"Yes, I accept your request."

"What?"

Hajime couldn't believe it. He couldn't believe that Sonia had straight out approved his proposal.

"Re—Really?"

He quickly looked at the vast ocean near him and started to scratch his head with a little tint of blush on his cheeks.

"But why?" He asked nervously.

"Huh!"

Sonia pouts her face by seeing the person who just asked to go date with her being confused. Hajime got a sudden realization that he shouldn't have done that.

"Are you suspecting the decision of a princess? KNEEL BEFORE ME! NOW!"

Hajime didn't know what got into him suddenly. He lost control of his body and fell on the sand and kneeled in front of Sonia.

"Oh my! You did it too."

Sonia also kneels and pats his shoulder, requesting him to stand again.

"This must the power of an Ultimate princess." He whispers to himself, remembering the time when he almost did the same thing when they first met in the restaurant with Nagito. He defined it as a 'mysterious charm'.

"I am sorry, Princes—I mean Sonia."

Hajime quickly apologizes in a small voice realizing he was still caught in her charm.

"I forgive you," Sonia replies in a thick accent but bursts into laughter by thinking about everything he just did. Hajime felt stupid of himself but was delighted that she could still laugh after everything that had happened the previous day. He also begins to laugh back at her.

"It is because you are a very trustworthy person, Hajime!"

Suddenly, the blonde girl in front of him compliments him. He realizes that it must be the answer to his previous question.

"By all the hard work you have done in the investigation and class trials, even though you didn't want to suspect anyone, you did your best to forget the bond with them and reveal the real truth, no matter how complex it is. You saved us all."

Hajime didn't expect someone like her to think so highly about him. It must be because they never got time to have an interaction like that before….But she was wrong about one thing.

"I have never forgotten the bond with them."

Sonia raises her eyebrow, realizing the seriousness in the Hajime face, who was just laughing with her some seconds ago.

"Even though, they lied and betrayed our trust to save themselves—"

He starts to grit his teeth. Sonia notices that and quickly lowers her head, feeling culpable of what she said.

"-or someone, I just can't forget the bond we have created. Even when I was convicting them as blackened I still consider them as a friend because they never wanted to do it in the first place. It is only because of that godforsaken bear."

Sonia has never seen Hajime being so emotional because he isn't the type of person who shows his inner thoughts or vent on something. She understood that it must be because of how the closest friend of both of them died the day before, and there is no way he wouldn't still be salty about it. She relates to him because she is also a very composed person herself, but acted out of character, overwrought in the previous two class trials when someone close to her died. They both have similar sentiments but are trying to hide them.

The silence begins and both of them could notice the waves of the oceans becoming louder than before. Suddenly, Sonia grabs Hajime's hands and tries to clear the gloomy environment.

"Such unprecedented! Isn't it so ironic?"

Sonia gives Hajime such a warm smile that all the sad emotions he was just feeling disappear and convert into curiosity about what she was going to tell him.

"Even if we have survived this long together, we still haven't known much about each other."

They stayed there for some time, with both parties being silent again.

"Let's go, Hajime! Aren't you supposed to take me on a date?"

Sonia pulls his hand after breaking the silence both of them were sharing. They walked on the golden sand for some time, gazing at the sun which was going to set before heading to another island. Just before they could exit the beach, Sonia turns around and asks him the last question.

"What about you, then?"

"Huh?... About what?" Hajime curiously asks back, not understanding her question.

Sonia sighs and corrects herself in her other but thick accent.

"What is your reason behind going on a date with me?"

'Because I lost a bet with Kazuichi'

'LIKE HELL I WILL SAY THAT!'

Hajime almost got caught on to her charm again and revealed the truth. He didn't want Sonia to know that he was forced to request a date with her after what happened to him in the morning. He remembered how Kazuichi suddenly burst into his room while he was thinking about everything that had happened the day before in the trial room. He wanted to spend the whole time alone in the room that day, but Kazuichi started to share some jokes and small gossips which lightened his mood. They even played a game, but Hajime ended up losing the bet.

"Ask for a date with Miss Sonia!" Kazuichi's unexpected request stunned Hajime.

"What?"

He came under his knees. Hajime was more surprised, not because of Kazuichi coming to his knee, but the thing that he just requested. Why would someone ask someone to go on a date with the person they admire the most?

"It won't be possible by me but I know it... I know that you can do it, Hajime! We only have one day on this island but I don't know what will happen after the counter hits zero. We never may meet again."

"-because I want to know more about you -I mean that's what people do on a date, isn't it?"

He just realized how easily he lied to her without stuttering as if—he wanted to go on a date with her. It felt like he wasn't even lying.

"Me too."

Sonia again gives him a warm smile and he also smiles back. He realized that they were closer than ever.

"Actually—"

Hajime realizes the smile on her face suddenly disappeared. He tightened the grip of her hand, which was still holding Sonia's hand thinking that he did something wrong.

"I haven't dated a man before. I have read and watched tons of romance novels and movies back in my castle. It was always my dream to go out with someone and gossip about various things and eat while walking… I think that's what date is, right?"

Sonia chuckled and Hajime gave a silent nod, even though he hasn't dated anyone before.

"But I could never experience it because my father never let me go out with anyone. My father is a great person and I cherish him more than anyone in the world but he is strict when coming to rules of our country."

Sonia pauses for a moment and Hajime quickly licks his dry lips before she can continue her sentence.

"It is against the rule to go out with anyone until they are married."

"Ma—Marry?"

Hajime starts to blush.

"but—"

Sonia tightens the grip of her hand again.

"But maybe for today, I don't want to live like a princess. I want to live like a normal girl."

Why didn't Hajime realize it before? The reason behind Kazuichi acting out of a character. A pang of guilt hit him.

"You were always a normal girl for me, Sonia!"

Sonia was in awe, listening to what Hajime had just said. He remembers the similar kind of oath he had with someone but couldn't fulfill it because she isn't with him anymore or in this world.

"Even though you are royalty, you are still a young teenager like me and everyone here. Just being a princess of a country, doesn't mean you can't have a normal wish like a normal girl living a normal life. You may be bonded by the rules in back in your country but-"

Hajime quickly gulps his throat and tries his best to choose the right word from his head.

"-But here! You are a free person now! The rules from your country don't matter. You can live like a normal person and ─"

He gives Sonia direct eye contact, which caught her off guard.

"-I will make your wish come true."

And that was it. It was time for Sonia to blush.

"I am so glad, Hajime!" Sonia speaks with a soft smile on her face before realizing that she couldn't see the person before him properly. Her eyes were already watery.

"I am so glad that someone like you will be my first time."

"Rephrase that please!"

"What?"

Hajime scratches his cheeks, ignoring her 'what?'.

"I am also glad to go out with you."

Hajime genuinely speaks his inner desire in a small voice trying to ignore eye contact. He convinced himself that he didn't want to do it for a bet anymore. He really wants to go on a date with her. Sonia's smile turns into the biggest one she could.

"Thank you, Hajime! Thank you so much!"

Sonia tried to hug him but couldn't because Hajime was already walking. She becomes a little dumbfounded but realizes that they could do it later... Before the counter hits zero.

"Now, Shall we go?" Hajime says in a fake accent, trying to mock Sonia, which makes her laugh.

"Yes! I will be honored."