PART 1

Looking through the glass automatic doors of the school, I couldn't help but acknowledge the fact that time was, in fact, a fact. The season was changing. Two months before this day, during the school festival preparations (which somehow felt simultaneously like it was yesterday, but also a year ago), the sun would've been already close to the horizon at this hour, yet today, it was still bright outside.

It reminded me of many things, and I was lost in thought for so long that my impatient sister poked me on the shoulder just to get a reaction.

"Brother? Shouldn't we just look for the others?"

Glancing at her, I considered her idea but shook my head.

"Nah. They'll have to come to the shoe lockers sooner and later, and if we head out now, we might miss each other."

Penny let out a disappointed huff, while my other sister looked at her with an amused, affectionate smile. As always, seeing my family getting along made me feel nice, but before I could hand out some customary head pats, my knightly sister winced and hurriedly hid behind Snowy's back.

Sighing in defeat, I let my hand down and looked in the direction of the corridor leading to the gymnasium. Truth be told, even I was getting a tiny bit impatient, so I was just about to Far Glance in the guys' direction when Penny startled me.

"Ah! Judy's coming!"

Blinking, I stared at the empty corridor, and then belatedly turned the other direction. Lo and behold, my dear assistant was coming from that that way, and by the time we locked gazes, my redhead sister was already at her side.

"You won't believe it, but Brother actually called me cute today!"

"Really?" Judy responded with a flat voice coloured by an ever-so-slightly raised impressed brow, and while I always prided myself on my ability to read her expressions, the others were apparently also catching up to me, as Penny's face immediately bloomed into a bright smile.

"Yes!"

"Why is that such a big deal?" I asked as I also made my way over to them, closely followed by Snowy, and it was she who answered first.

"Uuu… Is it because girls like it when they're praised?"

"I'm pretty sure everyone does," I countered, but she didn't argue and only smiled awkwardly.

"But you never praise me!" Penny suddenly blurted out, accompanied by a pout right out of the princess' handbook. "You're only saying those things to Snowy! It's discrimination!"

"Well, I'd call you cute more if you wouldn't be running away whenever I'd want to pat your head."

"T-That's a different thing entirely!" she floundered and continued to mutter about it being unfamiliar and strange with a flushed face that, once again, reminded me of Elly. Which, in turn, had me address Judy.

"Where are the others?"

"In the infirmary," she answered matter-of-factly, and I couldn't help but blink in surprise. True to form, when I checked their red dots at the edge of my vision, there was a cluster at the end of the hallway where Judy came from. Before I could shift my point of view over, she drew my attention back to her. "There was a small accident during the tennis match."

"Who got hurt?"

"I'll explain on the way," she told me and turned on her heel, expecting me to follow her. There was no reason I wouldn't do so, and therefore I quickly caught up to her, ignoring my redhead sister fuming behind me for not paying full attention to her grumbles.

"So? What happened?"

"Angie got too into the game," Judy explained tersely, and after a beat, elaborated a bit. "At first she was leading, but then Elly got serious and won two games in a row, one of the going 40-love, and…"

"Dormouse, you know I have no idea how tennis scoring works, right?"

"As Elly's significant other, you really should," she shot back, and for once, I had no snappy comeback.

"It's on the priority list, but kind of on the low-ish end?" I said a touch bashfully, and my girlfriend let out a shallow sigh. "Let's move on to what happened, please. Did Angie get desperate and pull a tendon or something?"

"No."

"Did she trip?" Snowy interjected from a step behind us.

"No, not that either. According to Joshua, she tapped into her Deus powers, and it gave her a headache, she lost focus, and got hit in the nose by a fastball."

"Considering it came from the princess, that probably wasn't pleasant…" I noted, just around the time the door to the nurse's office came into view. "Did Josh scoop her up and bring her here."

"Exactly."

"So it was most likely an event."

"Most likely."

"So long as it's relatively benign stuff like this, I guess we're good."

"Don't get too complacent," Judy warned me, and I nodded by reflex and reached for the doorknob in front of me.

"Oh… Hi, Leo," a nasal voice greeted me from the bed in the back. "Hi Neige, Penny."

Angie was sitting on said bed, still in her usual tennis outfit, including the fluffy scrunch socks and all. I was very familiar with it, as it was one of the un-enchanted outfits I had to manually stuff into her upgraded Uniformer after she spent half a day nagging me about it.

Next to her, Elly was wiping her forehead with a towel, and knowing her, she probably felt responsible for what happened. On the other side, Josh and Ammy idled a touch awkwardly, accompanied by our new nurse, who was just in the process of putting away one of those diagnostic monocle artifacts he used on me as well a while back.

"Welcome, Lord… Leonard," he greeted me with a hint of uncertainty, and I acknowledged him with a nod before walking over to the bed.

"Are you all right?"

"I'll live," Angie answered with the same nasal voice, caused by the two swabs of cotton-wool stuffed in her nostrils. "Have you heard what happened?"

Before I could answer, Josh came over and said, "This airhead was going to use her powers in a tennis match, that's what happened."

"Hey! Whose side are you on!" his girlfriend whined, but oddly enough, Josh remained adamant.

"Yours, you dummy! Didn't Leo tell us that using your powers all willy-nilly like that is dangerous? I have all the right in the universe to be mad at you right now." He paused, and his determined frown wavered as he glanced over at me. "Right?"

"You sure are."

"Aw. Pile on me, why don't ya…"

"Only because we…" I very nearly said 'love you', but that would have been wildly inappropriate, so after hammering my inner Polemos back into its hole in the back of my mind, I softened it into, "… care for you. You have to be careful with your powers, or you might end up hurting someone. Including yourself."

"Well…" Angie whispered, suddenly sounding sheepish. "To tell you the truth, around the fourth game, I was getting a really strong urge to bring out my bow and shoot at Elly, but it would've been very unsportsmanlike, wouldn't it?"

"To put it mildly," Josh responded while holding his forehead in his hand. "I really should've just interrupted your game as soon as I felt something was off."

"Then why didn't you?" I asked, and while I was only curious, he must've mistaken it for an accusation, as he hastily raised his palms.

"I was distracted, okay?"

"By me," the class rep interjected. "I was asking Joshua about his impressions about the Elysium, since he had seen much more of it than I did."

"It wasn't your fault. I should have paid more attention to her."

"If it was anyone's fault, wouldn't it be for not controlling my strength and hitting Angeline with a ball?" the princess also butted in, and before things could get more chaotic, I raised my hands to get their attention.

"How about we agree that it was nobody's fault, and treat it as a learning experience? Everyone agrees? Good. Why don't we head home then?"

"We still have to change," Elly pointed out, so shrugged and gestured towards the door.

"Then please go ahead. We'll wait for you at the usual place."

The girls didn't argue and left the nurse's office, along with everyone else. However, when I wanted to join them, I noticed how intently Jaakobah was staring at me, so I figured he had something to say. As such, I lingered behind, and closed the door after my sisters, leaving only the two of us in the room.

"Is there something to report?"

"Yes, Lord Archon." He straightened his back, as if preparing for a salute, but only put his hands behind his back. "I requested Judy Sennoma to bring you here, because there is an urgent matter we need to discuss."

