The Yellow-Haired Villain in Soaring Phoenix's Novels Also Desires Happiness Chapter 800: The Protagonist’s Love Story (8)

“A crystal... palace?”

Not only Ariel’s gaze, but even her consciousness wavered for a mont.

The palace of translucent crystal, shimring with radiant light, was simply too dazzling. Combined with the handso man standing before it, smiling at her from such close distance, ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) it was enough to make anyone feel as if their very soul might be pulled into it.

If it were soone else, her body might already have gone soft by now, collapsing straight into the man’s arms. Who would still bother continuing the date?

“...Wait.”

But Ariel was not so easily overwheld. She quickly recovered herself, her brows drawing together sharply.

“That’s not what I ant by a crystal palace!”

Who said a crystal palace ant an actual palace made of crystal?

Was that what she ant?

Her crystal palace ant a place where countless beautiful, adorable girls lived together with her! A wonderful paradise that existed in her dreams!

The hearts of beautiful girls were as clear as crystal. Their soft, smooth bodies were as intoxicating as a palace itself. Only when those elents gathered together could sothing truly be called a crystal palace!

But sothing without even a single beautiful girl—how could that possibly count as a crystal palace?

Sothing this cold couldn’t spark even the slightest interest in her!

“Really?” Muen asked. “You truly don’t like it here?”

Although in the original story the phrase “crystal palace” indeed referred to a harem of girls, Muen vaguely rembered that Ariel had once genuinely entertained the idea of building a crystal palace.

After all... beautiful girls needed sowhere to live, right?

If you didn’t even have a grand house, what kind of flirting could you possibly do?

Ariel usually behaved seriously and liked to boast about being “bold and heroic,” but in truth she still harbored pink, girlish fantasies like anyone else.

So if a place ant to house beautiful girls existed, what could possibly be more perfect than a glittering crystal palace?

“I—anyway! Sothing this flashy isn’t what I want!”

In the end, Ariel still didn’t say whether she liked it or not.

But after staring at the crystal palace for a long while, she suddenly realized sothing.

“Wait a second. How did you know about this?”

“About what?”

“The crystal palace! I’ve never told anyone about that!”

Living in a palace made of crystal filled with beautiful girls... that kind of embarrassing dream was not sothing Ariel would ever go around telling people.

So she stared at Muen suspiciously.

“You didn’t use so kind of despicable mind-reading magic on while I couldn’t resist earlier, did you?”

“Mind-reading?”

Muen didn’t deny it. Instead, he stepped closer and asked quietly,

“Do you think I know how?”

As he leaned down, the distance between them shrank further.

They could see their own reflections in each other’s eyes.

They could even feel each other’s breath.

Ariel also noticed the subtle smile at the corner of his lips.

He neither denied it nor admitted it. It felt more like a deliberate tease.

This guy... has he already started trying to flirt with ?

Ridiculous.

Did he think such childish tactics would have even a milliter of effect on her?

“I’m the one asking you,” Ariel said.

“Why assu that? Maybe we simply understand each other without words.”

“If I shared that kind of connection with you, I’d rather smash my head into a block of tofu.”

“Tofu can’t kill soone. I’ll assu that ans you secretly agree but are too embarrassed to admit it.”

“Oh, shut up. Who’s embarrassed?”

Ariel ground her small canine teeth together, then looked away first, stepping back slightly.

“Forget it. It doesn’t matter. My teacher probably told you.”

So even her teacher had taken his side now?

Liya, the Heavenly Fla, even her teacher...

Without realizing it, the people and things that had once been on her side had gradually ford ties with this man.

Was this her punishnt for lying about her bust size too many tis?

Damn it.

Her chest felt strangely sour.

“All right, don’t overthink it.”

Muen smiled gently, interrupting her spiraling thoughts.

“Your teacher did talk to about many things concerning you, but she would never reveal anything truly private. I told you before—I understand you very well. That’s all.”

“Tch.”

Ariel turned her head aside.

“As if I’d believe that.”

“Being tsundere doesn’t suit you.”

After that brief exchange, Muen took Ariel with him and continued forward.

Only then did she realize that besides the crystal palace, there were other structures scattered around them.

But they all looked strangely shaped.

So were tal tracks twisting through the air in wave-like curves. So were colorful wooden horses that rotated automatically. Others were eerie houses with bizarre designs that looked faintly sinister.

They surrounded the crystal palace like stars orbiting a moon.

“What are these?” Ariel asked curiously, pointing at the strange things she had never seen before.

“An amusent park.”

“An amusent park?”

“A date can’t just be strolling around the streets. There should be sowhere to actually have fun. After thinking about it for a long ti, I decided there probably isn’t anywhere better suited for our date than a place like this.”

In this world, sothing like an amusent park didn’t exist.

Electricity—such a convenient energy source—had not yet been developed or widely used. Things like roller coasters, rry-go-rounds, or Ferris wheels simply couldn’t be manufactured.

So this amusent park was different.

Everything here ran on magic.

Special magi-tal structures combined with magic-stone cores powered the chanisms. After careful design, the attractions had reached nearly the sa level as the ones in Muen’s mories, once again proving that magic truly could accomplish anything.

Of course, that also made the entire project extrely extravagant.

Every magic stone was incredibly expensive. Magical power was far from a cheap energy source in this world.

Only soone like Muen—a top noble with mories from a previous life and access to the full fortune of the duke’s estate, not to ntion the Campbell family’s coffin fund—could recreate amusent rides from another world here.

Compared to these attractions, the crystal palace—created by the Truth-Rank magic of the Royal Mage Corps Commander whom Muen had invited with one favor owed by his father—was actually the cheaper part.

The Stone Cauldron Association had supplied the materials. The Origin Tower branch had provided the magic stones. The Royal Engineering Institute had built everything according to Muen’s designs. More than a thousand laborers had been hired at high prices to finish the work within three days.

In such a short ti, Muen felt he had made an enormous contribution to Belrand’s economic developnt.

Celicia would surely feel pleased if she knew.

He only hoped that the next ti they t, she would kick him a little more gently.

“A place for dates...”

Ariel had lost her strength, but not her experience. Especially with the sharp eye she had trained since childhood for judging the value of things at a glance, she imdiately realized how much money it must have taken to create all of this.

At the very least, the hundred million he owed her definitely couldn’t cover it.

“You’re actually taking this pretty seriously.”

Ariel rubbed the soft fabric of the clothes she still hadn’t gotten used to wearing and snorted.

“But if you think sothing like this is enough to make my heart flutter, you’re way off.”

“Heartbeats aren’t decided by words.”

Finding Ariel increasingly adorable, Muen couldn’t help smiling.

He led her deeper into the carefully crafted place he had prepared for their date.

“You have to feel it with your heart.”