“H-Hey... That plate...”
“How can she be so innocent...”
“So strong, and yet so pure...”
“It’s so cute how she’s so much more innocent than she looks...”
The audience was making quite the commotion, but I couldn’t hear them over the sound of my own heart. I was too focused on not messing up my steps as Gillain watched me.
Safe in Gillain’s arms and looked after by Asu, I surprisingly barely felt any ill will from the people of Galé at all. I felt like I could make it in the Galé Empire as Gillain’s fiancée.
“Um, Gillain, I may not be the most competent, but I’ll do my best for you.” I looked up at him, put my hand on the scar on his cheek, and put a charm on him to take away any pain he might have. This was like a routine for me! The charm worked, and I smiled in relief.
Gillain’s cheeks turned a faint pink. He closed his eyes and turned his head up. Is he overheating?
“You...got me.”
Yeah, I thought we established that already? I tilted my head, and Gillain pulled me in, closing the distance between us and shadowing my face. He kissed the faint scar on my cheek.
“Eek!” I squealed. Wh-What are you doing?! I opened and closed my mouth like a goldfish.
“If you’re going to put a charm on me, I’ll put one on you. Fair and square.”
“Eeeeek!” The room filled with screams, squeals of delight, and Regueid’s laughter.
Asu chuckled. “How adorable.”
“Ah, to be young...” Lou concurred.
✦ ✦ ✦
It had been two whole years away from Judore. The events with Schneider and Maribelle still hung heavy in my heart, along with the plot of Wild Rose.
But I was surrounded by people who would protect me. I had Asu, who called me his best friend, and I had Miyu, the eternal maiden and protector of girls, who would come running whenever I called. And I had Lou, my other half, at my side. That crushing loneliness I’d once felt had gone away.
Until the conditions were right for me to return to Judore, I planned to train to become an S-rank adventurer and go on secret adventures around Galé with Lou to collect rare materials. Just like we’d decided in the countermeasure plan, I was going to live life to the fullest in this new land, and I wasn’t going to let anything stop me. And I was going to support Gillain, the man who had saved me in the book and was now my beloved fiancé, so I could make him smile.
“Sere! I feel like something salty today. Let’s have Marsche-style sukiyaki!” Lou suggested.
“Not cake? That’s unusual!” I replied. “We’d better get some meat then.”
“Ooh, I spy two devilboars tormenting some rare Galéan squirrels! That’s no good! We’d better hunt them down! Let’s head off into the forest along the beach!”
“All right, let’s go!”
I knew Gillain, Asu, and Sakaki would come to share the meal. Even Arthur showed his face at times recently. Well, two devilboars should be enough, I thought—when I saw that Lou had already leapt off the balcony!
“Lou! Slow down!”
“My sukiyaki! Wait up!”
I crouched down, leapt off the balcony railing, and landed right on my beloved silver fluffball!
We were going to have a lively banquet in my detached palace tonight.