After the time Aokitsu needed had passed, my servants led me to the place where she had her surprise prepared. Incredibly, the chosen location was wonderful.

It’s a fair distance from my mansion — a clean, snow-covered clearing with a single large, leafless tree surrounded by a circle of verdant pines. But despite looking like nothing more than a dry tree, it’s covered in beautiful ice crystals that reflect the light in a breathtaking display.

It’s a tree that needs no leaves, no flowers, nothing beyond its majestic trunk and the ice bound to the snow coating its branches. And together with the pristine surroundings, the light stands out even more, making it look like a crystal tree.

’What an excellent choice, whatever it is Aokitsu has planned...’ I look at Aokitsu beneath the tree. She’s wearing an elegant dark navy blue dress with crystal details reminiscent of ice — a design that makes her stand out completely against the pure white of the snow.

’She looks so beautiful...’ She’s not wearing any jewelry, so her simpler yet lovely appearance draws nice attention to her body.

"You look stunning, Aokitsu," I say, facing her with a smile. She looks me up and down and smiles as if she’s seeing something wonderful.

"You look incredible too! N-Not that you aren’t always incredible! But you’re even more incredible than usual!!" She tangles herself up in the compliment, making me let out a little chuckle.

"So then... what’s your reason for bringing me here? May I know?" I ask her. She seems tense, and she comes over to me, taking my hand and pulling me closer to the tree.

"L-Look, this is quite different depending on the culture... s-so I had to study a lot about how demons do this... it’s a bit strange, but I want to do it right, so... c-close your eyes..." She asks with cute nervousness. I obey, waiting anxiously for what’s to come.

Soon I feel a soft touch on my neck paired with a light clicking sound like a gentle clasp. Something circular is placed around my neck, though it feels a bit strange because it seems somewhat large.

’A necklace? A little too big, but that’s what it feels like.’ I open my eyes as she takes my hand and places a ring on it. I feel the ring on my finger digging into my flesh as drops of blood drip onto the snow, staining the ground.

"Huh?" I grow confused as she throws me to the ground and mounts me, drops of blood filling the air with that coppery scent mixed with the cold. She holds a chain, and when she pulls, my head lifts.

"!!!?" I realize the "necklace" is a collar when, with my free hand, I gently tug and notice an elegant white collar with an obsidian-black clasp.

"I-I’m asking you to marry me... a-apparently it’s common for demons to kidnap and force their beloveds... I-I don’t know why. For us beast-men, it’s normally a duel with the loved one, or a duel with the loved one’s father... b-but since I’m the one asking, I thought I should do it properly," she says, her tail wagging.

"That’s the reason for the collar? Hahahahahahahahaha!" I start laughing uncontrollably, which makes her give me a sad look as if she’d done something wrong. But it’s extremely funny that she thinks she’s doing this correctly.

"D-Did I do it wrong?" she asks, discouraged, her fox ears drooping down while her tail also lies sadly in the snow, troubled by the situation she doesn’t understand.

"No, it’s just funny. It’s true that kidnapping is common, but that’s usually before there’s solid love. Since we already like each other and we’re in a relationship, you only needed to ask normally and give me a regular ring instead of a cursed one." Her mouth hangs open as she listens to this.

As I wave my hand with blood dripping from it — the cursed ring was a good touch. She really did study our culture, since that goes even deeper than the kidnapping. But she obviously didn’t find anything that says how it should be done.

"Marriage for demons is like a prison! Not in a bad way, but in the sense that we’re restricting ourselves. We owe loyalty to our partner, care, protection, and proper treatment."

"That’s why we have this culture of kidnapping and capturing at the start — because it’s representative, a way of showing that marriage is a personal prison. And when the person accepts it, they’re saying they respect the marriage."

"O-Oh, so that’s it... h-hahaha." She laughs nervously. I know many races think this method of proposing is barbaric and vile, but it’s actually symbolic — because in marriage, we give up our freedom for love.

"As for the ring... the ring was very good. The cursed ring is a way of marking your standing as an eternal marriage, proof of a lasting love that marks the body forever." Giving a cursed ring is one of the greatest proofs of love during a proposal. For humans, it’s almost the equivalent of a wife giving her purity to her new husband on the first night.

"I accept," I say to her. She looks at me without understanding until she realizes I said I accept her marriage proposal. It was very cute and clumsy, but I liked it.

"R-Really?" she asks as if she can’t believe I actually accepted her proposal.

"Yes, I accept. Even though you got one or two steps a bit wrong, I understood what you wanted to do, and I accept your feelings. I love you too, and although I wasn’t expecting a proposal, I actually like the idea of making everything official," I say, far more composed than she is in accepting this.

This makes her break into a huge, silly grin as her tails wag with extreme joy.

"S-Sorry I got some parts wrong... a-and thank you so much for accepting... we’re from different races and—" I kiss her, cutting her off. I don’t want to hear apologies or a speech about races.

I enjoyed living with her. Teaching her in the past how to become a true leader was wonderful, and now that the war is over and we no longer have so many things to do, I think it’s fine for us to enjoy this happiness.

"Hmmmm." I hold her head, and even though drops of blood drip onto her hair, I keep her in the kiss, sending my tongue into her mouth. She hugs me, accepting the kiss.

"Haaa..." Aokitsu pants against my lips, hugging me tightly as we lie in the snow. The cold isn’t enough to stop us from starting something intimate even in the middle of this frigid white blanket.

"I love you, Aokitsu," I murmur against her lips.

"I love you too, Freya," she says, accepting my love as well.