Returning to the campfire, Ritsuka Fujimaru and the others were already resting. Laurent, who had absolutely no need for sleep, volunteered to stand watch—though it took him several tries before they finally agreed.
And really...this Ritsuka Fujimaru was impossibly gentle.
Seating himself casually on a nearby stump, Laurent idly played with a droplet of his blood.
Truth be told, this stuff could mimic any object he imagined. Like now, with nothing better to do, Laurent fashioned a Rubik's Cube from it.
Back when he had nothing else to do, he'd loved fiddling with Rubik's Cubes, taking them apart. Making one now was no challenge at all!
He scrambled the cube, then set about pondering how to solve it again.
"Laurent..."
Just then, Jeanne's gentle voice sounded from behind.
"Hm?"
He turned to glance at her. Jeanne had already shed her armor—becoming a Servant really was convenient, wasn't it?
She could freely change her clothing at will.
What an amazing figure.
This was Laurent's immediate thought. He remembered when Jeanne first went onto the battlefield, she hadn't been nearly this impressive. After two years of warfare, instead of becoming gaunt, she'd become all lean muscle—and somehow even more alluring.
And…had the clothing he made for her gotten smaller? Her chest always seemed to be straining the fabric.
He hadn't noticed before due to the armor, but now, at a glance, the outline of her chest was unmistakably tight beneath her clothes!
Turning away to avoid staring, Laurent fixed his eyes back onto the Rubik's Cube in his hands. Because he knew without a doubt, within ten seconds Jeanne would sit down beside him.
Sure enough, the next moment, Jeanne, blushing faintly, secretly sat down beside him. Apparently feeling she'd sat a bit too far away, she even quietly scooted closer to Laurent. She then pretended innocence, staring at the cube in his hands.
"Laurent, what are you playing with?"
She leaned in closer, her big eyes filled with curiosity. Laurent could even catch the scent of her hair. Gazing at her face, inches from his own, those tempting lips—
Now that he thought about it, when he'd died back then, Jeanne had kissed his cheek, hadn't she? Unfortunately, his body had already grown cold, and he hadn't felt a thing.
As this memory resurfaced, the remaining ripples in Laurent's mind vanished.
"It's a Rubik's Cube, a toy I found among the English nobility."
Explaining its actual origins would be troublesome, so he simply credited it to England—Jeanne didn't know much about England anyway.
"Want to give it a try?"
He handed the cube to Jeanne, who took it curiously. Laurent reached over, guiding her gently.
"You turn it like this. The goal is to match all the colors on each side."
Jeanne obediently moved her hands according to his words. Laurent couldn't help but chuckle softly.
"You're just as clumsy as ever. I'd hoped you'd gotten smarter after spending so much time on the battlefield."
Jeanne puffed her cheeks slightly, displeased.
"And you're just as mean as ever!"
"Haha, haven't you heard? 'Girls don't love boys who aren't a little bad.'"
"Where do you even learn these things?"
"Guess?"
Laurent raised his gaze toward the sky—there was a trace of moonlight, but what was more striking was that massive hole.
Is that what we have to fix?
"Do you still trust in those gods?"
His question caused the air between them to fall silent.
Jeanne knew this was their point of divergence. Perhaps it could have remained forever unspoken, yet she wanted to resolve it.
Thinking thus, her lips curved into a soft smile.
"What about you, Laurent? Do you still hate them?"
"They're already dead; hating them serves no purpose."
"Then it's the same for me, Laurent."
Jeanne inched even closer, her fingertips tentatively brushing Laurent's hand. Seeing he didn't object, she took hold of it.
Their fingers intertwined, and Jeanne's voice relaxed.
"I'll still pray, Laurent. But no longer to them—because I know you'll always be by my side."
"You really haven't changed, Jeanne. Even now, seeing how they betrayed you—I even feel that France deserves its ruin."
"But you're by my side now, aren't you? Our hope might have seemed faint this time, but as long as you're with me, I feel reassured."
She rested her head gently against Laurent's shoulder.
"I don't know what you did exactly, but when I heard what Doctor Roman said, I felt a terrible pain… That's why, when I saw you today, there were so many things I wanted to say, yet in the end, I realized I only wanted to stay by your side."
"When did you get so sweet? Looks like the Holy Maiden knows exactly how to charm someone."
He spoke half-teasingly.
But Jeanne lifted her head, expression now utterly serious.
"Laurent, I don't want to leave any regrets. Even…even if I'm not a proper wife yet, even if I don't know how to fulfill a wife's duties, I—I want to try. I'll learn, I promise…"
Her face flushed deeper as she spoke.
"S-so…can you accept me, even as I am now…?"
She waited a moment, but no reply came. When Jeanne finally raised her eyes toward Laurent, she found him already looking at her, tears quietly streaming down his cheeks. Laurent stared at her, slightly dazed, only realizing after a moment that he was crying. Hastily, he wiped the tears away.
"S-sorry…sorry… I just got carried away by happiness…"
He laughed, even as he cried.
Happy? Of course. Rather, right now, everything felt overwhelmingly wonderful.
Nothing could be happier than this.
But why couldn't this have happened back then? If she'd stayed with him from the start, how joyful their lives could've been…
He frantically wiped at the tears, but they refused to stop.
"L-Laurent…"
"This is beyond my control, okay! Who knew you could say such sweet things?! It's all your fault I'm so happy! It's all your fault!"
His words had turned nearly incoherent. Jeanne grew flustered herself.
"I—I feel the same way! Even saying these things makes me embarrassed too, you know!"
She gently reached out, wiping his tears away.
Under the faint glow of moonlight, their eyes met.
In that moment, time paused. Each saw the other reflected in their trembling gaze. Slowly, their faces drew closer.
Under the silver moonlight, their figures merged.
If he could, Laurent wished this kiss could last forever.
This time, no matter what happened, he wouldn't leave Jeanne's side ever again.
---
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