AN EPIC BATTLE BEFORE SETTING THE PLAN IN MOTION

'What? My attacks are not getting through!' Rukito attacks, but nothing is working; it seems to be immune to physical damage. Kuragari watches as he tries to penetrate its defenses before stepping back.

"Hey, can you use any type of fire magic or something to burn the icy defense of this beast? I'll try to weaken it and keep it busy by increasing the gravity around it, so don't worry about it attacking you."

Kuragari ponders for a moment about her abilities before answering, "Sure, I have the perfect option, but keep it occupied for 30 seconds and get out of the way before I strike."

Rukito nods before increasing the gravity around the beast by 200% while also using Blinding Light, a skill he devised on the spot to prevent it from seeing what's happening. It screams in pain as it opens its mouth; Rukito seizes the opportunity to create lava swords from Aether and aim them inside its mouth while protecting himself from the cold with Aether enveloping him. Just as the swords are entering, the beast unleashes an ice breath at point-blank range, leaving nowhere to dodge.

Right at that moment, Kuragari launches an attack that looks like a sun. The heat of the attack makes the whole place as hot as a volcano. Thankfully, it burned all the ice that was defending it, allowing Rukito to finally cut its skin. However, it soon regenerates, leaving Rukito as support, as Kuragari can only damage it. Rukito increases the oxygen in the air, causing its fur to catch alight. 

While it's on fire with its defense down, Rukito uses his trump card for the first time in battle and slices the beast with his spirit sword, allowing him to easily break its core. After a long fight, the sealed space is no longer sealed, and the chest at the back of the room opens.
 They find multiple gold jewels and a mysterious key that Rukito keeps. He sees a gold ring with a crimson-colored diamond that has the ability to store extra energy that may be wasted.
 He gives it to Kuragari, telling her, "I underestimated you; you did well, so take this as thanks. It suits you." She is delighted and thanks him.   

Rukito checks in on his other clone and finds that they have encountered a swarm of monsters that seem to be goblins, but thankfully his clone and Lau killed all of them. However, what they discovered afterward was truly horrifying. They found two of the people with whom Lau had been exploring. Thankfully, Kaito's big sister was still unharmed, as the rest protected her until the end, but Lau's wife had been abducted and raped, causing her to fall pregnant. She was traumatized and ended up taking her own life. Rukito feels sorry for Lau and Kaito for their loss and leaves some gold for them to take Kaito's big sister for a check-up to see if she contracted any disease. Rukito and Kuragari parted ways with them after a day.       

Now I have everything I need. Kuragari and I teleported back, and I need to make dessert. Now I can set this plan in motion; after all, I didn't learn how to cook for nothing.

Rukito told Tama to go and call Elia and make an excuse without telling her anything about Rukito. As for Kuragari, she used illusionary magic to make it seem like they were still in the mansion. Elia was a bit confused, as her cook doesn't usually invite her to follow her, but brushed it off as she probably wanted to inform her of something.

With so much snow berries, Rukito made a lot of snow berry cream cakes. Thankfully, he had plenty to work with, as he had failed about three times. Snow berries are a very rare and expensive ingredient, and this is Elia's favorite dessert, so Rukito is sure she will love it. If it weren't for that labyrinth, Rukito and Kuragari would have had to run for about four more hours to get far north, where the temperatures start at subzero and get colder the deeper you go. It is said that there is a race of Ice Wolves that live there, but even they don't travel too deep in. 

Now, with everything set, the mood just right, with the perfect lighting and a great view, Kuragari dispels the illusion, showing Elia this beautiful place with Rukito standing there, waiting for her. She is quite surprised and did not expect this from Rukito. He invites her to sit as Kuragari serves and removes the covering over the food.  

"Elia, I miss you. For an entire month, you have ignored me, which made me realize I must have done something to make you angry. I asked Tamako and Kuragari to help me set this up so I can apologize. The time I have spent apart from you this past month made me realize that I may have feelings for you, and after thinking about it, I have done all this to express how much I love you."

Elia's cheeks flush as it's the first time someone she admires and has feelings for has admitted their affection, especially after all the effort they put in just for her. She feels ecstatic but is still attempting to hold it together; she intuitively looks away. After considering how to respond, she replies, "E-e... it's nice that you recognize when you're at fault, and it’s not like I dislike you or anything..." "Thanks."

                                                                     "I... I'm also sorry for overreacting. It's not like I own you, so getting angry was stupid of me. Now I know that no matter what girl you encounter, you will always come back to me."

A huge success from Rukito's plan; thankfully, with all the romance manga he read, he could translate what she actually means.
For people who don't understand, all she means is that she's very happy with everything he did for her and how can she not accept his apology? She also loves him wholeheartedly, and now that she knows he loves her as well, she realizes that no one can replace her. So even if all the girls try, she is that girl, and they are nothing. The last part may be her being a bit overconfident, but it helps her not feel jealous anymore.     

After eating the food, Rukito has a surprise for her. He takes out the snowberry cream cake and says, "Thanks to Tamako, I learned how to make this for you, so please enjoy." 

Elia grabs a piece of the cake and inhales deeply, enjoying the delightful scent of the snowberries and cream mixed with the warm cake. As she bites into it, she evaluates the texture and sweetness with a chilling sensation on her tongue. Her expression reveals everything; she adores the flavor of Rukito's snowberry cream cake. "I'll be looking forward to more of this," she remarked, showing how much she truly enjoys it.

After watching for so long, Kuragari snatches the next piece of cake and tells Elia, "Just because Rukito loves you doesn't mean you're the only one in his eyes. So I will say it now: I love Rukito and will wait for him to accept me as his second. Elia, just because you are a princess doesn't mean you can take him for yourself. He will be a king, and you will have to accept more girls by his side."

It was an unexpected yet straightforward approach to solve two problems at once, and a bold move from her.