To Tembar.
The sight of one face after another materializing in the office made Lavisel pause mid-signature.
Lovell, arms crossed and smug, Elen sulking in the corner, and Gadiel—finally, after so long—standing there.
A brief sigh of relief at seeing them unharmed vanished instantly as Lavisel furrowed her brow.
"...Couldn’t you at least say something before showing up?"
"Sorry about that! I was in a hurry!"
"Brother…?"
"Wait—Sauvel’s here too? Perfect. Be my witness!"
"A witness? W-Well, first of all, Prince Gadiel! You’re safe! I was so worried!"
Beside Lavisel stood Sauvel.
In fact, Sauvel had just been in the middle of relaying news from Van to Kai—about Gadiel awakening as a half-spirit—and now passing it on to Lavisel.
Lovell, seizing the moment, shoved Sauvel into the role of witness right there on the spot.
"I'm back."
"Ah. Sooner than I expected."
Gadiel straightened up and bowed to Lavisel.
Lavisel narrowed her eyes at Gadiel’s face. Sauvel noticed too—his mouth opened with a soft "Ah."
"Prince, your eyes...?"
"Ah... well, do they suit me?"
Sauvel, stunned, snapped his gaze to Elen, standing beside the blushing Gadiel.
He stared at Elen, then Gadiel, then Elen again—his eyes widening with disbelief.
Gadiel’s eyes were still clearly blue, but they were the same eyes as Elen’s.
"Hmm? So, what’s all this gathering for? Did you come to see me off on your return?"
Lavisel, just from that, seemed to realize something. And still, she couldn’t resist a teasing remark.
In the meantime, other Dual Goddesses and Great Spirits kept arriving one after another, flooding into the room until even the spacious interior felt cramped.
Sauvel and his guards, arriving a moment later, stared in shock at the goddesses and Great Spirits floating in midair.
“We’ve come to confirm something with Your Majesty.”
“What now?”
Lavisel tilted her head at Gadiel’s serious expression. Before Gadiel could finish, Lovell shouted out.
“Isn’t the Prince already engaged!?”
“……?”
Sauvel looked utterly bewildered—what on earth was going on?—but beside him, Lavisel, with an air of smug resignation reminiscent of Elen, seemed to get the gist.
“Wait a moment.”
Seeing Lavisel’s controlled demeanor, Lovell turned on Gadiel.
“Ah-ha! See? I *told* you! He’s definitely got one!”
“N-no he doesn’t! The Queen only said to wait, didn’t she!?”
"Meaning you're bringing proof, right!?"
"…………"
Elen pouted, arms crossed, refusing to even glance at Gadiel.
Noticing her sulk, Gadiel stepped forward, "Elen, just listen to me!"—only to be blocked by Lovell shouting, "Keep your hands off my daughter!"
Raffilia barked a single order to the guard: "Summon the scribe." She didn’t wait long before someone was dragged in. She turned to the newcomer. "Record everything that happens from now on."
"Y-yes!"
"Is Sauvel the one testifying?"
"Of course."
"Wait—just wait a second! What exactly am I testifying about!?"
"Hmm. Sauvel’s more convenient than Lovell… yes, since the Queen’s here, we’d like her to testify too."
"Ah."
"We’ll be witnesses too."
"That’s fine. Go ahead."
Lavissel immediately recognized the two women with faces resembling the Origin as the Dual Goddesses.
"Ah, ah, what a reassuring sight."
Lavissel grinned, while Vore kept a straight face, barely holding back a laugh.
Sauvel and the guards tilted their heads, wondering what in the world was about to unfold.
The scribe hastily flipped open the spellbook and gripped the quill. "I shall record this," they declared.
As the words left their mouth, the spellbook glowed.
"Then, Lovell. Regarding your answer to the question..."
"Of course there are plenty of candidates, aren’t there? Honestly, what a bother!"
"Gadiel has no fiancée."
