Everyone had their own name.
For most adventurers in Orario, a name was made up of a given name and a surname. Rougher adventurers usually just called people by their given names and paid no attention to such details.
But for a thoughtful, kind elf girl like Lefiya, forms of address mattered a great deal. That was why Bell calling the [Nine Hell Princess] "Riveria-san" had become one of the triggers that evening, setting off the golden-yellow-haired elf's outburst.
That was how sensitive Lefiya was when it came to names.
"A-absolutely not!"
Lefiya immediately rejected Filvis's suggestion.
Just imagining it made her cheeks burn.
"Then I won't call you Lefiya anymore either."
As if she had expected that reaction, Filvis played her trump card.
The reason she had agreed to change how she addressed him was because of the young man's hint.
Different forms of address represented the distance between hearts.
If Lefiya denied that, then Filvis had no reason to be bound by it either.
"Huh? Of course you can't do that!"
Lefiya's expression shifted uncertainly.
With Bell's help, she had finally closed the distance between herself and Filvis. Now that she had tasted the sweetness of friendship, how could she let that change in address become nothing more than a dream?
At this point, she had no choice but to do as Filvis said...
It was only saying the young man's name. It was nothing special.
Right.
She had always called him by his full name anyway. Now she only had to leave out a few words. That should be even easier.
They had already been pretending to be lovers for so long. Why panic over such a little thing?
Lefiya cheered herself on again and again in her heart, her beautiful cherry lips trembling slightly.
"Be-Be-Be... Bell Cranel!"
Her voice hung beneath the girl's shyness like a pearl necklace set with jewels.
In the end, Lefiya still failed to call the young man by his given name.
"..."
Bell silently held back his smile.
During those past heart-stopping incidents, he had already heard Lefiya call out his name. Though it had been out of momentary panic, it was enough to prove the golden-yellow-haired elf's care and concern for him.
Bell was not particularly attached to whether she changed how she addressed him now. If anything, he felt that this shy side of Lefiya had a uniquely charming style all her own.
"Lefiya, I'm going to change how I address you."
Filvis threatened her softly.
Was this revenge for her own embarrassment earlier, or did she have some other selfish motive?
Filvis herself did not know, but there was no doubt that she was enjoying it.
"Be-Be... Uu... No, no, I really can't..."
Lefiya declared her defeat.
For some reason, every time she gathered her courage and tried to call out to the young man, she remembered the "kiss" beneath the cliff.
Embarrassment surged like a tide, stopping Lefiya from changing how she addressed him.
"Hmm... In that case, why not try it from another angle?"
Filvis suggested thoughtfully.
"Another angle?"
Lefiya slowed her steps in confusion.
"Yes. Lovers usually use nicknames for each other, don't they?"
Filvis explained.
Compared to given names, nicknames carried a more intimate feeling between lovers. Even if Lefiya found some forms of address too embarrassing, she could always be willful and choose one herself.
"Uu..."
Lefiya fell silent for a moment.
Give the young man a nickname?
Idiot, pervert, permanently horny rabbit... Those definitely would not do, right...? Filvis-san would absolutely scold her.
Then what should she use? Come to think of it, how did people usually address their lovers?
Darling?
Husband?
The father of my children?
"Uu?! No, absolutely not!!!"
Lefiya rejected the messy fantasies in her own head.
Filvis glanced at the young man beside her and advised, "Lefiya, what exactly were you thinking...? If those feel unsuitable, then why not shorten your usual flirtatious 'permanently horny rabbit' a little and call him 'horny rabbit'?"
"Uu..."
Lefiya forcibly swallowed her objection.
That was not flirting!
This was all Bell Cranel's fault!
Lefiya turned sideways and spoke to the young man in a trembling voice. "H-horny rabbit..."
The moment those words left her mouth, Filvis raised her right hand to hide her smile.
"Hiss..."
Lefiya realized the problem too.
