“Wow, I won this time!”

First, with a bang, Arasila’s box opened, scattering paper confetti.

Demian looked at his box that opened a few seconds later with a regretful expression.

If he had been just a little faster, the bet would have ended in his victory without needing to go to the third round.

As he was clearing away the fluttering paper confetti with his hand, the owner of the box-breaking game came running over.

“Congratulations! You’ve achieved the fastest time record, so I’ll give you a gift!”

He held out a gift box to Arasila. With an inexplicable sense of déjà vu, Arasila opened the lid.

Inside, as expected, was a badge.

The Box-breaking King badge.

“……”

Arasila looked down at the badge, lost for words. She never thought she would receive something like this, just like Demian.

As she stood still holding the badge, Demian kindly pinned it to her collar.

“…This is ridiculous. I think I’d prefer the Dart King. Let’s exchange.”

“Not possible. Take pride in it, Box-breaking King.”

Demian pulled up the corners of his mouth in a wide smile.

Receiving her own words back at her, Arasila couldn’t say anything in response.

The two, now the Dart King and Box-breaking King respectively, moved to their final challenge. It was a treasure hunt run by a kindly-looking grandmother.

As the two appeared, the owner grandmother burst into a hearty laugh and said,

“Ho ho, a newlywed couple has come.”

“How did you know?”

Wondering if they had been recognized, Arasila fiddled with her mask. The owner grandmother answered leisurely.

“I can tell just by looking. There’s a fresh atmosphere that only comes out during the honeymoon period.”

“Ah.”

Arasila rubbed the back of her neck with an embarrassed expression.

In fact, Demian and she were a contract couple without love, hardly the type to give off such an atmosphere.

While wondering how intimate they might appear, she refrained from tactlessly pointing this out.

“So, have you two come to participate in the treasure hunt?”

“Yes.”

“Oh my, that’s great. We were just short two participants to start the next round.”

The owner grandmother brightened up and led the two to where five or six people were gathered closely.

After confirming that all participants had arrived, she explained the game rules.

“The range is from the square to 3rd Street, and somewhere in there, I’ve hidden a rabbit doll wearing a crown. Your job is to find it.”

As the owner grandmother clapped her hands once after finishing her explanation, the people scattered to search for the doll.

Arasila and Demian also decided to search for the doll separately. After all, whoever found the doll here would be the winner of the bet.

As they parted ways at a fork in the road, Demian said,

“No using magic this time.”

“Tch, fine.”

Arasila, who had secretly wanted to use detection magic, briefly felt disappointed but then resolutely set off on foot to search for the doll.

After all, using magic here would indeed be cheating.

However, finding the doll in the crowded streets while pushing through people was not easy.

It wasn’t just that there were many people, but animals, trash, everything was so abundant that it was confusing to tell what was what.

Still, Arasila calmly searched for the rabbit doll wearing a crown, her bright blue eyes flashing.

It was when she entered the residential area of 2nd Street after passing through the square and 1st Street.

She spotted the crowned rabbit doll sitting demurely on top of a bright red mailbox at the entrance of a street lined with similar wooden buildings.

“Found it!”

“…My lady?”

At the same time, Demian who appeared from the opposite side.

As their gazes met, tension filled the air between the two.

‘That rabbit is mine!’

Arasila was the first to take a step. She dashed forward to get her hands on the doll.

Demian, not to be outdone, also took a step to claim the doll first.

It was at that moment that he noticed a shadow cast on the window of the house where the mailbox stood.

An elderly lady, seemingly the homeowner, was watering the plants in pots on the windowsill.

The watering can in her hands looked large and heavy, too much for her small frame to handle.

The stream of water from the can wobbled along with her trembling arms.

‘If that were to fall on the lady’s head…’

Especially if it fell before Arasila could cast a spell.

Demian imagined the worst-case scenario. She would be soaked through, and might even get hurt. He felt he had to prevent that at all costs.

But before he could shout any warning, the old lady let out an “Ah!” and dropped the watering can from her hands.

It happened to be right above Arasila’s head as she arrived at the mailbox with a triumphant smile.

“My lady!”

A startled Demian ran towards Arasila at lightning speed.

At his sudden call, Arasila looked up with a puzzled expression.

At the same time, Demian, who had rushed close, reached out and pulled her into his arms, enveloping her entirely with his body.

With a splash, water poured over his head, and then the watering can hit Demian’s shoulder with a thud before falling away.

Arasila, who had been frozen for a moment, belatedly grasped the situation and checked his condition.

“Demian! Are you alright?”

The old lady’s voice rang out from above, screaming apologies, but neither of them paid any attention.

“I’m fine.”

“Your shoulder, how’s your shoulder?”

“It’s perfectly fine. It wasn’t hit by a brick, after all.”

While the sound of the impact had been loud, the watering can had done no damage to Demian’s shoulder, which was packed with solid muscle.

Still, Arasila couldn’t help but worry and examined Demian from all angles.

Water droplets fell from the ends of his damp silver hair, trickling down his elegant facial bones.

“I’m really fine, so you can rest assured.”

“Phew… Thank you for saving me. I’ll dry your wet clothes with magic.”

“I appreciate that.”

Demian responded immediately, as he had been feeling uncomfortable and bothered by being wet more than anything else.

While the two were drying their wet clothes and bodies, the crowned rabbit doll rolled lonely along the street.

It had happened when Arasila grabbed it from the mailbox but then dropped it.

While they had momentarily forgotten about the doll’s existence, another participant who had just entered the street quickly picked up the lonely doll that had fallen to the ground.

