Looking to his side Austin could see Nora's eyes shaking, her lips pale, while deep sadness and bitterness flowed within her eyes, just one look was enough for him to understand that she was deeply shaken, it would seem that her feelings were higher then he hands anticipated, his face was 'confused' as he spoke to her,
"Nora are you alright?"
Austin's words were filled with a gentleness which quickly brought Nora out of her daze, with a pale expression she tried to give him a reassuring smile as she spoke,
"I-I am fi-fine, just a stomach ache, that's all"
"Are you sure? do you want to see a doctor?"
Austin asked back with 'suspicion' in his voice, after all, her reason wasn't all that easy to accept, Nora also seemed to have felt it as she waved her hand and spoke,
"Ye-Yeah, I'm fine, excuse me Austin I will just go to the bathroom for a moment"
Saying so she didn't wait for his response as she bolted to the attached bathroom, Austin doesn't stop her as he watched her bolt out of the room, his plans were slowly falling into place,
'Um....looks like she will need some more push'
Austin thought as he watched Nora disappear into the bathroom, Nora's an extremely stubborn person, a trait which seemed to run deeply in his family, he's sure that if Nora chooses to follow her feelings she would go to the ends of the world for it, she's just that type of person, hence for her to follow her feelings he would need to push her hard.
While Austin thought through his plans, Nora was washing her face with water, trying her best to calm down her feelings but no matter what she did the scenes she saw kept flashing in her mind, the burning feeling of the girl, the regret they faced due to hiding their feelings, all of them played in her mind mocking at her weak will,
'Why? Why Nora, didn't you already take an oath? so why does it hurt?'
She thought as she looked at the mirror displaying her reflection, her eyes were a bit red as she bit her lips, trying her best to hold back her feelings, raising her hands she placed them on her chest feeling her heart beat out of her chest, the play had brought the deepest fear of Nora's heart, hence it couldn't help but beat faster,
'It's okay Nora it's for the best'
It took some time before which she calmed down, finally she could feel the burden on her chest end, she took deep breaths, she even used a mana technique to calm her mind and it was only after a minute did she feel completely calm,
"Huuuu.....take a grip Nora it's just a play, haven't you already chosen your path?"
She spoke as she looked into the mirror, even though she said it with conviction her words and her expression were powerless, finally, after 5 minutes she exited the bathroom, coming upon Austin who was standing outside worried about her, her heart again clenched but she held herself as she smiled and spoke,
Austin didn't 'believe' her as he kept looking at her face for some time before which he sighed, his face became 'melancholic' and 'confused' as he spoke,
"Big sis, at first I didn't want to say this but I noticed that you seem to be carrying a huge burned on you, it's okay if you don't want to say it to me but I would appreciate it if you would at times just depend on me too"
Hearing Auston's words Nora bit her lips as she nodded her head, not saying out the true reason for her distress, seeing Nora smile, Austin nodded his head 'happily' as he caught her hand, as he started to pull her with him as they moved away, they soon exited the theater, both not speaking about the play that makes things awkward between them,
"Nora to get rid of your mood let's enjoy the rest of the day!"
Saying so he didn't even wait for Nora's answer as he took her around with him, from then on they had just spent the rest of the day enjoying the evening to the best of their capability, time seemed to move faster when they were in each other company, they traveled to the sweet shop Austin had marked as he fed her the sweets that he had chosen for her.
From there he took her to a fashion shop that was a completely booked for her, surprising her, Nora who wasn't interested in clothing was forced to wear different dresses Austin had given, though she acted as if she didn't like it, the truth was that her heart was bustling with happiness and sweetness, Austin would take his time as he would choose the best matching dress of her.
Hundreds of workers would wait at their call as he would pick a dress for her, each dress he picked was perfect for her, accelerating her beauty and making her breathtaking, even Nora who wasn't much interested in it felt her time fly faster, each dress Austin picked made her fall in love with it, somehow he even seemed to know her taste and desire well.
Her eyes became tender as she walked out of the dressing room wearing a black and red dress, that clutched to her body, her curves were well defined by the dress while her waist looked lithe and small, her usual ponytail was thrown away as her beautiful blonde hair fell to her back, her dress shined and matched her dress, while the heels she wore clicked to the ground, exposing her soft, tender and sexy legs clothed by a black stocking.
Even some of the female workers were drawn in by her beauty, even Austin was lost for a moment as he gazed into those green gem-like eyes. Nora walked forward as she reached in front of him, her smile filling his gaze as she spoke,
"How's it?"
"Beautiful"
Austin spoke 'absentmindedly' as his gaze traveled across her body, Nora smiled at it. A loving atmosphere was created between them, even the workers gave them a knowing smile but Austin quickly broke out of his 'daze', as a 'blush' came to his face. He coughed trying to hide his 'embarrassment' as he spoke,
"N-Nora why don't you try the other dress"
"Sure"
Nora spoke as she walked into the dressing room, somehow feeling satisfied, after this, they spent an hour more as Austin chose the best dress for her. After this was over he took Nora for some games which didn't use any mana, he even took her to a casino as they played with money. Sadly here the genius Nora had to accept defeat as she kept losing money, that was until Austin came to the scene as he won it back.
Of course, Austin didn't let this go as he used this opportunity to make fun of Nora as much as possible, Nora pouted as she pretended not to talk with him but even then she had a smile on her face, the small arguments, the small smiles to the small moments all of them filled Nora with unprecedented happiness.
The day went faster than Nora could have ever thought, by the time Nora came back to reality the skies were already dark, as the auction had begun.