COUPLE OF DAYS left until our dear athanasia's birthday, and right now lucas and her are together in the dance practice room. "lucas, practice dancing with me!" athy said as she looked at the Magician.

"no." 

"i think i might end up dancing with my dad at my debutante. but we have a big height difference, see?" athy said as she measured claude's height. "I'll be wearing shoes with pointy heels, so what if i step on him?"

he raised an eyebrow. "so you're asking me to turn into a grown-up just so i can practice with you?" lucas asks as he takes a bite of his apple.

"weren't you around the same height as my dad back then? not only that, aren't you supposed to be 18 if so why are you so small?" an irk appeared in his forehead by the princess' statement. "you! why would i?"

"dear Lucas, the most powerful being in the world and the prettiest boy-warlock in all the realms! won't you please? hmmm?" athy said as she tried using her cuteness on him.

lucas looked at her at the moment as her tactics won't work on him before summoning a paper, which scared athy. "i'm too busy, so play with this instead." 

athanasia got startled by the paper as she looked at him "what is this thing?!you're just lying around all the time anyway! what could you possibly be busy doing?" she groaned.

"i'm busy breathing every day." lucas casually said.

"can you at least give it a face?" athy asked as she looked at the plain paper body.

athanasia started dancing with the paper as lucas just looked at her.

"ahh!" Athy falls as she accidentally steps on the paper.

"having fun mopping the floor?" lucas asked as he teased her.

"what even is this?! it's so weak! it doesn't even have joints! it can't even hold me up if i fall! look, it's so floppy and weird like a ghost." athy said as she looked at the paper.

"harsh, you're hurting its feeling,"  lucas said.

"huh? isn't it just a doll? can it understand what i'm saying?" 

"of course not," lucas said as athy looked at him angry which made him laugh.

"can't you make a doll that's more like a real person?"

"does it look like there's anything i can't do?"

after they talked for a while the door opened revealing antanasia. "i apologize for disturbing you two. i was just bored at my palace, so that's why I decided to come here, and my friends went home for the time being to get ready in your debutante." she said as she smiled at them.

"it's fine, sister! i was just trying to practice dancing but lucas doesn't want to help me." athy huffs as she hugs antanasia. "whatever." he rolled his eyes at them.

"is that so? by any chance, were you trying to practice with the same height as dad?" antanasia asked her sister.

"mhm! hah, i'm tired…" athy said as she sat down on the floor.

"that reminds me, i heard Ijekiel is back," antanasia said.

"ijekiel alpheus?" lucas asked.

"mhm, i'm planning to visit him because akari is there," she said as she looked out the window.

"It's been six years. i wonder how much he's grown." athy said.

"well, we could come to visit him if you want," nas said. "lucas, can you teleport us to his estate?" 

"mhm… no problem." lucas snaps his fingers as he teleports only athy at Ijekiel's estate.

"you freaking' dirtbag!!" athy screamed as she started falling into the sky.

"... are you alright?" ijekiel asked as he caught athy. "you still surprise me every time we meet." ijekiel smiled at athy.

"i miss you, my lady angel." 

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"i told you to teleport us, not just athy," antanasia said as she glared at him. "my bad, i guess my power weakened for trying to help your sister," lucas said as he smirks at her.

"all I wanted was to just visit him and talk to akari."

"you can just invite her here." 

"lucas…" 

"no."

"you're not my dad."

"but i can be your daddy."

"what."

"what?"

she shook her head. "whatever, i might as well write a letter to akari," antanasia spoke as she stood up and started leaving the room. "please, make sure to take care of athy for a while." before she can leave the room she looked at him again.

"say… since you have been nice to me since we were kids and you've been taking care of athy when i was gone, do you want any reward for me?" antanasia asked the warlock as lucas looked at her quickly.

"anything?" 

"yes, anything."

"then… a kiss will do," lucas said as he walked to her slowly.

"a kiss?... " antanasia got shocked at his request as she looked away blushing.

"well, you said anything, then the kiss will do." lucas said while closing their gap leaving them no space.

"you…. you're too close to me, lucas… " antanasia blushes more. "t— then a kiss on the cheek will do it right?" 

"mhm!" he nodded.

"okay…" she leans forward then kissed lucas on the cheek.

"you!" the two looked back startled at the shout which belonged to athy.

"how dare you trick my sister while i was away!" athy said as she separated the two.

"hey! you just ruined our moment." lucas said as he rolled his eyes on the blondie.

"you dare to say that you want to let her kiss you with your dirty face!" athy said as she pulled lucas's hair.

"hey! let go of my hair you little—" 

"uh— i think you guys should stop it already, it's just a kiss on the cheek. i even kissed ijekiel and akari on the cheek too once, so it's not a big deal." after antanasia finished what she said the two looked at her angrily.