Just removing the "permanently" part somehow made it sound obscene...
It felt as though she were inviting the young man to do something indecent...
"Permanently horny rabbit!"
Lefiya glared fiercely at the young man.
"I'm not the one laughing, you know? I didn't say anything."
Bell insisted on his innocence.
He had been staying quiet precisely because he was trying to be considerate of Lefiya's feelings, yet somehow he still got dragged into the line of fire.
"Alright, alright. That one just now was pretty good. Next is Bell."
Filvis kept smiling as she pushed the topic forward.
Forms of address went both ways. It was not enough for only Lefiya to change hers.
"Hm? Lefiya."
Unlike the golden-yellow-haired elf, Bell showed no hesitation at all and called his "lover's" name openly and naturally.
That warm call fell into Lefiya's heart like sunlight, making her shiver before she realized it.
Strange.
He had only left off the honorific, so why was she so happy?!
Most importantly, this felt completely different from when she changed how she addressed Filvis.
With Filvis, it was like savoring candy, with joy slowly spreading through her.
But when the young man called her name, Lefiya felt as if her own heart had become the candy itself, and happiness was overflowing through every part of her body.
It was far too strange!
"Rejected! Rejected!"
Lefiya tried to escape that strange warmth.
"Huh? I think it sounds rather nice..."
Filvis seemed to have forgotten her past experiences and had lost herself in the joy of mischief.
She tugged at the young man's sleeve and suggested, "Bell, why not try a nickname? Lefiya might like it."
"..."
Bell froze for a moment.
Could this pure black-haired elf actually have a mischievous side?
Bell did not say that out loud. Instead, he cooperated with his lover and called the golden-yellow-haired elf by a nickname.
"Lefiya, darling?"
"Huh...?! Disgusting, disgusting, disgusting, that's so disgusting!!!"
Lefiya complained with her face bright red.
She lifted both hands and rubbed at herself. "Don't suddenly say things like that! It feels like falling into a sea of flowers covered in thick honey, with ants crawling all over me!"
As before, Lefiya used a strange metaphor.
"That's too much! How can you say that?!"
Filvis took the young man's side.
They were supposed to be lovers, yet calling it disgusting was a little too cruel.
"Filvis, don't worry about it. I'm fine."
Bell was one of the people pulling the prank in the first place, so naturally, he was not going to get discouraged or angry over Lefiya's complaints.
"If anything, hearing my cute, kind lover say that gives me a new kind of feeling. It's actually pretty nice."
"Uu?! You really are a permanently horny rabbit!!"
Realizing that she had become the target of a prank, Lefiya immediately raised her right hand to punish the young man.
Unfortunately, Bell had already dashed away.
"Stop right there!"
Lefiya had not brought her wand, so she could only stake everything on her own two feet and quickly chase after him.
"This was all Filvis's suggestion. It has nothing to do with me."
Even while running, Bell still had enough composure to defend himself.
He had only followed his lover's suggestion. He was not the mastermind behind the prank.
"Hehe..."
Filvis smiled at the sight of their interaction.
It was only ordinary bickering and horseplay, yet she felt unexpectedly happy.
A precious friend. A lover she cared for.
In this vast, endless darkness, the mere presence of those two seemed to light up her heart.
Filvis looked toward the young man. Although he was fleeing the clutches of the golden-yellow-haired elf, his gaze kept drifting back to her from time to time.
That warmth urged Filvis to start moving.
Honestly, what was she supposed to do with them...
A wine-making shop? She might as well go and take a look...
Filvis quickened her pace, overtook Lefiya, and ran toward the young man.
Under the moonlight, a familiar scene unfolded once more.
The same chase. The same white hair and deep golden locks.
Led by the young man, the sound of playful laughter rushed straight toward a certain shop.
The only difference was that this time, there was one more girl among them.
Bathed in moonlight, her long black hair streamed and danced, as if humming a song of the night.