The First Anniversary (Part 2)

"Gift."

Agusheed did not bother with any romantic prelude or grand setup, nor did he wait for the perfect moment.

As soon as Flamme sat down, he slid the velvet-lined box across the table.

"So unromantic... How could you choose this moment to give me a gift?"

Flamme chuckled helplessly.

But she wasn't angry; she just naturally accepted the gift.

After all, only a fool would expect a demon to understand romance.

...But I wonder, when exactly did the you of the future finally understand it?

With that thought in mind, Flamme picked up the box.

As she opened it, a miniature magic circle embedded in the lid emitted a soft glow.

Under the light, a silver chain shimmered with a liquid-metal texture, transparent as a mirror.

Flamme's eyelashes fluttered slightly as she reached out to pick up the necklace.

"Mirror Lotus?"

"This design is pretty rare in the northern part of the Empire…"

"How did you get this?"

Agusheed didn't hide anything:

"Maybe I was just lucky. I went to that jewelry store in the Eastern District, and this necklace happened to be on display."

Eastern District—

Upon hearing the keyword, Flamme immediately understood.

She vaguely remembered the shop owner was one of those she and Agusheed had once saved casually…

In that case, without a doubt, this necklace had been specially prepared for him in advance.

Flamme looked at Agusheed, who had clearly never investigated the behind-the-scenes details of jewelry sales, and chuckled softly.

"Lucky?"

"On display?"

"I've never heard of a Mirror Lotus necklace just sitting in a display case…"

Flamme's words, coupled with the shopkeeper's comments earlier,

Made Agusheed pause and think. It wasn't hard for him to piece it together.

"It wouldn't be placed in a display case…"

Realizing that the necklace had been deliberately prepared for him, Agusheed was left momentarily speechless.

"You humans are truly strange. Why would you do so much for someone who has nothing to do with you?"

Flamme didn't answer.

Because that was something Agusheed needed to discover for himself.

Her gaze never left the necklace as her fingers gently traced the twin lotus patterns. It felt strangely familiar—

"It seems to be from the same artisan who made the dancing shoes I gave you before."

Agusheed noticed her expression and added helpfully.

"The shoes you gave me were made by that old dwarf in the southern part of the Empire, right?"

"I remember hearing four years ago that he stopped crafting ornaments…"

"Looks like this necklace must have quite the interesting backstory…"

Flamme murmured with a soft smile.

She could imagine how many people had been involved in the journey of that necklace, from its creation to Agusheed's hands.

Without dwelling on it, she simply handed the necklace to him, signaling for him to help put it on her.

"You're getting lazier and lazier, Flamme…"

Though his words were teasing, Agusheed still stood up and moved behind her.

First, he gently gathered the stray strands of Flamme's red hair that cascaded down her neck.

Then, he slowly lifted the Mirror Lotus necklace, letting it glide along her collarbone.

During that moment, Agusheed noticed a faint red mark behind her ear—

A "souvenir" from one of her magical experiments.

Since both his hands were occupied, Agusheed leaned in and softly blew near her ear.

A Healing Magic for Small Wounds was enough to erase the burn mark completely.

But the moment the burn mark vanished, Agusheed could feel Flamme's entire body tense up.

Her ears turned even redder than the mark had been—

"Phew…"

He heard Flamme let out a heavy breath, almost like a sigh of relief.

"Are you an idiot…"

Her voice was so soft it was almost a whisper, like a gentle scolding that was barely audible.

Of course, being a grand demon, Agusheed heard it perfectly clearly.

Not understanding what he did wrong, he could only chalk it up to Flamme's usual antics.

Meanwhile, behind his back, where Agusheed couldn't see,

Flamme's hands fidgeted uncontrollably, her fingers twisting and intertwining with nowhere to go.

The casual indifference from earlier had disappeared, replaced by a blush that spread from her cheeks to the tips of her ears.

Feeling the cold silver chain resting against her neck, and the soft click of the clasp being fastened,

Flamme instinctively reached out to touch the Mirror Lotus pendant.

The great mage couldn't help but smile, and then she pulled out her own prepared gift.

When Agusheed returned to his seat, he found a velvet box placed next to the now-empty jewelry box.

"Your turn."

Flamme picked up the already-brewed cup of tea from the table. The steam rising from it masked the redness of her ears.

Agusheed opened the box.

Inside, on a base of obsidian, rested a pair of silver-framed glasses, the lenses glowing with a faint, hazy light.

"I designed this magic wand just for you."

"Although it won't work on demon magic, it should increase your efficiency with human magic by about five to ten percent."

Flamme's voice mingled with the delicate clinking of the porcelain teacup.

"The frame is made from the horn of a Dark Dragon, and the lenses are…"

"Crystals unique to the Heavenly Vein Dragon?"

Flamme hadn't even finished speaking before Agusheed, who was already wearing the glasses, completed her sentence.

"You even added your Barrier Magic onto it, didn't you?"

"Correct."

Flamme snapped her fingers, continuing her explanation:

"Considering that even those materials might break during battle, I added miniature barriers to the lenses and frame—"

Flamme stretched out her words, setting her teacup down and gazing at Agusheed, who had already removed the glasses:

"Taking off your wife's gift so quickly—don't you think that's a bit rude?"

"Oh, so pretending to be a married couple has rules like that…"

Under Flamme's watchful gaze, Agusheed was about to put the glasses back on.

But then, a strange smell drifted out from the kitchen, causing both of them to stop.

"It seems like something got burnt."

Agusheed sniffed the air lightly and made the assessment immediately.

Flamme realized it too, but instead of moving, she simply looked at Agusheed.

"I have good news and bad news. Which one do you want first?"

Agusheed raised an eyebrow and casually chose:

"What's the good news?"

Flamme propped her head up with one hand, not looking particularly flustered.

"The good news is, it's only the stew that got burnt. I've prepared lots of other dishes."

"And the bad news?"

"The bad news is that if the stew is burnt, it probably means that the Magic for Controlling Heating Temperature and the Magic for Emitting Cold are out of control."

"And what does that mean?"

"Most likely, probably, maybe... it's going to explode."

"Most likely… probably… maybe?"

"…Okay, definitely going to explode."

The moment Flamme finished speaking, a thunderous explosion erupted!

With a deafening blast, the kitchen of their small wooden house was sent flying.

And so, the first anniversary for the strongest demon and the most powerful human mage—

Came to a perfect end, with their dinner launched into the sky.