The evening breeze swept past, scattering tiny droplets from her long, rich golden hair.
"Listen carefully... Hiss, wait..."
Lefiya stopped outside the gates of Twilight Manor. She glanced at the figure on the tower and hesitated, swallowing back what she had been about to say.
"Come farther with me!"
Lefiya still did not let go. She pulled Bell across the street and headed toward a more secluded place.
The noise of North Street gradually faded behind them.
Bell looked at the golden-haired elf whose shoulders were trembling and immediately had a bad feeling.
She was clearly worried that those words about Riveria would bring him trouble, which was why she had deliberately moved away from the mansion. But if she kept bottling up those complaints, they might erupt like a volcano and go to an unstoppable extreme.
"Lefiya-san, to avoid making your roommate misunderstand, maybe I should head back first?"
Bell asked tentatively.
He could force his way out of the girl's grip, but that would definitely have a negative effect on Lefiya. If she sank into depression, it might even affect the upcoming expedition.
"Stop talking and come with me."
Lefiya dragged Bell by the wrist and stopped under a tree near the city wall.
A cold breeze brushed past, and the tree shadows swayed.
Unlike the dazzling glow of the Magic Stone lamps in the distance, the place where the two stood was lit only by cold moonlight.
Only then did Lefiya belatedly let go of his hand, pressing her lips together tightly.
She turned around. Her jewel-like blue eyes fixed on the boy, filled with resentment, anger, and endless embarrassment.
"Lefiya-san, you look cute with your hair down too."
Bell praised her.
Moonlight and the evening breeze adorned her rich golden hair.
The golden-haired elf usually wore her hair in a single ponytail, so seeing her like this, as if she had just stepped out of a bath in the forest, gave the boy a feeling that was both nostalgic and fresh.
"Eh? It's just normal. Cute, you say... Ugh... No! I'm not letting you get away with this!"
Lefiya recovered from his sweet words.
Strictly speaking, it was not rational thought. It was a chaotic mixture of countless emotions.
Because of Riveria's "careless remark," Lefiya had indirectly answered the question of the boy's confession. After that, she had gone through misunderstandings from her roommate and fellow members, the embarrassment of collecting hair for the boy, and her own wild imagination about Bell and Riveria's relationship.
All of those things piled up together, pushing Lefiya into an invincible state.
If Lefiya had spoken up at the time, she might have only complained a little before fleeing back to her room. But those emotions had been suppressed for too long, and now they had finally reached the moment of eruption.
Sweet talk was useless now.
Today.
Right now.
She had to correct the boy's heretical thoughts!
With the force of dark clouds gathering into a storm, Lefiya began to run wild.
"Permanently horny rabbit!"
Lefiya raised the corners of her eyes sharply, shouting her usual nickname as if delivering the opening line of a furious speech.
"Do you even know who Riveria-sama is?! She is Elf royalty of noble blood, someone all Elves revere and rely on! And yet you keep calling her Riveria-san? That's terribly disrespectful! Riveria-sama must be too gentle and kind to demand that you correct yourself, but you keep crossing the line again and again. Even ignorance should have limits!"
"Lefiya-san?"
When dealing with women, Bell rarely found himself in such a passive position.
Neither wisdom nor courage had any effect before the rampaging golden-haired elf.
Lefiya seemed not to hear the boy at all. Her small, cherry-colored lips kept moving.
"I know it! You have improper thoughts about Riveria-sama, don't you?! Riveria-sama must have been bewitched, that's why she talks about you so often! Sometimes she stares into space, and sometimes the corners of her lips lift on their own. Riveria-sama never used to be like that... Permanently horny rabbit, this is all your fault!"
"This forbidden relationship absolutely cannot be allowed to develop any further, or every Elf in the world will hunt you down! That would be a real war, you know? Even if I wanted to help you, there would be nothing I could do. And if something happened to you, Riveria-sama would definitely be crushed by guilt!"
Before she realized it, Lefiya's position had shifted from Riveria's fanatical believer to the boy's side.
Precisely because she knew how terrifying the reverence of Elves could be, she was deeply worried about the boy's future.
"Lefiya-san."
Bell wanted to comfort her.
Just as he was a pure-hearted boy, the golden-haired elf also had that pure side of a young girl.
Lefiya treasured a small Crystal Drop and cared about the little details of many trivial things. That youthful girl's heart had noticed the ambiguity between Riveria and the boy.
Driven by her imagination, Lefiya seemed to have already decided that the two of them were about to get together and face a tragic future.
"Shut up, you're noisy, you're so annoying!"
Lefiya's judgment was far from over.
"You used that gentle voice to seduce Riveria-sama, didn't you?! A sun that leads people astray! A lust beast that warms people's hearts! A piece of candy that makes women fall! A shameless white rabbit! A permanently horny rabbit that won't even leave my dreams alone!! Not only Ais-san, but even Riveria-sama, you want to lay your hands on her too? It's completely outrageous!"
Bell could not help recalling his grandfather's advice.
Never get involved with a yandere...
Lefiya was a shy and adorable girl. Because of that, when she lost control, she became even harder to predict.
Bell had no choice but to quietly watch and let Lefiya vent the frustration in her heart.
"Noisy, annoying, so annoying!"
Lefiya stormed forward angrily.
"I didn't say anything, though?"
Bell helplessly took a step back.
"Idiot! Your eyes are already talking! I saw all of it! Your gaze, your voice, your movements. Why are you so brave when facing monsters, but once your opponent is a girl, you become so gentle?!"
Lefiya's chest rose and fell with anger.
"Anyway, as long as a cute girl is standing in front of you, you get worked up, right?! Idiot! If you're going to be that gentle, then don't look at Ais-san or Riveria-sama. Only look at me!"
"Lefiya-san, do you know what you're saying?"
A few drops of cold sweat slid down Bell's forehead.
Was this something she had blurted out in anger, or was it the golden-haired elf's true feelings?
Bell's reason told him that he absolutely could not dig into it now. Otherwise, once Lefiya came back to her senses, she would definitely shut him out.
Just as he was thinking about how to stop the girl from spiraling further out of control, an unexpected figure entered his vision.
"Don't look away! I told you to look only at me!"
Lefiya followed the boy's gaze toward the city wall behind her and instantly sobered up.
"Huh? Filvis-san?"