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Despite Crystal's assurance, Noelle and Dixie didn't dare to relax even a little until Emilia had already bid her final, tearful farewells to the people of Blue Dawn, and it was only when they'd safely arrived back at the Blue Lotus Palace that they dared to breathe a sigh of relief.
Noelle was so exhausted that she didn't even take a second look at Sam's perverted behavior of burying her face in Emilia's midriff, grunting feverishly against the soft fabric.
Of course, the crimson-haired girl didn't mind, as long as her older sister didn't knock her down from the sofa. Not that it would hurt her, she just didn't want to get out of Crystal's lap pillow, and Dixie's calf massage also felt too good to be interrupted.
With only the overly serious Michelle and the drooling Penny by her side on the opposite sofa, Noelle couldn't help but sigh. "Well, it's fine to relax once in a while. Being stared at by thousands of red-eyed people… it's not for the faint of heart, is it?"
She obviously knew that while Emilia appeared quite stable, the girl's emotional state was actually fairly easy to disturb. Naturally, this was not something that could be easily 'fixed', so they had to be particularly careful with anything that could affect their gorgeous girlfriend's feelings.
Moreover, while Emilia was fully capable of defending herself and had a lot of influence over them, if a crowd that big started rioting… it would be too big of a mess.
They may not harm the crimson-haired girl directly, but there was no telling how many of them might have ended up hurt or even dead if things went south.
Even the usually 'hard-headed' Dixie nodded in agreement. "Thankfully, nothing went wrong."
Crystal didn't bother refuting them, despite her incredible urge to say 'I told you so', but Emilia wasn't nearly as tactful.
"The two of you should have more faith in our angel, you know? Plus, how can my adorable little children make trouble?" She grinned proudly.
While Crystal and Sam giggled and Dixie smiled, Noelle couldn't help but sigh. "Many of them are way older than you, aren't they?"
Of course, the gray-haired girl soon found herself 'regretting' her words when Emilia unexpectedly abandoned her extremely comfortable perch, her arms wrapping around Noelle's head as the crimson-haired girl embraced her with a mischievous smile. "Growing up doesn't mean you cannot be spoiled. It's been a while since you were pampered, no? Let's fix that!"
The gentle embrace and the fluffy soft feeling on her face made Noelle's mind go completely blank, and much to everyone's amusement, she nodded.
Emilia grinned. "Looks like even you can be honest sometimes, huh?"
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Bellatrix stared at the crimson envelope in her hands unblinkingly, seemingly trying to burn the golden threads that formed the words into her mind. 'What does this mean…? Will I never see her again?'
The invitation to Emilia's 'farewell dinner' had been sent to exactly one thousand people around the world, which was the maximum capacity of the banquet hall in Blue Lotus Palace, and she was one of the lucky ones.
But her status in Phoenix made it so it wasn't easy for her to travel on such short notice without reason.
Plus, even if Emilia were to retreat from the public eye, that didn't mean she could never contact those she was familiar with, right?
Bella's eyebrows furrowed. 'But even if we've cooperated more than a few times… does she really feel that strongly for me?'
She had been impulsive to carve her own mark on Emilia's silky skin during that auction, and it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that she'd deeply regretted it ever since.
In her mind, her actions were no different from a scumbag who took undue advantage of the situation. She couldn't blame Emilia if the girl felt wronged for being treated like that.
Bellatrix barely managed to retrain herself from crushing the beautiful invitation letter as she bit her lip anxiously. "I-I can't go this time… but she won't completely cut me off, right? S-She'll definitely contact me in the future… definitely."
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Two days later, everyone who had been approved of being taken along by Emilia was gathered in the banquet hall of the Blue Lotus Palace, where they enjoyed their last dinner in this world.
Of course, there were many additional guests, such as Mrs. Brown, Emilia's parents, and other close confidants.
Everyone was allowed to freely mingle and talk to each other, and there were more than a few who took the chance to talk their hearts out. After all… they would never be able to see many of these familiar faces again.
As Crystal observed them carefully, many of the knights who had already steeled their hearts to follow Emilia seemed to have tears in their eyes, though their judgment didn't seem to waver.
