Seiji panted as he slammed the door to Sir Lasko’s office, leaning against the wooden door just in case the man decided to check it for them.

Cora’s eyes softened as she scanned the room. Wordlessly, she moved Sir Lasko’s desk to the corner of the room, the same place it’d been on the day they met. He didn’t know what compelled him to do it, but Seiji moved to the very spot he’d been when he threatened Cora. She watched him do it, her smile unwavering.

“I think I can see why you brought me here,” Cora said, her eyes focused on the wooden panels of the wall behind him. He laughed knowing she wouldn’t find the crack.

Seiji tried to speak, but Cora squealed. She shook in place like a child, shaking her fists and stomping on the ground as her blue wings fluttered behind her. She spread them wide in a victory pose.

“We did it! Seiji, we did it! I’m a Valkyrie! You’re a Servant! We did it! We passed the Valkyrie Exam! “

“Yeah, we did!”

Tears fell from Cora’s face, and Seiji felt no shame as a few fell from his own. She pulled him into a hug and the two squeezed each other. Cora wept into his chest while he wiped his own tears away with his hand. It was funny, in his desperation to get to Cora, Seiji hadn’t once taken the time to just be… happy. They passed. The Valkyrie Exam was over. All of their hard work had paid off, and they won the ultimate prize for their trouble.

Cora pulled away from him and swiped at her eyes with a sleeve. When she spoke, her voice trembled.

“I know what I said about Lirio and Selene, but there was another reason I wanted them as my Servants,” She looked away from him, her hold on his waist loosening a bit. “I-I… wanted to have leverage. For Sir Lasko. I know you said you wanted to stay, but… I… I don’t want to go making decisions for you again. My Dominion makes me pretty bold, but I can’t let it guide me.” She met his eyes. “You swore to be with me, and I’m holding you to that, so I’ll wait for you. You deserve to find your own happiness, though.”

What?

Seiji pulled away from Cora completely and just… stared at her. Her words had gotten dimmer as she went on. She’d been thinking about this for a while. How long? How long did she think he was going to leave her? Did she know how badly he wanted to be with her – in any capacity? How much he valued her? How much he loved her? She didn’t. Rather, she couldn’t. She never could if he never showed her.

“What makes you think I’m leaving?”

“It’s not that I think you want to leave me, I just… don’t want you to feel like you have to be with me. You have a choice, and I don’t want to take that from–”

Seiji frowned, cupped her head in his hands, pulled her face to his, and kissed her. He pulled back, staring at her with the same stunned expression she gave him. Her ears were perked up, her pupils were fully dilated, and her breath caught.

“C-Cora,” Seiji stammered. He shook himself, unwilling to waver now. “Cora. There is nothing for me in The Ardor, nor is there anything for me to gain in solitude. How long have you been thinking about me leaving?”

“I… uh… it… never really went away. I always kinda… assumed you’d… want to.” Her face reddened as she glanced between the wooden office, Seiji’s lips, and his eyes. “When did you… change your mind?”

“Around the First Evaluation,” Seiji admitted. “After my talk with Sir Lasko, I decided that I’d want to stay here with you if I–”

“Huh?!” Cora shouted, all traces of nerves vanishing as her face twisted into a frown. “Are you kidding me?!” She stabbed him with her finger. “I was up every night thinking you were gonna up and leave the second I became a Valkyrie! Do you know how much I dreaded the Final Exhibition?” She folded her arms and turned away from him, leaving him to face her blue butterfly wings. “You know, I fell for you super hard after the Final Evaluation. I was ready to kiss you before Endora walked in.”

“I… didn’t know–”

She glared at him over her shoulder. “If you would’ve confessed to me before that fight while I was mad at you about the First Exhibition, I would’ve said yes in a heartbeat.” She turned to him fully. “I was waiting for you to do it! I was so excited for the Final Evaluation because Sir Lasko turned you from that snarky little boy to a suave devil after the first one! Remember when we renewed our vows and you were all “I swear it, Cora,” and leaned real close?” She said, poorly imitating his voice. Seiji did remember that, but he wasn’t exactly trying to be ‘suave’.