"Why are you using her full name like that?" I blurted out the question that elbowed its way to the forefront of my mind, and he gave me a puzzled look.

"I have not been briefed on her official status yet." He paused, and when I didn't respond right away, he tentatively asked. "Is she truly engaged to you, Lord Archon?"

"I thought that was common knowledge."

"True, but I have to admit, she appears too—"

"Before you continue," I cut him short, with a not-at-all menacing smile. "If you try saying anything along the lines of 'plain', 'expressionless', or 'insignificant', I will be forced to terminate our relationship by launching you into the sun. Just for your interest."

Jaakobah blinked, then looked at me in disbelief, and finally shuddered.

"I was going to say 'harmless'."

I rolled the word in my mouth for a few seconds, and I found it tolerable.

"Fine. You get a pass. So? What did you want to talk to me about?"

Visibly relieved that I moved the conversation along, the dour man let out a shallow breath, only to then straighten up and assume a professional demeanour again.

"Our investigation revealed a group of suspicious individuals."

"Students?" I asked reflexively, immediately figuring that they were talking about the four creeps, but for once, I was wildly off the mark.

"No, outsiders. Preliminary surveillance indicates that they are freelance operatives formerly known to be in the employ of the Magi."

"Non-causative Science Research Society?"

"Potentially. According to our correspondence with the local Assembly officials, they have no information on them, making them a rogue element." He paused for a long beat, letting the information sink in. "Your orders?"

Normally, I would've told him to let them be, and then maybe sic Fred on them to see if they were potential recruits, but the words of Lord Grandpa still echoed in my ears. There were people out there who preferred the current status quo, and since Angie's mere existence was a threat to that, they would do anything to get her out of the picture. As such, it was probably better to clear any such 'rogue elements' off the board as soon as possible, before they could cause trouble, or complicate the picture once the inevitable climactic kerfuffle careened into our lives, as it tended to do.

"Deal with them as you see fit," I told him, and after a bit more consideration, I added. "Discretely."

"As you command."

"If you need help, cooperate and coordinate with the Ordo Draconis and our other forces. Use my name as necessary."

"Understood." I thought that was the end of the conversation, but then he threw a curveball at me by saying, "I have also taken the opportunity to inspect Her Grace's astral body on this occasion."

"Did you, now?"

"It was part of the treatment," he excused himself but remained non-apologetic as he continued. "I have noticed several minor anomalies."

"It's to be expected," I granted to him and raised a curious brow. "What is your opinion, as a medical professional?"

I wasn't making fun of him. As an ex-field-medic of CIEL, one of the Celestials' elite enforcement squads (as much as that was worth nowadays), and the one who healed my severely injured hand, I gave his opinion on medical topic about as much weight as I gave to Fred and Mr. Plague Doctor when it came to souls.

"It's hard to say with a single cursory examination, but it appears as if the First True Archon was being… restrained. Or maybe 'suppressed' would be the better word."

"That's correct," I nodded along.

"If the Lord Archon is already aware, then why don't you let her use her powers? With a strong enough stimulus, I predict that all of Her Grace Deus's power could be brought forth in one fell swoop."

I closed my eyes for a moment, and after some contemplation, I firmly answered, "It would be dangerous."

"Dangerous?"

"Yes. It's too soon. That's why we have to ensure she remains at peace, and wouldn't be forced to use her powers any time soon. At all cost."

Jaakobah ruminated over my words, and ultimately gave me that salute that was in the making since the very beginning.

"Thank you, Lord Archon." Was he thanking me for giving an answer, I wondered? In any case, I was about to dismiss him, but he continued on with, "The Praetorian Guard will strive to ensure the peaceful life of Her Grace until the time is right. Also…" He paused, and after some hesitation, he reaffirmed his salute. "Also, I shall inform them to treat Lady Sennoma with the utmost respect befitting of the Lord Archon's partner."

"Don't overdo it," I told him flatly. The last thing I needed was to have our so-called school security bow and salute Judy whenever they saw her. "Is that all?"

"Yes, Lord Archon. I thank you for your time."

With all of that sorted out, I bid my farewells, and by the time I walked back to the shoe lockers, everyone else was already waiting for me, including Angie and Elly.

"What did you talk about with the nurse?" Josh inquired the moment I got near him, and I lightly shrugged.

"Mostly Celestial stuff. Nothing for you guys to worry about right now."

He accepted that at face value, and once I changed my shoes, our merry little group set out together.

"It's been so long since the last time we all walked home like this," Elly noted with a pleased grin, clinging to my arm as always.

She wasn't wrong about that. While we usually came to school together, this was the first time since I came back that we were doing the same on the way home. It couldn't be helped though, as until now, either I was busy being tutored by Judy and Ammy in the school library after classes, or I was running around making certain 'preparations' with dad-in-law. The girls were also hanging out on their own, and the childhood couple also had their own circumstances.

"Do you think we're going to miss this when we graduate? After we go our separate ways?" Josh asked an unexpectedly profound question, but before anyone could give it a proper thought, his girlfriend let out a loud 'Naaah!'

"I mean, why would we?" Angie asked, seemingly unable to even conceptualize the problem.

"Isn't that what happens after high school?" Ammy commented with a hand on her glasses, serving as a warning to keep the volume in check.

"For normal people, maybe, but we aren't normal at all!" the Celestial girl exclaimed, earning another menacing glasses-tweak from the class rep. She didn't even notice. "I mean, we aren't going our separate ways, amirite?"

"You sound confident," Penny noted, sounding skeptical of her claim, but Angie doubled down.

"Of course I am! We're all going to live together in Elysium, won't we?"

That question caused everyone to freeze in their tracks, and not just because we hit a red light at the crosswalk.

"What makes you think that?" Judy inquired, deadpan as usual, but Angie didn't mind at all.

"Oh come on, guys! It's obvious!" In the meantime, we started walking again, so she skipped forward and started walking backwards while facing us and pointing at each one of us in turn. "I will obviously live there, because Deus, so it's kinda duh. Josh is gonna live with me as my Joshticar, so that's a given. Leo will also come to live with us, because he's Polemos, and so he will bring Neige and Penelope along, and once they get married, Judy and Elly are going to live with him too. Finally, Ammy is going to move in with Mike's family once we get rid of those dumb laws that don't let him go home. You see? We'll all be living together in Elysium, so we'll hang out any time we want!"

"You're thinking way ahead," the class rep noted, and she was followed up by Josh.

"You should also look ahead!" With that, he dashed forth and pulled the still backwards-walking Angie to the side before she could hit her head on the incoming telephone pole. "Seriously, you just got healed! Be careful, you dunderhead!"

"I'm not a dunderhead, you big dummy, and I don't need to be careful, because I have a Joshticar to save me."

"I don't even know where to begin explaining how much wrong there is with your logic," the guy grumbled, and the two of them soon descended into their usual bickering/flirting routine.

Meanwhile, Elly was tugging on my sleeve, and when I glanced at her, she immediately asked, "Are we really going to move there?"

"I never really gave it a thought," I admitted. "I was too happy to finally get out without being forced to overturn the whole of Elysium, I never really considered what would happen later."

"Low on the priority list?" Judy inquired while holding onto my other arm, and I shrugged.

