“Wait. Wait. I’m confused.” Schwarz stared at Claud and Lily. “You two decided to pledge your lives to each other. That much I understand. But are you really so eager to run off for some two-person lovey-dovey time when there’s a bunch of Moon Emissaries on the loose? That doesn’t seem very you, Claud.”

“Well, he’s been sleeping badly recently,” said Lily. “I thought getting him to some place where the Moon Emissaries definitely won’t pass by would be good. You know how the two of us are like.”

“True,” Risti muttered. “And I suppose you two really want a break, right? After running yourself ragged from all these investigations.”

“Ehe.” Lily shuffled her feet. Claud knew that she was acting — Lily was bolder than her usual behaviour gave her credit for. She was used to all kinds of things, which was almost necessary given her background, but Claud still felt a bit bad for getting her to do this.

For some reason, though, everyone didn’t look surprised at the sudden revelation that he had gotten together with Lily — they were more surprised at how the two of them seemingly wanted to elope at the worst possible timing.

“I somewhat expected this day to come,” said Dia, who was chewing on an apple. “But I didn’t expect this day to come so soon. So…who did it? Who popped the question?”

Lily and Claud glanced at each other, and in accord, they pointed at each other.

“…Wow.” Dia chuckled. “Alright, you two clearly don’t want to share. How dull. Still, where might the two of you be going?”

“We’ll be going to Lustre for a while,” said Claud, his outstretched hand pulling Lily close to him. “Preferably after the three Moon Emissaries there pass the city.”

“Do you have anything you want us to pass on?” Lily added. “Your friends and your fellow bodyguards. People like that?”

“Eh?” Dia took a step back. “Nope. No one in particular, unfortunately.”

She fell silent. Claud could feel Lily’s gaze on him, but he also didn’t know how to approach this particular situation. After all, she had lived her life as the princess’ double. It was possible that she never actually made any friends or acquaintances outside of the princess…who was still missing.

Somehow.

Speaking of that topic, Claud really wanted to pay his respects to the hidden princess. She had somehow managed to stay at liberty so far, despite being someone who couldn’t have had any experience living as a normal person. Their Dia had lots of problems fitting in due to her entire life experience revolving around her mistress; the real deal had to have faced the same problems, or worse.

“Oh.” Lily fidgeted. “Sorry.”

“Now, now,” said Dia. “Anyway, from how you two have already packed your bags, I get the feeling that you two aren’t going to be dissuaded by us, right? In that case…Claud, you better take really good care of Lily. If any hair on her head is harmed — that’s a really pretty violet, by the way — I’ll shave you bald.”

“Got it.”

“No wiseass quip from you. Wow.” Schwarz shook his head. “Looks like love really does change people. Now, before you make the rest of us jealous, please be on your way. Have a good journey.”

“When will you two be back?” Farah asked.

“A few months later,” Claud replied.

“That’s very vague.” Farah folded her arms. “And who’s going to take over your job?”

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“Don’t worry, almost every arrangement can support themselves autonomously. The only thing that’ll stop are the patrols, but considering the dangers arrayed against the city, I don’t think our daily patrols are going to help anymore,” Claud replied.

“We’ll be back once we’re done,” Lily added.

“…Alright, alright. Still, what’s the point of grooming a successor if you’re going to abduct her anyway?” Farah muttered. “Alright, the two of you. Go. I’m sure Dia can pick up the slack anyway, if it’s just patrolling.”

Dia looked around wildly. “Wait, what?”

“Yes, that’s a good choice,” Claud piled on. “She can tackle the threats head-on and everything, unlike me and Lily, who can’t fight for nuts.”

“Alright, then. Now that’s settled…I suppose you two are going to be leaving, right? Don’t make us wait too long,” said Schwarz. “Also, I’m going to take as many barrels as I please from your fizzy drink stash. Think of it as payment.”

“Like you haven’t been filching a barrel or so every week.” Claud rolled his eyes. “Anyway, we’ll be leaving now.”

