Christmas... The event was introduced by the people who held the role of Heroes in the early days, and the people of this world now celebrate Christmas without getting confused.
The lovers talk of love, the families sit around the table with smiles on their faces, and the merchants are fired up because it's the time to earn the greatest profits.
On such a Christmas Eve filled with so much happiness, there is one person who is wallowing in sorrow.
In the Land of Death, located in the northern area of the Demon Realm.... There stands the castle of the Death King, Isis Remnant.
Christmas was never a happy event for her.
Most of all, she is sensitive to the emotion of loneliness, and by the time the concept of Christmas began to permeate in her life, she had already tried approaching many people.
For this day, at least, she thought she'd be able to spend it with a great smile on her face... Holding unto such a faint will within her mind.
However, the reality, in all respects, is cruel, and her call to others ended up being in vain.
——- S- Sorry. Isis, I just couldn't leave what I need to do on that day...
The gentle Underworld King apologized for not being able to respond to Isis' call.
The Underworld King had been working hard as the bridge between the three realms, and she refused Isis' invitation, saying that she had to represent the Demon Realm on many occasions on this day.
——– My apologies. I couldn't just leave my followers alone on this day...
The World King, who was her closest friend, told her with a pained expression on her face.
The World King is an object of worship in many lands, and like the Underworld King, she was expected to attend the festivities along with her followers on Christmas Day, so she never responded to Isis' invitation.
——- My bad. My hot-blooded idiots were quite clamorous. They would start doing crazy stuff if I'm not there.
As he ruffled his crimson fur, the War King who loves battles and parties said.
He flatly refused Isis' invitation, saying he had to deal with his battle junkie underlings, especially since Christmas is a day when many of them tend to get carried away.
——- No, I don't think that is possible for me... The ice will break if I step into the land of death. Moreover, I also need to look after my own subordinates.
The Dragon King, who was too huge in stature, replied that it would be difficult for him to reach Isis' residence in the first place.
Moreover, he also said that he too had many subordinates to look after and it was difficult to make time for her, so he shook his head at Isis' invitation.
——- As much as I would like to go... Festive days like this are also when lots of troubles occur, so it would be difficult for me to make time to attend.
The Phantasmal King, who has many subordinates around the world and supports the peace of the world from behind the scenes, ruefully refused.
She was also busy and told her that she couldn't go, especially during worldwide events such as the Festival of Heroes, Christmas and New Year's day, because she was flying around, giving instructions to her staff.
With the expansion of their world, She, along with the other Six Kings, are rarely together like they used to be.
And even though the world has expanded, Isis' world remains small and lonely... She was particularly keenly aware of this on Christmas Days, as she quietly shed tears in the halls of her ice castle alone.
For Isis Remnant, Christmas was just a lonely event.
The 24th Day of the Heaven month. It was Christmas Eve, and Isis was moving around restlessly in her own castle.
A huge table was set up in the great hall, and there was a huge amount of food that she had prepared with great skill.
Yes, Christmas this year was the first day she had plans to "spend time with someone" and she had been anxious since morning arrived.
She had been this anxious since the beginning of the Heaven month, when her beloved, Kaito, came to visit her.
In the conversation, the topic of Christmas came up accidentally, and when Kaito heard about the Christmas days that Isis has spent so far, he told her that she would spend this year's Christmas with him.
She felt irresistible joy hearing that, and since that day, Isis had been practicing frantically for this day, pulling out books on cooking Christmas cuisine from among the many books she has in her collection.
Because of this, the dishes that were too much for the two of them to eat together, turned out to be her most confident dish ever, and all that was left for her to do was to wait for Kaito...
[...Kaito... I wonder... if something happened to him?]
Muttering so, she moved her glance to the clock installed in the great hall. It was past the appointed time, but Kaito had not yet arrived.
To begin with, Kaito is pretty punctual, and he's never been late... This is the first time he's been late. That makes Isis even more anxious.
Kaito shouldn't be the type that would walk away from an appointment but... He is very popular, and she thinks that he gets a lot of invitations at Christmas.
Will he really turn down the invitations he received for her sake... If that's the case though, he would have sent a hummingbird, telling her that he won't be able to attend...
Isis was feeling such anxiety, but when she felt Kaito's magic power appear in front of the castle about 15 minutes past the appointment time, her expression brightened up.
[...Kaito... Eh? ...Arehh? ...I'm feeling... lots of magic power?]
However, the magic power that appeared in front of the castle wasn't just Kaito's, and quite a lot of magic power appeared almost simultaneously. Just as Isis tilted her head, the doors of the great hall opened.
[Isis-san! I'm sorry I'm late...]
[...Kaito! Eh?!?]
Saying that, she entered the great hall, and found Kaito that she had been waiting for... but he wasn't the only one who came to visit.
[Isis~~ It's a bit early, but Merry Christmas!]
"I will be intruding. I'm sorry that I'm suddenly barging in."
[...Kuromueina... Lillywood...]
Following Kaito, Kuromueina and Lillywood entered the great hall.
[Ohh, Isis! I've got the booze!]
[Why would you bring such a strong alcohol here, don't you usually drink champagne or something like that at these kinds of parties...]