"Sure, let's go with that."

By this point, we were getting close to the spot where Ammy and Elly would depart from the group, and I was just in the process of giving my kiss-heavy goodbyes to my draconic girlfriend (and remind her that I would pick her up in the afternoon the next day) when I was startled by someone forcefully grabbing onto my upper arm and shaking it. When I glanced over, I found the class rep, brows scrunched up in a troubled frown, and with her phone pressed against her ear.

"Yes, he's here with me," she said into the phone and looked me in the eye before adding. "I'll put him on the line." She handed me her phone, and as I automatically accepted it, with Elly stepping back, I raised a brow at the caller ID. "Grandfather said he needs to talk to you, right now."

That was rather unexpected. She didn't say what he wanted from me, but if he went as far as to call his granddaughter, it had to be urgent. As such, I raised the phone to my ear with an expectant, but at the same time kind of resigned expression.

"Hello? Leonard—" Before I could even get to say 'speaking', I was hit by a torrent of rather angry tirades coming from the other side. At first, I wanted to cut him short, on principle, but once the words sank in, I could feel my face slacked, culminating in an incredulous, "They blew up a what?!"

"Chief? Did something happen?"

I glanced at Judy, then at the rest of the group, and after a beat, I handed the phone back to Ammy.

"Nothing major. I just have to go back to the School and have a long and severe talk with my Praetorian Guards about the meaning of the word 'discreet', that's all…"

PART 2

"Seriously. It was less than ten minutes," I grumbled as I led Judy out of the movie theatre. "I thought I could go home, get comfy, and then watch them through Far Sight to see what the hubbub was about. How was I supposed to know they would launch an all-out assault the minute we left the school?"

"You should've seen it coming," she told me with a small shrug. "You said you told them to be discreet. Them doing the opposite is comedy 101."

"Then what was I supposed to tell them? Cause as much chaos as possible, and hope that they would think I was using reverse psychology and do the exact opposite?" I cut my grumbles short at this point, as our ride arrived, and I held the door of the Dracis family limousine open for Judy. Once we were both inside, I let out a sharp yet exasperated sigh. "Okay, that was all. I got it out of my system, let's focus on the date."

My dear assistant snuggled up to me on the wide limo seat and looked at me expectantly, no doubt waiting for me to tell her about our next destination.

Today was a 'big day', so to speak. Since it was our first Valentine's Day, I decided to go the extra mile and make it a special occasion. This included, among other things, three separate dates I had to organize to run seamlessly into one another. The less said about the sheer amount of logistics associated with putting everything else on hold so that I could fully dedicate my time and attention to the girls, the better.

Dealing with the last-minute fallout caused by the Praetorian Guard was, of course, something I couldn't predict, and so I had to spend the last evening and most of the night dealing with it so that they wouldn't cast a shadow on today's dates. I was only half-successful, as I was left mentally tired by the affair. Still, it could've been worse.

As it turned out, while the group the Celestial agents raided weren't exactly assassin material, they were certainly up to no good, and after the combined forces of the Ordo Draconis and the School's senior Magi arrived and turned the whole place upside down, it turned out they belonged to a third party. Probably a portion of the Assembly, or at the very least a few conspiring Schools who weren't invited to the party. At least judging by how hard Lord Grandpa was trying to sweep the incident under the rug by insisting that dealing with this was his jurisdiction, but I digress.

All in all, they were a ragtag group of lower-rung Research Society members, stray hedge-Magi, and even some 'normal' mercenary-type people only in it for the paycheck. They set up shop near the School, and they were monitoring our daily activities. Now, while that wasn't particularly incriminating, as Jaakobah and Arnwald both pointed out, it could've been the preliminary step for an assassination attempt. Considering the modus operandi of both CIEL and the Brotherhood in the past, I had to defer to them, as they were as close to an expert on these matters as I could find on short notice.

Still, it was a troubling development. I expected something like this would happen after Lord Grandpa warned me, because of all kinds of narrative reasons and whatnot, but I didn't expect that it would happen so soon, or that it would be so overt. I really had to tighten our security net in Timaeus… but later. At this moment, I had more important things to take care of. Such as the girl sitting by my side, and I started by planting a light kiss on the top of her head.

"Where are we going next?" Judy asked, sounding unusually mellow. By all indications, my efforts to make this into a nice, memorable date were paying dividends.

We started with a massage in the morning (no lewding), followed by a nice walk around the more scenic parts of the city, with the small Valentine's Day fair serving as our destination. It was a cute event held at a square near one of the shopping streets, and we had all the hallmarks: live music, lots of stalls selling baubles, memorabilia, and street food. Of course, everything being grossly overpriced, but let's just say we paid a premium for the experience.

After walking around a lot, we concluded our trip with a light lunch at a traditional corner café on the aforementioned shopping street, and then I borrowed my in-laws' limo to ferry us to the cinema to watch the obligatory cheap horror movie about infinitely duplicating evil mimes. It was tradition, and also good fun.

As for our next and final destination for the day, it was a bit of a surprise, so I…

"Is it going to be a surprise?" Judy asked, and I automatically nodded.

"I figured. Everything so far was too normal, so for this to be a proper date event, we need some kind of unexpected final twist. Considering the common tropes, I guess it must be—"

Before she could finish, I gently placed a finger on her lips and gave her a cheeky wink.

"Hush, Dormouse. Just enjoy the show."

"Fine," she relented unexpectedly fast, and when I tried to move my finger away, she planted a kiss on it with an overexaggerated smack of her lips. I quickly figured out what she wanted, so I tapped my finger against my cheek. "That's the wrong spot."

"Then I guess you have to show me the good spot yourself," I teased her a bit, and that was pretty much all the encouragement she needed to crawl onto my lap and give me a long kiss.

Luckily, the passenger area was separated from the driver's cabin, otherwise this might have been a bit embarrassing. In any case, after she had her fill, Judy finally separated from me and licked her lips. Then, she slightly tilted her head to the side.

"When did you eat something spicy?"

"Must've been the fried crab from that street vendor," I guessed, and it was apparently a good enough explanation to her.

"I should have tried it out. Tastes delicious."

"I'm not sure the second-hand taste is the same," I pondered, but then my girlfriend turned around on my lap and, after sliding down a little, rested the back of her head against my chest.

"So far, I give this date a nine out of ten."

"How very generous of you."

"How is Elly's date coming along?" she asked out of the blue, and after weathering the whiplash, I had to give it a moment of thought.

"Getting the main event together without her notice was tricky, but so long as it works out, everything should be fine."

"Good luck."

"Thanks."

After that, there was a lull in the conversation, the passenger compartment filled with only the low buzz of the engine. It had a calming atmosphere, but it didn't seem to work on Judy, as she kept fidgeting on my lap and giving me suggestive looks. By Judy-standards, as usual. As such, before she got some weird idea in her head that would've been highly inappropriate to act upon in a borrowed car, I blurted out the first thing on the tip of my tongue.

"You know, I was really worried all week that my plans would get leaked and ruin the surprise. Abram is about as bad with secrets as his daughter, and I was really hoping he wouldn't accidentally let the cat out of the bag before the big day."

