So pure and untainted that it had an uncanny beauty to it, reflecting his face perfectly.
But his neck was far too thin, and there was hardly any excess flesh along his jawline.
The collar of his battle shirt also revealed part of his collarbone, its contours unusually prominent.
Though he was supposedly seventeen, aside from his height, he showed no signs of maturity at all. Riveria felt that no one would have doubted him if he'd claimed to be fourteen or fifteen.
For some reason, despite the vast difference between them, his appearance still reminded Riveria of Ais when they'd first met last year...
Had this poor kid even been eating properly?
He really did need to get more nourishment.
Come to think of it, he seemed to have worn that tattered outfit for days. It was winter, after all. She should take him to buy a few sets of clothes later...
When Riveria realized she was actually thinking about such irrelevant things, she was startled.
Wait, what was she even thinking?
Coming to her senses, Riveria hurriedly looked away and tried to pull her hand back.
But Noah still wouldn't let go. Instead, he gripped it even tighter, squeezing hard enough that Riveria's palm began to hurt.
Did this guy have no idea how to be gentle with women?
All he ever thought about was fighting. Would he end up unable to find a partner and spend his whole life alone?
No, why was she worrying about his future?
As these thoughts crossed her mind, Riveria's expression turned exasperated and helpless.
"Let go!"
Hearing the change in Riveria's tone, Noah's eyes lit up and his expression brightened.
"Riveria? You'll let me go to the Dungeon?!"
Even the Elf Royalty, who usually valued elegance above all else, couldn't help rolling her eyes.
That eye roll, appearing on her delicate, intelligent, almost sacred-looking fair face, lent her an unexpectedly lively, mischievous charm. She looked both languid and alluring.
"When did I ever say you couldn't go?"
Noah's eyes widened.
"Then why are you here?"
As if to say, "I really can't be bothered to explain this to you," Riveria half-closed her eyes, tucked her staff under her arm, and used her free hand to lift her robe, revealing the pouch fastened around her slender waist.
"Obviously, I'm going with you. With your abilities, I bet you'd dare to run straight down to the seventeenth or eighteenth floor."
Looking at the elf whose eyes twinkled with amusement, as if to say, "You should thank me," Noah blinked and released Riveria's hand.
Then!
Before the Elf Royalty could react, Noah reached out with both hands, grabbed her slender waist beneath her robe, and lifted her high into the air!
"Long live Riveria!"
Completely caught off guard, the Elf Royalty stared wide-eyed, her mind going blank.
The strange sensation from the sensitive spot at her waist, a place no one had ever touched before, made her face turn scarlet in an instant. She froze as if struck by lightning, unable to react.
Her long legs, dangling beneath her robe, found nothing to push against, and she could only kick helplessly at the air.
"Y-You idiot! Put me down!"
But Noah ignored her completely, even holding Riveria aloft as he spun around several times.
At last, unable to take it anymore, Riveria raised her tightly clenched fist high. Veins stood out on the back of her pale hand—
"Thwack!!"
"Argh!!"
A satisfyingly loud sound rang through the courtyard. Noah hit the ground headfirst and lay sprawled out in a starfish shape.
...The bulge below referred to a long sword.
"This is unbelievable! How could you do something like that to a woman? Do you have no common sense at all?"
With her cheeks so red they looked ready to drip blood, Riveria clenched her teeth as she straightened her robe, glaring at the sprawled Noah as if he were scum.
"Don't you know that you can't just touch an elf's body?"
But the moment the words left her mouth, Riveria herself froze.
She touched the spot on her waist where that strange sensation still lingered, then held her palm up before her and furrowed her delicate brows.
Huh?
She didn't seem to mind?
All elves had an aversion to other people touching them. The most sensitive among them even recoiled from contact with other elves.
Elves who came to Orario, where all manner of races lived side by side, tended to be more accepting. Riveria was no exception. After all, tending to the wounded and helping carry people in the Dungeon were unavoidable.
But she certainly wasn't so relaxed that she wouldn't mind someone touching her waist...
Could it be?
Just as a suspicion began to form in Riveria's mind, she caught a faint scent.
Hm?
Her delicate nostrils twitched. After glancing around, Riveria slowly lowered her gaze to her hand.
There was no doubt about it. The fragrance came from her palm.
Could it have rubbed off when Noah held her hand just now...?
Riveria lowered her head without thinking and smelled her palm.
