The Academy Regressor is Obsessed

During his time in Weiheim, Ena had taught Asel a few things about noble etiquette, saying that magicians often get involved with nobles. This included some precautions as well.

Among them were things that obviously had to be observed, and others so ridiculous that one might wonder if they were really correct. But what could he do? Since it was Ena who taught him, Asel silently accumulated the information she provided in his mind. In this way, he naturally learned a few dances performed at banquets.

He couldn’t dance as if he were born a noble. Still, he could imitate it to some extent. He had practiced repeatedly with Evelyn and Ena, and received passing marks.

However, in front of a real princess, his amateurish nature became glaringly obvious.

“Hehe.”

The Valdemia Principality. A city-state ruled by the legitimate children of the founder. A beautiful vampire princess who had finally come out into the world after living there her entire life.

The hand holding his is cold. Her smiling face is like that of a lively girl visiting a flower garden. Her long, flowing snow-white hair sparkles in the light, and through her half-closed eyelids, Asel’s face is reflected in her clear blood-red eyes.

In Asel’s obsidian-colored eyes, only Elena’s figure is reflected.

At this moment, the two moved their bodies to the music while looking only at each other.

“Asel, you’re not very good at dancing, are you?”

Elena whispers as she places her hand on Asel’s shoulder. Asel embraces her waist and answers with his lips close to her pointed ear.

“You’re the one who’s good at it.”
“Ehehe! I have something I’m better at than you. I’m happy.”
“You have many.”

Asel takes Elena’s outstretched hand and gently spins her body around once. Then he pulls her back into his arms.

A distance so close that only each other’s faces are visible. Asel looks down at her with a faint smile.

“So teach me from beside me. I still have a lot to learn.”
“…Is this acting?”

Elena asks with slightly flushed cheeks. Asel smiled playfully.

“Well. What do you think?”

The violin sound amplifies once. Elena and Asel, as if by agreement, separate their bodies and bow to each other.

Asel bends his waist with his hand on his abdomen and back, and Elena bows her head slightly while holding the hem of her dress. Then, with slightly lighter steps than before, they walk towards each other, hold hands, and rotate.

From that moment, the gazes of everyone in the banquet hall focused on the two. The musicians’ hands move faster, and the staff carrying cocktails and whiskey blankly watch the two dancing and smiling.

“Ah……”

The man who had requested the dance was the same. His lover had already taken out the notebook she had kept in her bosom and was sketching.

Meanwhile, in Asel and Elena’s eyes, only each other’s figures were reflected.

The man’s face enters the ruby-like eyes.

The woman’s face enters the obsidian-like eyes.

Even if they tried not to be conscious of it, they couldn’t help but be aware. No matter what anyone said, the protagonist of this moment was the person in front of them.

The music gradually intensifies. Along with it, the dance movements become more intense, and sweat begins to form on Elena and Asel’s foreheads. With even the slightest movement, the beads of sweat scatter in all directions, sparkling like lights as they catch the light.

“…Haa.”
“Your breath is rough. Are you tired?”

Asel asks Elena as she comes into his arms. Elena smiles softly and shakes her head.

“No. I’m not tired. Rather than that……”

Elena’s gaze momentarily changes to that of a predator. Her pupils contract slightly and fix on Asel’s nape. The more she moved her body in step with Asel, the rougher her breath became. Just as Asel sensed something was off.

Bam bam bam!

The music ends with a loud trumpet sound. In sync with it, Elena wraps both arms around Asel’s neck and leans back, while Asel supports her waist as they finish the dance.

“Haa… Haa… Haa…”
“Are you okay? You’re not feeling sick, are you?”
“My chest… a little……”

There was no sign of pain on Elena’s face as she said this. Rather, it was stained with excitement. The bloodsucking urge that rose along with the blooming of an emotion she herself didn’t understand dominated her mind.

Why does Asel look so delicious today of all days? I want to sink my teeth into that neck right now and suck his blood. It would feel so good to press our bodies together, listen to his groans mixed with pain and pleasure while licking and sucking the wound.

No! I’ll be hated if I do that. I don’t want to ruin my relationship with Asel. He’s my friend after all.

Friend? Is he really just a friend? Usually, the ones I feel the urge to drink blood from are mostly…

“Elena?”
“Eek!”

Elena returns to reality at Asel’s face leaning in. When she came to her senses, thunderous applause was coming from all directions. It was praise from people who had been deeply moved by the two’s dance.

“Th-Thank you! Thanks to you, inspiration is gushing out!”

The lover of the man who had requested the dance approached and said. Asel instantly hardened his face coldly and answered “It’s nothing,” then looked at Elena again with warm eyes. His dedication to the concept he had once decided on was so perfect that it could be called exemplary for a magician.

The problem was that Asel hadn’t told Elena about his concept beforehand. So she couldn’t gauge which of his actions were acting and which were sincere. All she had heard was that he would act like a lover, so follow along well.

The lover-like actions in Elena’s mind were holding hands, hugging, sucking blood, kissing, sucking blood, playing together, and anyway, sucking blood.

But none of Asel’s actions today included such things. The only time he had used the word “my woman” was when entering the auction hall. Other than that… had Asel acted like a lover at all? Wasn’t the rest all sincere?

It was a thought that would make Asel, who had been acting like a lover all day, protest that it was unfair if he heard it, but Elena didn’t bother to ask about it.

Instead, she swallowed hard and looked up at Asel, who was smiling gently.

A subtle gap arising from the absence of proper communication and difference in common sense.

‘The way Asel looks at me and that woman is different…’

Thanks to this, such a thought couldn’t help but arise in Elena’s mind.

