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Some people call St. Petersburg an actual Northern Venice. But to Kadoc, it's enough to breath in the cold wind and to feel it freezing his lungs to understand.
To him St. Petersburg is nothing but a northern disaster.
He expects Anastasia to be offended by his opinion when he answers her question of whether he likes her native city or not. For a brief moment he is almost interested in seeing her offended.
He wonders if the cold dignity of her royal facade will finally fall off like a mask and he will finally see the capricious princess she is actually supposed to be. He almost wants to see her pouty face and red cheeks, but he brushes away such a strange thought.
Not to mention that to his surprise, Anastasia just laughs. Yeah, it is just a surprise. It's not like he is disappointed or anything.
"So that's what you think, Master," - she says as she keeps on giggling at him. - "Fine, fine. I will take it."
Kadoc just rolls his eyes. He doesn't like Caster's tendency to win their short conversations. But maybe it's just a stupid paranoia of him, to think that his Servant might betray him only because of her love for weird jokes.
"Shouldn't you royals should be protecting your pride or something like that?" - he wonders while Anastasia is standing in front of a mirror in their hotel room. What on Earth she has been doing there for so long? It feels like a couple of hours has passed already.
"We do protect our pride, foolish Master," - Anastasia answers at last, her eyes are still focused on checking every detail of her terribly expensive dress she made him buy for her in one of shops on that Nevsky prospect. - "However, it makes no sense to deny the flaws we have. I am just wondering why don't you like it? Maybe it's not rich enough for your standards?"
"Quit talking to mage as if mages have standards of ordinary humans," - he snaps, but he almost regrets it as he sees Anastasia's smile fading away from her pale lips.
"I beg your pardon, Master," - Caster sighs, her voice still sounds like a fragile ice breaking under rays of sunshine. - "It is just me, being an ordinary human once I was alive..."
God damn it, now he feels ashamed. Kadoc scratches his head, trying to figure out what he should do now (and why on Earth was he so unlucky to get some young princess instead of someone really royal and powerful?)
And then, once again her quiet giggle fills the room.
"Or maybe not being an ordinary human, I was a princess after all!"
Lord, give him the strength to deal with this girl as Caster is the only chance for him to... To achieve at least something in his life, maybe.
"Your city is cold," - Kadoc hears his own voice before feeling his lips moving. - "It's not about the weather, not only about the weather, I mean."
St. Petersburg sure is filled with waters of endless rains and rivers locked in a stoned cage of channels, but there is something more. Something more that disturbs his magic and makes Kadoc feel even more miserable than he usually does.
"It's cold as if I am on a funeral," he says finally something he might have been afraid of admitting to even himself. But Caster demanded honesty from him once they made a contract. "And this funeral is going to last for all eternity."
Maybe this is the main reason their relationship is so weird. Kadoc has never been this painfully honest to anyone and it feels like he is sitting there completely naked.
It doesn't help much that he feels her staring at his reflection in the mirror with those clear as shattered glass eyes of her.
This glance is not cold, though.And it doesn't even seem to be a mocking one.
"For me it is almost the same, you know," - she notices with a calm voice. "This city of your modern world is just like a cemetery of my own Petersburg. The one that was my home."
And now she is standing on its ruins. Maybe it was way too heartless of him, to summon her in this city simply because he wanted his Servant to be as strong as possible, feeding the power of their birthplace. But he can't say he regrets it. He wants to win. Whatever it takes him, he wants to win at all costs.
"But hey, doesn't it make me an actual ghost?" he almost feels relief when he hears Anastasia’s giggle. "Wouldn't that be funny to crawl into the palace and to scare off some of these clever people who study my family's private life?"
"We have no time for that," Kadoc tries to give her a severe look, but he fails as he notices the girl's puffed cheeks as she turns to him with a capricious face.
"You are a coward, Master," - dear Lord, did her skin become slightly more pink? It's barely seen but it is still... No, it's not cute at all!
"And you are way too fond of jokes," he answers but he already knows he will get a proud smile of a royalty Anastasia belongs to.
"We lived in a sad country, as you have noticed. So we had to laugh in order to forget our miseries."
For some reason, Kadoc has never thought of such a foolish and naive solution.
"It also helps to get warmer," Anastasia adds, pointing out a finger confidently. "Come on, Master, put a smile on that face of yours!"
"No way, I am not doing such a stupid thing!"
Kadoc still feels himself warmer for some reason. Even when Anastasia calls him a stubborn coward once again.