"Who would go around telling a daughter something like that... wait, what?"
"Has none."
"…………Huh!?!"
"There were candidates once, but he turned them all down at some point."
"Wait, just wait a second! He's the prince! There must be someone, right!?"
Forgetting all politeness, Lovell lunged at Ravisel. Sauvel shouted, "Brother!" and pinned him down.
"You said you had a daughter, didn’t you? I’ve erased everything."
Ravisel grinned, and Lovell’s face twisted.
It was true—Ravisel had once used Aria’s behavior as leverage to force Elen to come to the palace under the pretense of an arranged meeting.
Ironically, the royal curse had awakened in Elen, reaching out—just like that accident. But that had really been an arranged meeting.
"Elen, listen to me. I have no fiancée. From the moment I saw you, I’ve only ever seen you. I couldn’t let go of my feelings, so I asked the king to let me wait until I could sort myself out. After that, I turned down every single proposal."
Gadiel knelt on one knee, looking up at Elen while taking both her hands in his.
Elen, who had been looking down, slowly lifted her eyes to meet Gadiel’s.
“See? So just… take my feelings. They’ve always been full of you, Elen. There’s no room for anything else.”
“………………Really?”
“Really. I’ve always loved you. I’m in love with you. There’s no lie in this feeling. I want to be by your side—forever, always. Please marry me.”
“………………”
Elen’s hesitant gaze snapped back to Gadiel, and she nodded, a quiet, firm little nod.
“I’ll witness it. I’ll be the proof. Record it.”
“Y-yes, yes, yes, yes!!”
“Wait, wait, wait—!! Don’t you remember? Papa says no!!”
“Brother! Please calm down!!”
“Sauvel, calm, calm, calm—!!”
While Sauvel held Lovell in a lock, Gadiel hugged Elen tightly, delighted.
"Thank you, Elen!"
Elen’s face slowly flushed pink.
Hiding her face in Gadiel’s arms as if trying to vanish before everyone, she rubbed her head back and forth, flustered.
Gadiel couldn’t help but find her utterly adorable.
"Elen has accepted. I shall be the witness."
The magic book glowed, its words shimmering and lifting from the page.
The characters shot through the air, zipping straight into Val’s hand.
"Received."
"Yes. The engagement is official. Congratulations, Elen."
Lovell let out a soundless scream at Val and Var’s words.
"～～～～～～～ッ!?"
Seeing Lovell like that, Raffilia laughed.
“Huh… didn’t expect something like that from you.”
“Wha—!?”
“Me getting approval from you, from Van’s head, from the Queen, and from the Dual Goddesses—all at once. Pretty entertaining, really.”
“!?”
Lovell’s mind went utterly blank at Raffilia’s words. Only now did he finally grasp what he’d just done.
“N-n-n…?”
“Gadiel… I didn’t think you’d actually do it right in front of me… Well done, though.”
Despite the mild disbelief, Raffilia blessed him, and Gadiel beamed back, clearly pleased.
“Yes!”
“…You’re truly standing at Elen’s side? No lies in that?”
“Yes. I’ve become a half-spirit. The curse of the royal blood… it’s right here, in plain sight.”
Understood. From now on, Lasel shall be the crown prince. Guard, fetch Lasel. Scribe, remain here.
"H-h-hell no!"
The magic book in the scribe’s rigidly trembling hands glows steadily, responding to the Dual Goddesses.
The woman floating in the sky seemed to realize she was one of the Dual Goddesses, watching the letters written in the magic book fly toward her, glowing as they moved.
Van and Vaul winked at each other, their eyes wide open like a pair of startled bookkeepers.
Lovell stumbles and collapses.
Origin screamed upon seeing it, while the Dual Goddesses and Austor laughed heartily, and Lavisel stood there too.
On this day, Gadiel, the first prince of Tenbair, was widely reported to have taken up residence with the spirit princess as her consort, and Rasel became the crown prince.