EPILOGUE

With the arrival of nightfall, it was finally time for the climax of the autumn festival.

Boom, boom, boooom.

The sound of fireworks resonated throughout the First Cathedral grounds.

“Excellent. It sounds like the entire country is congratulating me on my rule. What a nice festival this turned out to be.”

Ouka was talking to Alfoncina, who sat beside her.

They both sat on one of the cathedral’s balconies, leisurely watching the fireworks. Each of them held a fan in one of their hands.

“Isn’t it? And it seems like they peacefully reached an agreement with the god of the mountain, so I’m glad~.”

“Alfoncina, you planned all this, didn’t you?”

“What are you talking about~? It’s all a coincidence~.” Alfoncina simply gave a carefree smile.

“If there were any dangerous individuals in this country that might stage a coup, it’d be you.”

“Ha-ha-ha~! I doubt I could ever win against your tactics~.”

Ouka and Alfoncina looked at each other and smiled.

“These are nice fireworks. Just fantastic!”

Shiren stepped onto the balcony. Though typically overlooked, she was still the emperor’s little sister, so most places let her in on sight. She held some tomato candies in her hand.

“They’re doing some fireworks that look like weeping cherry trees now! That’s a great idea! It’s so cool!”

“Shiren, your mental age is way lower than your actual one, isn’t it?”

“I need to act a little childish. Otherwise, I’ll get wound up again.” Shiren smiled wryly. “It’s rough watching out for your friends.”

Her expression changed to a more serious one.

“You really went for it today, didn’t you, Shiren?”

“It’s fine. I know that Ryouta and I are connected on a much deeper level. That’s why I’m letting Tamaki have this one to save face—pffffft.”

“Why did that make you laugh! You just ruined it!”

“It’s because I remembered Ryouta in his girl outfit.”

Both Ouka and Alfoncina started chuckling, too.

“That all came together so wonderfully, didn’t it? I must say, I’m pleased with myself for coming up with that on the fly~.”

“It was distracting, though, so I didn’t get to watch Tamaki’s dance. I want to see the performance again without Ryouta in the back.”

“Wait, what do you mean?”

Sasara, who had brought some tea for Ouka, stopped in her tracks.

“That girl was Ryouta Fuyukura…?”

“Yeah.” “Yes.” “That’s right~.”

Sasara dropped the tea.

—Could this be…​…​…​…​…​…​…​…​…​…​…​…​…​…​…​…​…​…​…​destiny?

“That can’t be… That boy was…”

Sasara’s face went red from embarrassment.

“Really nice fireworks.”

“Yes. They truly are wonderful. I wonder if someone like me is allowed to find satisfaction in something so lovely. And I’m using up all your precious time like this, so—”

“Nothing negative right now, okay?”

“…Yes, I’m sorry.”

Ryouta and Tamaki walked around the festival, holding hands. Tamaki was wearing a yukata. It was the very one she’d sought to have this whole time.

The bright flower pattern of the outfit made the typically modest Tamaki turn some heads.

At this moment, Tamaki was the star of the festival, and no one could argue otherwise.

At least, Ryouta found himself staring more at Tamaki than the fireworks. The way she looked in her yukata had to be illegal.

The pair had needed one extra push for them to be alone together, and it had come from Shiren.

“You’ve gone through all this, so the two of you may as well go out into the festival!” she’d said, urging the both of them out. Remembering Shiren’s expression then, Tamaki felt really sorry.

On the other hand, it was also a sign of Shiren’s composure. Even if she was apart from Ryouta for a short while, she was fine.

“…I can’t have that.”

“Hmm? Did you say something?” Ryouta asked.

“No, nothing.”

A large firework bloomed above them.

Two days later…

The festival was over, and the Sacred Blood Empire had returned to its daily routine.

It was now evening.

“I mean, I may as well go to Shijou’s convenience store…”

Shiren had sent Ryouta out to buy her some juice. There was a vending machine in the neighborhood, but even those were expensive on the castle grounds. According to Ouka, they were set at tourist site rates.

Knowing that, Ryouta made for Nine-to-Eleven, hoping to contribute to the Shijou family finances.

Dililing, dililing.

The entrance chime rang.

“Welcome, hop.”

“Oh, good evening—wait, what are you doing here, Kokoko?!”

Ryouta immediately recognized the kid with bunny ears. There were no other people (even though she was probably a god) like her.

“I caused trouble for Nine-to-Eleven, so I’m working here for a little while, hop. I’m a fox, and foxes are associated with the god Inari, and Inari is the deity of trade, so this should bring good luck to them, hop.”

“Yeah, that’s right. You’re a fox.”

Tamaki then hurried over.

“Good evening, Ryouta! Our sales have gone up two percent ever since Kokoko joined us!”

“That has to be a coincidence…”

“No, our sales had been going down by five percent every month before.”

“Nine-to-Eleven was in real deep trouble, then!”

The store would have gone under in a year’s time at that rate. Ryouta felt like the establishment had really dodged a bullet.

“You seem a little brighter than usual, Shijou.”

There wasn’t any unhappiness clouding her expression. The way she was beaming just then, she was a truly lovely young woman.

“Yes, I figured I might try a little customer service smile—ah—” Suddenly, Tamaki started to cough.

“What is it, Tamaki?!” Kokoko rushed to her.

“I’m sorry… I couldn’t do it…”

When Tamaki raised her head, her face had returned to her usual, tired expression.

Ryouta wasn’t sure if he could say he was relieved, but he was.

“I tried to keep my customer service smile, but my body rejected it…”

Ryouta wondered what to say to Tamaki in a situation like this. Dare he say it here?

“You’re best the way you are, Shijou.”