A faint, crisp fragrance, like mint and lemon, flowed into her nostrils. It made Riveria feel as if she'd returned to the White Garden in Alf Forest.
The garden was drenched in honey-thick sunlight, while bees and butterflies flitted among all manner of wondrous flowers and plants she'd never seen in her previous life. Somewhere, an elegant melody played on a harp...
Riveria felt her cheeks grow warm, yet her mind remained perfectly clear.
Still, a faint warmth and loneliness wandered through her heart, leaving her unable to pull away.
Only when a cold wind blew did Riveria shiver and come back to herself, realizing just how inappropriate her actions had been.
No, inappropriate didn't even begin to describe it.
It was practically like she was infatuated...
As if there were something dirty on her hand, Riveria vigorously shook it before lowering it, feeling the cold wind gradually die down.
Fortunately, no one had noticed just now—
Just as Riveria thought this, she met a pair of innocent golden eyes behind the gates of Twilight Manor.
"Riveria, what were you doing just now?"
In an instant, Riveria's toes curled tightly inside her long boots.
As the rosy dawn reddened the clear sky, the bitter morning wind grew stronger. The white clouds formed by each breath almost obscured her vision.
But as Riveria looked at the little blond girl before her, she felt that nothing could be colder than her heart right now.
Not even her first-tier wide-area attack spell, "Ecstasy: Fimbulvetr," was this cold!
By the World Tree!
She'd really only done that without thinking! She absolutely hadn't meant anything lewd or indecent by it!
If Ais had really seen what she'd just done...
"Riveria, I never thought you were that kind of elf. And you're always acting so high and mighty when you lecture me... Heh, you're kind of cute!"
At the thought of Ais looking down at her with a mocking gaze, Riveria felt as if a green-haired wild child were rolling and kicking furiously across her bed!
No!
Riveria clenched her fist and dug her fingernails into her palm, using the pain to clear her head and force herself to calm down.
Even if she looked at it another way, it was still just her own guess. Perhaps Ais hadn't seen anything at all.
And even if she had, maybe she didn't understand what she'd seen.
Yes! That was it!
She would stay true to the Heart of the Great Tree! She absolutely mustn't waver!
"Ais, it's early morning. Why aren't you asleep? What are you doing here?"
Looking at the Elf Royalty with her arms crossed and a stern expression, Ais had a huge question mark appear above her head.
If Riveria's face hadn't still been flushed in a way Ais rarely saw, she might have wondered whether that scene had been a hallucination caused by not being fully awake.
"I got up to train..."
Ais waved the wooden sword in her hand, then looked at Noah, who was lying on the ground.
"Riveria and Noah, what are you doing?"
"W-We were..."
Usually, even when surrounded by monsters, Riveria could smoothly recite her spell incantations. But now her tongue seemed to have tied itself in knots.
After stumbling over her words for four or five seconds, Riveria's eyes suddenly lit up.
"Training! Right! I was training this guy! He has magic too, after all. I need to train him in concurrent casting!"
Looking at Noah lying on the ground, Ais's big eyes were full of confusion.
"So training in concurrent casting means you have to beat someone unconscious?"
The little blond girl couldn't help thinking that she'd learned something new.
Still, that was good. If someone asked her to help train them in concurrent casting in the future, she'd know what to do.
Seeing that Ais had clearly picked up the wrong idea, Riveria bit her lip, feeling a little guilty.
But if she corrected her now, things would probably get even more complicated, and she'd have to explain herself.
Besides, no one would probably ever ask Ais to help train them in concurrent casting...
With that thought, Riveria suppressed her nagging conscience.
Just then, Noah groaned a few times, clutched his head, and slowly pushed himself up into a slumped sitting position.
"Mm, how did I... fall asleep?"
Confused, Noah met Riveria's icy gaze. A wave of pain throbbed through his head, and he immediately came to his senses.
"Mm—"
Noah glanced instinctively at Riveria's palm and the waist concealed beneath her robe.
Though Riveria was tall and slender, her hand was surprisingly small, small enough for Noah to cover completely.
But more surprisingly, being hit really hurt!
After one look, Noah guiltily looked away. He had a feeling that if he stared any longer, Riveria would make him explode on the spot.
Then Noah's gaze met a pair of round golden eyes.
"Eh? Ais? What a coincidence. What are you doing here?"
Ais wrapped her arms around her short legs and tilted her head.
Before you continue