Conquering Villains and Capturing Targets Is Harder in Real Life than in Games

42: Perhaps, I'm just someone who isn't meant to find love.

"I see you're here again," commented Shizuka as she flipped through a stack of documents. "I thought you wouldn't be coming today."

"Ohoh, did you miss me, dear prince?" inquired Madoka flippantly.

Shizuka restrained the urge to roll her eyes. "I assure you it's nothing of the sort."

Madoka nodded knowingly. "Mhmm, if you say so."

The corners of narrator's lips quirked up forming a faint smile. "In truth, because of how often the prince and the fairy godmother had been seeing each other, their relationship had greatly improved since they first met. As neither party felt the need to impress the other, in their various interactions, formalities and protocols were not strictly adhered. As such, their conversations flowed in a very natural manner. It had become common for the two of them to chat for hours on end about all matters big and small."

"How come whenever I see you, you're either reading some boring book or going over documents?" pondered Madoka as he plopped down on a chair in front of Shizuka. "Don't you ever take a day off? How often do you go out just to take a breather? I have literally never seen you leave the castle except for official business."

"Firstly, I'd appreciate it if you didn't call my books boring because they're all renown literary classics," began Shizuka in a faintly indignant manner, "and secondly, unlike a certain someone, I am an incredibly busy individual. I can't just casually take a day off."

Madoka scrunched up his nose. "For your information, I've been busy doing my job too, okay?"

"In her defense, this was the truth as she had regularly been stopping by Eira's house and sharing everything she learned regarding the prince," supplemented the narrator.

"In any case, you have to learn to live a little. It's not as if you're the king yet; the castle won't fall into disarray if you leave for a couple hours. Honestly, the only reason that would justify this much reluctance on your part would be if you had no friends to meet up with and it's not like that's the case is it?"

Shizuka stiffened for a second before resuming her previous actions but this slight reaction was noticed by Madoka.

"Wait, is it? Is that really the case? Do you truly have no friends?"

"I have amicable relationships with the people I am expected to be amicable with," responded Shizuka perfunctorily.

"That's just a roundabout way of saying you have no close companions is it not?"

"...You may interpret it however way you'd like."

At this point a few audience members became riled up again.

"I'll be your friend, Yoshino!"

"We can hangout whenever you want, Shizuka-chan!"

On stage, Madoka began pacing back and forth. "Why wouldn't you have any friends? Friends are an essential part of human existence. Without friends, with whom do you share interesting anecdotes about your day to day life? With whom do you share your worries?"

"I'm fine with the way things currently are," stated Shizuka. "Solitude is peaceful in its own way."

"No wonder your parents are anxious for you to marry." Madoka shook his head. "You're not even twenty yet and you're already saying things that make you sound like an old man."