My Ultimate OP System: Summoning All Dragons, Gods, Heroes & Villains-Chapter 56: The Princess In The Manor

Isabella walked through the door the next morning, ushered in by Eduardo. Then she quickly made her way toward Ethan, who stood at the far side of the living room.

"Hey," she said warmly, opening her arms and reaching for an embrace.

Ethan opened his arms as well and pulled her in gently. "Hey."

They held each other for a moment before pulling back. Ethan was about to guide her to one of the seats in the living room when he noticed the stares.

Eduardo had a knowing smile on his face. Francesca looked positively giddy, with her hands brought together like she was watching a play. And Valerie was doing her absolute best to maintain a neutral butler’s expression, though her eyes kept darting between them curiously.

Ethan cleared his throat awkwardly. "Actually... why don’t we head upstairs?"

Isabella smiled. "Okay."

Ethan took her hand and began guiding her toward the staircase.

As they passed, Francesca stepped forward with a smile. "Good morning, Princess Isabella."

"Good morning ," Isabella replied kindly.

Valerie also bowed slightly. "Good morning, Princess."

"Good morning," Isabella said with the same politeness.

Just as they reached the base of the stairs, Francesca called out, "Master Ethan, shall I bring snacks?"

Ethan paused on the first step and turned back. "I’ll let you know when we need them."

Then he quickly turned to Isabella. "Or... would you want something now?"

She shook her head with a small smile. "I’m fine."

"Alright then," Ethan said, and they continued upstairs.

When they entered his room, Isabella walked in ahead of him, as her eyes were immediately drawn to the large windows with the curtains pulled shut.

"Ethan," she said as she walked toward them, "the least you could do for a room this large is to let the sunlight in."

Ethan’s eyes widened. He extended his hand forward quickly. "No, wait—"

But it was too late.

Isabella had already pulled the curtains open, letting bright sunlight flood into the room. She smiled and turned back to him. "Ah, now you see? Much better."

Ethan sighed and walked over to the couch on the far side of the room, away from the window.

Isabella turned and noticed. She tilted her head curiously, then walked over and sat on the edge of the bed.

"Why are you sitting all the way over there?" she asked, patting the space beside her on the bed.

Ethan pointed toward the open window. "I shut those curtains for a reason. But if you come over here..."

He patted the seat beside him on the couch.

"...I’ll tell you all about it."

"Oh, okay," Isabella said with a smile. She stood and walked over, sitting down beside him.

Ethan took a deep breath in, then let it out slowly. "Alright. So where do I start..."

He began explaining everything. How they’d discovered the fraud. How Victor had been diverting funds and likely killed Truman. How that same man had put a hit on him.

He wisely omitted the fact that the bullet had actually hit him in the head, choosing instead to say that it had missed its chance to kill him.

Then he went on to explain the plan. How they were going to lure Victor back by faking Ethan’s death.

Isabella listened intently the entire time, with her expression shifting from curiosity to concern to shock.

When he finally finished, she was silent for a moment as she gathered her thoughts around it all.

Then she reached over and took his hand, with a worried look on her face. "I’m so sorry, Ethan. This must really be a lot."

Ethan smiled gently and squeezed her hand back. "It’s fine. It’ll be dealt with."

Isabella looked at him for a moment longer, then stood and walked back over to the window. Without a word, she pulled the curtains shut again. 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

Ethan nodded in appreciation. "Thank you."

He really did need those windows shut. The last thing he needed was to be spotted by anyone looking to confirm he was really dead. Or worse, by the sniper himself, who might still be watching for a second chance.

Isabella returned and sat close beside him again. This time, she crossed her left arm over his right and leaned her head gently on his shoulder.

There was a short period of silence between them before the princess spoke again. "What are you going to be doing for the next few days, holed up in here?"​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Ethan said with a smug grin on his face, "Aside from replying to your texts?"

Isabella chuckled and shook her head amusingly. "Yeah, aside from replying to my texts, silly."

He smiled a bit, then looked around the room thoughtfully. "Well, might read a book in my spare time. Or, uh..."

He searched for the words.

"...maybe just practice spells."

"Oh yeah, that..." Isabella said, chuckling slightly as a thought crossed her mind.

"I know that laugh," Ethan said with amusement.

Isabella let out a full, soft laugh as she had been caught in the act.

"No fair!" Ethan tried to defend himself. "I know more spells now than just Fireball and Lesser Heal."

He remembered sharing that embarrassing fact with her during their first days as mentor and mentee. She had always made fun of it ever since.

Isabella looked like she was recovering from the laughter. "Oh yeah? How many more has Elizabeth taught you now?"

Ethan said, "A couple more."

He had also told her that he was working on fixing that part of his life by getting one of his classmates to show him more spells.

That was how Isabella knew about Elizabeth in the first place.

Isabella looked thoughtful for a moment, then said, "You know, if it’s not going to be too weird or ruin your arrangement with Elizabeth... I could also show you a few things about being a caster."

"Oh..." Ethan muttered, unsure of what to say.

Obviously, it wasn’t that he didn’t want it. But like she said, it might feel weird to just dismiss Bettie like that. And despite her talent level, she had really been wonderful so far.

Isabella noticed the hesitation and quickly said, "Or don’t worry. I didn’t mean to overstep..."

Ethan quickly stopped her. "No, you’re not. It’s just, uh..."

He searched for the words again.

She smiled gently. "I get it, Ethan. It’s going to feel wrong telling her off. You’ve only known me for, like, five minutes, and here I am trying to wedge myself into every corner of your life."

She shook her head with amusement.

"Even in this world, you women just love to jump to conclusions," Ethan said with a chuckle.

Isabella turned to him with a mock hurt expression on her face. "Oh, wow..."

Ethan chuckled and readjusted his arm, crossing it over her shoulders and pulling her closer to his chest.

This made her smile, and her cheeks flushed red.

Ethan exhaled and finally said, "It is true that it’s going to be weird telling Bettie off. But no one says I can’t have a second tutor. So if you still want to, I’d be glad to have you."

Isabella raised her head to look at him for a second, then brought it down and nodded in agreement.

A small grin spread across her face. "You know, I’m about to make history here. The only first year to ever tutor a final year."

Ethan rolled his eyes amusingly.

"Oh, please. You don’t count as a normal first year. You’re the only first year who knows spells from seven different elements. You might as well be a tutor at Belsorth already."

This was part of what Ethan had learned about Isabella during the times they hung out in that first week of being friends. It was why most of their conversations had nothing to do with him trying to teach her anything.

As a Tudor princess whose talent was S-tier, she already knew a lot about being a caster. More than most people her age, and even some older than her.

Isabella smiled and settled back against his chest. "Fair point."

They sat there for another moment of silence that felt comfortable.

Then Isabella said, "Hey."

Ethan replied, "Yes, love?"

Isabella hesitated for a moment, then asked, "Do... you think we’re going too fast?"

"Huh? Where’d that come from?" he asked, turning his head slightly toward her.

"I don’t know. Just a random thought, I guess..." Isabella said.

But in truth, she had asked because of herself. Isabella was, unfortunately, a lover girl. She realized that each passing moment she spent with this boy made her heart throb faster and only made her want him more.

Ethan smiled and said gently, "I’d say the heart wants what the heart wants."

She readjusted a bit, then turned to face him fully with a puzzled expression. "What does that mean?"

Ethan looked at her blushing face with a smile on his, then leaned forward and planted a soft kiss on her lips.