“Are you all right?”
Seeing that Astrid had not reacted for a long time, looking completely dazed, Lance couldn’t help but feel suspicious.
‘Is it because we’re in a dream?’
Since this was the elf girl’s dream, she probably hadn’t realized this was a false world yet, right?
Falia hadn’t told him how to wake the elf either… What would happen if he just directly stated that this was a dream?
“Do you recognize me?”
Lance looked down into the elf’s eyes and spoke softly.
Hearing the sound, Astrid’s head nodded unconsciously, but then she seemed to realize something and quickly shook her head.
Lance was speechless.
Did she recognize him or not?
Upon being questioned, Astrid’s stalled brain finally began to function, and she immediately realized what was happening.
A crimson flush quickly climbed from the base of her ears, spreading to her cheeks. Feeling Lance’s concerned gaze, she didn’t dare meet his eyes at all.
‘Who… who is this?’
Astrid’s previously stagnant thoughts immediately began to fly.
There was the embarrassment of being caught in an awkward situation, the shame of being held by a strange man, and a bit of panic and helplessness at not knowing how to respond.
But what made her feel most ashamed and humiliated was the position where she had been standing earlier…
‘Was I just stepping on his hand?’
‘Ahhh—what should I do? Will he be disgusted?’
Whether it was psychological or not, Astrid only felt as if her feet were burning now, as if they had been scorched!
The sensitive nerves in her feet sent back waves of feedback, causing her pearl-like toes hidden within her velvet white socks to curl, which only intensified the embarrassment.
Astrid hurriedly raised both hands to cover her cheeks and eyes, preparing to emulate the ultimate skill of a turtle retracting its head.
But even more unexpected to her was that, whether it was her body or her mind, she felt no resistance to being held this way by a ‘strange man’!
Instead, there was a mysterious sense of security… as if the two of them had already known each other for a long time…
‘But I really haven’t seen him before!’
‘I’m not that kind of easy person! What’s going on today? It must be because I’m too flustered!’
Astrid argued loudly in her heart, seemingly trying to convince herself to resist, but it clearly had little effect.
Naturally, Lance could not know these internal thoughts.
Lance only saw the elf’s eyes widen and her body stiffen, followed by her face turning bright red before she quickly covered it.
It left Lance completely bewildered, not knowing what to say.
After a long while, Astrid finally seemed to calm down a bit, murmuring muffledly, “Please… please put me down…”
“Huh?”
Lance didn’t hear clearly and leaned down a bit closer to the elf girl.
As Lance approached, some of his breath fell upon Astrid’s pretty face.
Feeling the unusual airflow and the brush of Lance’s breath, Astrid felt a tingling sensation in her hands and face.
Her body trembled, and ignoring everything else, she hurriedly spoke a bit louder, “Please put me down!”
This time Lance heard her clearly and quickly complied.
However, his gaze fell upon the elf girl’s feet, which were only clad in white socks, and then he looked at the dirt and grass on the ground.
‘They’ll get dirty, won’t they?’
Adhering to a simple spirit of cleanliness, Lance naturally couldn’t just place the elf directly on the dirt and grass.
Looking around, he happened to find an Afternoon Tea Pavilion in the center of the garden used for resting.
He immediately set off toward that direction.
Feeling herself being moved while being held, Astrid grew even more panicked.
Covering her cheeks and eyes as she was, how could she know what Lance wanted to do?
‘Where is he taking me? Is he going to kidnap me?’
When this thought popped up, Astrid instantly thought of many messy plots from human secular novels.
In those stories, many princesses were captured by mountain bandits, evil Knights, or fallen nobles!
‘No, no, no! Astrid, what are you thinking? I’m a Princess, but this is the Hall of the Holy Tree!’
‘How could I be in danger here?’
As if to prove her theory correct, after Lance climbed a few steps and entered the pavilion, he gently placed Astrid onto a bench.
This allowed the still nervous Astrid to relax quite a bit.
“Princess Astr—… Your Highness! Stay here for a moment, I’ll go get your shoes.”
With that, Lance turned around to pick up the pair of high heels that had just given him a direct hit to the head.
Taking advantage of this moment, Astrid let out a breath, her ability to think returning slightly.
Then, she slightly opened a gap between her fingers to peek at the Knight’s back.
Because her biggest doubt still hadn’t been answered!
‘Who is he anyway? Why hasn’t he announced his name?’
Ugh!
Astrid quickly closed the gap between her fingers again because the tall Knight had already picked up her shoes and turned back!
“Your Highness, your shoes.”
Lance knelt on one knee and gently placed the exquisite beige high heels in front of Astrid’s dangling feet.
His expression was respectful, showing the poise of a seasoned attendant.
At this moment, Lance couldn’t help but give himself a mental thumbs-up.
Even though he hadn’t studied under the Princess of Midgar for many years, it seemed the skills he honed while being an attendant had not been forgotten!
Staring at Astrid’s white-socked feet and slender legs, Lance spaced out slightly.
Many years ago, he had done something similar, though those legs weren’t as long as the elf girl’s, and the proportions were different… Hmm—comparing them like this… the elf girl’s legs were definitely prettier.
Wait?
‘Why won’t she put on her shoes?’
Lance looked up at the elf, seeing that she was still covering her face, her lips slightly pursed, seemingly having nothing to say.
“Your Highness? Your shoes have been set out.”
“Umu—”
Reminded again, Astrid hurriedly reached out with her foot to find her shoes.
As a result of being careless, she used too much force with a *thud*, kicking one of the shoes lying before her feet onto the ground.
“Ah!”
Realizing she had made another mistake, Astrid quickly retracted her foot. she wanted to say something, perhaps to tell Lance to stand a bit further away or turn his back.
However, her phrasing was still being formulated, and for a moment, the scene fell into silence.
Seeing this, Lance’s brow twitched.
‘I’ve seen this before! A princess throwing a tantrum and refusing to put on her shoes, even kicking them away, all just to make things difficult for a poor, innocent attendant!’
But fortunately, the elf girl wasn’t as malicious as the Princess of Midgar; she had only kicked the shoe over, at least she hadn’t kicked it flying…
He sighed in his heart, lamenting that princesses were all so difficult to serve.
Picking up the fallen shoe, Lance prepared to gently help the elf princess put it on.
It was just… ‘At least lift your foot!’
After gesturing a bit, Lance couldn’t find an angle to put the shoe on without touching her.
Without further hesitation, he extended one finger to gently lift the back of the elf’s heel, while his other hand quickly aimed and slid the shoe on!
A perfect fit!
“Ahhh—what are you doing?!”
Lance froze and looked up at the elf girl, only to find that she had already peeked through her fingers, revealing her emerald green eyes that looked like autumn waters.
“I’m helping you put on your shoes. Wasn’t that what you wanted?”
Lance felt confused. Weren’t you just throwing a tantrum by not putting them on? Then why did you kick the shoe over?
“Who… who wanted that!”
As she spoke, Astrid’s hands finally left her cheeks, swinging toward Lance with full force like a sudden storm!
“You insolent man!”