"Whoa! W-w-what's going on here?!"
Chris let out a stifled cry of surprise, then leaned closer like a curious cat, her face brimming with shock and excitement over the gossip.
"Kōichi? Darkness? What are the two of you doing out in the middle of nowhere this late at night...? And Darkness, what's with that expression? You look like some innocent maiden who just accepted a marriage proposal. Are you really the same perverted Knight I know?!"
Chris's shout instantly snapped Darkness out of her romantic daze. Her face turned bright red with an almost audible poof, and wisps of steam began rising from her head.
She instinctively tried to pull her hand away, but Kōichi held on firmly.
"C-Chris! It's not what you think! This was just... just an order from the captain! That's right, an order!"
Darkness stammered through her explanation, but the blue hair ribbon fluttering in the breeze was far more convincing than anything she said.
Chris circled them with a mischievous grin and an expression that said she understood everything.
"Ooh, an order, huh? What kind of order requires buying a hair ribbon and holding hands while strolling beneath the stars until this late at night? Kōichi, you're really something. You actually managed to train this hopeless case, whose head is usually filled with nothing but fantasies of being ravaged by monsters, into... Wait, no. You actually managed to win her over?"
Kōichi shook his head helplessly as Chris beamed with excitement and even began pulling sunflower seeds from her pocket, apparently preparing to settle in for the gossip.
He knew that although Chris, the incarnation of the Goddess Eris, usually acted cheerful and dashing, she was still a gentle girl at heart.
"As you can see, Chris."
Instead of letting go, Kōichi deliberately drew Darkness closer and raised an eyebrow at her.
"Tonight is Lalatina's noblewoman's night. Since you have enough free time to stand around playing third wheel, why don't you help me out? Go see whether that idiot Aqua has gotten herself detained at another tavern because she couldn't pay the bill."
"Huh? Aqua-senpai caused trouble again?"
Chris paused, then gave her usual helpless smile whenever her troublesome senior came up.
"Honestly, that walking disaster... But Kōichi, don't think you can change the subject! First thing tomorrow morning, I'm telling everyone at the Adventurers Guild about this! Hahaha, Darkness actually blushed. This is the biggest news of the century!"
Chris stuck out her tongue playfully, then sprang away with practiced agility and vanished into the shadows beneath the city wall. Only her silvery laughter remained, echoing through the night.
Watching Chris disappear into the darkness, Darkness seemed to lose every bone in her body. Her straight back immediately slumped.
She covered her burning face with the hand Kōichi was not holding. The eyes peeking through her fingers were filled with despair, yet they also carried an unmistakable sweetness that belonged to a lovestruck girl.
"It's o-over... Everything's over..."
Darkness let out a feeble wail, her voice trembling badly.
"That loudmouth Chris will have told the entire Adventurers Guild by tomorrow. Everyone will know that the shameless Crusader went for a late-night walk while holding hands with her captain... and even wore such a cute hair ribbon... Ngh! Everyone pointing at me and laughing because I'm acting like some innocent maiden... The sheer social humiliation is just..."
Halfway through, her breathing suddenly quickened. The familiar dreamy look began returning to her eyes as her imagination threatened to veer back into familiar territory.
Before she could sink into another perverted fantasy, Kōichi's hearty laughter interrupted her.
"Hahahaha! That's what you're worried about, Lalatina?"
Kōichi stopped and turned toward the towering Knight, who had curled in on herself beneath the moonlight yet remained breathtakingly beautiful.
He looked at the blue hair ribbon swaying behind her head, then at her eyes, which were plainly filled with fear but also unmistakable anticipation.
The tenderness he had originally put on merely to win her over now surged through him for real, like floodwaters breaking through a dam.
Yes, she was a hopeless masochist. She constantly made shocking and perverted requests.
But she was also Lalatina, the woman who would cast aside her dignity for her people, stand up without hesitation for her companions, and show such a pure smile when treated with kindness.
"Since you're already embarrassed, you might as well go all the way."
Kōichi stopped laughing, and genuine affection filled his eyes.
He raised both hands and cupped Darkness's beautiful face, which was red enough to bleed, forcing her to meet his gaze.
"I think I've actually fallen for you, Lalatina. Not the meat shield who blocks attacks, but this foolish Knight who gets completely flustered over a single hair ribbon."
Darkness jolted.
The elaborate scene of public humiliation playing out in her mind instantly collapsed.
She stared blankly at Kōichi, her mind freezing completely.
"Y-you... like me?"
Her voice was barely a whisper, filled with disbelief.
"Not because I'm easy to bully? Not because I want to be abused? You... truly like me?"
Darkness's eyes quickly reddened, and large tears began gathering in her blue eyes.
The acceptance in Kōichi's gaze shattered every last defense around her heart. Yet amid that overwhelming happiness, a deep sense of insecurity and unease quietly crept in.
"B-but, Kōichi..."
Darkness sobbed as though finally releasing all the grievances and fears she had kept buried for so long. She anxiously looked away, her voice breaking into a hoarse whisper.
"You know what I'm like, don't you? I... I'm the perverted Knight infamous throughout Axel! I'm hopeless by nature. I want to be ravaged by monsters, treated roughly, and subjected to humiliating punishments... That is the truest and ugliest part of me!"
She clutched Kōichi's sleeve so tightly that her knuckles turned white, her expression helpless.
"Does someone as twisted as me really deserve love as gentle and pure as yours? What if... what if one day you grow tired of my strange desires? What if you decide that someone like me doesn't deserve to stand beside you? What am I supposed to do then...?"
Kōichi looked at her conflicted, frightened expression. Rather than showing even a trace of disgust, he chuckled and drew her back into his arms.
This time, he held her tightly enough that their heartbeats seemed to overlap through her armor.
"Idiot."
Kōichi lowered his head and rested his chin gently atop hers, feeling the softness of the blue hair ribbon.
"Why would I want to change you? Your true nature is part of who you are. I love the steadfast, dependable Crusader who stands firm on the battlefield. I love the noble young lady willing to sacrifice everything to protect her people. And of course, that includes the perverted masochist whose head occasionally fills with strange ideas, who gives me endless headaches and is still utterly adorable."