Sunday. It was the scheduled date of Erina and Kenji. Also, starting yesterday, Yoko had left the capital and was going to be back the week after. She was only visiting the Kuroshi Clan for a day but it took several days to get from the capital to the clan and vice versa.

She had taken a leave of absence from the school and had brought Emi and several maids with her.

Just before 9, Kenji arrived and saw Erina who had been waiting in a one-piece dress with a white hat on a bench right next to the fountain.

"You're early."

"So are you, Kai."

"...You really aren't going to stop calling me that?"

"No."

"Then, I'll allow it for today."

Kenji sighed and stretched his hand.

"What good manners, where shall we go?"

As expected, I have to be the one to lead her.

"Coincidentally, there will be a two hour long play starting soon. We'll watch that play first."

Erina took Kenji's hand and stood up.

They didn't walk with arms linked or anything like lovers and instead just walked next to each other. But Erina's beauty was still eye-catching and many of the people they passed were looking at her. But unlike Kenji whose face was known by nobody, Erina was well-known within the capital.

In the school, she was known as the Ice Queen but in the capital, she's known as Snow Princess. It was much more elegant in naming and the reason for this was that Erina had caused snow during one of her demonstrations to show her power and many were allured.

Unlike the unofficial title of Ice Queen, Snow Princess was one of the official titles and she was called by that rather than the daughter of a duke or Erina. But even if it had the term princess, she wasn't really a princess. Much like Ice Queen where queen meant that she was one of the best in the school, princess was given because princesses are generally defined as pure and refined.

Kenji walked to the theatre side by side with Erina. When they went to get a ticket, the person at the booth ran away and came back with a man in a suit and granted them free entry. They were even given two of the most special seats in the entire theatre with other nobles.

At first, Erina wanted to refuse but if word spread that the Snow Princess were seated with a bunch of commoners during a play, his theatre business would go down the drain or so he said.

Although the two of them thought the man was overreacting, they complied with his pleading.

Apparently, the other nobles weren't given this kind of special treatment. The ones granted free entry are the dukes and royal family but everyone else paid. This was the most famous theatre in the capital- no, the kingdom. Even the sons and daughters of dukes and duchesses weren't exempted so this kind of behavior bewildered Erina but Kenji knew the reason.

If a beautiful girl like her who has suitors that could make a line from one end of the capital to the other were to be seated with the commoners, the suitors would do everything they can to bring this theatre down. Although that was petty thinking from Earth, this was a different world with different values. Even their taste in women were different.

To be considered beautiful on Earth, you just have to attract the attention of many with makeup or simple natural beauty. But in most kingdoms on Gaia, a beautiful girl must have a bountiful ass and chest. Thin eyebrows and lips were also minus points though there are some exceptions like Erina who had thin eyebrows and lips but was still considered beautiful.

But Kai and Erina's values were different from theirs and so never discriminated.

Kenji and Erina sat down on two seats away from the others but Erina's entrance attracted the eyes of nearly everyone. The lights were still on as the play hadn't started yet and everyone saw her elegant figure walking towards her seat. Some nobles had also made agreements to talk to her but it all shattered when they saw that Kenji sat beside Erina. Their talks began changing directions and they were glaring at Kenji.

Kenji of course noticed their stares and was secretly laughing. If they knew his actual status, they'd probably piss their pants in terror.

"Kai, sit closer."

Kenji who was leaning on the other side of his chair was told by Erina. Kenji sighed and complied with her. Seeing this, the nobles glared even more.

As much as Kenji wanted to reveal his status, he couldn't. He didn't want his surroundings to be noisy and also the fact that he was hiding his identity and revealing it like that would only stir more trouble.

Soon, the lights for the seats turned off and the lights at the stage turned on.

A man in a suit and a top hat was standing there in front of the curtains.

"Welcome everyone, this is the tragic play of the summoned hero of Eleorid."

Kenji raised his brows.

"Summoned hero of Eleorid?"

"Eleorid is an ancient kingdom that was destroyed by a coup d'état which inevitably destroyed both sides. Though nobody can say for certain that the kingdom existed, there were traces and stories of it. The summoned hero of Eleorid, nobody knows if it really happened but in my opinion, it was very possible."

Erina explained to Kenji who had no knowledge of the sudden kingdom.

"Is the hero from another world or somewhere far away?"

"The story says that the hero came from another world. Ah, the introduction is finished."

The man with a top hat bowed down and left the stage. The curtains opened soon after and the scene was a huge room with a magic circle written on the floor.

Pretty well-made... I wonder how long it took to create this replica?