"hey, i thought i was supposed to be your first kiss!" 

"why would you agree with that sister? i mean, it's alright if it's akari but men are dangerous, you know!" 

"i'm so sorry, i just wanted to reward him for helping me out in arlanta so i didn't know it was that bad, and akari is so precious that i kissed her on the cheek!" antanasia defended herself as she looked away.

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"daddy, daddy. i'm so worried about my debutante coming up soon. what if i get nervous and make a mistake…" athy sadly spoke.

"you can make mistakes."

"i'm working hard on the dance, but i'm still worried."

"what do you have to worry about? if you make a mistake, it would be felix's fault for not taking better care of you." claude said as he looked at his tea.

"but someone might say mean things to me."

"then that would be the last thing they ever say." Claude coldly said.

'of course, i love this part a lot, that's why i'm here…. if only i had popcorn with me right now, then that would be amazing.' antanasia thought as she ate her steak slowly while looking at her father and younger sister.

"you don't need to think too much about it. just dance for the sake of formality, and get out of there." 

'he's scary but i'm also a bit touched.' athanasia thought.

"actually daddy, i was hoping to make my entrance holding your hand that day. i want to dance the first dance with you too and i want you to be the first to congratulate me on my debut as a 14-year-old." athy said as she acts cute. 

'you're doing great, athy!' antanasia imaginary put a thumbs up.

"but daddy… you don't really like those kinds of things, do you? that's why i asked felix instead. but still…" athanasia glanced at claude. "i really want to go with you. a debutante is something that happens only once in a lifetime. i shouldn't be so greedy, i'm sure felix will take care of me well enough. I'll try my best to make you and my sister proud." 

claude looked at her at the moment before speaking. "hm… well, if you really want it that badly." claude put down the spoon before drinking all his tea then put it down. "then there's nothing i can't do."

"really?!" athy looked at him happily. "but i thought you didn't really like those kinds of places or dancing." she mumbled.

"one dance is not that big of a deal." he said.

"i heard that girls don't really have their fathers as debutante partners nowadays, people might judge…"

"don't pay attention to things that don't matter. no one would mock you if they value their lives." 

"so you'll really go to the debutante with me?"

"if you want it that badly, i suppose i have no choice. i usually hate such noisy places, but…" 

"daddy!" athanasia ran to claude then hugged him. "really? really? so you'll really dance with me? you'll really be my escort too? i'm so happy! no take-backs. you promise?" athy looked at him happily again.

claude looked at her then turned away. "yes, i promise." 

antanasia just looked at them happily then started leaving quietly. 'It's still following the story, but why am i sad about it… i should be happy about it… right?' she looked at the door for a second before walking back to her chamber. she didn't even notice that she was feeling jealous of her own sister with all the things happening right now.

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"well, you're back too early," lucas said as he looked at antanasia who just entered the room. "lucas, you can't just come and go to my room as you please," she spoke calmly as she sat down on her bed.

"i was bored so i just came here, aren't you happy about it?" lucas asked the white-haired girl as she sighed softly. "it's not that i'm not happy about you visiting me… it's just that i'm just not in the mood about it…. " she looked down at the floor not able to look at lucas.

"did someone offend you?" 

"hm?"

"i ask… did someone offended you?" 

"i—.." antanasia stayed silent, looking elsewhere instead of his eyes. while lucas stared at her in concern, he wasn't the type to care but he couldn't help it this time. he didn't want to force her or make the girl feel pressured so he shrugged it off. "fine. it's okay if you don't want to tell me." his voice was soft, a little peculiar but soft. 

"mhm.." she hummed in response, flopping her head down and internally screaming. she was confused and irritated. well, was she? why is she irritated? mixed emotions filled her expression and she wasn't sure why. she can't even describe it yet she hates it. antanasia should be happy, shouldn't she? but why was she feeling this way?

'am i perhaps jealous of my sister because she had all dad's attention now? she thought. 

tears slowly fell down her eyes, tainting a wet spot on the pillow unknowingly. lucas on the other hand sat beside her then patted her back.

"let it all out… don't worry I'll be here waiting for you to calm down," lucas said as she sobbed quietly.

"lucas... why does it hurt…" he sighed and side-hugged her. lucas didn't really know what to do since he wasn't those people who comforted someone. "it's alright, my dear. just keep crying" after hours of crying, antanasia finally fell asleep while lucas stayed by her side.

"hah…I'll kill whoever made you cry so much that it made you fall asleep." he said as he looked at the window then looked at Nas again. "don't worry, my love. it'll be alright soon." he said as he kissed her forehead then left the room.