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Crystal scoffed. "Of course it's true!"
Although hearing her confirmation did put his mind slightly at ease, Randy still found it hard to believe it. After all, Emilia may have a lot of fangirls, and plenty of cute friends, but when it came to really settling down and spending the rest of their life together, how many would be willing?
Having spent quite some time since their 'heart-to-heart' talk worrying about the future of his 'little sister', Randy still felt a little skeptical that Crystal would really love her like that. It was like before he could seek a solution to the problem, it came flying to him on its own. "H-How do you know you love her? Are you really really sure?"
Crystal gave him a condescending look, as if she had known that he would doubt her love for Emilia. After all, as someone who failed to fall in love with the girl, he was clearly unable to see her true worth. "I love the way she walks, I love the way she talks. I love the way her eyes shine when she's being naughty. I love the way she smiles when she's happy. I love how she believes in me far more than myself. I love how much she cares for me, and doesn't just say it. She has done so much for me already, and even if she rejects me in the future, I will still dedicate my life to her! So don't you dare think that, just because you can't see it, she doesn't have others who would love her like this!"
If not for Emilia, Crystal knew that both she and her mother would still be getting harassed by those thugs, struggling to get by from day to day with whatever little scraps they managed to earn from that loss-making business.
No… maybe they would already have snapped under the pressure, and given it all up. After all, it only seemed to have been getting worse with time, so who is to say how long they could have endured?
Her mother, who had raised her with great difficulties for so many years, had already looked like she was going to fold under the combination of threats and financial pressure in the past few years. Only the thought of ruining Crystal's future made the woman force herself to keep it all together, no matter what. But for how long could she have kept it up?
However, from the first day that Emilia entered her life, she already set off great waves of change. The immense burden that seemed to have been ready to shatter her mother's back and crush both of them mercilessly was taken off and thrown away, just like that.
Of course, Emilia never mentioned it to her directly, and if Crystal had been dense, maybe she really would have missed it. And maybe she would have truly believed that it was Dixie's mother who saw potential in their restaurant's location and decided to invest in it.
But the fact that Emilia didn't care whether she even received gratitude in return for changing her life… only made her love the girl more.
Hearing her passionate confession, Randy couldn't help but feel something awaken within him.
It was also a type of love, but not for a person… but a relationship.
Thinking about these two beautiful girls together, one so selfless and one so passionate, both loving each other so deeply, the boy felt as if all was right in the world. And since his little sister was obtaining happiness at the same time, even better.
The heroine had already flicked her hair and left after she was done making her point. After all, she only wanted to make a point today, and didn't care for Randy's approval.
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Not far from the scene, a petite girl with an extremely long blonde ponytail jumped excitedly as she turned back to her 'assistant'. "Did you record it properly, Adele?"
The spectacled girl nodded. "Yes, commander. Aside from my own recording, we also have reconnaissance from five different spots, and also have separate arrangements for a clear audio signal."
Needless to say, such a thing would be impossible without fairly expensive cameras capable of taking long-distance shots. Of course, the one thing that Knight's Order no longer lacked… was money.
Penny giggled gleefully. "Good, this would make an excellent training clip for the new knights. This level of passion is the least you should have in your heart to be qualified as a knight! Ah, Crystal… as expected of a personal slave of the princess."
Adele nodded, though she was more concerned about something else. "What do we do with the pest?"
The petite blonde frowned. "The one following Crystal around?"
Adele nodded. For her to have reached the point of being able to follow the Commander around when she had started off as no more than an honorary member, her obsession and contribution had been nothing but exceptional, to say the least. She had a keen eye for spotting opportunities to make contributions, and the bucktoothed girl made full use of it. "Yes. His actions seem strange. Although he stayed away, he kept gritting his teeth, and red his eyes seemed almost ready to bug out of his head at any time. And with the way he clenched his fist, we were almost sure he was ready to start punching the wall or something. That is what the girl observing him relayed to us, and it seems a little concerning, to say the least."
Penny couldn't help but frown.
Truth be told, she never really cared about the identity of Emilia's ex-fiancé. After all, whatever rich boy he was, if he dared to bother her princess, he deserved a very thorough beating at the very least.
However, she was also worried about attracting trouble for her princess before.
Now that she had the ability to get in touch with Emilia's sister, however, things had become much easier.
"Leave him be for now. I'll ask the 'Elder' and let her decide what to do next."
The 'Elder' was, of course, Samantha's title in their Knight Order. Both as the elder sister of their princess, and as the one who supplied them with so much support, Penny had decided in her capacity as the Commander that she was deserving of such a position.
Adele nodded reluctantly at first, then bit her lip. "Commander… I don't know if I should say this, but…"
Penny raised a brow curiously. "Hm?"
Although she wasn't quite sure if she would be stepping out of line, having only recently been allowed to directly assist the commander in missions, Adele still decided to take the plunge. "That silver-haired guy seems quite obsessed with Crystal, right? And although our princess is often together with Crystal, that is not the case all the time, like right now. Wouldn't it be wise to have someone follow them around?"
As long as she could keep increasing her contributions, it was all worth the risk! Adele knew that one day, her dreams would definitely come true, as long as she kept working hard!
Penny's eyes immediately lit up as she clapped. "Good suggestion! No, excellent! If we had missed it, and something untoward happened, the princess would have been distressed by the injury of one of her personal slaves! Unacceptable! As a reward, I shall give you another half a bar of chocolate!"
"Thank you, Commander! You're too generous!"
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~ To be continued ~
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I could only do this much today, sorry. >_<
Thank you for all your support! :>