The night wind felt so cold, making my body shiver uncontrollably.
Tonight's atmosphere still felt so calm, even though the situation here was still a bit tense—
The full moon shone even brighter, illuminating the two of us amidst the darkness of this night.
I still couldn't respond to Cyve's words earlier.
Seeing me fall silent, Cyve lowered her head and clenched both her hands as if she was upset.
We both fell silent.
No one spoke first, as if we were waiting for one of us to speak.
Maybe it would sound stupid if I thought like this—
Cyve just yelled at me earlier, saying she wouldn't be nice to men she didn't like. And I had the thought that Cyve liked me… maybe.
I couldn't really understand things like this, and since Cyve and I were in the middle of a quarrel, I guess she was only messing around or joking.
Besides, if Cyve really did like me… what could she possibly like about me?
My appearance was just ordinary, my body build normal like any boy my age, and my face wasn't particularly handsome or anything like that.
In terms of appearance, Cyve and I compared 1:1000. I was just an 18-year-old boy without having anything.
And Cyve was an elf girl with a beautiful and graceful appearance. Surely this was also true for every elf.
And someone like Cyve shouldn't possibly have feelings for a human like me.
Well… that was just my opinion if Cyve really liked me.
——
(Cyve side)
W-what did I just say!?
I just said that I l-liked…
But what did Yukito-sama feel from my words earlier?
I was still upset and sad about his behavior this morning. I felt like I wanted to vent everything and keep yelling at Yukito-sama until he went silent.
Without realizing it, I ended up confessing my feelings to him.
B-but even so… my instincts told me that Yukito-sama was just not perceptive.
Hmm… what do I like about Yukito-sama??
I… throughout my life I had met many elf men, but among them all there wasn't a single one who was kind to me.
For some reason, so I always locked myself in my room and read old books.
And I found a book titled "Humans."
The first time I found it I said, "What is this?" At that time I didn't know about races other than elves.
I read that book about "humans" for days until I reached the end.
"If humans also have men and women, I'll look for that man and prove it myself!"
In that book it was also written that humans had kindness toward each other.
Then, finally after 10 years of searching for "humans" I met Yukito-sama.
Because the book didn't give an example of what humans looked like, I assumed Yukito-sama was an animal.
At first I was also shocked why such a large animal could speak, and it turned out he was a human.
After realizing Yukito-sama was a human, I decided to "get close" to him.
I just wanted to prove how kind humans were as written in that old book.
And after several days together with Yukito-sama, I realized my heart was pounding when I was with him.
And this feeling… was the very first time.
——
They stood facing each other in silence, cold sweat began to soak Yukito's entire body as he looked increasingly panicked.
Seeing Cyve lower her head and clench her fists made Yukito even more afraid of how big the consequences of his actions were.
Yukito's legs trembled, but he had already steeled his resolve and his heart.
This time he would not back down.
——
"C-Cyve!"
I called her name with a bit of stammering because of nervousness.
She looked at me with eyes that had stopped crying, although still looking sad.
"Do you… actually like me?" (I asked hesitantly)
There were two outcomes if I asked that, first I'd be considered stupid for taking those words as a real "like."
And the other, Cyve really did like me… (Though I was more certain of the first one)
She wiped her cheeks and then looked at me with her gentle smile.
"Just kidding~" (Cyve)
I froze.
"Did Yukito-sama perhaps think I liked you? Bwahahaha" (Cyve)
"What do you mean by all that earlier, were you just joking?" (I asked)
Suddenly she said "just kidding"… damn, this elf's nature really hasn't changed.
"Not really, I was only kidding about the part where I said I liked you" (Cyve)
"But pretty amazing, the joke I gave you you actually took seriously" (She continued)
I could only clench both my fists, feeling annoyed at her behavior earlier.
——
I was relieved that Cyve didn't really hate me… and proof that she could still joke like that meant she was still okay.
Cyve invited me to sit on the rock she had been sitting on earlier.
I took off my shoes and began dipping both my feet into the water, following Cyve.
"Cold!" (I said)
I had never touched water on nights like this… and I didn't expect it to be this cold!
"Cyve… I'm sorry about this morning" (I said)
I still hadn't heard Cyve forgive me. So, I kept apologizing to her.
"Well, that did make me scared and cry earlier… but oh well, never mind~"
"Anyway, seeing Yukito-sama apologizing like this… pfft, turns out it's kind of funny~" (she said)
"What's that? A new insult?" (I asked)
——
We both sat calmly at the edge of the lake, our feet still in the water.
We both just gazed at the full moon shining brightly this night.
Suddenly, Cyve asked me—
"Yukito-sama, what do you think an elf is?" (Cyve asked)
Why did she suddenly ask my opinion about elves? Didn't she have any other topic to talk about?
"Hmm… I don't know" (I said)
Cyve looked at me with the confusion shining from her face.
"Hah?" (Cyve)
"They have long and slightly sharp ears, usually live in the forest, have vast knowledge" (I said)
"They live in the forest… and one more thing, among the elves there is one elf who is very stupid" (I said)
I don't know, I couldn't think of anything else besides that.
I only read a little profile about elves when playing online games before. For me, what stood out the most about elves were their ears.
"That last one, you didn't mean me right!?" (Said Cyve puffing her cheeks)
I turned my face away.
"W-well, y-you know…" (I said)
"Yukito-sama, teasing a girl right in front of you is not good you know!" (Cyve)
"Then, what do you think as an elf about the creature called human?" (I asked back)
"Hmm…" (Cyve)
She touched her chin with the index finger of her right hand. She looked like she was thinking hard.
"Humans are amazing! I admire them" (Said Cyve)
I was really confused and shocked to hear Cyve's statement just now.
"From the book I read, humans are the ones who care the most for each other compared to other races I've ever known" (Cyve)
"They live in towns and villages, opposite to the elves"
"They also live together in larger groups, and… in the book it said that humans are the most virtuous beings in all of Velmoria" (She continued)
Humans are the most virtuous beings… huh??