"Only him?" My remark made Judy look at me funny, and she pressed me with, "Didn't you say you asked both Abram and Emese for help?"

"Ah, I sure did, but about different things. You'll see."

"… Chief? Should I start getting worried?"

"Why would you even say that? Don't you trust me?"

"I trust you, but the same can't be said about the common sense of the Dracis parents."

"… Touché, but seriously, it's not going to be that big of a deal."

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"You're jinxing it."

"No, I'm not. You're just being paranoid."

"The more you insist, the more likely that the Narrative will spite you."

"Didn't I already tell you that we don't talk about meta-stuff today?"

"If you want me to stay silent, make me," she challenged me, and so I was left with no other choice but to pull her over and kiss her again.

After what felt like minutes, our lips finally parted, and she suddenly hugged me. For a moment I didn't know if I should hug her back, but then my hands stopped when she whispered into my ear.

"Chief. You know I'm a little… possessive, right?"

"I… would be lying if I said I didn't notice."

There was a beat of silence as she rested her chin on my shoulder and hugged me even closer.

"I'm fine with our current relationship, together with Elly. I really am, but… when it's just the two of us like this, sometimes I still want to have you all for myself. I know it's irrational, especially at this point, but I can't help it."

Now that I heard her out, I fully raised my hands and hugged her, and then lightly patted her back.

"It's not that weird, Dormouse. If anything, it's a miracle everything has been working out so well between us, and it's thanks to you being so tolerant. Elly too. I'm sure she must have the same kind of thoughts every once in a while."

"No, she doesn't," Judy suddenly declared as she leaned back, so that she could look me in the eye. "I'm serious. I have no idea what's going on in her head sometimes. It's almost as if she prefers our polyfidelity to a monogamous relationship. She's weird."

"Hey. Don't call the princess weird. It's rude," I responded playfully and lightly bonked her on the top of her head. "She's just built different."

"Battle harem heroine different?"

"Here you go with the meta-talk again," I grumbled and rolled my eyes. "Do you want me to shut you up again?"

"Later. My tongue is still numb," she responded flatly, as if what she said wasn't strange, and let out a shallow sigh. "But I'm serious, you know?"

"About what? The princess being peculiar, or you being the jealous type?"

"Both, Chief. Both." She paused and then hugged me again. "You're lucky you're balancing this relationship right, otherwise I would've had no choice but to become the yandere heroine."

"Please stop joking about that. It's disturbing."

"Yangire then?"

"I'm getting a little rusty with my terminology, but I'm about ninety percent sure that's even worse."

"In that case, how about a dorodere?"

"… Scratch that; I'm apparently really rusty. What even is that?"

"It's a character archetype that's acting sweet and loving on the outside, but when their love interest's back is turned, they scheme to manipulate, crush, and even kill everyone that stands in their way so that they can have their love interest for themselves." She paused, and then innocently added. "Galatea already stole my spot as the robot girl archetype, but I think I would make a good dorodere."

"… Aaand it's time to be silenced again," I declared, and leaned in for a kiss. She didn't run away, and after another minute of tongue-wrestling, I caught my breath and asked, "Haah… Just how many versions and sub-types of yandere characters are out there, anyway?"

"I stopped counting at forty-seven," she answered casually, and we would have likely continued the conversation, if not for the limo coming to a halt.

"Oh, look at that. We arrived."

Judy once again got off my lap and straightened her clothes before asking, "And where exactly are we?"

"Do you really think I would ruin the surprise at the very last second?"

I could hear my dear assistant grumble something under her breath, but her soft voice was overwhelmed by the hiss of the hydraulics-assisted door opening on our left when the chauffeur let us out. Since I was closer, I hopped out to the sidewalk and then helped Judy out of the car with my best gentlemanly act. We were in the middle of Timaeus's downtown district, and in front of a high-class beauty salon.

At first, Judy looked rather skeptical of the location, but when I offered a hand, she still took it, and I led her through the revolving glass doors. The inside of the place was about as posh as it would get, and it advertised itself as providing a 'total makeover', with big, bright neon letters hanging over the massive red marble receptionist's counter dominating the lobby.

The whole beauty parlour was just as lavishly decorated, without sparing any expenses on the decorations or materials, and it even had crystal chandeliers and vibrant red carpets leading to the back. However, despite it being situated in the heart of the city, the insides were fairly barren of clients, with only the receptionist idling behind the marble slab and a pair of women sitting on the rattan chairs nearby and mechanically readying some beauty magazines. Was the place reserved for us, I wondered, or did it just see little movement because it catered to the richest clientele? Or maybe the place was just underdeveloped, in the Simulacrum sense, because nobody in the main cast was expected to come here? All of those were potential explanations, though my money was on the first one.

"This was a place Mom-in-law recommended," I told Judy as I led her over to the reception desk. "I was told they provide hair care, facials, makeup services, do nails, and they even have designers and tailors of payroll to provide custom clothes in short order."

"I see…" Judy whispered, sounding and looking unusually timid. It was a rare sight all right, but not necessarily the response I was looking for.

"Mr. and Mrs. Dunning, I presume?" the receptionist lady, a fairly obviously placeholder, greeted us with perfectly permed hair and a stock pearly smile.

"Yes. I presume Emese already told you we were coming?"

"Indeed! We're happy to provide our service!" she said in an energetic yet at the same time somehow wooden voice. "Please, head to the back, and my colleagues will…"

While the receptionist lady was getting into her explanation, Judy tugged on my hand, drawing my attention back to her.

"Chief? What exactly am I supposed to do here?"

"Anything you'd like," I told her with a cheeky smile, but it only left her more confused. As such, before things could get sour, I raised a hand to stop the explanation still coming from our left. "A moment, please. We have something to discuss in private."

The receptionist blinked, and after a brief moment of the classic thousand-yard stare, she nodded with the exact same smile. Once I got her acknowledgement, I pulled Judy to the side, out of earshot from both the receptionist and the ladies reading their magazines.

"I think an explanation is in order," I opened, and my dear assistant nodded at once.

"To put it mildly."

"Yes, yes. In retrospect, maybe I should've at least hinted at the plan after all. Hindsight is my mortal enemy, as usual." Judy didn't appreciate the way I was setting the mood, so I gave up and explained myself to her as directly as I could. "Listen, Dormouse. From pretty much the first time we met on the rooftop on that fateful day, we talked about the various paradigms of the Simulacrum. One of them being that the more important you are in the nebulous Narrative's grand plot, the prettier and more unique you are."

"Yes. It was one of our first observations," she agreed, waiting to see where I was going with this.

"So, I've been trying to show how much you mean to me by referencing this." For emphasis, I reached out and brushed the large ribbon on the back of her head. "However, I want to take that one step further today."

"So you took me to a beauty salon," she noted a tad flatly. "Isn't that the same as telling me I'm plain and I should change my image?"

"You see? This is exactly the problem we have!" I interjected and pointed at her. "You aren't plain. You are absolutely lovely, but you have a hard time shining because of all the battle harem heroines and adjacent bishoujos surrounding us. Today, we're going to change that. Today, you're going to be the heroine. My heroine, to be exact."

For a moment, my girlfriend was taken aback, but then she narrowed her eyes and asked, "What does that make Elly?"

