The moment of quietude stretched on. Nearby, the water dripped and dropped along the underground, oblivious to the sobbing joy of the reunion above. The crystals glowed faintly from the cavern walls, reflecting Aria’s tears like the gleaming snowflakes of winter. Farem had noticed that, fresh and soft like that blizzard amid the tulip field.

“Your tears… They’re glowing…” he murmured. “A milky whiteness…”

“Y-yeah… It’s just a side effect of being the Dark Lord, I guess… Ahahaha…”

“It’s like you’re weeping snow…” he replied, chuckling to himself.

“You and your stupid poetic words…” She sighed.

Silence rested on her tongue. Swallowing the saltiness of her saliva, Aria continued.

“Can I… be real for a second?”

A snicker that grated like rusty metal rumbled from his chest. “Sure. I’m all ears.”

“Let’s… not go dungeon-raiding anymore…” she replied, still holding him tightly. “I can’t bear to see you get injured.”

His eyes flickered closed as he nuzzled into the void of her neck.

“And…” She shifted a little at his touch, smiling. “Like… I don’t see why this Information Board is so special. We don’t need to know where the safest place to live is. Let’s just dash to another land, any land, far, far away from everything, and live our lives. Undisturbed. Unperturbed. Wouldn’t you like that, Farem?”

“I would.” He leaned back and stared into the milky snow that was her eyes.

Aria rolled her eyes, which shouldn’t have been possible because she didn’t have pupils. “Why do I sense that you’re gonna say ‘but’?”

“But…”

“Yep.” Aria ran a palm down her face, but she couldn’t help but grin. “Here it is.”

Farem cleared his throat before continuing. “I think a little adventure hurts nobody, hm? I agree that this dungeon thing has gone all out of proportion. Now not only do the kingdoms want our heads, but the Church might be after us, too.”

“Heh,” she scoffed bitterly. “Tell me about it. Tell me what happened after that robed fool cast a divine shockwave on you, which pushed us even deeper underground.”

“Guilty.” He nodded, grinning. “So… I propose we get out of here, find that priest, question him, and threaten him to leave us alone.”

“Wow…” Aria purred. “Good job, genius. You’ve figured it out. It’s as if this priest doesn’t have a million more priests and priestesses after our bums, too. And in the first place, walking around a town where they have posters of us is a horrible idea!”

Farem frowned exaggeratedly. “Touché.”

“Listen… Look at me.” She leaned in until their noses were kissing. “So you don’t want to run? Alright, fine. Then we will decimate the Church. Get ‘em before they get us. With our combined might, they are nothing! Nothing, I tell you!”

The Hero turned away from her gaze. Was more destruction really what he wanted? Deep inside, he knew their peace wouldn’t last. How could the world ever accept a union of light and darkness? It was but a pipe dream that had clogged up too much mud of resentment from his old allies and friends. Would he choose to live with Aria, running away and hiding forever… or find a way to change the system?

“I… am tired, Aria,” he muttered, his eyes darkening. “I don’t want more war. I just want to slay a few monsters, explore dungeons, and adventure with you.”

Surprised by his honesty, Aria leaned back to stare deep into his eyes, those weary, half-lidded windows to his soul. For a moment, she remembered when they first moved in together. There he was, her darling husband, always smiling, even as he accidentally hit himself with a hammer while trying to repair the wall, or stubbed his toe while cleaning the roof on a tall ladder, which… didn’t go so well. Afterwards, she would chide him for risking injuries while casting [Shadow Heal] on his leg, even though that mere fall had only scratched him, but he would grin and apologize anyway, never breaking composure.

However, this was different. This time, her dearest Farem was masking a painful injury underneath. She could feel it. Whatever this thing was, he couldn’t find the courage to tell her. Not yet.

Nevertheless, she shouldn’t push him to share. He didn’t need that right now.

“I’d love to adventure with you, too,” she said. “But we cannot let them threaten our lives. I cannot let that damn priest hurt my husband and stroll away like that.”

His jaw fell slightly. There she was, his caring yet strict wife, always scolding Farem for hurting himself while doing chores. Back then, he admitted he wasn’t the best at household things, but she shook her head and told him:

“Practice makes perfect. If you don’t start doing it correctly now, how will you ever succeed?”

Farem happened upon an epiphany. So the world would reject Aria. So what? He would be there for her. So the Church would dare raise a dagger at her. He would fight for her. So what if fate dared to separate them?

He would wrestle with destiny itself.

Time to start.

The ground trembled under his greaves as he brought Aria up, hugging her close in a bridal carry. The air gulped and stayed absolutely still as he took a lungful of oxygen. His blue eyes began glowing like two rising stars of the night, bright and radiant. Somewhere up there, the blooming tulips swayed and danced to cheer him on.

“Aria, you’re damn right. Nobody gets to push my No.1 Queen of Darkness and Household Order around,” he proudly stated.

“Hmph.” She crossed her arms, pouting. “Took you long enough. Welcome back, Hero of Light.”

“[Speed Enhance].”

Without wasting another second, Farem sprinted across the cave at supersonic speed. The wind dashed aside to give him space to run as he weaved through the massive boulders, wide ravines, and crystal stalagmites, his steps nimble like a feather. Aria stayed clutched in his arms, shutting her eyes to avoid blinking in dust. If Farem’s hunch was correct, they were still in the dungeon—this cave was a part of it. And if the abundance of light-blue crystals in this cave was anything to go by, the Dungeon Boss was close. Slaying it would open a path back to the outside world. Grinning, the Hero bolted even faster, racing toward destiny to whack it in the face.

Somewhere, a creature stirred awake.