In the castle on the Heaven Vein Dragon's back, Agusheed sat alone in the study, leaning back against the bookshelf.
The Spell book of Sage Ewig was covering his face, making it impossible to tell his current state.
—The third day of rest.
Agusheed sat here alone like this for the entire morning.
Even when the noon sunlight streamed in through the stained glass windows, illuminating the spell book's cover,
Agusheed made no movement.
He just sat quietly by himself.
Not listening to anything.
Not doing anything.
Trying to use absolute silence to stop his restless thoughts.
But he couldn't do it.
Because even at this very moment—
Flamme's final words from that day still echoed in Agusheed's ears.
"Agusheed, it's simply because..."
"I love you."
'I love you'...
'Love'...
Regarding this word, Agusheed had contemplated here for two days and two nights.
Yet he still couldn't derive an answer about the word 'love' from his thoughts.
He didn't know what Flamme's final words were trying to express.
But according to Agusheed's judgment, Flamme should have been happy when she said those words.
Because after saying them, she had leaned forward and kissed him.
Rather than crying for three days and nights like when she was sad before.
However...
What was Flamme happy about—
When she said those words, why did she look at him that way?
...
Agusheed still couldn't understand.
—His demon nature was like an inescapable curse,
Forever preventing him from touching emotions that were within reach for humans.
"Regaining emotions... when will I truly be able to accomplish this?"
Agusheed's wish was beyond words, and no one could give him a definite answer.
So he just sat alone.
Alone, slowly contemplating as time passed.
Until the door was gently pushed open, until a hand moved that spell book away.
Until after two days—
That all-too-familiar light red appeared before his eyes.
"You're still spacing out after all..."
Flamme's gentle face wore that smile as always.
She looked down at Agusheed, who was staring blankly with open eyes, and bent down slightly.
Then she softly asked her husband, who had emerged from his contemplation:
"What's wrong, Agusheed? Still thinking about what I said that day?"
"..."
Agusheed predictably fell silent for a while.
He lowered his brow, shifting his gaze slightly away from Flamme's face.
Then it settled on those few strands of hair touching his left cheek.
"Sorry, Flamme..."
After brewing for a long time,
Agusheed, whose face still maintained that rigid and expressionless demeanor, slowly opened his mouth.
Then he apologized to Flamme, who had interrupted his thoughts:
"I thought for a long time, but I still don't understand what you meant by those final words that day."
"Even now, I can't understand your feelings then or the answer you wanted to convey to me."
Flamme, who was counting her husband's long eyelashes one by one, wasn't surprised at all by this answer.
"Isn't that perfectly natural?"
She straightened up and sat on the desk in front of Agusheed.
Flamme shook her head at Agusheed, who raised his head following her movement.
Then she swung her bare feet and chuckled softly:
"This isn't your fault, Agusheed."
"Because in the end, those were just words I blurted out in a moment of willfulness..."
"Understanding something like 'love' is still a very distant thing for you."
Looking at Flamme, who seemed happy for some unknown reason, Agusheed lifted his shoulders from the bookshelf.
Accompanying the straightening of his waist, he sat in the chair as usual.
"Flamme, aren't you disappointed?"
Catching Flamme's mischievously extended foot, Agusheed gently rubbed her ankle as he asked.
"Disappointed about what?"
Flamme, who stretched out her other foot to rest on Agusheed's other leg, propped up her head.
Her face wore a smile blooming with joy.
"Agusheed, we traveled for ten years before without much progress."
"Now we've had such a big breakthrough—I should be completely happy, right?"
Unable to refute Flamme's words, Agusheed could only look at her with confusion.
"Is that so?"
"That's right."
Since they weren't far apart anyway, and both her legs were positioned on either side of Agusheed,
Flamme naturally slid forward after speaking and sat on Agusheed's lap.
And Agusheed naturally cooperated by embracing Flamme's waist at the right moment,
Preventing her from falling due to any sudden accident.
With no distance between them, the two faced each other while embracing,
Falling into silence at the same moment.
Agusheed because he didn't know what to say.
Flamme because holding her husband like this was too reassuring,
So she couldn't help but nuzzle against Agusheed's cheek.
"Don't act like a child, Flamme..."
Although Agusheed didn't refuse his wife's inexplicable affection,
He still sighed lightly and reminded her.
Because of Agusheed's sigh, Flamme quickly stopped her movements.
She sat on Agusheed, looking at her husband with curved eyes.
"How many more days do you plan to stay here?"
Flamme brought up another topic.
"The original plan was five days. Today is the third day. Not counting today, there are two days left."
Agusheed answered quite calmly.
"That's so long..."
Flamme murmured softly near her husband's ear.
"Is it long?"
In Agusheed's impression, two days was just a blink of an eye for humans too.
"It's long for me."
The wife who wanted her husband to stay by her side every moment said this.
"But I don't want to move right now."
Agusheed held Flamme in his arms and said quite wearily.
"Mm... I see..."
Flamme buried her head in Agusheed's neck and answered softly:
"Then I'll stay here and keep you company."
Stay here...
Frankly speaking, Agusheed didn't mind Flamme staying by his side.
But if that happened, no one would take care of that white-haired elf below.
"If you stay here, what about Frieren?"
"If we let her go hungry, she'll cry for three days and nights, won't she?"
Feeling his wife's light kisses, Agusheed asked back in a low voice.
"Frieren... just have her come up here herself..."
At first, Agusheed didn't fully understand what Flamme meant.
He thought Flamme was going to go down and bring Frieren up too.
But after seeing no movement from his wife in his arms for a long time,
Agusheed had an absurd speculation.
No...
Impossible...
Although the Heaven Vein Dragon had lowered its altitude now, it was still at least a hundred meters.
Frieren, she...
—Whoosh whoosh
Light wind-cutting sounds came from outside the window, interrupting Agusheed's thoughts.
And when he turned his gaze—
What came into view was being carried along by two white propellers,
Slowly flying toward the castle from the distance...
Frieren...
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Powerstones?
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