"She's also my heroine. I'm a big enough man for two," I told her while forcing a smug smirk onto my face, and she finally let out an amused, throaty sound and shook her head.

"Fine, let's go with that. What do you expect from me then?"

"Nothing! That's the important part," I said as I stepped up to her and put an arm around her shoulder, and then waved my other arm vaguely in the direction of the actual business floor of the beauty parlour in the back. "This isn't about me, it's about you. I want you to get in there, and do whatever you want! Be as flashy or subdued as you'd like! A different hair colour? Go for it! Want to try gothic lolita fashion? Be my guest! A punk-rocker aesthetic with a mohawk and neon green lipstick? I will laugh, but I'll still love you, so let loose! The important part is for you to feel good in your own skin. If other people will finally also realize how gosh darn cute you are in the process, all the better."

"You're really trying to sell me on this…" Judy grumbled, but as much as she tried to hide it, I could see that she was getting a bit interested in the idea. "So you're saying I can do whatever I want. Do you think they can help give me a yandere-makeover?"

"… Dormouse, I hate to burst your bubble, but there's no such thing as yandere-fashion?"

"Really? Then I have no choice but to be a trailblazer myself."

"Can you just please drop the whole yandere thing? Pretty please?"

She gave me a sideways look, but after a long beat, her lips bent into an actual, honest-to-goodness smile, and she rose to her tip-toes to plant a peck on my cheek.

"But only because you asked nicely," she told me, the smile gone from her face already like it was never there, and then she peeked at the receptionist lady, still silently waiting for us. "Since you went through the trouble, I'll give this a try."

"Neat! Let's get going th—" I wanted to walk back to the counter, but she put a hand on my chest to stop me. "What?"

"You have another date to catch, don't you? Go on ahead, I'll manage alone."

"… Are you sure?" I asked, her previous, timid expression still fresh in my mind. "I still have about an hour until the time we agreed upon with the princess."

"It's fine," she declared and gestured for me to lean closer. When I did, she whispered directly into my ear. "I'm going to surprise you in the evening, so no peeping."

And just like that, before I could even respond, I got another peck on my other cheek, and she walked over to the receptionist. Left in a bit of a daze, I couldn't help but chuckle, but then my brows descended into a frown a second later, and I quickly called after my girlfriend, already headed to the back.

"Dormouse? You know that I was only joking about the mohawk, right?"

Instead of an answer, my lovely assistant stuck out her tongue, and disappeared behind the divider separating the storefront and the lobby from the actual work floor, leaving me just a tiiiny bit worried in the process…

PART 3

"Oh, look! They have a photo booth!" my excited draconic girlfriend exclaimed, pointing at a spot near the central showcase of the Valentine's Fair built on top of a fancy fountain (lacking water at the moment, because of obvious late-wintery reasons).

"Can you really call it a 'booth' when it's out in the open?" I philosophized, but not for long, as I was already being dragged over there.

"Don't split hairs! Let's try it!"

She didn't need to pull me that hard, but since it came to this, I had no choice but to tease her a little.

"I don't know. I think we need to nail down the proper terminology first before we engage in any of this—"

"Ah, the cute couple over there! Would you like to have your picture taken to commemorate the day?" the middle-aged woman behind the tripod called out to us, and I could only sigh.

"Yes please."

Elly's giggles were uncontrollable for the next couple of seconds, but it was fine, as it made her look extra-charming in her picture. For which we had to wait a couple of minutes, so we stepped aside from the showcase to give others the opportunity.

So far, today's second date was going great. We started by watching a short comedic play in the National Theatre of Critias, an old and imposing building with a long history and incredibly uncomfortable seats. The princess didn't mind the latter though, and the show about a play within the play, where an inept theatre group was trying and failing to finish a performance where everything went wrong was both funny and meta enough to tickle my fancy.

After that, it was time for a second round at the fair, and there have been some changes since the morning, including some street performers, and a brand-new set of street stalls to browse from. Things remained wildly overpriced though.

"Say?" Elly grabbed my attention, literally by grabbing my hand. "Did you take a photo with Judy as well?"

"I couldn't even if I wanted to," I explained. "The photographer wasn't here in the morning… and even if she was, chances are, Judy wouldn't have wanted to do it anyway. She doesn't like it when her picture's taken."

"Aw, that's a shame… I wanted to exchange pictures with her."

"Maybe next time." That was the end of that topic, but since our photos still weren't ready, I decided to launch into another one. "You two are getting along really well nowadays, aren't you?"

"What do you mean 'nowadays'? We always got along," she protested, and I couldn't help but raise a skeptical brow.

"That's not how I remember it. In the beginning, you were pretty hostile to her."

"That was ages ago!" she pouted with audible discontentment. "Not to mention, back then, we were in a love triangle, and now we aren't anymore."

"True, I suppose."

She flashed a content smirk, as if she just won a big argument, and nodded so hard it sent her ringlets cascading around her shoulder. Then, she paused for a moment and placed a tentative finger on her lower lip.

"But, you know, I think we really have gotten much closer recently."

"I guess living together does that to people," I noted, and for a moment I was getting expectant when the photographer's assistant returned from their makeshift darkroom… only to then go to the toilet, meaning our pictures weren't done yet. Oh well, back to the small talk. "Do you still practice singing in your personal studio together?"

"Yes! Singing together is so much more fun than when I'm doing it alone! And duets are the best!" Elly sounded extra-happy, which also made me happy, but then my mood instantly turned diffident when she proposed, "We should go to one of those karaoke places again, together! You know, when we had our first unofficial date."

"It was an outing, and… I don't know," I answered a tad uncertainly. "I would also have to sing there, and between the two of you, I'd get an inferiority complex."

"Don't say that!" She squeezed my hand. "With some vocal training, you will do fine! We can even put that idea about singing in Faunish into practice!"

I still wasn't a huge fan of the idea, so before she could get any more into it, I decided to subtly steer the conversation away from any potential karaoke plans.

"Do you still sing Dragon Prodigy songs?"

"Yes! Once things blow over, I'll ask Janis if I can do some backing vocals for their next album, so I have to practice!"

As a reminder, Janis was the lead singer of Dragon Prodigy, one of the bands contracted to Dragonflame Records, the Dracis family's record label. She was also unexpectedly soft-spoken and friendly, despite the initial impression her tattoos and piercings gave off, but that's beside the point.

"Judy said more or less the same," I noted, and then squeezed her hand back and pointed at the darkroom. "I think our photos are ready."

I was right, and after receiving our framed pictures in cute, valentine-themed paper bags, it was time to hit up the rest of the fair. It was only half past five, so we still had some time before we'd have to leave, and I figured trying to find a food stand we missed in the morning would be a nice time waster.

If nothing else, the atmosphere was nice, and since the sun was about to set, the mixed lights gave the whole square a 'carnival' kind of feel, further helped by the actual, honest-to-goodness fire-eaters and jugglers setting up shop in one end of the square. We idled there for a while, before moving on to another row of stalls, and to my sheer and utter surprise, I found some familiar faces there.

