Only when Akuto finally released her with lingering reluctance did Kusanagi Shizuka gradually come back to her senses.
The girl suddenly shoved Akuto away, gulping for air in great, hurried breaths. Her chest rose and fell sharply, and her once fair cheeks were now as red as a fully ripened tomato. Even her delicate earlobes were stained a tempting pink, making her look almost deliciously vivid.
At this moment, Shizuka's strawberry-colored lipstick had long since smudged, even rubbing to the corner of her lips. It made her look especially soft and tender. Her cute green eyes were unusually moist as well, filled with a hazy, dazed mist.
Shizuka was no longer dissatisfied like before.
Because even if it was "made up" after the fact, Akuto had indeed completed the confession he should have made, just now.
And the shy sweetness that surfaced in her glances fit perfectly into the kind of scene you would see in a shoujo manga.
A rainy airport.
A moment of parting.
A heroine who can't bear to let go.
A hero confessing right before departure.
The only flaw was that she wasn't as tall and slender as those shoujo manga heroines, and had to rise onto her tiptoes just to reach Akuto.
But fortunately, Akuto's physical condition was excellent. By the time their kiss went on and on, he could already lift her clean off the ground and hold her there, greedily drawing in everything that was hers.
Akuto licked the corner of his lips, as if savoring the lingering taste of that strawberry lipstick.
Shizuka noticed the motion. She wanted to say something, but then lowered her head shyly instead.
Because even though Akuto had initiated everything, the way she responded later had been just as direct—almost as if she couldn't wait to feel all of him, from every angle, without holding anything back.
Akuto looked at Shizuka's bashful yet satisfied expression and smiled with clear contentment.
"Shizuka, now you understand how reluctant I am to leave you, right?" As he spoke, Akuto reached out and gently wiped away the lipstick that had smudged at the corner of her mouth.
"Hmph. I don't totally understand." Shizuka hugged her arms across her chest again. "Anyway, Akuto-nii, you'd better hurry back from Italy!"
But unlike before, Shizuka's eyes were now so glossy and damp, and the way she looked at Akuto was filled with shyness and love.
Why did Shizuka want Akuto to return from Italy quickly? The answer was obvious.
She wanted him to come back soon, so their relationship could keep moving forward.
…
There was no doubt that Shizuka was still being a tsundere—she had already accepted Akuto in her heart and in her actions, yet she still insisted on being stubborn with her words.
However, considering that today's goal was to help Shizuka fully open up her heart, Akuto decided to push her to open up just a little more.
So in the next second, Akuto put on a disappointed expression and sighed.
"Is that so? Even after I've gone this far, you still don't understand how I feel, Shizuka?"
"If that's the case, then I can only go look for other girls who can understand my feelings~~~"
"Hah?!?!"
The instant Akuto said he would look for other girls, Shizuka completely lost her composure.
"Who? Akuto-nii, who are you planning to look for?!"
"Is it Mariya Sari-senpai from the tea ceremony club? Or my cousin Sakura? Or Sakura's friend, Rencheng Toki?"
"Wait! Akuto-nii, don't tell me you're thinking of going after little Hikari?!"
Shizuka suddenly realized that the biggest threat to her might not be the gentle, mature Sari-senpai, but Hikari instead.
Because—if Akuto was confessing to her, then there was a very high chance Akuto was a lolicon! And if he was a lolicon, then Hikari was far more dangerous than Sari-senpai!
"…"
Akuto didn't answer. He simply watched as Shizuka rattled off one "famous name" after another.
As she kept talking, Shizuka also noticed the faintly teasing smile on Akuto's face and realized he was messing with her.
"Akuto-nii, please don't joke about things like that from now on!"
Just now, she had truly been scared that Akuto would go find someone else.
Other people might not understand, but she understood all too well how many beautiful girls were watching her Akuto-nii like hawks.
Akuto smiled softly again, and once more reached up to touch the pink ribbon tied around Shizuka's pink twin-bun hairstyle.
As he gently stroked her hair, Akuto spoke in a calm, steady voice.
"Shizuka, from the time we were little until now, I've always seen what you've felt for me."
"At this point… I have to admit I can't live without you anymore."
"So if possible, I want to live together with you."
"Shizuka, are you willing to cook for me for the rest of your life, and stay by my side for the rest of your life?"
"…"
Hearing Akuto's words, Shizuka's pupils trembled continuously.
At the very end, she finally nodded slightly.
"…Yeah. If Akuto-nii wants it… then I'm willing to cook for you for a lifetime."
…
This time, Akuto finally received a clear answer.
And so, satisfied, Akuto gently lifted Shizuka's refined chin and kissed her tenderly.
