On the lively Ilifelen streets, there were many different cheery sounds. The atmosphere was energetic as merchants sold their goods and customers happily chatted about daily life.

 Amethely and Keilyn walked past their many admirers. Keilyn, who was teasing Amethely the whole way, and Amethely took all the blows head-on one after the other, enduring the embarrassment.

 But despite that… Amethely felt glad that her friend was supportive of her. After all… Keilyn was very overprotective of her, especially when it came to men, so it was refreshing seeing her act this way.

 (…Though she usually teases me. Never was it about love… but that doesn’t make it less embarrassing!)

 “G-Geez, Kei! I’m already down! I got it, I got it! You needn’t tease me more!”

 But Amethely has reached her limit and started to retort back as she pouts. Keilyn, on the other hand, found it amusing and just laughed it off.

 “Come on~, Ame, this is the first time you’re like this. I found it so endearing that I couldn’t help myself from teasing you!” Keilyn cheerfully stated.

 In response, Amethely shyly looked away as if she wasn’t dying from embarrassment already.

 “It’s your first-ever crush! Wait, maybe even LOVE~, so… it’s hard for me not to tease you!”

 Amethely glanced at her and found Keilyn with a wide grin. Thus, she muttered something.

 ‘That’s because you always chase them away…’

 “Whaaat~? Isn’t it because you had no interest in them anyway? Keilyn, as she walked around and leaned down, tilted her head and gave her a slightly annoyed smile. “Well, in the first place, I didn’t even get in your way. I just got in their way~.”

 (It…is true what she’s saying… all the guys until now have been very persistent no matter how many times I turned them down… In the end, Kei was the one to chase them away…)

 Then… this reminded her. (Shouldn’t Kei be very popular as well? How did she deal with them?) It wasn’t something Amethely was ready to ask… since keilyn can be pretty scary at times…

  …

  …..

  …

 At the cafe they usually visited, each of them ordered sweets. Keilyn ordered black tea with honey, and Amethely went with plain black coffee.

 Ever since graduation, the two of them would come and visit this cafe once or twice. Sometimes, Chely came along as well.

 While Amethely and Keilyn often met at the dorm, Keilyn didn’t have a lot of time to spare since she was busy all day with work. And their roles differed a lot. Amethely would usually spend her days researching magic and testing it. Later, she submitted her research to the archives, and in her free time, she refined her skills with the blade.

 However, that wasn’t the case since her schedule changed. She was now in charge of instructing and training the recruits alongside her sister and Princess Luna. In other words, she has more time for herself and with this newfound time. She hoped to invite Alum out but hasn’t found the courage to ask him out on a date. After all, she had almost used it all when she removed his amulet yesterday…but he didn’t wear it today when she saw him.

 This meant she couldn’t do the same stunt, and the thought of that made her feel a little gloomy, but she, too, understood that Alum didn’t need to wear it anymore since his mana was under control now. Keilyn, on the other hand, was enjoying the show because Amethely’s facial expression would change by the second.

 (She’s usually quite clumsy… but it’s that kind, huh? Well… it’s cute, so I won't say anything.)

 Which was a lie since she had thought of something else to tease her with.

 “Hey, Ame, why aren’t you in disguise today?” Keilyn asked.

 She thought it would be fun since Amethely would usually wear some sort of disguise when she went out—though…people already knew it was her based on her appearance and the people she was with. That was, of course, Keilyn and Chely.

 “...”

 Amethely puffed her cheeks and started to pout, turning her head as she gazed out the window.

 (Did she forget? Hmm…? She’s never forgotten that before, though?)

 She then mumbled something.

 ‘...People recognise me anyways…’

 Surprised that Amethely finally realised, Keilyn smiled and looked somewhat smug.

 “You realised that now~?”

 “And you didn’t say anything…” Amethely grumpily responds.

 “He~he~he~, I found it adorable~ and I waited for you to notice! Of course, I didn’t mention it~!”

 Her comment wasn’t helping. Amethely puffed her cheeks again. There was some cream on it, but… Keilyn wasn’t going to mention that either…

 “All this time…! And you didn’t tell me… I’m hurt, you know!”

 Keilyn just giggled.

 (She’s cute even when she’s angry~. Well… maybe because she isn’t truly angry…)

 “Hey! No laughing! Hmpf!” Amethely sulks in retort as she turns her head.

 “Ahaha, sorry, sorry,” Keilyn apologised a bunch.

 Amethely did admit she wasn’t that mad but felt a little hurt by the fact that Keilyn didn’t say anything. Keilyn’s strategy of apology is to treat Amethely to sweets and coffee. And Amethely knew of this strategy.

 “Hmpf! Don’t think you’ll get away with this every time…!” Amethely stated as she munched on the cream puffs Keilyn ordered for her.

 “Worked wonders thus far,” Keilyn commented.

 “....”

 Amethely was taken aback by the response and pouts yet again since it reminded her that it actually did work every time.

 “...N-Next time, won’t,” she hesitantly voiced.

 Hearing the hesitation in her tone, Keilyn couldn’t hold back and giggled more as she proceeded to change the topic.

 “Nevertheless… how is it going with that Alum guy?”

 Hearing the sudden question, Amethely’s mood brightens.

