cheeks. She squirmed from side to side. "Oh, Master Kaito... I couldn't possibly eat any mwore..." "Man, that's cute. Is she dreaming or something?" Technically, automatons weren't equipped with the ability to dream. On occasion, though, their Self-Recording Devices would spontaneously play back one of the massive number of scenes recorded in them. They must see them in the dark sometimes; it made for a phenomenon not unlike human dreams, Kaito supposed. In other words, automatons could dream about the people they loved. When he thought about it that way, it seemed even cuter than before. Kaito squished Hina's cheek several more times. As she rolled about, she let out a sweet whisper. "I told you, I can't... I already ate all the Master Kaito I could..." "Wait, am I the one getting eaten here?" "Hee-hee, you're so cute that I wanted to eat you up, Master Kaito, and you're jusht as tasty as I expected." "I didn't actually want an answer there! Hey, hey, Hina, wake up! No more scary dreams!" "You caaah...hmwuh... Hmm? Master Kaito?" Suddenly, Hina sprang up. Perhaps due to her surprise, the gears in her chest began audibly accelerating. She blinked and fixed her gaze on Kaito. Her cheeks instantly went flush. "M-Master Kaito... In, um, in the one-in-a-million chance that my memories are accurate... Did you, perhaps, by any chance, possibly, say 'date'? No, no, it must have been a dreamâ€”I'm ever so sorry!" "I definitely do remember asking my wife on a date, actually." "Off to death I go." "Please don't die on me with a big smile on your face like that." Kaito frantically propped her up before she could peacefully topple backward. He gently righted her posture. A moment later, they were facing each other again. Hina's cheeks grew even redder. She was about to say something, but instead, she covered her mouth in surprise. Her emerald eyes darted about. It looked like she'd finally noticed. Then she spoke, her voice trembling with astonishment and nostalgia. "Pl-please wait just a moment! Could it beâ€”? Are we...?" "Yeah, I teleported us here while you were sleeping. Takes you back, huh?" "Yes, incredibly so. It's very nostalgic. Ah, here we are. We've returned." Hina nodded over and over. With a smile, Kaito glanced around the room once more. In reality, it hadn't been long enough since they'd left to truly describe the place as nostalgic. To the two of them, though, everything felt like it had been a distant memory. Unlike when they'd fled here from the World's End, it was silent outside. Not even the underlings' ever-present cries reached them. The quiet of the night enveloping them made it seem as though nothing had changed. But that was mere fiction. Nowhere in the world was that the case. In truth, nothing was eternal. Until recently, this place had been crawling with underlings, too. However, before Hina had woken up, Kaito had driven stakes into the lot of them. The silence they were currently enjoying was temporary. But Kaito chose to conceal that unromantic, troubling truth. Instead, he gently nodded. "Yep, we're back. Back to the place where we both belong...Elisabeth's castle." Hina laid her hands atop her chest. Overcome by a flood of emotions, she closed her eyes. And thus, in the brief frame of time before the Diablo pillar released the fifth waveâ€” â€”the two of them had left the front lines and returned to this dearly missed castle of theirs. "So on that note, well... Normally, I would've liked to take you somewhere more special, but the world's ending, so... Man, now that I've said it out loud, it sounds kind of scary. Anyway, I was thinking we could have a stay-at-home date. Does that sound okay?" "That sounds delightful! Or should I say, it sounds suuuuuuuper delightful!" At Kaito's invitation, Hina began hopping up and down. Her face was filled with sincere joy. Kaito nodded, having expected she'd say that. After all, Elisabeth's castle was special to the two of them. Kaito was from another world. Hina was an automaton. For the two of them, it was the only place they could call home. And that wasn't all. It was also the place where they'd met, the place where they'd spent their days, the place where they'd fought for their lives, and the place where they'd promised each other that they'd become a true family. Countless memories were scattered about the grounds of this castle. Thus, the two of them headed for a place one would never normally associate with a date. "Hee-hee, this is it! Just as I suspected, this here is the most nostalgic place of them all!" "Oh yeah, for sure. We used to spend every day in this kitchen... You handled the cooking, and I washed the dishes." The two of them exchanged a gentle smile. At the moment, they were in the castle's cramped, inconvenient kitchen. It really had been a while since the two of them had come here together. Ever since the Grand King knocked Elisabeth into a coma, Kaito and Hina hadn't had a chance to cook side by side. Hina gazed around the room fondly. Then suddenly, her eyes flashed. "Oh my... That'sâ€”!" Hina rushed over to a white cupboard, then eagerly opened it up. Inside it was a neat row of little boxes. One by one, Hina removed their lids. Within them were colorful tea leaves, nuts, and dried petals. She'd assembled them to make Elisabeth's morning beverage with. After checking all their contents, Hina breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh, thank goodness. They haven't gone bad. Even after we had to temporarily betray her, Lady Elisabeth left the cupboard as it was. She really is a kind person." Hina softly wiped the corner of her eye. Kaito tried to picture what Elisabeth would say if she were to see that. She'd probably bellow, Fool! Don't