That kiss lasted a long time—until it was nearly time to check in the luggage, and only then did the two of them reluctantly part.
In front of the departure hall, Akuto said goodbye to Shizuka.
"Shizuka, I'm going."
"…Yeah, Akuto-nii. Have a safe trip."
Like a wife sending off her husband, Shizuka bent forward slightly, watching Akuto's figure disappear from her sight.
…
Remaining where she was, Shizuka covered her burning cheeks and her lips, which still carried a lingering tingling numbness. Her heart was still pounding wildly.
Between her teeth and lips, it felt as though Akuto's presence and scent still remained. That lingering, entangled kiss was like a brand seared deep into her memories.
"A lifetime of cooking… huh?"
Gently touching her lips, Shizuka walked home with unsteady legs.
…
Meanwhile.
Western Europe, within the Duke's estate of Godeli.
On a lavish bed in a luxurious bedroom, a blonde girl named "Alice" lay quietly asleep.
Alice looked to be around fifteen or sixteen. Her hair was a radiant cascade of gold, and she had the delicate, refined features of a white European girl.
Beneath a high-quality white outer garment, her long, pale legs caught the moonlight. The overall impression she gave was one of stillness and solemn purity.
Without a doubt, there was a distinctive aura around her—one that only a "miko" with a special "sense" could possess.
Of course, "sense" was the term used in the Eastern lands. In the West, it was called "spirit sight."
The reason this blonde girl possessed such a rich and unusual aura was because—
She held the strongest "spirit sight" in Europe, and perhaps in the world!
…
Because she had outstanding mental strength but a frail physical constitution, Alice did not like intense exercise. Most of the time, she lay in bed and used "mental perception" to send her "spirit body / astral body" out to walk the world.
…
At this moment, lying atop the velvet-filled bed, Alice was undergoing her daily routine of deep sleep.
But in her dreams, her brow was slightly furrowed, as if she were experiencing an unpleasant vision.
"Mmm…"
"The savior who descends… the king who ends everything…"
"He is a Demon King… he is also a god…"
"He saves everything… he also takes everything…"
"The one who cleaves fate… the fate of the Godslayer… the fate of the Last King… the fate of the world…"
"His… his name is…"
Clearly, Alice was in a "spirit sight" state.
Spirit sight was a rare ability passed down since the era of the Earth Mother Goddess—an ability only miko with extremely pure Earth Mother blood could possibly awaken. And she, Alice, was among the most exceptional of them all.
Alice Louise Orme Nafar—this was her full name.
The world usually called her "Princess Alice." She had once served as the chairman of the Greenwich Council of Sages, and now held the transcendent position of special advisor.
She bore the title of "White Miko-hime."
In the present era, those bizarre and eccentric "Authorities" under the various Godslayers—many of their names had been coined by the Council of Sages, and quite a few of them had been influenced by this princess's personal sense of mischief.
At this very moment, she had, after a long absence, fallen into a deep spirit sight.
Normally, because her frail body constrained her, she preferred to keep her mental power tightly focused and travel the world in the form of a spirit body. In that state, she could coolly sense others' presence, emotions, and even peer into their hearts. Furthermore, she could interfere with, and delicately manipulate, the roots of the mind—spirit bodies and souls themselves. This was a special capability only a tiny number of miko possessed.
Today, she had intended to sleep properly—letting her exhausted body and mental power truly rest, rather than sending her spirit body roaming again. Yet within this rare moment of respite, spirit sight arrived uninvited.
Spirit sight could also be called "heavenly revelation," "providential sensing," or "oracle."
In a spirit sight state, the seer can glimpse past and future, and can also obtain wisdom from the depths of the cosmos. It is a power bestowed by heaven and earth upon the Earth Mother Goddess and her descendants.
Of course, most spirit seers are unconscious. Miko who can enter spirit sight proactively are exceedingly rare. And Princess Alice possessed talent so extraordinary it could only be called peerless.
…
"The Last King?"
The moment she perceived that name, the still-dazed Alice jolted awake!
"That guy, the Black Prince, said it before—doesn't the 'Last King' mean the one Guinevere, holding the Holy Grail, is desperately trying to resurrect?"
She narrowed her eyes, forcing herself to trace back the shattered fragments of impression left in her mind.
In the emptiness of the universe, a lone figure took a step forward—and then heaven and earth began to change.
He took another step, and heaven and earth manifested. Grass and trees grew. Fruits ripened…
The third step. The fifth step…
By the seventh step, he quietly sat upon the ground, watching everything around him.
"This… looks like a god's creation of the world, doesn't it?" Alice murmured. "Could it be… the One from the Bible is about to descend?"
"How is that possible? A being of that level… how could They descend into the world?"
(End of Chapter)
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