"Good evening, dear customers. What can I…?" The tall guy on the other side of the traditional, white-and-red striped stall greeted us with a chipper, if somewhat nasal, voice. However, the moment our eyes met, he shuddered and uttered a soft. "Oh. It's you…"

"It's 'ho?" a short guy, his buzz-cut hair hidden by a company-branded baseball cap and carrying a tray of freshly cut onions, lettuce, and tomato slices, came to a halt and looked up at me. "Ah! It's 'im!"

"Who's who?" the third member of the trio, a heavy-set guy wearing the same kind of cap and a white apron with 'Kiss the Chef' written on it, looked up from the vertical roaster.

Yep. They were, without a doubt, the ol' Goldfish Poop Gang.

"Evening, gentlemen," I greeted them in a chipper voice. "It's been a while, hasn't it?"

"Not really," the tall guy (Jones, if my memory served right) grumbled, but the big guy immediately scolded him.

"A customer's a customer, so no badmouthing!" He turned to us next. "What do you want?"

"Boss. Ya just said to be polite," the short guy whined, and their leader let out a scoff.

"I was! I asked them what they wanted to order!"

While the three of them squabbled, I looked over the place. By the looks of it, they were making döner kebab. Or maybe gyros? I wasn't entirely clear on the distinction, but considering that they had a portable vertical roast, pitas, burger buns, and a whole bunch of different vegetables, I was certainly in the right ballpark.

"So? What's the story behind this stall?" I asked, interrupting their heated discussion about professional courtesy, and the big guy answered first.

"Jones's aunt is in some kooky church charity organization, and because of that, his uncle told us to man this stall."

"All the profits go to some children's hospital," the tall one amended, and the boss nodded with a sour expression.

"And that's why, instead of looking for a girlfriend, we are stuck here next to the hot stove all evening. It's unfair."

"But 'tis for a good 'ause, ya know?" the short guy chimed in while packing the shredded vegetables into stainless steel containers.

"Yes, yes. Keep telling yourself that," the big one continued to gripe, and after absently slicing off some meat from the grill, he looked at us again. "We're still stuck here, and then to make it worse, this lucky bastard shows up to show off his girlfriend again. I bet you're on a fun date, aren't you?"

"Yes, we are!" Elly declared, either oblivious to the barbs in the guy's words, or just so amused she didn't care.

"Bah! Just tell me what you want!"

"Well, since you asked, I think I'll have a big pita with extra meat."

"I'll take a small one, without the spicy sauce," Elly followed after me, and the short guy gave us a determined nod.

"On it!" he declared and immediately began putting together our order. In the meantime, the tall guy looked somewhat restless, and when I raised a brow at him, he finally mustered up his courage.

"So… We mentioned that this was for a charity, right?"

"Yes."

"And, you know… we aren't doing great so far," he admitted.

"We're doing fine!" the big guy cut in from the side. "It's not even peak hours yet!"

For once, the tallest ignored the protests of the boss of the group and let out a sigh.

"You see, I think normal couples just aren't really into spicy street food during Valentine's. I mean, look how much better those guys are doing!"

He pointed at another stall, where they were selling cotton candy, and there was a veritable line forming in front of it, as opposed to this one, where we were pretty much the only ones idling around.

"I think I get your point," I noted as I turned back to the guys. "You want us to donate?"

"Only if you can afford it," the tall one answered, but his face lit up with a mixture of hope and expectation.

"Let's see. How much will my food cost?" I asked as I opened my wallet.

"Ten Jens," he told me, and I had to click my tongue. It was certainly overpriced, but this wasn't the time to be stingy.

"Truth be told, I've been forced to watch my finances for the first time ever, and so I don't have as much money on me as usual, so…" With that said, I handed over a dozen or so one hundred Jen notes, much to the trio's amazement.

"Wait, me too!" Elly followed me up by rummaging through her purse, and after a few seconds, produced an honest-to-goodness cheque-book. "Do you accept checks?"

"Erm… I'm not entirely su—"

"'Es! O' course we do!" the short guy interrupted his colleague as he placed our completed orders in front of us.

"Great!" With that, Elly produced a pen, and while I didn't watch closely at what she wrote, based on the absolutely flabbergasted expressions on the Goldfish Poop Gang's faces, it probably had at least one too many zeroes at the end.

"This is so unfair!" the heavy-set guy cried out as we picked up our orders. "He's not only rich and has a pretty girlfriend out on a Valentine's Day date, she's also rich! I also wanna have a rich girlfriend!"

"'Ere, 'ere, boss. 'E're 'ere for ya," the short guy tried to console his sizable friend, but it had little effect. However, if nothing else, the commotion drew people's attention, and by the time we left, there were at least a couple of new customers, so I imagined they wouldn't have a lot of free time to mope around anymore.

"Hehe," my princess giggled by my side as we looked for a nice spot to sit down as we ate. "Giving to charity always makes me feel nice."

"I can relate."

We soon found a bench, and the moment we sat down, she levelled another question at me.

"You said you have to watch your finances, but didn't Dad already send you this month's profit split?"

"Yes, he did, but I had a lot of extra expenses to balance it out," I answered absently between bites. "Not to mention, while the streaming platforms are doing well, the social media site and the online video platform have yet to break even. There's just not enough online advertisers yet, I suppose."

"You should take my advice and just fleece the Magi already," the princess said, sounding rather aggressive.

"I'm working on it, but it'll take some time."

"Then follow Judy's advice and fleece the Celestials instead," she said, switching tracks without batting an eye. "You said they were the ones who were sending you money all this time, so they obviously must have some more they can give you."

"You make it sound simple, but remember that the Directorate is pretty much the world's most entrenched and fossilized bureaucratic system. Even if I demanded money, it would have to pass through something like six reviews and nine committees before I would see a single penny."

"Then you just have to strong-arm them into speeding up the process. You are their boss, aren't you?"

"Well, yes, but it's complicated," I muttered and took a big bite.

For the next half an hour, we had a pretty meandering conversation, starting with Celestial money, and somehow ending up with a discussion about the health benefits of cooking with olive oil, and while I could swear each link in the conversation made sense, I still didn't have the foggiest idea how we ended up there. More importantly, it was already after six, and we had somewhere else to be, so I called the limo driver. After one last round around the festive square, we got into the car and headed to our last destination.

"Sooo? Are you going to tell me where we're going?" Elly asked, sitting on my lap inside the passenger compartment of the limousine in an eerily familiar fashion, and I shook my head.

"No can do. It wouldn't be a surprise that way."

"Aw! You're such a tease today," my dear princess complained, but it didn't stop her from giving me another kiss.

Like this, we spent about ten minutes waiting for our ride to reach our destination. Namely, a fairly unassuming nightclub, just outside the City's downtown. It didn't have any flashy neon signs, but it had a good reputation, and for this evening, the security was upped by a notch, for multiple overlapping reasons. However, I was getting ahead of myself.

"Where are we?" she asked a touch apprehensively when I helped her out of the car, but I shook my head and put a finger in front of my lips.