go raising your estimation of people so easily! Its mere existence slipped my mindâ€”nothing more! However, forgetting to dispose of what the people who'd betrayed her had left behind was, in and of itself, very Elisabeth-like. I don't think she herself realized it, but she really did have a soft spot for her followers, especially Hina. You know, that's a form of kindness, too, Elisabeth. As he was thinking, Kaito started walking. He opened up the ice-spirit fridge. Even with the castle's inhabitants gone, the ice spirits were still in good health. Cold air was brimming within. When the smell hit him, though, he scrunched up his face. As he gazed over the partition board, he let out a blank murmur. "Yeah, that makes sense... I guess this is what happens now that they're gone." All the food inside it was thoroughly spoiled. It was only natural. There was no merchant to diligently bring fresh cuts of meat to the castle, nor was there a gourmand to gobble them right up. At the same time, Kaito realized something. That refrigerator was always empty. At most, it'd be full of beer and shochu. There had also been times when it had rotten food in it, or sketchy, illegal-looking packages. In his childhood, Kaito had occasionally been unable to withstand his hunger and had opened up the fridge. Every time he'd done so, though, he'd been beaten so harshly that he'd felt his intestines would come flying out. Sometimes, he'd even been forced to drink detergent or some unidentifiable liquid as punishment. It really is a happy thing, having a fridge that's always stocked with fresh food. And if there was someone who'd happily bring you food, someone who'd delightedly prepare it, and someone who'd eat it with a smile on their face, then all the more so. Kaito shook his head, then closed the ice-spirit fridge. Then after turning around, he tried to start walking again but immediately stopped. Standing before him was Hina. Both her arms were behind her back. Kaito lightly called out to her. "What's up?" "Well, you see, Master Kaito... Ta-da!" And with that, Hina revealed what it was she'd been hiding: hard cheese, honey sealed in wax, and a jar of nuts preserved in oil. Kaito rubbed Hina's head in praise. She cooed sweetly. And so in the end, their dinner ended up being simple, but warm all the same. It was no match for the feasts they'd used to have, replete with appetizers, cooked organ meat, and sweet desserts, lamented Hina. But as far as Kaito was concerned, the meal she'd concocted out of little more than love and ingenuity was beyond impressive. There were cookies baked from kneaded dough and topped with nuts, honey, and cheese, as well as a colorful salad made from garden-fresh herbs. However, when she gazed upon the completed goods, Hina shook her head once more. "If only there had been some meat that I could have prepared as a main course. As a maid, I find it ever so mortifying." "Not at all. This is plenty. The Butcher used to bring by fresh stuff all the time, so we never bothered to stock up on dried meat. There's no helping that." "Mr. Butcher was oh-so-proud of that meat of his, and I really did love cooking it. It was always so lustrous and shiny, and preparing it was truly rewarding." "...I'm sure he knew that. And I'm sure it made him real happy." With that, Kaito stroked Hina's head. She smiled, looking to be on the verge of tears. And soon, their dinner was ready. However, Hina didn't normally eat. Automatons were equipped with the ability to ingest food and dismantle it so they could attend banquets alongside their masters, but they didn't derive any sustenance from doing so. Rather than eating food herself, she generally preferred to watch Kaito and Elisabeth as they took their meals. Today, though, she elected to eat alongside Kaito. They didn't eat in the dining room. Instead, they ate before the gaping hole in the throne room's wall. They'd laid a cloth out on the floor and lined the plates atop it. They were also utilizing the side table that Elisabeth had used so regularly. Placed on it was a bowl full of ice that Hina had half-submerged an expensive bottle of wine in. Beside it, three glasses were laid out. A silvery moon rested in the clear, night sky. Elisabeth had been fond of drinking wine while basking in the moonlight. And she'd often dragged Kaito and Hina into her drinking as well. As he reminisced on that fact, Kaito poured the wine into the three glasses. Its vivid shade of scarlet, like melted rubies, reminded him of Elisabeth's eyes. Kaito and Hina purposefully left the throne alone and sat on the floor. They gazed up at the moon, the empty space between the two of them so distinct that it almost seemed as if someone were there. Hina held her glass in both hands as she whispered: "I hope that someday, Lady Elisabeth will be able to... No, she definitely willâ€”" "Yeah, to her being able to drink wine like this again." With a clink, they lightly tapped their glasses together. They then brought the fine wine to their lips, more in prayer than in thirst. Hina closed her eyes, as though she was trying to fully take in the flavor that Elisabeth had liked so much. As she did, Kaito surreptitiously snapped his fingers. "La (fall)." The blade Kaito had created flashed across the darkness. The underling's head went toppling off. The cry that had been creeping up its throat vanished without a sound. Still poised as though to leap, its grotesque body toppled down into the forest below. Hina opened her eyes. The figure outside the hole was long gone. Kaito didn't even cast a glance toward where it had fallen. With no one to interrupt them, the two of them continued their dinner. The only thing bearing down on them was