"Hah... even if it's all an act to fool the elders of Grimwald, being asked to accept an engagement to the [Heavenly Emperor] wasn't enough? Now Sylvia wants you to remarry her too... You really are a demon cursed with relationships every bit as bizarre as Guy's."
[Ruberios], underground.
In the depths where Luminous Valentine, the [Demon Lord], and the Transcendents lived in hiding in a vampire manor, Adelio had come straight here from [Sarion].
He had stopped by for a short visit to make sure [Viole] wasn't preparing to cause another incident, and to ask for advice about what had happened in [Sarion].
"...If I'd known one connection would lead to all this, I would've been a lot more careful..."
The engagement and remarriage Ermesia and Sylvia had asked of him.
Adelio's answer to that had been... for now, "I'll hold off."
There were still things he needed to confirm before making an immediate decision, like [Sarion]'s future and Ria's opinion.
Of course, it had also been an excuse that was dangerously close to simple stalling.
And Ermesia and Sylvia, both quick on the uptake, had realized that half of what Adelio said was just an excuse to buy time. Still, they were confident he would not refuse the engagement or the remarriage, so they accepted his decision to postpone his answer.
They could afford to give him at least a little time.
"So then, you've come to ask this humble one for advice?"
"...Yeah."
How could he resolve this as gently as possible?
Among the people around him he could ask in this situation, Luminous was the most reliable by far.
Ria was impossible, Velzard and Guy had no interest in this sort of thing, and Chronoa... had "fallen asleep" now.
"Hmm... well, I don't mind giving advice. But before that, there's something I want to ask you."
"...What is it?"
Adelio tilted his head slightly, wearing an awkward expression, and Luminous snapped at him in a sharp, displeased tone.
She looked like nothing more than a pretty girl in gothic clothes, so Adelio didn't find her especially frightening.
"How long are you planning to keep talking to me so formally? Talk to me comfortably, like you do with me and Chronoa... no, like you do with Hinata. I keep telling you, but you insist on using formal speech every time. It just creates distance, and I find it irritating."
As she said that, twisting a strand of her flowing silver hair around her finger, Luminous turned her gaze toward an empty space connected to one corner of the room.
At a glance, it looked like nothing but vacant space, but to Luminous and Adelio, it was anything but ordinary.
It was the place prepared to enshrine the holy ark that would seal away the body of Chronoa, Luminous's companion and Adelio's close friend.
This place, connected directly to Luminous's room, was that very site.
"At most, only a few decades remain. Once that time passes, Chronoa's body, and Hinata within it, will lose their memories of [now] and be sealed away until the [future] arrives."
It was an unchanging law that the same existence could not exist twice within one world.
By that law, Chloe, the one who had been the core of Chronoa, had fallen asleep before Hinata.
As she said, "Until we meet again later, please take care of my teachers and the future."
"...Once Hinata disappears too, the only ones left who know the truth of [Regression] will be me and you. Until the [future] that girl wants finally arrives, we'll be the only two who can speak of the truth. Do you really think I'll be able to talk comfortably if you keep treating me this awkwardly?"
...Surprising as it was, Luminous was a vampire who got lonely more easily than one might expect.
Sylvia, who had been almost her only close friend since the days when they were both disciples of the Creator God, had become one of the heroes who founded [Sarion], and after that, the number of times she came to visit in person had dropped sharply. And among her own kind, all the vampires around her saw her only as their superior.
"I hate to admit it with my own mouth... but right now, you're about the only one I could call a close friend."
Among the [Ten Great Demon Lords], those on equal footing generally spoke casually with one another, but Dagruel was an enemy, Milim and Ramiris were children, Dino and Leon were both taciturn, and the rest of the younger ones were just brats.
Guy, at least, had been one of the people who disliked the Creator God, so they could understand each other to some degree. But he had seen Luminous as a comrade, never as a close friend.
"Hmph... so while I'm specially allowing it, hurry up and speak casually. Once Chloe and Hinata return, I might change my mind."
Luminous folded her arms and even snorted, sending him a fierce glare that plainly said this was a privilege among privileges, so he had better accept it.
As if to say that if he didn't, then the advice he had come asking for would also be off the table.
"...All right, Luminous."
In the end, Adelio surrendered under Luminous's stare and quietly agreed, thinking that she was still hopelessly bad at being honest.
If it meant they could both speak more comfortably, he was always happy to accept that. There was nothing bad about it.
"Mm."
And perhaps pleased by Adelio's choice, Luminous gave a slow nod, a faint curve touching her lips.
After that, a very brief silence passed, and then Luminous spoke again.
"Then... I'll give you the advice I mentioned earlier."
Even if it was all an act, the engagement and remarriage of two High Elves were still major affairs for a great nation.
And the answer Luminous offered as advice for such weighty matters was remarkably simple and light.
"What you sow always comes back to you in the end. No matter how hard you try to avoid it now, it'll come around again later. So the best thing you can do is find some way to persuade Ria."
"........."
In other words: since this was something he couldn't avoid anyway, he should look for a way to accept it properly.
That was Luminous's advice.
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