Time passed quickly during their date.
Soon, after satisfying the goddess's fierce shopping appetite, the two of them carried their bags and strolled leisurely along the coastal viewing path.
The sea breeze was gentle. The blue-haired girl walked ahead.
Behind her, her tail swayed left and right in a steady rhythm, clearly showing her good mood.
Godolphin spread both arms out flat, holding an elegant shopping bag in each hand. Like she was walking on a balance beam, she deliberately stepped along the seams between the paving stones, hopping forward one step at a time while humming an unfamiliar little tune.
At this moment, she did not seem like one of the Three Goddesses of Uma Musume who had already existed for three hundred years.
Instead, she looked more like an adorable girl who had only recently undergone True Blooming, filled with curiosity and energy toward the world.
Behind her, Kuroha carried most of the "spoils" and followed with a smile, quietly enjoying the scene.
Only when they reached the end of the path and were about to turn did Kuroha stop.
"It's so beautiful..."
Godolphin placed her fair, delicate hands on the railing and narrowed her eyes slightly, gazing at the breathtaking ocean view where sea and sky met in the distance. She let out a comfortable sigh.
"Had fun?"
Kuroha slowly walked up beside her and asked with a smile.
"I did." She nodded firmly, her exquisite face full of undisguised satisfaction.
"Then... can you tell me now?" Kuroha softened his voice a little.
He had noticed it long ago. Godolphin was acting very strangely today.
Whether it was her sudden behavior in the morning or the way she had been speaking today, there was a subtle difference between her and the Blue Goddess he knew.
At first, Kuroha had thought she was in a bad mood and had planned to ask while they were still in the car.
But after playing around all this time, he realized it did not seem to be a matter of low spirits.
On the contrary, Godolphin seemed even more cheerful than before.
"Mm... How should I put this?"
As if she knew what Kuroha wanted to ask, the Blue Goddess turned around and lightly placed her slender index finger against her own cheek, putting on a troubled, thoughtful look. After a while, she slowly spoke.
"Kuro-kun, do you remember why I first came with you on the European expedition?"
"Why you came with me on the expedition?"
Kuroha paused, then pondered for a moment and recalled, "I remember you volunteered yourself back then and insisted on coming along... Uh..."
At that point, Kuroha seemed to suddenly connect the dots. His words stopped short, and realization flashed through his eyes.
"Bingo!"
As if their hearts were connected, Godolphin winked playfully. Her radiant green eyes glittered in the sunlight like two exquisite emeralds.
"Because I wanted to know what love truly tastes like."
"That's why I thought I'd stay by your side."
"I wanted to see with my own eyes what qualities Kuro-kun possessed in this era, qualities that could make so many brilliant and outstanding Uma Musume so deeply enchanted by you."
"...So, your conclusion now is that you've found them?"
"I have."
The corners of Godolphin's lips curved into a dazzling smile. "And there are so many, I can hardly count them all."
With those words, Godolphin's breathtakingly beautiful face suddenly leaned close.
The distance between them shrank to nearly nothing in an instant.
Kuroha could even clearly catch the faint, elusive fragrance drifting from the goddess, a subtle scent that made the heart waver.
The atmosphere heated abruptly in that moment, turning intensely intimate.
On the empty coastal path, even the wind seemed to stop.
A trainer and an Uma Musume were nearly pressed together beneath the warm sunlight, and some subtle, scorching emotion seemed to be growing wildly between them.
But in the next moment, Godolphin smiled and took two steps back on her own, covering her forehead with her hand as she laughed.
"Still, I'm not quite there yet."
"I'm still just a tiny bit away from the stage of 'falling completely in love with Kuro-kun.'"
"Maybe tomorrow, maybe the day after, or maybe I'll have to wait until next month..."
"In any case, when the time comes, you had better prepare yourself to endure the fiercest courtship of one of the Three Goddesses of Uma Musume."
"..."
As expected of the Blue Goddess who yearned for love. This completely direct, unguarded attack, delivered without the slightest blush or hesitation, was something Kuroha had truly never seen before.
Back then, even Maruzensky, who had dragged him into a hotel on the very day of their date, had still blushed adorably when she confessed, despite speaking with complete righteousness.
But as a man with six Uma Musume wives at home, Kuroha had long since tempered an extremely strong mentality. Naturally, he did not retreat in the slightest.
"If it's only a tiny bit, why do we have to wait that long? Couldn't it be... today?" Kuroha coughed lightly and asked with feigned seriousness.
"You're being too greedy, Kuro-kun."
The moment he finished speaking, a soft, fair fingertip suddenly reached out and lightly pressed against Kuroha's lips.
Godolphin shook her head with a smile, then sighed bitterly.
"Actually... I would also like it to be today."
"The atmosphere just now felt perfectly right. But, well... I still have to think a little about the Queen."
"...The Queen?"
Kuroha repeated the words, and the silver-haired girl with mismatched eyes immediately appeared in his mind.
For the topic to suddenly turn to Folkqueen at a time like this, Kuroha understood everything in an instant. His expression became somewhat strange.
In truth, even before the expedition, he had vaguely sensed that the girl from New Zealand seemed to harbor some special feelings toward him.
He had originally planned to find a suitable opportunity during this expedition to resolve the matter properly.
He had not expected that before he could even figure out how to talk to that tsundere girl, Godolphin would bring it up to his face.
"Mm? What's wrong?"
Seeing this, Godolphin smiled and stepped forward. Very naturally, she took Kuroha's arm and looked up at him with a sly smile.
"Could it be that Kuro-kun carefully prepared some romantic arrangement?"
"...What's there to arrange?"
Although Kuroha had considered asking Folkqueen out on a date at the right time and arranging something like a fireworks show or a big cake for her, after everything he had experienced, he was no longer the inexperienced local trainer he had once been.
But something that ordinary did not need to be called an arrangement.
"Oh?"
Godolphin deliberately drew out the sound after hearing that, then chuckled.
"If Kuro-kun hasn't made any arrangements, then after a while, please properly look forward to mine."
"Your arrangement... What is that supposed to mean?" Kuroha felt too tired to even retort.
Wasn't romance just a matter of whether or not the thin paper between two people was pierced?
Where did all these winding arrangements and schemes come from?
"Oh, Kuro-kun really isn't romantic."
Godolphin reached out and poked Kuroha in the waist, then seriously lectured him.
"Don't think that just because you're outstanding enough, you can stop paying attention to the details during the pursuit."
"That is the most important and most enjoyable part of love, you know."
Seeing her full of motivation, Kuroha could only sigh helplessly. "Fine... Then I'll look forward to it?"
"Hehe. Just obediently look forward to it."
The Blue Goddess held his arm tightly, facing the sea breeze, her laughter as clear and pleasant as silver bells.
(End of Chapter)
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