Chapter 179: The Princess Invites Me to a Romantic Dinner?

Hot water slowly ran down Max’s back as he rested one hand against the stone wall of the shower.

Steam filled almost the entire room.

And even so, his mind was still moving way too fast.

Thara.

The rituals.

The identical sister.

The strange seal mixed with forbidden magic.

And on top of all that...

The wedding.

Max closed his eyes as the water ran through his hair.

It still felt hard to believe that he was actually going to marry Elanor.

The princess seemed genuinely happy organizing everything.

And that only made the guilt weigh a little heavier in his chest.

Because while she was thinking about dresses, guests, and decorations...

He was still hiding dangerous things from her.

’I need to solve this before the wedding.’

He couldn’t allow something related to Thara to explode right when Elanor was happy for the first time in a long while.

And he definitely didn’t want to worry her now.

Not while she’d been smiling so much lately.

Max sighed.

’First I deal with the weird drow situation.’

He opened his eyes again.

’Then I’ll worry about surviving the wedding.’

He finished showering and turned the water off.

He grabbed a towel and started drying his hair while walking through the room.

There were still drops running down his neck when he heard soft knocks at the door.

Knock knock.

Max raised his voice slightly.

"Coming!"

He quickly wrapped the towel around his waist.

"I’m getting dressed."

He walked a little closer to the door.

"Who is it?"

But before he could finish speaking, the door opened slightly.

And Elanor quickly slipped inside, closing it behind her.

Max blinked in surprise.

The princess leaned against the door as if she had just escaped a criminal chase.

"..."

Then she looked up.

And saw Max practically naked.

Wet hair.

Water still running down his chest and shoulders.

The towel barely hanging around his waist.

Elanor turned completely red in less than two seconds.

Max, on the other hand, didn’t seem especially uncomfortable.

Well.

It was Elanor.

They were already engaged.

Though he was surprised she had barged into his room like that.

The princess quickly tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

"S-Sorry."

She immediately looked away.

"I didn’t mean to come in so suddenly."

Max raised an amused eyebrow.

"So technically you did want to come in."

Elanor made a tiny embarrassed sound.

"I heard Don coming down the hallway."

She nervously crossed her arms.

"And I didn’t want him discovering I came here."

Max chuckled softly.

"Why all the secrecy?"

Elanor sighed.

"I told my father I wasn’t feeling very well and wouldn’t be having dinner in the royal hall."

Max tilted his head.

"Unwell?"

He looked at her for a few seconds.

"You don’t look sick."

He stepped closer until he was standing right in front of her.

And before Elanor could react, Max gently rested his forehead against hers.

The princess froze completely.

Max narrowed his eyes slightly.

"No fever."

Elanor looked at him silently.

He studied her again.

"Does something hurt?"

She smiled faintly.

"No."

Her voice came out much softer now.

"It’s just..."

She glanced away slightly.

"I spent the whole day organizing wedding things."

She sighed.

"And honestly, I didn’t want to have dinner with everyone."

She looked directly at him again.

"What I wanted... was to have dinner with you."

Max stood still for a few seconds.

Then he slowly smiled.

"Are you asking me out on a date?"

Elanor let out a small nervous laugh.

"I suppose I am."

She adjusted her hair again.

"You could call it a date."

Max’s brain took exactly three seconds to fully process that information.

Romantic dinner.

With the princess.

Alone.

At night.

’Okay.’

He tried to maintain a normal expression.

Still, he managed to smile.

"Then of course I’m going."

Elanor visibly relaxed immediately.

"Perfect."

She smiled with genuine happiness.

"I just need you to finish getting dressed."

Max nodded.

"That would probably be ideal, yes."

The princess fidgeted with her fingers before adding:

"I hope you don’t mind..."

Max tilted his head.

"Hm?"

"The only place where we can be alone without anyone suspecting anything..."

She blushed slightly again.

"...is my room."

Max’s brain shut down for half a second.

Elanor kept talking, completely unaware of the mental collapse she had just caused.

"I already asked Abby to bring the food there."

She smiled softly.

"That way no one will ask questions."

Max felt like he could literally hear the gears in his head grinding to a halt.

The princess’s room.

Romantic dinner.

Alone.

At night.

’Dear God.’

But outwardly, he somehow managed to answer pretty normally.

Miraculously.

"Yeah."

He nodded quickly.

"Perfect."

He tried to sound relaxed.

"That sounds good."

Elanor smiled even more when she saw how easily he accepted.

Then she took a small step forward.

And before Max could react...

She softly kissed him on the lips.

The contact was brief.

But enough for Max’s brain to completely explode.

Elanor pulled away slightly, still blushing.

"Then I’ll go prepare everything."

She smiled nervously.

"I’ll be waiting for you there."

And without giving him much time to respond...

She quickly turned on her heels.

Opened the door.

And slipped back into the hallway.

The door closed again.

Max remained completely motionless in the middle of the room.

Slowly processing what had just happened.

Then...

The towel around his waist decided to betray him.

It fell directly to the floor.

"...Oh."

Max slowly looked down.

Completely naked.

Completely frozen.

And now completely aware of one very important detail.

He was about to have a romantic dinner with Princess Elanor.

In Princess Elanor’s room.

The two of them alone.

At night.

Max instantly turned red all the way to his ears.

"Okay."

He covered his face with both hands.

"Okay okay okay."

He began nervously pacing around the room.

"I need clothes."

He opened the wardrobe way too quickly.

"What do you even wear to a secret romantic dinner with a princess?"

He pulled out a shirt.

Looked at it.

"No."

Another one.

"Too formal."

Another.

"I look like a depressed noble."

He ended up throwing half his clothes onto the bed while desperately trying to decide how to look at least somewhat attractive without looking like an overdressed psychopath.

"Black?"

He grabbed a black shirt.

"Sexy people wear black."

He stared at it for a few seconds.

"But maybe it’ll look like I’m trying too hard."

He tossed it aside.

Picked up a white one.

"Too simple?"

He ran a hand through his still damp hair.

"Do I have to style my hair?"

He looked at his reflection in the mirror.

"What am I even doing?"

He took a deep breath.

It was just dinner.

With his fiancée.

In her room.

At night.

Alone.

Max immediately turned bright red all over again.