“I’m sorry for making you worry,” Seiji laughed. “I don’t know if it’s what you want to hear from me, but I think my heart opened up to you the day we spoke in the Grand Garden. I began to see you as someone I wanted to be near, someone I could relax around. The more I got to know you, the harder I feel for you. I found myself looking forward to our time together, and I found myself dreaming about our future more than I dreamt about my past. Cora, you healed me. You healed seventeen years of wounds with just your words and your presence. I am truly blessed by the heavens, for they sent you to me.” Seiji grabbed Cora’s hands and looked into her lavender eyes.

“Cora Lambros, I love you. I will always love you, and I hope to be someone worthy of your love.”

“You already are, Seiji Otsuki. I’ve loved you for a long time, and I will continue to love you until time stops.”

Seiji rested Cora’s chin between his thumb and forefinger, tilting her head up as he leaned in for a kiss. He melted into her, her soft lips–

ADVANCEMENT COMPLETE.

<CURRENT ANALYSIS>

NAME: SEIJI OTSUKI

TIER 8 MAGE

HEALTH: 80

STRENGTH: 40

STAMINA: 40

MAGICAL STRENGTH: 80

MAGICAL STAMINA: 80

AVAILABLE SKILLS: [ERROR: RECALIBRATION REQUIRED]

They pulled back, stared at one another for a long while, and laughed. If they were still in the Valkyrie Exam, this would’ve been monumental. Now, well… A Tier 8 Servant may as well be a puppy. They had a lot of work to do.

“What comes next?” Seiji asked, rocking with Cora in their embrace.

“After I return from my trip with my mother, I think I want to go to The Ardor. We can colonize it for our first mission.” She gave it more consideration. “Well, we can do it after we’re done with whatever Endora is gonna have us do.”

“You sure you wanna go there? I’m pretty sure there are better vacation spots.”

Cora laughed, but she insisted that she wanted to go. He truly appreciated the consideration. When he said as much, she kissed him again. The more they talked, the more they continued to peck at each other. Cora said she wanted to make up for “every time she never got to do it”, but Seiji just craved the affection. It felt nice to be–

Cora jumped back as the door to Sir Lasko’s office creaked open. Seiji felt his heart drop as he instinctively prepared his Veil Aspect. Sir Lasko stood in the doorway with the Alex Twins in either hand, holding them up by their necks like kittens. Seiji exchanged a look with Cora, who both turned back to Sir Lasko with equally guilty expressions.

“Come out, you two.”

“Alright,” Seiji sighed.

“Okay.” Cora whimpered.

The moment they stepped out, Seiji immediately noticed the oversized buckets and mops lined up on the right side of the small building in a row. He counted them.

One, two, three, four…five, six?

He looked around and shivered as he made out two familiar figures to his left. Selene and Lirio stood there in their Exam outfits with crossed arms and furious glares.

Oh, good. Those two developed a bit of Dominion.

“Just because you two are Valkyrie and Servant doesn’t mean you can just do whatever you please,” Sir Lasko called, putting the Alex Twins down by the buckets.

“Actually,” Cora began. “My mother said Valkyries are allowed to break the rules sometimes.”

“And she also said that you need to take responsibility for the rules you break, didn’t she?”

“I… yes.”

“Good!” Sir Lasko clasped his hands together. “Now you have the perfect opportunity to do just that.” He thumbed at the mops and buckets with a wicked smile. “The city’s all yours.”

With that, he walked into his office and slammed the door. Cora finally noticed Selene and Lirio, who hadn’t spoken a word to either of them. The two of them walked over to the buckets and mops, wordlessly picking them up over heavy stomps. Seiji decided to save Cora the embarrassing explanation.

“You know,” Seiji tried. “This is a pretty good team-building exercise. I think it counts as our first real mission as a–”

“Shut the fuck up,” Selene snapped.

“Could you two not have waited until the end of the night? You would’ve had twelve hours to yourselves.” Lirio complained.

Seiji exchanged a look with Cora. Seiji gave them a sheepish smile.

“I… I suppose that would’ve made more sense, huh?”