Chapter 469: Gotta Have Them All!

“Sorry to keep you waiting.”

Mr. Himekoji jogged back to the Ceremonial Stage and apologized repeatedly to Lady of the Wicked Lord’s Eye.

“No, no, I just… just finished changing.”

Lady of the Wicked Lord’s Eye seemed a bit unused to wearing a yukata; lifting the hem shyly, she looked awkward.

“It suits you really well.”

Mr. Himekoji praised her naturally and candidly.

“R-really? I thought… thought it looked weird…”

“A little bit.”

“Huh!?”

Didn’t he just say it suited her well?

Lady of the Wicked Lord’s Eye was caught off guard by Mr. Himekoji’s sudden change.

Anyway, if he dared say she looked ugly, she’d get mad at him immediately!

“But the thing is, few people can make a simple yukata look this beautiful. You’re pretty rare, Lady of the Wicked Lord’s Eye.”

“Huh? Huh?!”

Lady of the Wicked Lord’s Eye’s over-the-top reaction of shyness was super amusing.

Her face flushed red, she awkwardly fiddled with her fingers while hurriedly turning around to face away from him, her small round bottom clearly outlined under the yukata.

So cute! He kinda wanted to kick it!

If it was Rikka, he might have actually done it.

“So Lady of the Wicked Lord’s Eye is actually more confident about your bottom?”

Mr. Himekoji couldn’t help but tease her, smiling.

“T-that’s not it at all!”

“Why are you talking to the air? There’s nobody over there where Lady of the Wicked Lord’s Eye is facing.”

“Mean! Mr. Himekoji, just pretend I’m air instead!”

“Hahaha~~”

Back at Lady of the Wicked Lord’s side, Mr. Himekoji stopped thinking about all those extra troubles.

Because he had thought it through and made up his mind.

All he needed to do next was stay with Lady of the Wicked Lord’s Eye, laughing and enjoying the time he had left.

If Lady of the Wicked Lord’s Eye truly felt happiness, joy, bliss in these moments… then when it came time to leave, wouldn’t she feel regret and reluctance?

So many delicious things left uneaten, so many beautiful things unseen, so many fun things unplayed, and…

And the person she wanted to stay together with forever.

If Lady of the Wicked Lord’s Eye realized this too, if she really understood this…

Then wouldn’t the only option be to stay?

People live because they want to live.

So, you mustn’t think about dying.

…

“The photos are developed, here.”

As the Receptionist said this with a smile, the photos were swiftly snatched away by Lady of the Wicked Lord’s Eye beside Mr. Himekoji.

“If they look bad, I won’t let Mr. Himekoji see them!”

The girl clasped them tightly, both nervous and excited.

Bridal photos! They were bridal photos!

Hers!

“That’s not fair! I want to see too!”

Looking at the pictures, Mr. Himekoji suddenly remembered – hadn’t his smile been really stiff several times when he posed in the suit?

And… hadn’t his tears maybe not dried yet yet?

Thinking of this, Mr. Himekoji panicked—

“Don’t look at the first few!”

He reached out to grab them back, flustered.

“Puhahaha! Mr. Himekoji, what is this? His eyes were blank and he looked so silly! Totally unphotogenic!”

“That’s why I said don’t look! No! Wait, look at the later ones, the ones in the yukata! Those aren’t bad at all! You were the one who looked all stiff and unnatural, Lady of the Wicked Lord’s Eye!”

Leaning their heads together, they flipped through the photos one by one, each trying hard to pick flaws in the other’s shots.

The Receptionist just stood by, smiling warmly, neither interrupting nor disturbing them.

—Honestly, after doing this job for a long time, you really start craving marriage terribly.

Watching the lively pair bicker, that thought bubbled up inside the Receptionist.

…

As they were leaving, Mr. Himekoji sensed eyes on him from the side and behind.

He turned instinctively and locked eyes with Yukinoshita.

Though the latter immediately shifted her gaze away, expression unchanged.

“Mr. Himekoji, I’ve been a bit curious since earlier… are those two friends of yours?”

Lady of the Wicked Lord’s Eye’s questioning voice reached his ear.

“No… just sightseers, I think. Earlier, they asked me some things about trying on wedding dresses and taking photos.”

Mr. Himekoji offered a small lie, tinged with a hint of apology.

If he confessed here, Lady of the Wicked Lord’s Eye’s sensitivity would surely let her guess that Hiratsuka-sensei and Yukinoshita had come for “Rikka”.

But “Rikka” wasn’t here. Only Lady of the Wicked Lord’s Eye was.

The gentle, kind Lady of the Wicked Lord’s Eye would only feel more guilty and pressured, eager to return “Rikka” to everyone.

That wasn’t what Mr. Himekoji wanted at all.

If only one could exist…

Rikka?

Or Lady of the Wicked Lord’s Eye?

No!

Choosing like that was impossible!

Even though, for the past year, all Mr. Himekoji had done was grit his teeth and make one hard choice after another between impossible options.

But this time… he didn’t want to choose.

He REFUSED to choose!

He wanted BOTH!

…

“Something wrong?”

The Female Teacher’s voice suddenly broke into Yukinoshita’s daze.

“Huh? Oh, nothing… just thinking about what Pervert-kun said earlier…”

Starting from Rikka not being Rikka, talking about the Lady of the Wicked Lord’s Eye, the incomprehensible battle, the person who seemed like the protagonist, the Brave.

The information overload was indeed hard to accept all at once.

But that wasn’t what Yukinoshita was focused on right now.

“I never thought… he’d say that.”

An image surfaced in her mind again – Mr. Himekoji, head bowed, pleading earnestly.

Help me.

He had actually said that. Said something like that.

The guy who thought he could handle everything alone, figured just himself was enough, opened his mouth to ask for help for the first time.

For his “bride”.

Somehow, her feelings were inexplicably tangled and complicated. Was it happiness, relief, seeing that stubborn, twisted guy finally changing a little? Or… was it something else?

Help me.

Hearing him say that should make her happy.

It should be happiness.

But Yukinoshita noticed it, still noticed — the faint touch of loneliness in her smile that nearly overpowered everything else.

“He’s maturing too, after all.”

Hiratsuka-sensei just shook her head nonchalantly. Then, as if remembering something, she flashed a meaningful smile and glanced sideways at Yukinoshita.

Caught under such direct scrutiny, Yukinoshita froze for a second, then, seeming to instantly grasp the implication, her cheeks flushed red and she hastily turned her head away.

It was a good while before she spoke softly again, almost murmuring—

“Actually… this was one of the two things I most wanted to hear him say.”

Content yet regretful, Yukinoshita sighed quietly as she looked towards the now empty Ceremonial Stage.

“Was it?”

The Female Teacher simply agreed at that moment.

She didn’t ask Yukinoshita what the other thing was.

Because… she was the same.

So she understood.

…

Afterwards, operating on the principle of not wanting to come all this way for nothing, Hiratsuka-sensei practically dragged Yukinoshita, despite her reluctance, into taking a set of bridal photos together.

Initially, she’d even wanted to ask Mr. Himekoji to play the groom role as a friendly favor.

Just a tiny bit unfortunate.

“Hello, excuse me, here for the bill please. The viewing, the trying on, plus the photography, the total is…”

“Wait, the two earlier! Those two weren’t free?”

“There’s no such thing, I’m afraid.”

The Receptionist’s smile was both polite and professional, impossible to fault.

…