"Really?"

"Yes. It's the secret to why I look so much more capable than I am in reality…"

"I see…"

"Sorry, I feel like I've betrayed your expectations somehow."

"No, no. I'm just feeling a bit overwhelmed by what you're saying," Bella replied hurriedly. "Uhh, is that Voice speaking to you right now?"

"Ah, no. He's been gone for the past three days now. Actually, he hasn't been speaking to me at all for the past two weeks."

Evin was worried about the Voice's lack of presence at first, but he knew that it was definitely inside his head. He didn't know how, he just did. This helped him calm down greatly.

"Why?" Bella asked curiously.

"I guess we're fighting."

Bella chuckled at that, which Evin took as a positive sign. "Can I ask you a few questions?" she then continued.

"Yes, of course."

"What did you mean when you said he casts spells for you?" Bella seemed very curious about the Voice, making Evin wonder where the serious and romantic atmosphere from before went to.

'I mean, she's still in my embrace now, so I guess this is a natural state for us now?'

"Remember how I made a fuss back when the Academy started because I could Imagination Cast? Well, that was all the Voice's doing. He taught me how to cast in his way later on, but it's hard for me to say that I can cast half as good as he does on my own."

"What do you think the Voice is?" Bella then asked.

"We have some guesses, but I don't want to talk about it to you without the Voice's permission."

That concerned the Children of the Empress and a whole new world, so Evin was definitely not going to speak about it so casually.

"Is that so? Then the final most important question. How often does he speak for you?"

Evin wondered why that would be so important, but he understood why soon enough.

"Very rarely. He does it when I'm too panicked to speak, but I have to speak something, regardless. But when he's around, he does sometimes make me say specific things or ask specific questions if he deems it important. He also comments on conversations sometimes, which gives me a broader perspective, but other than that, he's usually quiet."

"I see, in that case… I don't mind the voice in your head at all," Bella said and turned her body towards him. Evin was met with the girl's dark green eyes, and her wide beaming smile in his embrace. His eyes fell on Bella's lips and inevitably, his core began to lust for it.

"When you first talked about it, it sounded like it controlled everything in your life, but now that I've heard more about it… it's really not that bad," Bella explained. "You're still you, and even if a part of you was shaped due to the Voice's influence… that part's still you, isn't it? So, I don't care as much as you think. It does feel a bit weird to think that there's someone inside your head listening to all this, but thankfully, he's gone for now."

"Then…"

"I'll just say this. If I knew I just had to talk about my past to get you to hug me… I should've done so months ago," Bella said coyly and sent Evin an inviting glance.

Evin's brain repeated Bella's words it once again, and after confirming that its contents, Evin quickly planted his lips on Bella's. She did not resist and soon enough, their tongues met each other inside their mouths. They stayed like this for a few moments, and Evin finally felt how hard his cock was. He desperately dug his head for the racy stories he heard from the teens talking on the streets.

'No, I'm hurrying too much,' Evin thought, thinking of the action. 'But she did say that she wanted to do this for months, right? It was the same with me, so that means we were technically dating since then and we just didn't know it…'

Hesitantly, his hands reached for Bella's ass as he attempted to remove her pants. But Bella grabbed his hands and stopped their kiss.

"That… not yet."

Evin was regretful, but even he felt that it was too fast. He nodded, and the two resumed kissing. But even this small act was enough to make him feel like he was about to melt, so Evin decided that yes, they definitely weren't ready for the next step.

Evin's life from that point on changed drastically. Actually, it didn't really change that much, he and Bella spent another week of their holidays together, which was basically the same as the previous five weeks they were together. But the fact that they were dating now seemed to give these days a much different feeling than what Evin was used to.

They were a bit shy in public at first, but slowly, they began to embrace the fact. Teachers would send them knowing smiles, and some of them would even pat Evin on the back encouragingly. Leanne was the worst offender among these cases. But some of the teachers… they acted a bit weirdly. Like they would look at Evin, and then pretend to not see him. Evin was a bit worried about this fact at first, but he eventually stopped thinking about them.

He was much more focused on Bella.

They haven't gotten much farther than kisses and Evin stopped trying to push for something more for the time being. As for their conversations and routines, nothing really changed. They still had the same topics of talk and they resumed their private training, since Evin was feeling much better these days.

But Evin did start to feel that their days were becoming a bit too routine. A bit boring even. And Evin was feeling curious about a few things.

"So, I was thinking we should go travel somewhere," Evin said to Bella. "Besides, we're still on a holiday and I don't wanna spent it all bedridden and then home."

"Are you saying that I'm boring?" Bella asked dangerously.

"No, no! I wouldn't mind even if we spent the next two weeks inside our room, but I just want us to enjoy a variety of other things. And I was also feeling curious."

"Doesn't seem like a bad idea," Bella shrugged. "But where will we go? You sound like you have a plan."

"I was thinking we'll visit your hometown."