May 20th, evening.
The afterglow of the setting sun filled the sky, with golden twilight tinged with a faint rosy hue, adding a romantic atmosphere to the bustling city of Nagazora.
Haru walked out of a cake shop, carrying a bag containing a surprise for his girlfriend.
Although May 20th was just a product of capitalist hype and couldn't really be considered a proper holiday, this didn't stop couples from using the opportunity to express their love to those they liked.
Of course, whether they'd succeed was another matter entirely.
After all, the trash cans on the streets already had quite a few more flower bouquets, and there were even people specifically choosing this day to go treasure hunting, trying to find unwanted accessories, phones, or RTX 4090s among the discarded items.
Who knows how many people in this city would become clowns today...
Fortunately, he already had a charming and adorable girlfriend, so he didn't need to go through the ordeal of confessing. Otherwise, that would be terrible!
Thinking of this, Haru's lips curved into a slight smile.
Half a year ago, when he was lost and confused about life, he could never have predicted that he would end up dating someone.
However, fate was always so wonderful.
In this city, Haru met his ideal other half and got to know the pure and beautiful girl. Through their mutual attraction, they fell into the river of love.
Speaking of which, it was actually the girl who confessed to him first...
But today, he couldn't let her take the lead again!
Haru thought of the surprise he had been planning for half a month, and his steps unconsciously quickened.
He could no longer contain his excitement and anticipation, wanting to immediately return home and see his girlfriend's expression when she discovered the surprise.
Before long, a beautifully ornate mansion came into view.
Haru's gaze swept over the greenery and flowers in the mansion's courtyard. He took a deep breath, made sufficient mental preparations, and then walked to the front door.
Before he could reach out to open the door...
Click!
The door opened from inside.
Warm light spilled out at an angle, and a girl as beautiful and flawless as a crystal flower stood gracefully at the entrance.
She had slightly curled pink hair tied in a ponytail behind her head, with long, dense eyelashes under which were pupils as blue as the sky, and a fair, delicate face that was perfect from any angle.
The girl's figure also matched her absolutely beautiful appearance.
She wore a light and elegant summer outfit, her high chest making the white top bulge out in an obvious spherical outline. Under her black pleated mini-skirt were long, straight legs, and thin white over-knee socks that slightly pressed into her thigh flesh, together with the golden ratio hipline creating an alluring absolute territory.
It was hard to imagine that such a perfect girl could exist in this world, as if she were a fairy that only existed in fairy tales.
And at this moment...
This lovely and charming girl smiled like a blooming flower, her dreamy beautiful eyes more enchanting than stars and moon, reflecting the man's figure.
"Welcome home, the pink fairy has been waiting for you, you know~?"
"Mm... I'm back, Elysia."
At the girl's sweet welcome, the slightly stern lines of Haru's face couldn't help but soften.
He stepped forward and wrapped his arms around the girl's slender and elastic waist with practiced ease, as if he had done it countless times before.
Taking a deep breath of the faint fragrance from the girl's hair, Haru whispered to his girlfriend in his arms: "Sorry, I was delayed on the road today and kept you waiting."
"Hmm~ Let the fairy guess, you were delayed because you were preparing a May 20th gift for me, weren't you?"
The girl rubbed her cheek against Haru's chest, her perfect face showing a slight blush.
"As expected of Ellie, so smart."
Haru showed the bag in his hand and smiled: "I had a Valentine's Day cake custom-made for you."
If it were a more materialistic girl, she would probably start showing attitude the moment she heard her boyfriend was only giving her a cake for May 20th.
But Haru had no worries at all.
Because he knew his girlfriend was different... Rather than the value of the gift, Elysia valued the sincerity of the giver more.
Sure enough.
The girl showed no sign of dissatisfaction; instead, her blue eyes sparkled brightly.
"Ah, we thought of the same thing~?"
"The pink fairy also prepared a Valentine's Day cake for you, and it's handmade! I consulted Kalpas for quite a while!"
Elysia separated from Haru's embrace, placed her hands on her hips with a cute expression asking for praise, making one want to kiss her on the cheek.
However, consulting Kalpas?
Haru's mind conjured the image of that face-masked, hot-tempered butler who looked like everyone owed him millions, and he couldn't help but chuckle.
He could already imagine how annoyed Kalpas must have been, yet unable to do anything about Elysia.
"Uu, is there something funny?"
Hearing Haru's laughter, the girl's cheeks puffed up slightly, "Let me say this upfront, even if the fairy's cake doesn't taste as good as store-bought ones, you can't laugh at it, or I'll be sad."
"Don't worry, how could I possibly laugh at something my girlfriend made for me with her own hands?"
Haru lovingly patted the girl's head.
This made the fairy squint her eyes happily, then grab her boyfriend's hand and eagerly run to the dining table.
A strawberry mousse cake was placed in the center of the dining table. Although its shape looked somewhat irregular, you could tell the maker had put a lot of thought into it, and the surface was decorated with jam painted into a cute little fairy making a heart with her hands.
"Come try the fairy's cooking~?"
"Sure, but before that, why don't you try the cake I custom-ordered too?"
Haru took out the small cake from the bag. The pink heart-shaped cake, just enough for one person, looked exquisite and cute, with crystal flower-shaped chocolate decorations spread on top, as dazzling as scattered petals.
This was a cake he had specially designed for Elysia, and there was a surprise buried inside.
"Ladies first, please."
Haru elegantly extended his hand and arranged the knife and fork for the girl.
"Wow, such a beautiful cake! Then I won't hold back~?"
The girl saw that the cake's surface was decorated with her favorite crystal flowers, clapped her hands happily in front of her chest, then picked up the fork and scooped a bite from the cake.
The dense cream and soft cake melted in her mouth.
The delicate, mildly sweet taste was like the flavor of love, making the girl's eyebrows curve into crescents.
Haru propped his chin on one hand, watching the girl's blissful expression, and couldn't help but smile.
How unexpected...
In this timeline, he didn't encounter other Valkyries and ended up with a Flame-Chaser from the Previous Era.
Oh wait, that's not right.
Although he had heard from Kevin before that Elysia was one of the Thirteen Flame-Chasers of the Previous Era's anti-Honkai organization MOTH.
But in this timeline where the Cocoon of Finality was erased...
The shy girl, beautiful as a flower, was just a video blogger with many fans.
And also, his deeply beloved girlfriend!