Why Did You Mess With Him? He’s the Evil God’s Lackey! Chapter 164

Chapter 164: He's Way Too Good at This

"My...birthday?"

Gwen stared at the elegant Viktor before her, and her entire body froze where she stood.

The cello music around them shifted from its originally gentle, unhurried tempo to sothing light and cheerful, and the light throughout the entire restaurant reflected off the crystal overhead, growing brighter still.

Every gaze in the room was trained entirely upon the 2 of them.

It seed as though everyone present in the restaurant tonight had gathered for the sole purpose of celebrating her.

Gwen had never felt anything like this before.

Because of how she had grown up, no one had ever celebrated for her.

Only when Kavra was still at ho—that sister who loved her most—would she quietly prepare 2 small cakes for her in secret.

But after Kavra grew up and left ho, even that small surprise had slipped out of Gwen's life entirely.

In ti, even she herself had forgotten about this particular day—a day that had once been so special to her each year.

In this mont, Gwen felt as though she finally understood.

Why Leah had gone to such painstaking lengths to do her makeup, to design such an exquisite gown for her.

Why Viktor had suddenly invited her to dinner.

It turned out they had been preparing from the very start.

An emotion she couldn't quite na rose slowly from the depths of Gwen's heart, quietly gathering.

She rembered now.

Today was her birthday.

A day she herself had almost entirely forgotten—and it was Viktor who had reminded her.

This person, who had once been the one she despised most.

Gwen stood rooted to the spot, feeling as though a great stone had settled upon her heart.

She wanted to say thank you—to thank the Viktor standing before her.

But her throat felt as though sothing was blocking it, and she couldn't get a single word out.

She stood in place, yet her heart was growing a little frantic.

All around her, there were countless eyes watching her.

If she kept giving no response like this.

Wouldn't that put Viktor in an awkward position?

Move, Gwen.

It's only 1 sentence. Can it really be that hard?

Please...

"I..."

"Mm?"

Viktor looked at her with a smile.

That smile—it was an expression Gwen had never once seen on Viktor's face before.

Could it be—was he happy?

Just for ?

For soone like ?

Even as she stood there in silence, his gaze remained gentle.

Like a ray of bright moonlight.

Guiding her. Illuminating her.

"You don't like it?"

"No...that's not it."

Gwen shook her head and hurriedly spoke.

But her voice ca out sowhat hoarse.

Gwen felt a wave of anxiety, and imdiately a wave of regret.

Regret that she had said anything at all.

How had her voice ended up sounding like that.

Viktor would surely be laughed at because of her.

Perhaps having noticed her slight embarrassnt, Viktor leaned forward just slightly with the manner of a perfect gentleman, and slowly took hold of her hand.

The sensation of his broad palm reached her through the fabric of her glove.

A warm, heated feeling brushed against her palm, sending a tingle through her.

It was the sa hand holding hers as before—and yet what she felt this ti was entirely different from monts ago.

Sothing inside her felt light and a little ticklish, yet also strangely at ease.

As if soone had constructed an iron fortress around her, sheltering her within it.

Viktor's voice slowly sounded beside Gwen's ear:

"Then, we should go in to dine."

"Miss Gwen."

The instant those words fell, flas leapt from the floor of the restaurant and shot toward the sky.

Across the ground, the deep, wild greenery that had been released quietly ignited, and slender trunks were wrapped in fire.

Leaf buds burned—and in the mont they were swallowed by the flas, vivid scarlet flowers began to burst into bloom.

Like night-blooming cereus suddenly flourishing, bringing their beauty to all present for a brief instant before being consud by fire, rendered even more magnificently radiant.

The temperature gradually rose, yet all it beca was a pleasant warmth.

Like sitting beside a hearth—still and cozy.

Then, the ever-expanding flas began to envelop the 2 of them.

The great restaurant's ceiling opened up, and a fla-wreathed castle gradually took shape from within the restaurant.

Under the awestruck gaze of everyone watching, the fire-sparked plants slowly turned to ash, drifting through the air.

A sheet of fla howled to life for a mont, fluttering and surging.

The 2 figures within the flas seed to dissolve into the ash left behind after the fire faded.

Like a streak of light kindled in the air—then quietly gone.

And after they departed, the enormous tiered cake on the table was sliced open as if by an invisible blue magical blade on its own.

Equal, evenly portioned wedges of cake were divided onto countless plates.

They drifted slowly upward into the air, as if lifted by unseen hands, and were placed steadily and precisely before every last person watching.

Those nobles stared at the slices of cake set before them, thinking of Viktor's wondrous magic, and felt a little at a loss.

To think.

They had rely co out for a al—and sohow ended up with cake as well.

It seed...Viktor wasn't quite as cold and unapproachable as everyone said?

In any case, this ti around.

The news of Viktor giving Gwen such a grandly ostentatious birthday celebration would spread throughout the entire Royal Capital very quickly.

***

Gwen slowly touched down onto the ground and gently opened her eyes.

What greeted her was an extraordinarily large and opulent private dining suite.

Candles lined the walls above, their tiny flickering lights casting their glow upward.

The floor underfoot was remarkably soft—Gwen looked down and found that a red wool carpet had been laid across the entire room.

