifying the moment. This is not a compliment.

Lucian pushed the pillow off his face and sat up, rubbing his reddened nose. Eleanor sat with her arms crossed, back turned to him, her shoulders trembling. But after a few seconds of silence, a small giggle escaped from the corner of her mouth. She covered her face, laughing and shaking her head, helpless. Lucian scratched his head, reached into his spatial ring, and pulled out a soft cream-white wool scarf — a premium new product straight off the Floor 1 factory line.

He leaned forward, awkwardly wrapping the scarf around Eleanor's neck, carefully tucking the ends around her slender shoulders.

"There. Compensation. This magical wool holds heat really well." Eleanor reached up and touched the soft, warm wool. She didn't turn around, only tilted her head slightly until their shoulders touched. The two of them sat side by side on the rug in front of the fire, quietly watching the flames flicker through the still winter night.

Out in the palace corridor, a maidservant heard the loud shout and the thump of the pillow inside and sprinted, tray of tea in hand, straight toward the Queen Mother's chambers to deliver the news.

"Report, Your Majesty! The Princess yelled at Young Master Vance, then went very quiet! Something romantic definitely happened in the study!" Inside Lucian's coat pocket, the amber shard of temporal crystal Lilia Ravencrest had given him suddenly radiated a burning heat, vibrating in rapid pulses. The deadline had arrived. The next morning. The Forbidden Forest behind Solaris Academy.

Sylvia, in her librarian's attire, carrying a chest of ancient-language documents; Astra, in leather armor, gripping the Sun-Slaying Dragon Sword; and Evelyn, hauling an arcane rifle and three crates of compressed micro-nuclear arcane explosives, stood fully assembled in front of the World Tower's black metal gate. Sylvia turned, her silver ears pricking up to catch the morning wind, her voice sharp.

"Lucian! The spatial coordinates have been fully decoded." She pointed at the gate, now crackling with dark purple arcane lightning.

"The gate leading down to Floor 10 — where the Ancient Black Dragon's seal and the entrance to the Tartarus Demon Realm lie... IS READY TO OPEN!"