The blonde girl breathed a sigh of relief. 'Luckily, their feelings are quite strong… Emilia didn't need to worry so much.'
Her eyes shifted to the crimson-haired beauty in the sunset gown, only to see that she was so tightly surrounded by men and women that one couldn't catch a glimpse of her dress from afar.
Of course, with Dixie and Michelle by her side, Crystal knew that there was no need to worry. It was only a bunch of concerned parents, family members, and well-wishers expressing their feelings and concerns.
'Luckily, Emilia agreed to not let them know that we're leaving for another world.' Crystal sighed. 'Otherwise, we definitely wouldn't be able to allow 'outsiders' like this.'
Aside from those who were leaving with them and a trusted few, everyone else believed that Emilia would be 'leaving the public eye' forever, and those who decided to follow her would also not be allowed to contact anyone or leave to protect the secret of her location.
It might seem a bit extreme, but given her popularity, most could only agree that it was only to be expected.
Of course, not everyone had been so well-intentioned, but Crystal had carefully filtered such people out in advance. She wouldn't allow them to disturb her girlfriend's mood needlessly.
Emilia obviously had no trouble handling all these people gracefully, and the smile on her face never wavered as people were slowly escorted in and out by her knights.
The dinner came to an end soon after, no matter how much some people wished for it to continue forever.
There were many familiar faces that Emilia failed to spot in the crowd, including Mr. and Mrs. White, though she didn't blame them for not coming.
After all, they'd already said their goodbyes, and watching two of their daughters leave forever could definitely not be easy. Everyone handled sorrow differently, and she wouldn't judge her parents for something like that.
She just made arrangements to have some people escort Danielle over to the older couple after she'd left, and let them know that they didn't need to worry about anything.
'Miss Bella also didn't come, huh…?' Emilia sighed. 'I guess even Crystal can be wrong sometimes.'
Of course, she still had faith in her blonde girlfriend's ability. Only, knowing how someone felt and knowing what they would do were two very different things.
For some people, tangible benefits mattered a lot more than feelings.
Her somewhat gloomy thoughts were rudely interrupted by someone squeezing her cheeks, and the crimson-haired girl couldn't help but be dumbfounded as she looked up.
In the midst of so many knights and under the eagle-like gaze of Dixie, not even Penny would be daring enough to tease her like that! Who could be so fearless?
'Ah… it's her mother…'
Mrs. Brown smiled dotingly as she indulged herself in the squishy and incredibly soft feeling of Emilia's cheeks. "I can't follow the two of you to wherever it is you plan to hide. Dixie's father is really hopeless without me, after all, and someone needs to take care of Grandpa so he doesn't go around breaking random people's bones."
She sighed wistfully. "Oh, how nice it would be if I could just… ah, never mind. Just… take care of yourself, and don't let Dixie bully you too much, alright?"
Emilia noticed that Crystal was snickering for some reason, as if privy to some secret only she knew, but she didn't have the time to pay much attention, and could only nod. "I will, Mrs. Brown. We'll both be fine, don't worry."
Of course, after she left, someone else took the chance to reach out from behind and squeeze her already-red face with a giggle.
"Sorry, it just looked too tempting, and I couldn't resist."
Turning around to look at her older sister's somewhat smug face, the crimson-haired girl couldn't help but roll her eyes. "Bullying me like this in public… are you trying to anger my knights to death?"
Sam giggled. "Since your most loyal knight can let her mother bully you, can't you let your big sister do the same?"
Emilia couldn't help but pout. "In both cases, why am I the one being bullied, though?"
The taller girl grinned. "Of course, it's because you're the cutest, I'm sure everyone will agree."
Her sight shifted to the people around them, only for her smile to falter at their rather dangerous gazes.
"Uh, on second thought… let's not play around too much." She coughed.
Of course, while Sam was scared of being beaten up by the knights, especially the freakishly strong Dixie, knowing most of their 'real thoughts', Crystal couldn't help but burst into a fresh round of giggles. 'If Emilia knew most of her loyal knights were having such 'blasphemous' thoughts… uh, on second thought, it's probably a bad idea to let her know.'
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