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

43: Failure isn't a luxury we can afford!

The narrator smiled mysteriously in his seat. "Although she couldn't understand the reason for it, Cinderella's wholehearted words of gratitude made our fairy godmother feel somewhat guilty."

Madoka laughed awkwardly as he stiffly patted Yuki's back. "Well, that's what I'm here for..."

"Still!" Yuki twirled around the room excitedly. "I can't believe that any of this is happening. I never thought that I, a mere commoner, would get to see Shiki-sama for a second time let alone learn all of these little quirks about him and even get a chance to dance with him at the Royal Ball!"

"Our fairy godmother couldn't help but ponder over Cinderella's words."

"Does that mean you've only met Shiki-chan once before, Eira-chan?"

"Yes, just once! Though we've never actually spoken to one another," revealed Yuki somewhat awkwardly.

"You met but never spoke?"

"Yes. Once while I was running errands for my older stepsister in town, some drunk men cornered me in an alleyway. These men had evil designs but before they could even lay a single finger on me, Shiki ouji-sama whom had been nearby, intervened and chased them off. I was too nervous to speak to him then but he told me to take good care of myself because it's dangerous for a girl to wander around alone." Yuki placed his hands on his cheeks in a show of embarrassment.

"So then what happened?" pressed Madoka.

"Then, he had a servant escort me all the way to my home." Yuki clasped his hands together. "It was the most magical encounter I've ever had. It was like everything I had secretly dreamed about. It was just lovely."

"Uh, but nothing really happened?"

"What do you mean?" asked Yuki confusedly.

"Truthfully speaking, I didn't really see how you could be so enamoured with him by that interaction alone..." noted Madoka as his voice drifted off ambiguously.

"Inside, the fairy godmother was recalling what the prince had said about people only loving  the image of him and not himself as a person. This prompted him to ask this next question."

"Eira-chan, do you, and I'm not trying to imply anything by this, but do you um ever doubt your feelings of love for Shiki-chan?" Madoka's expression was perplexing as he awaited Yuki's reply.

"Hmm?" Yuki seemed more confused than ever. Not knowing how else to respond he once again asked, "What do you mean?"

After a moment of sorting it out in his head Madoka tried to provide clarification. "I guess what I'm trying to ask is, do you ever think that maybe you don't actually love Shiki-chan? Do think that just maybe you just...just..."

"Just what?" prodded Yuki.

"Just........nothing." Madoka bit his lip once before laughing a bit affectedly. "Sorry, I just lost my train of thought." 

"Oh."

"I'm sorry."

Registering the other's embarrassed expression, Yuki quickly flashed him an understanding smile. "It's fine, fairy godmother-sama! Sometimes you just forget what you're going to say. It happens to me all the time!"