After staying in the banquet hall a little longer, Asel and Elena moved together into the auction hall.

Asel didn’t bother to let go of the hand he was holding. It was acting that needed to be continued anyway, and since Elena didn’t seem to dislike it as she interlocked her fingers, he just left it be.

Swish.

He took out the entrance ticket he had kept in his pocket and moved to find the designated seats.

Row F, seats 45 and 46. Neither too far from nor too close to the stage where items would be presented. It seemed they had gotten quite good seats.

“Now! The item up for auction this time is none other than the ‘Love Potion’! Made by the most famous alchemist guild in the Imperial capital, it makes you feel deeper love for the person you normally care about the moment you drink it! Highly recommended for couples who want to restore a relationship that has grown distant, or those who want to enjoy a special play! We’ll start modestly at 5 gold coins!”

As they were walking, the host’s voice resonated loudly through an amplification spell. Asel glanced at him, then turned his head towards the shimmering pink potion placed on a cart brought in by sturdy men.

‘A love potion, huh.’

Alchemy is truly a wondrous discipline. There are potions that cure the illnesses of those who have been suffering, potions that make trees and grass grow abundantly just by sprinkling them on the ground, and potions that can assassinate someone without a trace circulate openly in the market.

However, potions that manipulate people’s emotions like this are rare. Probably due to their scarcity, the guild only releases a few to auction houses like this.

Such rare products usually have their formulas kept secret from the public, so monopoly markets tend to form. This potion is probably the same.

It’s interesting, but not enough to throw gold coins at. He needed to save even a little gold if he wanted to buy the item he wanted.

Elena seemed to have similar thoughts, as she looked at Asel with a somewhat excited expression while checking the items listed on the back of the entrance ticket again.

“It’s the next next item! I’m excited!”
“How much are you thinking of spending?”
“Hmm… about 500 to 700 gold coins? I don’t plan to spend too much!”

Elena answered with a bright smile. In contrast, Asel let out a hollow laugh.

As expected of a princess, the units she had in mind were extraordinary. Probably not many people here could use more than a hundred gold coins. But 500? It was nothing short of a natural disaster for those aiming for the Blood-Drinking Dagger.

“Hmm.”

Honestly, it wasn’t his business. If it bothered him, he should have had more money than Elena.

Thinking this, Asel blankly watched a woman who had just won the bid for the love potion. The potion sold for 25 gold coins. It wasn’t a huge amount, but it was quite an absurd price for an item consumed in a moment of pleasure.

‘She must have suspiciously abundant money.’

Well, that’s why they come to auctions like this.

“Asel.”

As Asel was thinking this with an indifferent expression, Elena suddenly called his name. Asel blinked and turned to her.

“Hm? What is it?”
“…Hi, it’s nothing!”

She stared into Asel’s eyes for a moment, then suddenly burst into laughter and turned her head away. Then, as if in a good mood, she started swinging her legs back and forth and humming a tune.

It was quite baffling from Asel’s perspective, but since Elena herself was so harmless and consistently appeared happy, he didn’t think much of it and turned his head back towards the stage.

The item that came up after the love potion was a strangely shaped octopus. The host passionately explained that it was a rare octopus caught only near magical beasts’ habitats, and its taste was very famous among gourmets.

In the end, the octopus was sold for 5 gold coins. As if he had been aiming for the octopus from the start, the old man who won the bid laughed heartily and moved to the private room prepared for successful bidders at the back of the auction hall. After a moment of silence, the host once again picked up the device with built-in amplification magic.

“Now! The item coming up this time is very special! A unique magic sword that becomes sharper and harder the more blood it absorbs! The Blood-Drinking Dagger! It’s known to have great compatibility with vampires, but even non-vampires can handle it without problems! I have no doubt it will be an excellent choice for those dreaming of becoming heroes! We’ll start this item at 20 gold coins!”

20 gold coins.

It’s a price far higher than any item that has come up so far. However, not many people seemed to care about that, as quite a few raised their hands to express their intention to buy. The host smiled broadly and asked those thinking of less than 25 gold coins to lower their hands.

At that, about five people clicked their tongues and lowered their hands.

About 10 people remain, including Elena. They glanced at each other, showing clear wariness. Only Elena was smiling brightly.

“Please lower your hands if you’re considering a bid of less than 30 coins!”

This time, about three people lowered their hands.

“35 coins!”

Two people frowned and slumped in their seats. Now only five people remained.

“40 coins!”

One person sinks.

“50 coins!”

No one lowered their hand.

“60 coins!”
“Ah, shit.”

One person leaves, spitting out a curse.

After that, no one lowered their hand.

70, 80, 90, 100.

The auction hall starts to buzz at the sequentially rising value. The only ones remaining were a fierce-looking woman, an old man, and Elena. Elena looked at them once, then stuck out her tongue and shouted before the host could:

“200 gold coins!”
“200 coins! We have 200 coins! If anyone is thinking of paying a higher price than this lovely lady, please speak up.”
“300.”

The old man immediately responded. Elena didn’t just take it lying down either.

“400 coins!”
“400 coins! Is there anyone who will go above 400 coins?”

This time there was no answer. The old man clicked his tongue and glared at Elena, then sat back down in his seat. Seeing this, the host shouted loudly:

“Sold for 400 coins!”
“Yay!!”

Elena smiled brightly and hugged Asel’s upper body.

Feeling the intense gazes pouring in from around them, Asel lightly stroked her hair.

Then Elena buried her face in his nape and exhaled a long breath.

“…?”

Asel felt an inexplicable chill at that hot breath.