In the end, what she chose was Selene's Tears.
Selene's Tears... It wasn't a bad choice.
Putting its rank and abilities aside, even I, someone utterly ignorant about gemstones, could tell that accessory was incredibly beautiful.
It looked as though considerable care had gone into making it: transparent crystals shaped like teardrops seemed to hang from the tips of its petals, and the gem itself was fashioned into the shape of a softly glowing blue flower.
According to the clerk, it was made from moonstone that held moonlight, so it shone even brighter in the dark.
Perhaps that was why it was an accessory that cost twice as much as Asteria.
Of course, to Dolnesia, it probably amounted to little more than pocket change.
As I watched Dolnesia have Selene's Tears wrapped by the clerk, I sank into thought.
Hmm. Still, Dante wasn't the type to hide what he liked, so everyone must know he likes Asteria.
Could the person she intended to give it to really not be Dante?
Then perhaps Professor Silves after all...
"Please come again!"
With the clerk's cheerful farewell, we stepped back out in front of the shop.
I checked the clock atop the clock tower standing tall in the center of Aether, and there was still plenty of time before we had to return.
Right. What did it matter whom she ended up with?
I put my thoughts in order.
It was only a trivial matter. Whoever Dolnesia got together with wasn't particularly important to me.
As long as she didn't end up in a bad ending, that was enough.
Besides, perhaps Dolnesia simply thought Selene's Tears suited her better than Asteria.
There was no need for me to speculate all by myself.
...After all, I'd never dated anyone.
They would know better than I did. What would I know?
"Then shall we go meet up with Dante now?"
Our business together was finished.
And if those two were sparring, they should have settled it long ago by now.
I sighed and was about to start walking when small fingers lightly caught hold of my collar.
"Just a little longer."
"Hm?"
When I turned my head, the tips of Dolnesia's ears were red as she looked down.
"Just a little longer, so... could you go somewhere with me?"
Where?
"Then wouldn't it be better to meet Dante and go together..."
Before I could finish, Dolnesia shook her head forcefully.
Then she looked straight into my eyes. There was a small but unmistakable stubbornness in those blue eyes facing mine.
She pressed her lower lip between her teeth, then, as though finally making up her mind, spoke with conviction.
"There is something I want to talk about with Ian alone."
Alone?
#
We moved farther and farther from Aether's dazzling night streets, finally stopping at a quiet park.
Unlike the bustling district we had just left, where magitech bathed the entire street in light, this place depended solely on moonlight and lamplight, and was nowhere near as splendid.
The only sound was the chirp, chirp of insects in the grass.
After walking along that silent path for a while longer...
When we reached a bench faintly lit by a streetlamp, she stopped first.
"Let's rest here for a bit."
Dolnesia promptly dropped onto the bench.
Yet she did not look particularly tired as she said it.
She doesn't look exhausted, though.
Still, I didn't bother to point that out.
There was clearly something she wanted to say to me alone.
She had obviously sat down for that conversation.
Without saying anything, I sat beside her.
To prevent any possible misunderstanding, I discreetly left about a handspan of space between us.
"...What is that?"
A sharp voice flew at me.
Turning my head, I found Dolnesia looking at me with clear displeasure.
"What do you mean? I sat down."
At my matter-of-fact reply, Dolnesia let out a short, incredulous breath.
"Then why are you sitting so far away and making a lady feel awkward?"
As she grumbled, her gaze stabbed toward the empty space beside me.
Then Dolnesia gave that empty spot a firm pat with her hand, as if telling me to come closer.
What on earth is with her today?
Did she really pick today to make her move?
That thing about wanting to talk alone, too.
I sighed and scooted closer to Dolnesia. Only then did she look satisfied and turn her gaze ahead.
Crackle, flicker.
The old streetlamp flickered precariously in the night air.
As I blankly watched alternating light and shadow cross her face beneath its orange glow...
"Lately..."
Dolnesia lowered her gaze and quietly began to speak.
"It seems you've been getting close to Lady Iris."
Out of nowhere?
"...Well, the Holy Virgin asked me to spar with her, so we've been spending more time together."
"And you seem to be close with the princess as well."
"Well, she's the club president, and I'm the vice president."
"Hmm."
Then Dolnesia's clear eyes settled quietly on me.
"Is that so?"
How should I put it?
Whether it was just my imagination or the cold night air, the atmosphere around us abruptly turned chilly.
"...No, this won't do."
At that moment, Dolnesia muttered quietly and suddenly rose to her feet.
Then she thrust the small box she had been holding so dearly against her chest toward me.
It was...
"I was going to give it to you tomorrow, but I can't wait any longer."
Selene's Tears—the accessory Dolnesia had chosen to give the male lead.
...?
"Why are you giving this to me? Weren't you going to give it to Dante?"
As I stared at the box with a dazed expression, Dolnesia replied as though I had said something utterly ridiculous.
"Why would I give this to Dante?"
No, why wouldn't you give this to Dante?
I was dumbfounded.