The two only realized this fact after Demian had become dry and fluffy, and they had no choice but to return empty-handed.

“In the end, we both failed the last one.”

“So it’s a tie?”

“I guess so? The sun is setting, so we don’t have time for another game anyway.”

Arasila raised her hand to point at the sky. The sky that had been as blue as her eyes was now tinged with a mysterious color.

The setting sun dyed the entire street in a scarlet hue.

When they returned to the treasure hunt area, trailing long shadows, the winner had predictably been determined to be another participant, as expected.

“You’re a bit late, unfortunately. But there are participation gifts, so take these.”

The owner grandmother handed participation gifts to the two who arrived last. They were bright yellow ‘Aspiring Detective’ badges.

The two, who now wore these badges under their Dart King and Box-breaking King badges respectively, looked at each other and burst into laughter.

“This is pretty good in its own way, isn’t it?”

“I think so too. If only one of us had two king badges, it would have definitely been disappointing.”

The two chuckled softly as they left the treasure hunt area and walked down the street. As the sun completely disappeared, the sky turned dark.

However, thanks to the lamps placed here and there, the street was not as dark as one might expect.

Unlike in the past when people would return home as soon as it got dark, quite a few people were still out and about.

Seeing the lively evening street, Arasila smiled contentedly and spoke.

“So, what should we do now? Shall we go home?”

“Well…”

Contrary to the expectation of an affirmative answer, Demian uttered an uncharacteristically hesitant and ambiguous response.

“Why, is there something else you want to do?”

“Actually, yes. If you don’t mind, I’d like to do one more thing before we go.”

Arasila nodded without hesitation and asked in a voice full of curiosity.

“What do you want to do?”

“If you follow me, you’ll see.”

Omitting a detailed explanation, Demian walked ahead of Arasila for the first time today. Arasila followed behind with a face that said she was dying of curiosity.

Where Demian’s footsteps stopped was the square, now filled with stalls that hadn’t been there in the afternoon.

“Buy sky lanterns, sky lanterns!”

“Cheap and sturdy handmade sky lanterns here!”

The merchants called out loudly to attract customers. Arasila, who had never enjoyed the Founding Day festival outside until evening before, looked around them with curious eyes.

Demian unhesitatingly went to one of the nearby stalls and bought two sky lanterns.

“I heard that in the common tradition, people release sky lanterns and make wishes on Founding Day.”

“Really? I didn’t know that.”

After making the appointment with Arasila, Demian had done his own research on various things.

In the process, he learned about the sky lantern release, a traditional Founding Day event mainly done by commoners.

Hearing that wishes made at this time were likely to come true, he thought he’d like to try it with Arasila.

“Since we failed to grant wishes through the bet, how about we try releasing sky lanterns?”

“Sure.”

Fortunately, Arasila was not someone who cared much about status, so she nodded readily to Demian’s suggestion without any sign of displeasure.

Demian handed her a yellow sky lantern, feeling slightly relieved.

Eventually, the two climbed a small hill behind the square. As most people usually go to Maroon Hill in front, this place was sparsely populated.

Confirming that there was no one around, Arasila took off her mask.

With the covering removed from her face, she felt refreshed.

Demian quietly gazed at her as she closed her eyes and enjoyed the cool autumn breeze.

Her fluttering hair, long and dense eyelashes, and soft yet delicate profile were etched into his eyes like a painting.

“Well then, shall we release the sky lanterns now?”

“…Ah, yes.”

Arasila suddenly opened her eyes and spoke. Demian, who had been staring at her absentmindedly, turned away his gaze in embarrassment.

An awkward cough escaped him again.

The two prepared to release the sky lanterns. Demian took out matches from his pocket and lit the lanterns.

Standing at the top of the hill, they released the sky lanterns and clasped their hands, closing their eyes to make a wish.

Demian secretly opened his eyes midway and glanced at Arasila. Unlike earlier, her serious side profile was unbearably cute.

‘My wish is to see you for as long as possible.’

Even if this was truly a cowardly and petty wish, he wanted to be selfish just this much.

He knew better than anyone that he could never have her heart.

Because Arasila had a dream she wanted to achieve.

If he just kept within bounds so as not to interfere with that dream, maybe it wouldn’t matter if he stayed by her side a little longer.

As she herself had said once, Arasila was a strong person.

Not someone who needed protection to live, but a proud and remarkable woman capable of protecting others.

So he thought selfishly that it might be okay to be a little greedy.

Arasila, having finished making her wish, turned to look at Demian with eyes sparkling brighter than the stars in the night sky.

“What did you wish for?”

“It’s a secret.”

“Come on, what kind of important wish did you make?”

Demian smiled lightly at Arasila, who was staring at him intently with narrowed eyes, and pressed his lips tightly together.

Sensing his strong resolve to never tell, Arasila respected his wishes and gave up asking further.

She looked up at the sky beautifully adorned with clusters of sky lanterns. The light of the lanterns, each carrying its own wish, was brighter than anything in the world.

Impulsively, Demian grasped her white, slender hand.

Arasila paused for a moment and turned her head to look at him.

Feeling pricked by her silent gaze, Demian said as if making an excuse,

“Aren’t you cold?”

“It’s still autumn though.”

“…But it can get cold in the evening, can’t it?”

Despite it being a pleasantly cool autumn night, Arasila glanced down at the large hand enveloping hers and then turned her head back without saying anything.

She could have easily shaken him off if she wanted to, and there was no reason to hold hands like this, but. Strangely, she didn’t feel like refusing.

That day, feeling the warmth transmitted from each other’s hands, the two watched the sky lanterns for a long time.