At the academy, Lux was called to the principal without being told why. Everyone he passed on the way seemed to be waiting for him, which he found confusing, and when he opened the door and stepped inside he froze.
The entire hall had been decorated. There was food laid out along every table, there were streamers, and nearly every student in the academy was standing in it, watching the door.
Airi explained happily that they had all prepared the party for him in secret.
One of the girls added proudly that every dish had been made by hand, specially for Lux.
Soon afterward Lisha arrived and admitted, awkwardly, that she usually disliked parties, but that today somehow felt different. Noct observed quietly that Lisha very clearly wanted Lux to enjoy himself.
Philuffy congratulated him calmly. Then she started eating, before Lux had touched anything at all, which irritated Lisha immediately.
Philuffy pushed part of her meal across toward him without comment.
The principal cheerfully announced the start of the celebration, and everyone began to eat. Several girls closed in around Lux and set about feeding him personally. Completely overwhelmed, hemmed in on all sides by plates and hands, Lux thought that there was no possible way he could get through all of it.
Off to one side, Tanya remarked quietly that if somebody were to catch Lux in this particular situation, it could become troublesome.
Lux panicked and escaped the party in secret.
He got as far as a warehouse and hid there, and Lisha found him. She told him he could stay where he was if he wanted; it was safe enough. Looking around, Lux realized that the place was actually Lisha's workshop.
Grateful for the shelter, he let himself relax a little. Then Lisha asked him about the Black Hero, and the moment he heard the words he went rigid.
She reassured him. Everyone who knew his true identity had kept silent about it, she said, and would go on keeping silent. All she wanted was information about the Divine Drag Ride Bahamut, for research.
So Lux explained. Bahamut's Reload on Fire compressed stored power and then released all of it at once.
While he was distracted with the details, Lisha's Drag Ride closed around him and trapped him where he stood.
Smiling proudly, she announced that she had finally caught him. Then she admitted that he was honestly too kind for his own good.
Lux sighed in defeat and offered her a deal: he would hand over the form she wanted, if she let him go.
She accepted. The instant his feet touched the ground again, he ran, at full speed, and left Lisha standing in her own workshop with her mouth open.
Later, hiding again, Lux reminded himself that he could never lower his guard around the girls of this academy, not for a moment.
Philuffy found him a little while after that. She said calmly that the only reason he had escaped earlier was his martial arts training. Then she suggested, gently, that the two of them should eat cake together.
At exactly that moment the important form slipped out and fell to the floor.
Philuffy bent to pick it up. Lux got there first, snatched it, and escaped again before she could react. Philuffy stayed where she was and silently watched him go.
Lux hid himself in another room and decided he could safely wait out the final ten minutes there. Almost immediately several girls came in, talking among themselves without noticing him.
They were discussing Drag Rides, and then the rumors about Lux. One of them commented that his special Drag Ride appeared to be incredibly powerful. Another wondered aloud, joking, whether Lux might secretly be a pervert. Then they mentioned that they were planning to skip training that day, which surprised him more than anything else they had said.
Krulcifer appeared behind him and told him calmly that hiding was pointless now, because time was already over. She asked whether he still had the form.
Lux showed it to her at once, to prove that nobody had managed to steal it.
Right afterward, the sound of a clock echoed through the room.
Lux panicked. Krulcifer casually informed him that she had moved the clock backward herself.
Then she revealed the rest of it. She possessed the red form, which meant that Lux had to obey every request she gave him for an entire week.
Lux protested. It should have been impossible, he insisted, because the time had already expired.
Krulcifer simply leaned closer and whispered that from today onward, Lux would be her boyfriend for one week.
Later, walking with him, Airi warned Lux that yet another strange rumor about him had spread through the academy. She said it might just be because he had reached the age where marriage rumors naturally start appearing, and enjoyed saying it.
Lux desperately denied having agreed to anything with Krulcifer.
Airi let it go, but she reminded him not to forget who the two of them truly were, underneath this peaceful academy life.
Soon afterward they went to see the principal, who showed them a mysterious flute recovered from the leader of the earlier attack. According to her, the flute had the ability to control powerful creatures, and she believed it might have originated from the ruins. She also announced that the Knight Squadron would soon be investigating those ruins. Before that mission began, however, she wanted Lux to determine whether the flute functioned as some kind of key.
Hearing that shocked him.
Later, in private, Airi warned Lux to be careful around Krulcifer, because she was clearly hiding something important.
Around the same time, Krulcifer finally explained herself. Her family had transferred her into the academy because they wanted her connected to a noble house through a political marriage. The arrangement would also help her achieve an important personal goal of her own.
Lux asked what exactly she meant by that.
Krulcifer explained that her family's butler would soon arrive to investigate her engagement status. Because of that, she planned to use Lux as a fake boyfriend in order to fool the butler.
Lux awkwardly admitted that he had never dated anyone in his life and thought somebody else would be far better suited to the role.
Krulcifer leaned in close and quietly threatened to expose his earlier embarrassing incident if he refused.
Before Lux could respond properly, Philuffy sat down beside him and mentioned sleepily that she was tired, because Lisha had spent the entire day talking without stopping.
Almost immediately Lisha blurted out that she had once held Lux's hand.
Krulcifer replied that holding hands was not considered very serious in her homeland.
Philuffy observed quietly that it sounded as though Lisha knew very little about romance.
Lux, without thinking, asked whether Lisha at least understood kissing.
Completely embarrassed, Lisha insisted at volume that she obviously knew about such things.
Krulcifer teased her about how someone could know so little about relationships. Philuffy nearly revealed some details of her own childhood with Lux, and Lux clapped a hand over her mouth before she could get to the end of the sentence.
Eventually Krulcifer told him to go and rest, because the two of them would be going on a date tomorrow.