“Tell Nero we said bye.”

The others walked them out to the front door. Perhaps it was out of their own considerations or something, but they didn’t follow Claud all the way to the entrance booth, and as the two of them made their way to the only entrance into Moon Mansion, Lily said, “Emotional?”

“Yeah.” Claud stopped and looked back. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. It would have been horrible if I just waited and waited and you never came back,” Lily replied.

“We’ll need to stay low for a few months. Maybe move from town to town at the same time.” Claud touched his Band of Duplicity. “It’s a shame we don’t have enough money for another Band of Duplicity, though. I’m worried that they might track you down.”

“Let’s hope that isn’t the case,” Lily replied. “I…are you really prepared for this?”

“I don’t want to regret anything,” Claud touched her hair, letting it run through his fingers. “I’ve had enough of people I care about dying. The Moon Emissary…I just know that I must stop this particular Moon Emissary from reaching Licencia. I don’t know why.”

“We should work on that bit too.” Lily smiled.

“Yes. And more.”

The two of them stopped at the booth, and watched as it ferried them outside of the dome. The two guards that stood beside the only entrance to Moon Mansion paused as they took in the sight of Lily’s true appearance, only to look away when they saw a displeased Claud beside her.

Taking a deep breath, Claud held her hand and started to walk away from Moon Mansion. The familiar sights of Moon Street drifted past the two of them slowly, the air full of vibrant scents and fragrances from cooking food. Now that he was facing the possibility that he would have to spend months or even a year on the run with Lily, Claud couldn’t help but feel rueful. That little haven that he had created with the others couldn’t be used for a prolonged period of time, for their sake.

“Let’s get some hotdogs,” Lily suggested. “I raided the larder earlier, before the others could notice, but it’ll be nice to have some of Licencia’s street food one last time.”

“Hotdogs?” Claud rubbed his nose. “I thought you would prefer pastries.”

“We’ve been eating loads of them recently,” Lily replied. “I thought you might prefer a change here and there.”

After making some purchases, the two of them headed out towards the city gates, hotdogs in hand. It didn’t take long for them to arrive at the city’s south gate, which was chosen because it didn’t have a guardhouse. A few guards stood sentry over the place, checking on incoming travellers and their baggage mechanically.

A few of them waved at Claud as the two of them left through the gate, but for some reason, none of them recognised Lily. Sure, she removed her usual make-up, and her hair was now violet, but…

“Doesn’t it make you feel a bit sad?” Claud asked. “About how they didn’t recognise you.”

“I’ve been strutting around looking like someone else for a very long time,” Lily replied. “It’s natural that they won’t recognise me. And that’s fine, really. And besides, it feels good to be myself once more. As Lily, Claud’s partner in love and crime. Not as a fan of Princess Dia, nor as the wayward daughter of the heinous Julan family. Just Lily.”

Claud rubbed her nose with a finger, and then reached into his pocket.

“Crown,” he called out. “Take a good long look at our home.”

“Meep?”

“Yeah. We won’t be returning to it for the next few months,” Claud replied, his eyes on the city gate. The guards were too far to see him talking to the little box, which meant that he was free to pop it on Lily’s head, which made her laugh.

“Meep…”

“Yeah, I know.” Claud took out a bunch of skillstrips and handed them to Lily. “These skillstrips contain Presence Nullification. When used, you’ll be completely non-existent to anyone. No one will be able to find you, no matter what they do; you won’t exist in their perception.”

“This…”

“One of my skills. I never had the chance to experiment with it, since it’s a secret of mine, but I think we can do a few experiments now,” Claud replied. “If we’re holding hands when we activate this skill, we should still be able to perceive each other. There’s also a few Flight skillstrips. We’ll be using them to reach the Moon Emissary at the fastest speed possible.”

Lily nodded. “Do I still sit on you?”

“We could just hug each other, you know…”