Holding tightly onto her hand, I led her past the people lining up in front of the entrance, and after flashing a special VIP ticket, we were let into the club at once. Inside, the fog machines were already working at full tilt. There was the expected, extensive bar in the back, with its fancy stools and shelves full of expensive alcohol, but we naturally steered clear of that and headed to the dance floor. Except, nobody was dancing at the moment, as while there was a familiar instrumental track playing in the background, both the main dance floor and the surrounding areas were packed full of people intently staring at the stage dominating the space. Once we were led to the front row by security and Elly could take a look at the instruments already up there, her eyes opened wide.

"You couldn't have…" she muttered, but as per the rules of timing, it was at this moment that someone with a microphone spoke up.

"The VIPs are here! Let's get this party started!"

A second later, all the lights went out, and the stage lit up to the tune of a very familiar guitar solo. We were indoors, so pyrotechnics had to be kept to a minimum, but they still had some sparklers at the sides, and as they fired up, the band for the night marched onto the stage, amidst the cheering of the crowd.

The woman in the middle grabbed the mic and walked to the front while the rest of the band, all of them big, burly metalheads with long hair and fancy beards, picked up their instruments. Then, with a flash of the stage lights, the surprise Dragon Prodigy live concert launched into the first song on today's list.

"No way!" Elly screamed, yet still barely audible over the sound of the audience and Janis's singing. "I can't believe you arranged something like this!"

I leaned closer, to make sure she could hear me, and yelled, "Just wait! This is just the start!"

Tried as I did, I wasn't sure she could properly hear me, because her eyes were glued to the woman singing up front, and she was waving and screaming like any good fangirl would. I had to admit, the atmosphere was infectious, and even though I promised myself that I wouldn't get too into it, by the time the intro song finished, I found myself tapping my feet and nodding to the beat.

Then, as the final chord was struck, during the lull between songs, Janis walked up to the edge of the stage, mic in hand, and waved her arms in the air. It must have been some kind of universal sign, as the crowd quickly quieted down (as much as such a term could be used to a raving audience of metalheads). For the record, unlike her usual stage costume, which looked like some kind of leather corset with a short skirt and leather boots, she was wearing something much closer to street clothes. It was another request of mine and one she agreed to without much hassle. As for why I asked her, well…

"Welcome, Timaeus!" she exclaimed into the microphone, and the crowd responded with cacophonous cheers that shook the whole club. "Today is a very special concert for a very special friend of ours! It's a big day for her, right, Eleanor?"

She pointed at us, making Elly wave so hard I was afraid her arms would fall off.

"Jannis! Wooooh!"

Yet, her hands stopped the moment she spoke her next line.

"We decided to do something special tonight! She already sang with us in the studio, but today, she'll sing with us live! Isn't that right?"

Suddenly, a pair of stage lights focused on us, causing Elly to stiffen up for a moment.

"Are you serious?" she mumbled, and while I couldn't fully hear her, based on her lip movements, I was about ninety percent sure that was what she said.

"It's your first live concert!" I shouted to her to be heard over the crowd. "Go, get them, princess!"

Elly glanced between me and Janis, and when the woman on stage also flashed an encouraging smile, she could no longer hold back her excitement and jumped on me, wrapping her arms around my neck to pull herself up into a kiss before turning around and leaping onto the stage.

Relieved that things went about as well as expected, I signalled with my fingers to the stage crew, and so they turned off the light still aimed at me and continued with the show. Truth be told, I was a bit nervous about how the princess would react to this opportunity, so I had to put a couple of safety nets in place. I had to ask Janis to look less flashy than usual, so that Elly wouldn't look strange next to her in her street clothes. I also wasn't sure that she would immediately jump onto the stage, so I had a couple of contingency plans under my belt, none of which had to be used.

Finally, I curated the crowd a bit. While about half of them were the usual patrons of the club, plus the fans of the band who rushed here when they heard about the surprise mini-concert, the more visible ones in the first couple of rows around the stage were all 'my people', so to speak. Staff at the Dracis mansion and Dragonflame Records, off-duty Squires and Kage ninjas, plus friends and family. People who were in on the plan, and wouldn't complain about the concert getting 'hijacked' by a guest singer, or care if she would miss a note or two in her excitement.

Luckily for me, the princess was in prime shape, and after some warming up, by the second song, she was singing along with Janis like they were a professional duo all along. Yet, I didn't especially care about the music itself at the moment. The most important part was that Elly was, by all indications, having an absolute blast on stage. That was all that mattered, and looking at her singing her heart out up there made all the trouble I had to go through to secure this venue, ship in the band, arrange the audience, and do all of that without her being none the wiser, all but melt away.

I loved it when a plan paid off, but not nearly as much as I loved watching my girlfriends be happy. That was, without a doubt, the best.

PART 4

At last, Valentine's was finally over!

Well, not completely, but the individual dates were successfully completed, everyone had a great time, and I was completely exhausted by the end of it. Well, maybe not as much as Elly, who was sprawled out on the floor and resting her head on my thigh with a satisfied (if somewhat silly) grin. To be fair though, after all the jumping and waving she did on stage, it would've been stranger if she wasn't tired.

We were back in my room, and I was enjoying a well-deserved cup of hot tea, sipping carefully to make sure I wouldn't accidentally spill in on my girlfriend, who was currently rubbing the back of her head against my leg while humming to herself. To say that she was still on cloud nine would've been an understatement.

After the successful concert, which lasted into the night, we spent some time with the Dragon Prodigy members. Despite their appearances, they were pretty decent people, and at least side-character level developed, so we had a nice back-and-forth going. However, we had a timetable to keep, so we soon had to bid our farewells and pick up Judy before heading out for our third and last visit at the Valentine's Fair to watch the closing fireworks.

Speaking of her, my lovely assistant just returned to the door and she looked absolutely… the same as usual.

"I brought more crackers," she stated as she walked in with a tray and placed it onto my bed, and then she unceremoniously sat down next to us.

Her makeover was… considerably less 'full' than I expected. She obviously didn't adopt a punk rocker or a goth or whatever aesthetic, so let's put that joke to bed, but even so, the change was so minor I doubted most people would've recognized it at a glance.

Sure, she received a professional makeup treatment, and was also taught how to do it herself in the future, but it was a light one that only enhanced her features. Her hairdo received a bit more attention, but even so, the difference was minimal. They cut her bangs a little shorter, and whatever conditioner they used made her hair seem, for lack of better terms, 'fluffier', but otherwise, the style remained the same. She was even still wearing the first ribbon I ever gifted her, and while I understood the sentimental value, it just reinforced how much she looked like her usual self.

"Is there something on my face?" she asked, making me realize that I was staring. Was she teasing me though, or asking sincerely, I wondered?

"Just your nose," I answered with a smirk, and she subtly rolled her eyes at me.

Seriously though, while her makeover had little visible effect on her appearance, I couldn't take my eyes off her. Why was that? Who knew? I sure as hell didn't, since as I have already emphasized, she looked the same as usual, if a little touched up. But then again, maybe that was the point. After all, former placeholder or not, Judy was pretty. Some might say she wasn't princess- or Angie-pretty, but beauty was in the eye of the beholder, and as said beholder, I could firmly declare that they were full of shit.

"Chief? You are still staring."

"I can't help it," I admitted, and it caused my other girlfriend to let out a tinkling laugh at my expense.

Thinking about it, maybe this was supposed to be a statement from my dear assistant. Something about societal norms of beauty and being herself and all the other usual aesops. Alternatively, I was grossly overthinking this.

