In Jane's memories, the original Young Master of the Hortich household was a weak-willed and inauspicious person. As the only child of a noble family, it was naturally unfortunate that they liked the same gender. But that was not as much of a burden as was the dim intelligence of young Adam, rendering him unable to hide his sexuality. Thus, he became known as a laughingstock.
In response to the failure of their first son, his parents aimed to create another heir, and had been failing for years up to the point Jane took over his body. Tired as they were, once they heard about their dim-witted son's sudden interest in women, they resolved to accept it without questions. Rivaling Melinda's own crazed advances, and perhaps even surpassing them, were that of his parents.
[You're not going to sort that out?]
'It's impossible to. I never lied to her, even now. Just because she's hurt doesn't mean it was anyone's fault.'
[Or you just can't handle the thought that you ruined someone's life by transferring? You could have chosen anyone, but ended up forgetting about the person who cared the most.]
'Am I supposed to regret my choice?'
[It wouldn't help.]
To him, maybe he was a little revulsed by the current situation. Whatever little was left of him, it surely did not want to be forced into a relationship with someone he didn't love. Even then, there was a reason for the little interference he was putting up.
He was weak-willed, weak-minded, weak-bodied, and lonely. Jane was lonely, too, and so was Vanessa. Whether they rejected society or were rejected by it, their nature still pushed them to seek out others. When faced with another, they would not be picky enough to worry about the form of relationship taken.
'What about her?'
Jane knew that his fiancée didn't think of him as a religious figure, leaving even more questions about the nature of her attraction. If she was a person who was so weak to shallow flirting, then she would have been wedded years and years before. No, that which blossomed upon first sight was unique to the person in love, and so anyone in Jane's shoes might have ended up as the target of her affection. That fact led him to have to rephrase his earlier thoughts.
'If she would have loved anyone, then that anyone must only be me.'
The life of a zealot, having a relationship with none but their gods, having no role model but their saints, and no dialogue but with their bible. The life of a stalwart Count's only daughter, obsessively protected from the wiles of society. Living such a solitary life, it was not hard to imagine that she would be enchanted by anyone. It just so happened that the first 'anyone' in her life was Jane.
The still-unopened invitation sat on his desk, reflecting his guilt over their interactions. Perhaps with his own inexperience, he had taken advantage of her, and been taken advantage of in turn. There was no way that a fruit which ripened in a single day could be sweet, and so their current relationship was unnatural and destined to fail. Moreso, he felt that she deserved better. That they did.
Jane made up his mind. Using one hand, he clasped the wedding invitation between two fingers. With the other, he unlocked his window and pushed it open. Without hesitation, he jumped out of the window and began rushing towards the Predio household.
---
His destination was roughly a thousand merds away, but Jane managed to reach it in just a few minutes. Having ran at an inhuman pace for an extended period of time, he wasn't even tired or out of breath. He was just a little hungry.
[You're really going to go meet her like this, half-naked, and bulked up like a golem?]
'Of course not. I'm concealed.'
In the cover of the nearby woods, Jane began crafting his outer appearance. In order to ease into his current physique, he created this illusion with a little more bulk than before. Playing off of the balanced muscles framing his dummy, he dressed it in expensive yet provocative clothes, fitting for a young unmarried noble on a date. That was the appearance with which he went to meet his fiancée.
After having searched around the forest for a while, Jane picked the prettiest flower he could, and grasped it in his hand along with the invitation. With it, he walked up to the estate and into it's outer gardens.
'Let's see, I'll have to knock, then wait for a bit, and be guided in... What a pain.'
Consulting his memory, Jane dashed to the left wall of the house, and promptly jumped onto the sill of the uppermost window lining it. In his haste, however, he failed to consider the extreme weight of his body pressing down on the wood, causing it to creak dangerously under his feet. In response, he had to spread out his body and push himself back off the facade of the house, landing back in the garden.
'Wow. Thank god nobody was around to see that.'
"What are you doing?"
'Damnit!'
Jane half-closed his eyes, and smiled. After a moment, he pointed up towards the window he just came down from. There were little cracks in the wood, causing the carefully arranged flowers to sag outwards.
"Look. Your window was broken, and I couldn't help but notice and try to fix it."
"And you just jumped?"
His illusion put a hand across it's chest and bowed, making sure to expose the muscles underneath it's shirt.
"I am quite strong, after all."
"My dear, I have no questions about your strength, but... You are neither a carpenter or good liar."
"...I will keep that in mind. Is your guest room open? I have something to talk with you about."
"We are currently recieving some of Father's friends, but if you need to talk somewhere private, my room is always free."
"That will do."
[You idiot! Stop!]
Melinda gestured to follow, then turned away and began walking inside the mansion. Jane followed closely behind, occasionally listening and responding to her comments. After taking a suspiciously high number of shortcuts, even through the servants' quarters, they arrived at the door of her room.
'How do I get out of this?'
[It's fine... Just talk about what you came to talk about.]
Jane was sat in one of two seats surrounding a nice coffee table, and was joined by Melinda after a series of preparatory tasks.
'There's no choice. I have to resort to my teacher's method.'
"There will be tea in just a minute, so in the meantime, lets— Ah?"
Jane had rested his head on his knuckles, and stared softly outside the window. The evening sun illuminated his expression of deep contemplation.
"My lady, what do you believe it means to be close to someone?"
'If I keep asking questions, she'll realize it without feeling bad.'
"What a broad question. As a relationship progresses through it's stages, two will naturally become close."
"Then, of the couple which sleeps in different beds each night, and eats in separate rooms, can you call them close?"
Melinda looked on suspiciously.
"...What are you trying to say?"
"Regardless of the words we use to describe a relationship, closeness is closeness. It is completely unrelated to the relationship described. My lady—"
Jane sat up slightly, and grasped one of Melinda's hands in his own. Within it, he placed both the invitation and the flower he picked up.
"—let us become close."