, but then a soft hand covered my wrist."Rikkun…" It was Tiara. She"s shaking her head. "Let me handle this… Please…"
She"s smiling, and staring at my eyes with pure kindness. I lowered my sword with respect to Tiara"s request. Whatever she had on her mind, I won"t oppose.
Tiara went in front of the remaining right eye of the paralyzed giant fox. She slowly reached out her hand and gently caressed the Eidolon"s fur.
"What-" The Celestial Time Fox was truly astounded by the chaste sympathy of the shrine maiden.
"Oh Celestial Time Fox who never knew love… I know what your heart truly believes… Those feelings..."
"Tiara…" The Eidolon muttered. "Why… Why are you doing this? I am an Eidolon… I am a demon… I have made you and your ascendants suffer because of my curse… and yet you…"
Tiara immediately sticks her ears on the silver fur as she closes her eyes and shared the intimate feeling of a hug. Golden particles of light danced around them as both of their bodies sparkled.
Slowly, the Celestial Time Fox"s wounds faded. But I don"t feel that I should be wary about that. I no longer feel any evil intent in the Eidolon"s aura.
I know Tiara will win this fight without having anybody hurt again.
"You never felt in love, not even once…" Tiara smiled as she continued to caress the fluffy fur. "That"s why I"m here. Please close your eyes, Miss Celestial Fox. And hear the warmth of my beating heart. Indulge yourself in the ocean of innocence and kindness and free yourself from the curse of hatred..."
The giant silver fox slowly closed its red eyes, and felt the heavy hard yet fast pumps on the pure maiden"s chest. As the Eidolon listens to the music of Tiara"s heart, her body started to fade.
"Miss Celestial Time Fox… I know that you have suffered more eternities than me and my predecessors… So now, I will free you from your seal…" Tiara whispered like a caring mother. "It"s time for you to go…"
"Tiara Hikari… You really are the purest maiden of them all…" The Celestial Fox said in a soft voice. "To think that you defeated me with love alone… It makes me feel glad that I have met you…"
Little by little, the Eidolon"s body started to crumble. The dust particles glowed and mixed with the wind. As this happens, Tiara started to hum a sad song with her soothing voice.
"Thank you… Tiara…" The Eidolon muttered.
The red skies suddenly faded, and the next thing we know is that we"re on a vast plain a few hundred meters outside the Brightmore town. It"s dawn-to-morning already, and the sun is finally rising up. The sunlight gave brightness to our hopeful faces.
Tiara reached out for the glowing dots of light and then held her chest as she cried with tears of joy and love. She knelt down on the ground and watched the golden particles fly into the cosmos.
"Farewell, oh Celestial Time Fox… You have been freed from your own curse."
<>
I lent out my hand to Tiara, which she immediately took as I helped her stand. We both gave a bright smile at each other, and we chuckled as if we"re in perfect sync.
Now I know how much she loves me. I can tell just by having a hand-to-hand contact with her. That sparking sensation makes my heart aflutter.
"Thanks for saving me, Rikkun~" She cried.
"You did your best and never gave up on saving me, so it"s only natural for me to do the same…" I looked away and scratched the back of my head.
"E-Eh?" Tiara tilted her head. After a second, her whole face went red. "H-How did y-you know!? D-D-Did you peek at my m-m-memories!?"
"Yep~"
"...Auuuu…." Tiara puffed her strawberry cheeks. She"s so cute that I wanted to tease her!
I immediately gave her a head pat and asked a peculiar question. "By the way, how do your lips feel?"
"E….Eeeeeeeeeeh!?"
Tiara touched her red lips with the tip of her fingers. And then her jaws hanged, her eyes widened, and her ears unleashed some steam due to embarra.s.sment. It was her first romantic kiss in all the timelines, so that made her a lot more fl.u.s.tered.
I made a soft chuckled and patted my pup once again. "Ahahaha! It"s just a joke!"
"Uguuuu… Rikkun, you"re such a bully…" Tiara bowed and lowered her defenses. She completely surrendered to the best head pat in the world.
Oh, I almost forgot. I have to give my thanks to the Outsider for helping me out once again.
But when I turned around, he is no longer there.
Instead, our van is already here. Macho Steel and even the whole Idol Club is with him! They all cheered and waved good morning at us.
"Tiara! Alaric! Let"s go now!"
"E-Everyone…" Tiara gave out tears as she saw her fellow Idols call out her name.
Suddenly, Tiara held my hand tightly and then pushed her face to me. "Let"s go, Rikkun!"
"Yeah!" I answered.
Holding hand-in-hand on the dawn of a beautiful sunrise, our faces were filled with hope and love as we ran towards the people who are waiting for us.