Enormous curtains of red silk swept down a full 10 ters to pool on the floor.

On all sides were transparent windows, and looking out from within, they were in the highest rooftop suite in the entire restaurant.

Through the glass, every movent of the crowd below was visible without exception.

The waiters inside the suite were arranged neatly on either side, composed and graceful, every one of them perfectly deferential.

Before them stretched an exceptionally long dining table, its white tablecloth set with golden plates of varying sizes, laden with exquisite delicacies—an utterly magnificent spread.

"This...isn't this a bit too extravagant?"

"I wasn't sure what you liked to eat, so I ordered 1 of every dish."

As Viktor spoke, a waiter drew the chair out before him and he took his seat.

A waiter beside him stepped forward to offer him a napkin. Viktor waved a hand—a fla materialized out of thin air, fashioning itself into a burning napkin that hung suspended at his chest.

Then he casually snapped his fingers in the air, and the dishes around them lifted off the table and began to float, cycling past Gwen one after another like a revolving display.

Gwen's eyes dazzled trying to keep up.

Whatever she wanted to eat—a single thought, and in the next instant, the dish would drift automatically to hover right in front of her.

Ever since coming to know Viktor, Gwen had always believed that magic was an extraordinarily wondrous and convenient ability.

The waiters stared with blank expressions. Watching Viktor's entirely natural, effortless technique, they all felt sowhat superfluous.

You're this capable?

What exactly do you need us waiters here for?

Viktor gave a single nod toward one side, and the waiters imdiately grasped his aning.

With a perceptive eye for the situation, they turned in unison and filed tidily out of the suite.

In the entire spacious suite, only Viktor and Gwen remained, seated facing each other across the table.

She lifted her gaze and looked at Viktor.

The man before her was entirely at ease, knife and fork in hand, dining unhurriedly.

Even the simple act of chewing struck Gwen as thoroughly elegant.

She had only eaten with Viktor 2 tis in total.

And each ti, she was left with the feeling that Viktor's elegance was not sothing cultivated through training—it was a quality that existed innately within his very bones.

He embodied the refinent and grace of nobility to perfection.

Simply watching him was a pleasure in itself.

Gwen gradually relaxed and opened her mouth, speaking with gratitude:

"Thank you...for getting out of that situation just now."

In a mont like that, if Gwen had continued to say nothing, it would only have made a laughingstock of them both.

After all—unable to get out a single word: was that really the mindset befitting a forr Grand Knight Commander of the Royal Knight Company?

Fortunately, Viktor had suddenly swept her away, pulling Gwen quickly out from under the scrutiny of all those watching eyes.

It was as if he had already sensed sothing, and had been waiting all along to step in on her behalf.

"It's nothing."

Viktor did not look up, and continued his unhurried al.

Gwen lowered her head, her hands clasped at her waist, fingers fidgeting restlessly. She asked with a trace of nervousness:

"Well...um."

"How did you know my birthday? And why...why would you do all this?"

Why are you being so good to ?

That sentence, Gwen did not say aloud.

She was afraid the other person would simply reply that it was nothing more than basic courtesy befitting a noble.

She didn't know why, but she didn't want to hear those words co from Viktor's mouth.

Aside from Kavra, she couldn't think of a single other person who had ever celebrated her birthday.

She wanted to hold this mont gently in her heart—even if this so-called kindness of his was nothing but her own wishful thinking.

Viktor picked up his knife and fork, sliced off a piece of thick steak, and speared it with the fork.

"Open up."

Gwen gave a start. She parted her lips slightly.

She had just started to say sothing, but Viktor had already risen from his seat, reached out, and extended the fork—with the piece of beef on it—toward Gwen's lips.

Gwen leaned back slightly, staring at that piece of at, and felt the color rush instantly to her face.

"I—I...that's not what I—"

"Open up."

Calm words, yet carrying a tone that left no room for refusal.

Under Viktor's gaze, Gwen's mind descended into complete chaos.

She couldn't help but close her eyes and open her mouth just slightly.

The steaming piece of beef was placed inside.

Gwen chewed, feeling the at juices burst across her palate, warmth spreading over the tip of her tongue.

It was, by any asure, an ordinary steak. An ordinary flavor.

And yet in this mont it tasted incomparably, wonderfully delicious.

Gradually, Gwen found herself slipping a little deeper into the feeling.

She didn't want to open her eyes.

Didn't want to look up after opening them and find Viktor gone from in front of her.

She would rather things just stayed like this, forever.

A soft rustling sound reached her ears—Viktor had settled back into his chair.

He picked up his knife and fork once more and, with complete composure, speared a piece of cake and brought it to his mouth to taste.

After chewing slowly and swallowing, Viktor's voice gradually sounded beside Gwen's ear.

"When we're done eating, don't go ho just yet."

"I'll take you sowhere."

"...!?"

As if sothing had occurred to her, Gwen's face flooded crimson.

She snapped her eyes open, all composure gone, and shot to her feet at once. Thrusting one hand out in front of Viktor, she waved it frantically and cried out to stop him:

"N—no! That won't do!"

"Sothing like that—at the very least, you'd have to wait until after we're married before..."

Viktor: "?"