Vaan got flailed around weightlessly, but he did not attempt to resist. He understood Astoria wasn't doing it on purpose.

It wasn't hard to guess from her completely flustered face.

Astoria tried to calm down her nervousness. But the more strength she put into controlling it, the harder she flailed Vaan around.

Bam! Bam! Bam!

Vaan slammed into the ground repeatedly, cracking the floor tiles and wooden planks. Nearby tables and chairs also got smashed.

Although he wasn't harmed, it caused quite a disturbance.

..

Outside the lord's estate, Beth and Annette continued to lay bound to the ground by Aeliana's tendrils and vines.

"Should we flee while no one is paying attention to us?" Annette suggested.

"Flee?" Beth cranked her head sideway and glanced at Annette before she asked, "Flee where? We are trapped by the flame barrier."

"We could try flying over it, but the master of the blue flames could be watching us. If the person suddenly raises the flames while we are crossing, it'll be too late for us to regret our choices."

"Then are we supposed to wait for death here?" Annette argued before mentioning, "Didn't see that look in Lord Aeliana's eyes? There's something wrong with her. I think she really wants to kill us. We don't know if Lady Solana would spare us."

"Why wouldn't she? All we did was sent letters to meet her. We haven't participated in whatever mess Sunpeak Town has found itself in," Beth stated before reminding Annette, "Remember Lord Aeliana's warning. We've already been warned. If we stay, we might live. But if we flee, we will definitely die."

"How troublesome.." Annette sighed helplessly. "I just came to see the rumors about Lord Aeliana's recovery. I didn't expect it would come with such a hefty price and risk. This trip was not worth it.."

Boom.. Boom.. Boom..

The sudden disturbance within the lord's estate immediately caught the two High Witches' attention.

"Are they fighting among themselves? Is this our chance to escape?" Annette wondered.

"I don't think so.. Unless Her Majesty arrived in person, I don't think anyone would dare challenge the power of those blue flames," Beth thought before guessing, "It might be a trick to test us. We better stay put and behave.."

"Alright.." Annette agreed, believing Beth's assumption was reasonable.

Although their current predicament was humiliating and shameful, they were powerless to resist. They could only endure if they wanted to survive.

..

Meanwhile, the disturbance in the lord's estate eventually calmed down as Astoria no longer flailed Vaan around with her misbehaving hand.

"Finally calmed down?" Vaan asked with a smile as he looked at Astoria.

However, Astoria couldn't face him. She was too ashamed of what had happened. At the same time, she didn't want Vaan to see her flustered face and sense her pounding heartbeat.

It was too embarrassing; it didn't fit her usual image.

"It seems you are not repulsed by the fact that I am a transmigrator, Astoria," Vaan casually mentioned, changing the topic to help Astoria adjust her emotion.

However, his words only went through one ear and out the other. Astoria only heard Vaan call her by name before her mind went blank, and butterflies filled her stomach.

Still, she only savored the sweet and buttery feeling for a short while before she vehemently shook her head and broke out of it.

'Dammit, Astoria. You've lived over three centuries, slaughtered thousands of demons, and become an academy headmaster. You've been admired and pursued by many men before. What are you being so shy for? Get your head on straight, girl!' Astoria silently told herself.historical

After she took a deep breath, her emotions finally calmed down somewhat.

"Transmigration isn't actually an unbelievable thing. Although rare, there have been multiple instances of people claiming to be reincarnators and transmigrators in the past," Astoria mentioned, recalling the stories she heard outside the seven witch kingdoms.

"Some were even more amazing than you. One claimed to be a king of a powerful nation, while another claimed to be a planetary ruler. Still, neither of them had been able to achieve anything great in their second life."

"Why is that?" Vaan asked.

Considering his case and Eniwse's, he knew the possibility of other reincarnators and transmigrators existed. However, it was the first time he heard of others.

"That's because they all died young," Astoria casually answered as if it wasn't anything special.

"I heard the egos of their past lives were too great. They weren't willing to bow their heads and lay low until they became capable. So they ended up offending too many people and got themselves killed—or so I've heard."

"That doesn't sound too surprising," Vaan briefly laughed before his expression suddenly turned solemn. "That would imply there's a chance there are even more reincarnators and transmigrators in this world than we are aware of."

The stupid ones would have gotten themselves killed early, but the truly intelligent ones could have already become powerful people.

"Yeah," Astoria agreed. Still, she was more curious about Vaan's life. "How old were you when you died? If you don't mind me asking, Vaan."

"Twenty-nine. I should be thirty-one years old mentally now if there's no issue with my memory," Vaan calmly replied.

Astoria was actually happy when she learned Vaan could be older. However, his answer made her slightly disappointed.

"Thirty-one?" Astoria repeated before muttering in a quiet voice, "So, you're still a baby to me.."

"A baby that you like," Vaan added with a cheeky smile.

When Astoria heard that, her face flushed with embarrassment and shame; she wanted to bury herself in a hole to hide.

However, Vaan grabbed her wrist and pulled her into his embrace before she could escape, hugging her over the shoulders from behind.

"Hahaha.." Vaan softly chuckled as Astoria tried to break free. Then, he made her a solemn promise, "I can't love you like how I loved my first love. But if it's alright with you, I will care for you for the rest of my life."

His feelings can't be sincere, but he would still provide everything else a lover would. Astoria understood him and realized her feelings had sprouted from the time she read his notes.

Speaking one's feelings was not as important as the act of expressing them. Love didn't need to be spoken but shown.

After all, saying "I love you" but doing the opposite would not make others feel the love. And if love couldn't be proven through actions, the words held no meaning.

Vaan said he couldn't love her like his first love, but if he could sincerely care for her for life, that in and of itself was the greatest love he could give her.

Actions spoke louder than words, and only time could prove it.

Astoria slowly stopped resisting and gave him a silent and shy nod while still feeling jittery inside.