Rielle, I...

Mr. Luke, it was so cool!

Yeah, I'm sure you're... what?

'Thank you for protecting me!　It was like being a knight!

　Rielle looks at me with her sparkling eyes.
　It's so, so cute.

"You're not mad at me?

"...kissing a girl other than me, right?　Of course he's angry!　You haven't kissed me yet, so why are you kissing another girl?

I'm sorry.

Wow, give me a kiss, too!

What?　In here?

I mean we had the usual thing going on at the store, right?

　Saying that, Rielle held out her hand to me.

　Ah, what........
　Should I just make it the back of my hand?

　I was in a hurry because I thought he was going to tell me to use my lips.

　Because of the exchange with the Nards earlier, quite a few onlookers have gathered around us.

　As expected, it's too embarrassing to kiss them on the lips in front of this many people.

　If the back of your hand is fine...


My Lady.

　I got down on one knee as I took Rielle's hand.

　Earlier, she told me how cool it was to see her protecting Rielle, like a knight.

　So now I'm going to be her knight.

'To the young lady, I pledge my allegiance.

　Rielle's hand, and a kiss.


　A cheer erupted from the dozens of onlookers who had gathered there.

　Rielle's face was red, but she didn't seem to be full of it.


　─ ─ ─ ─ ********──.

'I kind of made it a moot point at the time, but I can't allow you to kiss another girl in front of Rielle... I'm really, really sorry.

I don't like it when I'm not in front of you.

Yeah, you're right. Sorry....phew!

　I was about to apologize, but Rielle pinched me on both cheeks.


"Luke, you're a really serious person.

　Huffing and giggling, she removed her fingers from my cheek.

　My cheek, which had been tingling a bit from the pull, was now gently stroked by Rielle. The pain seemed to recede as she lightly heeled me.

'You haven't kissed any girls other than me since then, have you?

Of course!

That's okay. I'd already forgiven you for kissing me in front of all those people.

...Is that so?

Yes. I was very, very happy.

　Oh, thank God.
　Rielle had forgiven me.

　This was one thing that had been bothering me for a long time.


Is that all?

What?

''Did you go out of your way to ask Sylph-sama to bring me to this place just to apologize for what happened at the school festival?

　Rielle stares at me intently.

　Could it be that my second - or rather main purpose, Rielle knows?

　For some reason, Rielle was squirming.
　Her ears were stained red.

　Well, since I brought her to a place with such an atmosphere, I'll make you expect it.

　Let's live up to that expectation.


'Riel.

Yes, sir!

Thank you for hanging out with me for the last six months. I don't get to see you every day, but I'm so glad you've spent so much time with me.

'I'm glad I get to spend a lot of time with you too, Luke. But I wouldn't want to say that I want to see him every day. It's a long way from here to Glendale.

Do you want to see him or not?

'....I miss you. I want to be with you every day!

　I went to Alheimu every week as much as possible to spend time with Rielle.

　There were times when I could only see Rielle for an hour or so when I got here, and sometimes I couldn't come due to school events and such, but I would come to see her as much as I could.

　It was so much fun to spend time with her. It seemed like I was having the best time of my life so far.


'But isn't it also quite a burden for Luke to come up here from Glendale to see me every week?　I can't ask for more...

　A burden. I've never felt like a burden.

　Even when I'm always flying to Alheim, I'm always thinking about what I'm going to do on my date with Rielle, and before I know it, I'm there.

'It's no problem at all if you come up here once a week. I'll be there while you're thinking about where to go out with Rielle.

Yeah, what is it?

Yeah. But I want to spend more time with Rielle.

Wow, me too!

　Rielle jumps into my chest.
　My clothes, squeezing them tightly.


　I reached into my pocket and pulled out the things I'd prepared for her.

"Rielle.
Yes.

　I stare at her.

'Will you marry me and come to Glendale?'

　I showed Rielle a ring of pure white.

　It's a ring I made by processing a rare ore called oath stone.

　It's not as good as the ring of the baboon that Harutu gave to Tina-sensei, but this ring is still one of the best spellcasting tools in the world.

　I made a vow to make Rielle happy with this ring in the rough, and worked on it.


　While looking at the ring, Rielle was crying.

''.........If I receive this, Luke-san will be in a lot of trouble, right?

　Rielle hadn't told me much about her family, so I kind of imagined it.

　If I told her that I was the daughter of a noble family or something, and that she was going to marry me, a human being, she would be opposed by the head of the family.

　But my best friend Hurt overcame the opposition of the country's ministers to marry the country's hero, Dr. Tina.

　He's a cheat and a buckethead, but I'm a wise man's grandson too.

　I was ready to do whatever it took to be with the girl I loved.


'If Rielle takes it, I'll protect her for the rest of my life. I will remove any obstacle to be with Rielle.

　I looked her straight in the eye and declared.

'I'll say it again. Rielle, please marry me.

Yes.

　She holds out her left hand to me.

　I put a ring on that ring finger.



　Oh, whoa!
　Yay!

　Finally, I have an elf wife!

　With all my strength, I hugged Rielle.



'Mr. Luke. I'll be looking forward to working with you.

'Oh!　I'll do my best to make Rielle happy.

Would you like to go visit your father tomorrow?

　Oops, that came out of nowhere.
　But that's okay. It's what you'd expect.

"Okay. Let's go.

Thank you. And I'm sorry I haven't told you before. My name is...

　Rielle paused for a moment and then uttered one of the most unlikely words I could have predicted.

'Rielle-Alheim, sir.'

　Heh, heh ...........Alheim.

　...yeah.
　I've been considering it as a possibility.


　Oh, I see.

　You're going to be Harut's brother-in-law, aren't you?