"You Te? Why are you still here?" Emilia quickly jogged over.
"Does Emilia not want me to be here?" You Te blinked.
Emilia thought she was misunderstood and quickly waved her hands anxiously: "No...it's not like that....."
"It's just...I didn't expect you to wait for me to come out....."
She paused, looked around, and found that the dragon carriage and Felix were gone.
"You Te...you really didn't have to wait for me....."
Emilia felt even more embarrassed, thinking she had delayed him.
"As a friend, I definitely have to wait for Emilia to come out." The smile on You Te's face remained.
Actually, he had sent Felix away precisely for this moment, for their world of two.
This was a classic strategy for wooing girls.
"Friend?" Emilia was momentarily stunned.
Puck was family, her 'dad'; Roswaal and the Ram sisters were allies with shared interests. She hadn't had a single friend until now.
The word 'friend' was extremely distant to the silver-haired half-elf girl.
"What? Are Emilia and I not friends?"
"Yes!...Yes! Emilia and You Te are friends!" Emilia was a little excited for a moment, her voice raising a few octaves.
Just then, the magic stone on her chest flashed with a ray of light.
A fluffy kitten suddenly appeared in the air between them, with big round eyes and a small mouth, giving off a feeling of friendliness and cuteness.
"Puck." Emilia smiled the moment she saw Puck.
"Liya!" Puck circled Emilia once, then pounced on You Te, tightly hugging his arm and giggling:
"Thank you for being this child's friend. As her 'dad,' I'm very pleased! You must treat Liya well!"
"Puck.....you..." Emilia was a little shy.
"It's my honor to be friends with Emilia. With me here, no one will bully her," You Te said softly to Puck.
"It's a deal then!" Puck's big eyes lit up when he heard You Te was willing to protect Emilia, and he extended his chubby little paw.
You Te extended his index finger and touched its small paw: "Mhm, it's a deal."
Seeing one person and one spirit make a pact to protect her, Emilia felt a warmth in her heart, and her eyes narrowed into crescent moons, looking particularly adorable.
"What does Emilia want to eat? There's a lot of delicious food in the Royal Capital. The first meal is on me, please don't be shy," You Te said with a smile.
"No...that won't do." Emilia immediately waved her hand, then blushed and carefully explained:
"You already let me ride in the dragon carriage, and you waited for me for so, so long. It should be my treat."
She paused, then said a little awkwardly: "...It's just that I don't have much Kingdom currency, so it might not be enough to treat you to a big meal."
Although she was currently one of the four Royal Selection Candidates of the Kingdom, Emilia could be said to be penniless. All her daily necessities were handled by the maid sisters arranged by Roswaal.
So...she had no source of income at all.
"Please don't worry," You Te said gently with a smile, speaking earnestly: "As long as I can eat with Emilia, even just a piece of bread would be an exquisite delicacy to me."
"What's important isn't what you eat, but who you eat with."
"As long as I'm with Emilia, I'll be happy no matter what we eat."
Although it sounded cheesy, this was how you had to be with a pure girl.
"Oh~~~" Puck let out a teasing sound when he heard this mushy statement, then immediately looked at Emilia.
Sure enough, after hearing You Te's words, Emilia's entire body became like a steam engine, a crimson blush spreading rapidly like a tide, from her cheeks all the way to her earlobes.
"You...You Te is an idiot...."
With that, Emilia turned and walked away, not even caring about Puck.
Her long legs moved quickly, as if she were escaping.
However, as she walked, her steps gradually slowed down.
She was afraid that You Te wouldn't be able to keep up with her pace.
Emilia tilted her head slightly, secretly glancing back with her peripheral vision, a hint of imperceptible anticipation in her eyes.
Seeing this, You Te thought, this is simply explosively cute.
How could there be such a cute beautiful girl in the world?
Although he was a staunch Rem supporter.
But it was still that saying, only children make choices.
First, conquer Emilia, then go back to the Earl's Mansion with her to conquer Rem.
Oh, and there seemed to be a blonde twin-tailed legal loli.
What was her name again?
Betty, right?
You Te recalled carefully, suddenly realizing that he was truly an old pervert.
The ones he remembered were all cute beautiful girls.
Of course, he also knew a bit about the protagonist, 486.
Besides that, there was nothing else.
"You Te, Liya really likes you," Puck said with a light chuckle, sitting on You Te's shoulder.
"Don't worry, I won't let that affection down," You Te said, then jogged up to walk side-by-side with Emilia.
Emilia's earlobes were still crimson, and she looked at the shops beside them somewhat at a loss, not knowing what to say to You Te.
You Te's barrage of unexplained sweet talk left her utterly defenseless.
The two of them just strolled aimlessly, forgetting that they had come out to eat.
But gradually, more and more pedestrians appeared on the road, and they all looked at the two with strange gazes.
Although subtle, it couldn't be hidden from them at all.
Emilia noticed, subconsciously lowered her head, and her expression dimmed.
She suddenly felt a bit deflated.
"You Te...you should still stay away from me," Emilia gave an awkward smile, her slender fingers tugging at her clothes, as if the soft fabric could give her some courage, explaining:
"Otherwise...otherwise you'll also suffer from such gazes....."
Emilia was too gentle; she didn't mind for herself, but she didn't want her first friend to suffer discrimination because of her.
"Liya...." Puck on You Te's shoulder called out softly with a pained heart.
"So what?" At this moment, You Te smiled faintly and directly grabbed Emilia's somewhat cold little hand.
This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity; when it's time to act, act.
"I just like being with Emilia. No matter what happens, I won't let go."
"Oh~~~" Puck clapped his chubby little paws, as if saying—I give you full marks for this move.
Emilia opened her mouth, but it was as if she had lost her voice, unable to utter a single word.
In an instant, she once again transformed into a steam engine, a fiery blush rising from her neck and rapidly spreading across her entire face.
Her heart beat like a rapidly drumming beat, "thump-thump-thump," incredibly fast, the violent thumping as if it would break free from the confines of her chest.
Subconsciously, Emilia wanted to pull her hand back, but found that she couldn't. The hand that was tightly held seemed to be firmly fixed there, causing a surge of inexplicable panic and shyness in her heart.
"What? Emilia doesn't want to walk with me?"
"No!...It's not..." Emilia stopped trying to pull her hand away and quickly shook her head.
"I'm hungry, let's eat, let's eat." Seeing that he had flirted enough, You Te changed the subject.
"Mhm...okay."
Holding hands, the two casually found a small restaurant to eat at.
During the meal, Emilia kept her head down the whole time, not daring to look at You Te at all.
At the same time, she didn't bring up her doubt about whether You Te had already followed Kuerxiu.
Regardless.
You Te was her first friend.
So she wouldn't mention anything about the Royal Selection, not wanting to add any trace of personal gain to this relationship.
After eating, You Te escorted Emilia back to her hotel.
Before leaving, You Te suddenly said: "My family and the Karsten Dukedom are old family friends, so I'm temporarily staying at the Karsten Dukedom while traveling."
"I recently heard that the scenery near the border is beautiful, so my next stop is there."
"Emilia, do you welcome me?"
"Of course, I welcome you!" Emilia didn't hesitate at all.