 “Ehehe~ I believe that he fancies me as well!”

 Seeing such a bright smile, Keilyn was taken aback, and at the same time.

 (Sooo bright! I’m getting blinded! Seriously? ♪I said ooh, I’m blinded by the light♪ Wait! Do saints infuse their smiles with light magic!!?)

 While Keilyn had some strange thoughts, Amethely continued. “I even signed myself up to become an instructor so that I could meet him again! And then…” But for whatever reason, her mood started to get sullen as she kept going…

 “And then… As it turns out… he does things independently from the others… He is able to cast unknown spells on his very first attempt… Lastly… he even managed to befriend the frosty Princess Luna…”

 At this point, Amethely was on the verge of tears. Her plans of teaching him magic failed before they could even begin! But that wasn’t all. She’d just learned that Alum was very friendly with Princess Luna—whilst she, on the other hand, wasn’t even friends with him. Even thinking about it made her feel depressed.

 “A-Ahh… I… I see…” Keilyn responded, a little flustered.

 As her friend was feeling more down, she kept drinking her tea and the sweets as Amethely’s anxiety heightened.

 “In other words, you want to spend more time with him?” she added while slowly nibbling on her cream puff.

 “T-That’s right! I-it’s just that… I’m not sure how… I want to ask him out on a date and… be together… if it only was that simple, though… After all… we’re just acquainted with one another…”

 Facing down and feeling depressed over her own words, Amethely let out a heavy sigh. They were in a private room—luckily. Otherwise, people would worry seeing her this gloomy. Keilyn, on the other hand, cherished her friend’s distressed look, which was caused by love—she did feel a little sorry for her, though…

 (But this was more funny~)

 “A-Ahh… Why not just ask him out to play or something? It doesn’t have to be a date, nor does it have to be romantic. Isn’t spending time with him what you wanted in the first place?”

 Ignoring the fact she was treated like a child, Amethely’s eyes sparkled.

 “You’re absolutely right! Thank you, Kei! I love you!”

 (Can anyone blame me for treating her like this…?) Keilyn thought as she heaved a relieved sigh. (Geez, she’s usually so intelligent and talented… albeit somewhat clumsy…. So… this is a first. To the point that something as simple as this didn’t cross her mind.)

 But there was another thing that crossed her mind.

 “Oh, by the way, what is sis Chely doing? She was initially supposed to come with us as well, wasn’t she?”

  Amethely was unsure as well. “Hmm, big sis told me she has something to do. What was it again? Oh…? It was something about volunteer work to clean some back alleys. Though I’m certain she’s not done anything akin to that before…” Amethely answered as she ate the treats.

 “Is that so?” Keilyn tilted her head.

 “Yeah…?”

 (Why would she need to clean the back alleys? Isn’t that the job of the maintenance workers…? Ooh well…) She briefly pondered, letting it be just that, as it quickly passed her mind.

  …

  …..

  …

 Not too far away from where Amethely and Keilyn were, Alum and Noel were waiting for Luna and Miu. Miu picked outfits that she thought would fit Luna, and… Luna tried them all. While she was embarrassed to try the clothes Miu had picked for her, she didn’t complain and tried every single one of them. She even began to enjoy it, though… she was basically a dress-up doll for Miu…

 Not only that, whenever she came out of the dressing room, she would show Alum, and he’d praise her each time. Which, of course, motivated her to try more styles. Whenever she made eye contact with Noel, she would be oddly smug, as if she somehow won. But Noel didn’t feel like losing, at least not yet. So he wasn’t having any of that!

 “Hey, Al, you’ll eventually invite Saint Amethely on a date, right?”

 “W-Who knows…” Alum reluctantly replied.

 (Now, would you look at that? He stuttered even though he’s usually so cool about anything. So this is the effect of love, huh?)

 But then again… From Alum’s perspective, the question came out of nowhere.

 “Ooh, c’mon, there’s no need to hide it! I saw you look around more than usual. Heck! I even heard some locals happily give you advice about it. It’s like they’re all aware of a certain something, right?”

 Noel wasn’t wrong… so Alum didn’t deny it. Ever since he met Amethely, the locals have been extra friendly, or well, some aren’t. Those aware of said rumours are supportive and will happily chat about it as they gave him advice. As he was in deep thought, Noel made a suggestion with a wide grin.

 “How about it? I can help you pick out some nice clothing!”

 (Does he suggest I have a bad sense of style…? Well, in any case, Noel is more adequate than me with things like these… I suppose having him help me out would be for the best…)

 “...Sure,” Alum agreed with a soft smile.

 (Sorry, Al, you don’t have a terrible sense of fashion… I just don’t want to lose to Luna!)

 Miu, who was close by, overheard their conversation and joined in on the action.

 “That’s a great idea!” She said as she hurried to pick out some clothes for Alum.

 “...Wait! Miu, that’s my job!”

 “Ehehe, Bleeh, I want to dress him up too!” Miu said as she stuck out her tongue.

 Luna, on the other hand, had already picked something out for him.

 “...Mind trying these?” she asked as she shyly tilted her head.

 “Sure,” Alum replied as he patted her head.

 Feeling happy, Luna began to giggle softly.

 “Ehehe~ I think it will suit you.”