"Are you disappointed?" she suddenly asked, and after a brief moment of consideration, I shrugged.

"I was curious about how you would look with a mohawk, but I have to say, you probably look much prettier this way."

She narrowed her eyes imperceptibly, as if trying to decipher my words using my expression, and after a long beat, she also shrugged.

"Good enough."

With that, she leaned over and planted a kiss on my cheek, earning another giggle from the princess.

"Are you going to stay like that?" Judy asked, and after some moaning and groaning, Elly also sat up properly.

"Oh, fine. Do you want to start the next round?"

Judy nodded and picked up the stack of colourful cards on her left. It was a game called 'You Know', with simple rules about matching cards based on colour, number, or using special cards to spice things up. It was a fun, hectic, and yet relaxing game that was perfect for winding down after a long day of consecutive dates. Furthermore, I was an avid advocate of the adage 'The family that plays together, stays together', and so I considered this the most fitting way to close our Valentine's. Well, there was one last thing, but that had to wait a bit longer.

"Today was the best," Elly suddenly declared after sidling over to me and resting her head on my shoulder.

"The bar is set high for next Valentine's Day," Judy agreed while shuffling the cards like a professional poker dealer. She must've learned that from Abram.

"Hooold on. Do you honestly expect me to one-up myself every year?"

"Why not?" Elly teased me with an impish smile. "Next year, let's go on a skiing holiday date!"

"What about skydiving?" Judy doubled down.

"Oh, oh! How about scuba diving in the tropics? There's a lot of things to do underwater!"

"Such as other people," my dear assistant stressed, but instead of backing her up, Elly shook her head.

"No, I don't mean that! It's looking at corals and old shipwrecks."

"And punching sharks," I inserted in a low voice.

"Yes, and punching… No! No shark punching!" Elly objected and pinched my cheek.

"Seriously, girls," I said, ignoring the way my face was being tugged on. "Can we please not overdo it?"

"I don't think it's overdoing it," Judy whispered and placed the cards down. "We should do as much as possible. You can never know when the world might end, so it's best not to have any regrets."

"Hey! No depressing meta-topics on our Valentine's!" I objected in turn and reached out to pinch her cheek.

For a moment, she looked at me uncomprehendingly and then glanced at Elly.

"Am I supposed to pinch her cheek next?"

"If it makes you stop thinking about silly things like that, then sure!" the princess declared and offered up her cheek, but in the end, Judy shook her head and didn't take her up on it.

Honestly, her worry wasn't completely silly, but this definitely wasn't the time to get bogged down in grand cosmic possibilities.

"Let's be happy!" Elly exclaimed and finally let my face go, but only because she raised her fist into the air, like some kind of shounen protagonist type. "I already had my dream fulfilled… no, I actually had a lot of them fulfilled, but this was a big one, and I got it today! Aren't you the same?"

"Yes," Judy answered tentatively, but then she looked me in the eye. "I was told I was going to be the Chief's heroine though, and I'm still waiting for that."

"What? You are my heroine already," I insisted, but she shook her head and pointed at me.

"When the hero is together with the heroine in the same room like this, he's supposed to be very self-conscious and blush a lot because of UST. I'm waiting for that to happen."

"… I'm sorry, Dormouse, but that's just not going to happen. Our sexual tension was already well and truly resolved a while ago, so we're about as far from UST as we can get."

"In that case," she stated, folding her arms, "I will get really disappointed, and I will hate you for at least several hours."

The way Judy was trying to pretend to be pouting was, in one word, adorable. Still, this was a common skit, and while I was tempted to just go along with it like usual, I suddenly had a better idea.

"Hold that thought for a moment. This is a decent opportunity."

"For what?"

I ignored the princess and the question marks circling over her head and jumped to my feet. After rummaging a bit in my desk drawer (putting the thing I was looking for at the very, very back was a bad idea in retrospect), I managed to retrieve two small boxes and kneeled next to the girls.

"Chief? Are those what I think they are?"

"If you mean you 'official heroine designators', then they sure are!" I declared with a mischievous smirk, and after a long beat, exhaled a quick breath. "Well, this is all kinds of backwards, since we already got officially engaged in public, but tradition is tradition, and there's no better day for it than today."

Judy looked a tad confounded by the sudden change in topic and atmosphere, while Elly was waiting with bated breath, eyes shining and fingers curled into fists in her lap. I didn't want to make them wait for long, so I presented the small, blue felt-covered boxes, holding both of them in one hand and then flipping their lids open at the same time.

When I did, all the ambient mana trapped inside was released at once, giving off a burst of misty, colourless lights that lingered around my hand. It originated from the pair of simple golden rings inside. They were completely unadorned, because diamonds are for suckers, except for a softly glowing line of bluish-white letters encircling them on the outside, written in old Celestial script. It wasn't quite elvish, but it was the only written fantasy language I knew, and the shifting letters looked suitably mystical. Too bad only I could see them right now, since they would only show themselves to the average onlooker when the protective enchantments crammed into these tiny metal bands were triggered.

"Dormouse, princess?" I spoke in a low voice and presented the boxes to them. "Would you be my permanent heroines?"

Elly let out a soft squee, barely holding back her excitement, while Judy gave me an extra-deadpan look.

"Wife, Chief. The word you're looking for is 'wife'."

"I like 'permanent heroine' better," I answered with the same cheeky grin from before. "I think it much better reflects our relationship and where it all began."

Judy wanted to say more, but Elly couldn't wait any longer, and she snatched one of the boxes out of my hand with a delighted, "Of course!"

"What say you, Dormouse?"

"Silly question," she answered as she gingerly took the other box and took a close look at the ring. "Enchanted?"

"Naturally."

"What does it do?"

"I… would rather not say," I told her a bit sheepishly, and when she gave me an odd look, I was forced to amend, "I don't want to over-hype it, but… let's just say it's one of my biggest contingency plans." Saying so, I picked the ring up and carefully slid it onto Judy's ring finger. I did the same to the expectant princess, and then finally told them, "Consider this a promise. Even if this stupid world ends without warning, I won't let you disappear with it. Even if I have to tear the Simulacrum apart, so long as you wear these rings, you should be fine until I find you. No matter the cost."

My words ended up much heavier than originally intended, and for a moment I was worried I ruined the mood, but then, without warning, Judy suddenly sprung forth and nearly tacked me off my feet. Before I knew it, she was giving me a deep kiss, and once I could catch my breath, she grabbed me by the collar.

"Chief. Lewd me."

"That was waaay to direct, and..." Before I could get a word in, I was caught in a pincer maneuver by the princess. "W-Wait, girls! Slow down! What about the game?"

"Screw the game," my lovely assistant declared with an actual, honest to goodness, completely overt provocative smile, and after seeing that, I had no options left.

"Well, I had a feeling something like this would happen," I said and then put an arm under Judy and lifted her up into a bridal carry before bringing her over to the to bed. Which was two steps away, but that was beside the point. After placing her down, I naturally had to give the same treatment to the princess as well, and once I was done, I dramatically unbuttoned my shirt. "Very well, my dear heroines. I'm afraid none of us will be sleeping tonight!"