Although they were only cut-outs and the like, it still looked very realistic save for the stage's floor and the curtains on the side.

(A/N: The play will be in italics while anything out of the play will be written normally.)

"Oh, hero! We implore thee to save our world!"

A man in strange clothes was standing there bewildered and in front of him was a girl dressed in elegant clothes.

"O fair maiden, what troubles thee?"

The princess led the hero to another room and the curtains closed. When they opened again, a different scene was there. It was a throne room.

"Hero, our world is troubled by the demon king who had just revived and is now terrorizing the world."

The king who sat atop his chair told the hero.

"I will do it."

The hero placed a fist on his chest and nodded at the king's command.

From there, an hour and a half passed showing the many scenes of the heroes with his companions and defeating many enemies. There were also some scenes where the corrupt nobles were flushed out and the righteous nobles praised the hero. In the end, the hero defeated the demon king at the price of his companions.

The hero grieved for several days for the loss of his trusted companions and retrieved their bodies along with the demon king's towards the kingdom. Along the way, everything was quiet. Even the neighboring villages were in silence. The hero wanted to stay at an inn but there was nobody.

The hero had to sleep in the carriage along with the wrapped bodies of his dead companions and enemy. When dawn rose, the hero traveled towards the capital and when he finally arrived, what met him was not a parade but rather, silence once more.

The hero could detect that many of the buildings were inhabited but not a single soul had stepped outside. The hero naturally felt his suspicions but he wanted nothing more than to bury his companions in the grave of the royal family where his other companions that were lost along the way were also buried.

But when he arrived at the castle and into the king's throne room, he was subdued. Tired from his journey and caught off-guard, the hero was gravely injured. He managed to escape with his life but had to leave his companion's bodies.

The hero tried to flee the capital but was pursued no matter where he went. The king that had asked him for a favor was hunting him down.

"O hero, please trust me!"

The princess was talking with the injured hero. Even when the kingdom had turned on him, the princess was still the same. For the hero, this was great news.

But when the hero arrived at the lodging, he was poisoned. Standing atop the poisoned hero was the princess with a twisted expression on her face.

"What a foul thou are to think thou can still trust me."

"I trusted thou, princess! Why dost thou do this?!"

The hero screamed with tears streaming down his face.

"In a world with no demon king, a hero who had defeated the demon king would have influence that would eventually overshadow the royal family. Therefore, we must strike while the iron is hot. We mustn't allow you to show your face to the world. Hence, we had pinned crimes on thee and made sure that nobody had met thee during thy travel back."

"Thou had promised to return me to my world!"

"That's impossible. We could only summon thee from here but we cannot return you. It is impossible unless that world summons thee once more."

With the hero racked in despair and rage, he cursed.

"I will get my revenge on thee! I promise that none of ye will be able to live peacefully for the rest of your lives!"

With those words, the princess stabbed a dagger through the hero's heart. The following scenes showed the coup d'état that gathered under the banner of the hero and tried to overthrow the kingdom. In the end, both sides were damaged severely and civilians and military were wiped out.

The royal family was executed and the rebels were slaughtered. The face of the princess at the finale was twisted and crying.

"Hero, why dost thou haunt us even after thy death?!"

The princess cursed.

And then, the hero appeared with fog surrounding him.

"My revenge has been fulfilled. Thy will not cross through the other world and will cease to exist!"

The hero's hand glowed and the princess stopped moving.

The remaining people of the kingdom who had fled to avoid the war had started many kingdoms of their own and there was also one kingdom that worshipped the hero.

"...What an unexpectedly emotional play."

Kenji gave words of praise as he also joined in the round of applause.

"Yes, it was a tragedy but it was a great story. I feel sorry for the hero too."

Erina looked down as she said that. She had seen this play before but everytime, she had been struck with emotions from seeing it.

Kenji stretched his hand to get Erina and they left the theatre. On the way out, they thanked the manager of the theatre for their hospitality.

They arrived at a cafe and sat in front of each other. Just after Kenji placed his order, Erina dropped a bomb.

"Kai, do you know about magic eyes?"

Kenji's eyes flashed as he looked at Erina.

"Yes, I have heard of them."

"Then, did you know about the type of magic eye that reveals truth?"

With those words, Erina's right eye changed to a golden color and Kenji's eyes widened.

"...Hahahaha."

After a slight pause, Kenji laughed.

"That was unexpected, Erina. I didn't think that you had that sort of power with you."

Kenji- no, Kai said as he had a smile on his face.

The tea and snacks that they had ordered had quickly arrived. Kai took a sip of the tea.

"Well then, let's talk."