The accessory I had assumed she would give to Dante—or perhaps Professor Silves—was actually for me?
"Who are you?"
"What the hell have you been babbling about since earlier? Your birthday is tomorrow, so I got you a present."
Tomorrow was my birthday?
My mind went blank for a moment.
Was it? It did seem like it might have been.
When I searched my memory, it really did seem to be true.
Honestly, I couldn't remember very well.
This body hadn't told me such trivial things, so I had never even given my birthday any thought.
So this gift... was the birthday present she had intended to give me tomorrow?
"Ah, whatever. If you don't want it, then don't take it."
When I only continued staring at her with a blank expression, Dolnesia puffed out her cheeks and made as though to tuck the gift back against her chest.
"Hey, I never said I wouldn't take it."
With a dry cough, I accepted Dolnesia's gift and quietly looked at the box.
Then what about Dante?
"Then... Dante?"
"What about Dante?"
What did she mean, what about him?
"Didn't you like Dante?"
"Me?"
Dolnesia looked at me as though I had just said something completely insane.
"Did you hit your head or something today?"
A concerned look, as though she were genuinely worried I had lost my mind, landed squarely on me.
"Come on, you getting me a birthday present makes even less sense."
At my certainty, Dolnesia's brow drew together slightly.
She moved close, taking a step toward me by the bench, and stared up at me.
"Why do you think it makes no sense?"
The question, colder than the night air, pierced straight into my chest.
How should I know?
Dolnesia wasn't particularly the type to obsess over family.
As befitted the protagonist of an adoption-themed romance fantasy, Cassian or the family head might have obsessed over her, but not her.
Usually, Cassian or the family head would give her gifts unilaterally, and she would reluctantly return the gesture.
It wasn't as though she lacked familial affection, of course.
Even so, I distinctly remembered that she wasn't the kind of person to readily hand over a gift first on just any day... no, even if it was someone's birthday.
But what did it matter?
Even if this was a gift that had never been meant for the male lead, it did not change the fact that she had carefully chosen it and given it to me.
"No. I'll gratefully accept it."
Then I'll just take it.
Besides, the ability is useful too.
At my casually thrown-out words, Dolnesia's eyes widened slightly. Soon, the corners of her eyes curved softly.
"You should be grateful. It's the first gift I've ever carefully chosen for a man."
"Yes, yes. Brother Cassian will be terribly sad to hear that."
"Why are you suddenly bringing up my brother?!"
Dolnesia shouted, sharply turning her head away. After blinking a few times, she seemed embarrassed by her own reaction and covered her mouth with her hand, letting out a small laugh.
Her laughter broke fresh beneath the moonlight.
The sight of her made me smile without realizing it.
But wait.
Something suddenly flashed through my mind.
Selene's Tears.
If Dolnesia had chosen the accessory for me from the start, rather than for Dante...
Didn't that mean she thought Asteria and Selene's Tears suited me?
Something was strange...
Did I have any reason to suit those flowers?
At that moment.
Her fresh laughter abruptly stopped, as if it had been a lie.
Wondering what had happened, I looked ahead. At the end of my gaze, Dolnesia stood with the moon behind her, looking at me with a quiet smile.
Blue eyes, deep enough to hold my gaze firmly captive.
"Ian, do you happen to know the flower meaning of Selene?"
Watching me with that look in her eyes, she continued in a low voice.
Who knew?
Her abrupt stop in laughter was strange, but I was curious why she had decided Selene's Tears would suit me, so I thought it over.
I didn't know much about Selene's Tears.
There wasn't anyone at Dawnstar Academia who particularly disliked that flower, but neither was there anyone who liked it.
Unlike Asteria, which had been written about in the setting guide, it was a flower never mentioned anywhere.
"I don't know."
When I finally shook my head honestly, Dolnesia nodded with a faint smile, as though she had expected that.
Without losing her smile, Dolnesia gave me the answer in a voice like a whisper.
"Its flower meaning is this: 'Even if I am not remembered, I remember you.'"
"..."
As I watched her lips murmur those words with a faint smile, it felt as if my blood had turned cold.
Even if I am not remembered, I remember you.
For some reason, that flower meaning felt especially chilling today.
All the more because it had come from Dolnesia's mouth.
"Wait a moment..."
"There is a limit to how oblivious you can be."
Her blue, deer-like eyes curved bewitchingly, and her cherry-like lips drew an unnervingly crescent-shaped smile.
Her eyes seemed to say that I could not escape.
At the sight, I swallowed without realizing it.
Something was dangerous.
I could feel it without even using [Insight of One Who Has Seen the End].
I was seriously fucked.
"I have no idea what you're talking about..."
So I desperately racked my brains, trying to get out of this situation somehow.
"Mister."
But the single word that came out of her mouth next brought my thoughts to a complete halt.
That word, "mister," from her lips...
"Mister Don Quixote. Did you really think I had forgotten?"
...was what she had called me when I saved Dolnesia, then Dorothy, in Dreamland five years ago.
"Answer me."
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