[...Megiddo... Shalltear...]
Next comes Megiddo with a large barrel of liquor, followed by Shalltear, who was astoundedly looking at him and threw a tsukkomi, and at the same time, a loud voice echoes from outside the room.
"As expected I can't enter the castle, so I will just join you here."
[...Magnawell... H- How?]
[I made sure that the ice won't break. Kaito-san asked me after all.]
[...Shallow Vernal!?]
The face peeking out of the window was Magnawell's, and the reason he was able to come here, when he shouldn't have been able to come here, was due to the power of Shallow Vernal, who was here as well.
[...However~~ Is it really okay for you to throw your job away, God of Time and Space? Well, as far as I'm concerned, throwing away work is the greatest.]
[Shallow Vernal-sama is attending too, so I will make sure that I will be there to accompany her.]
[...Well, it would be better for me if I didn't have to come though...]
[...Chronois... Fate... Useless Meat...]
[Stop right there, Death Bringer...]
And even the Supreme Gods of the God Realm, immediately making the great hall buzzing with activity.
[Isis, I'm sorry for suddenly coming, but is it really alright if we join the party too?]
[...Eh? U- Unnn.]
[Well then, please leave adding more food to the table to me.]
[...Ein.]
Kuromueina, Lillywood, Megiddo, Magnawell, Shalltear, Shallow Vernal, Chronois, Fate, Life and Ein... A total of eleven guests came and told her that they wanted to join the party.
At first, Isis had an expression of disbelief but... a little later, tears appeared in her eyes and she nodded happily.
It was at this moment that Christmas, the day which she had only lonely memories of, changed...
The party was buzzing, and Isis felt really happy.
A Christmas where she was passing time with lots of people... It was like a gentle affirmation that she wasn't lonely, and if she slacked off even for a bit, tears would come out of her eyes.
Just as Kaito headed to the balcony to take a little look at the scenery while he's taking a break from all the food, Kuromueina suddenly spoke to Isis.
[...Isis, actually. He asked us to keep quiet about it but... It was Kaito-kun who gathered us together.]
[...Kaito did?]
[Unnn. Was it around the 7th day of the Heaven month? Kaito-san went around to everyone and asked to somehow make time for him.]
[...Eh?]
Hearing Kuromueina's words, telling her with a gentle smile, Isis was stunned and looked towards the balcony where Kaito was headed.
[...He just wants to make sure that Isis has a happy Christmas... He has been running around trying to coordinate our schedule until the last minute. Since Kaito-kun asked them, Shiro and Shalltear also cooperated with him... And in the end, all of us somehow managed to visit here.]
[...Uuuu... Aaahhh... Kaito...]
[Go on, now's your chance... I will look after everyone here, so go do it.]
[...Unnn!]
Right now, Isis was so moved that she can't even measure how high it is, and happiness was swirling in her heart.
She was so happy, happy that Kaito had done so much for her.
Prompted by Kuromueina, Isis hurried to the balcony where Kaito was.
When she reached the balcony, Kaito was looking at the falling snow with a calm expression on his face. Approaching Kaito, Isis felt her heart strongly throb when she saw him.
[...Kaito.]
[Eh? Isis-san? Isis-san, are you on a food break too?]
[...Unnn.]
While replying to Kaito, who was serenely smiling at her, Isis approached in front of Kaito... Then, she gently hugged his body.
[Eh? Isis-san?]
[...Kaito... Kaito... What should I do... I feel so happy... so blessed... I can't find... the words to describe it.]
[...…..]
Before she knew it, warm tears were shed from Isis's eyes, and as she doesn't know how to express her overflowing happiness, she just continues to cry.
Carefully hugging Isis back, Kaito gently spoke to her.
[...Isis-san, are you having fun today?]
[...Unnn.]
[I'm also having a lot of fun too... And it's thanks to Isis-san for inviting me.]
[...Kaito... No... Everything... Everything... is thanks to Kaito... Thank you.]
Kaito didn't seem to have any intention of saying it was his achievement, just as Kuromueina had told her that he was keeping it quiet, but still, Isis wanted to thank him, her beloved.
After hearing Isis's words, Kaito wryly smiled as if he slightly realized the meaning of those words.
[...You found out huh.]
[...Unnn.]
[I thought that I was just being unnecessarily intruding but, as expected... I wanted Isis-san to be happy... So I just did lots of things.]
[...Kaito... Unnn... I'm... really... really... happy.]
[...In that case, I'm also happy.]
[...Unnn... Kaito... I love you... I love you so much... but what should I do? ...I'm so brimming... with love for Kaito... and it won't stop overflowing... I don't want to separate from you.]
Gently burying her face in Kaito's chest while holding her beloved lover in her warm arms, a heartfelt smile on her face.
[...Well then, until time allows it, let's just stay like this...]
[...Unnn... Kaito...]
[Yes?]
[...I love you.]
[Yes. I love you too.]
A Christmas Eve filled with happiness for the lovers who are in love with each other. Even for the girl living in the ice castle, happiness descended on her in an extraordinary way.
Holding unto a happiness that couldn't be carried with just her two hands... given to her by her own Santa Claus...