"Shade, Shade, let's leave it at that this time, okay?"
"Then I'll walk you back."
"I can go back by myself. Good night."
The Three Moons were still the same Three Moons. After an unknown amount of time, Emilia pushed Shade away with a flushed face. After a brief farewell, she flew off as though fleeing.
Shade stood beneath the tree and watched Emilia leave, wondering whether he had gone a little too far.
From the mountain's shadow, where the moonlight could not reach, Galina and Vanessa emerged together. Shade knew it was them without turning around.
"I thought you two were going to come right out earlier."
The Duchess smiled at him beneath the tree.
"We had intended to, but you said something very beautiful—young girls' feelings are always poetry. Besides, what happened this morning wasn't Emilia's fault. We had planned to appear at the crucial moment, but in the end, we didn't want to interrupt."
She, too, looked in the direction Emilia had flown away.
"She reminded me of the romance novels I read when I was only fifteen or sixteen."
"So when did you two show up?"
Shade turned to ask them. Vanessa teasingly smiled.
"Are you really going to take that so seriously? Fine, we appeared when the elf-flavored little bunny did. We thought you only liked large desserts. Who knew you liked little apples too?"
Even Shade felt somewhat embarrassed at that moment. But Galina and Vanessa had long grown accustomed to such things. Compared to the shy little elf, they had done everything.
"You were really gentle just now. Emilia probably needs to change her clothes. I was wondering just how far the two of you would go, but it seems Emilia's courage is still rather limited."
As Galina spoke, she had already walked