The journey back to the Clover Kingdom was faster than expected — the wind at their backs, the Rubellum nobles respectfully silent after what Yuno had made very clear.
But silence did not follow them into the Black Bulls' hideout.
It exploded the moment they stepped through the door.
"ASTA!" Noelle's voice rang through the hall. "YOU WERE GONE FOR WEEKS AND THEN I FIND OUT FROM A NEWSPAPER THAT YOU MADE OUT WITH YUNO IN FRONT OF AN ENTIRE COURT?!"
She hurled a pillow at his face. Asta caught it one-handed.
"Uh… yeah?" he said sheepishly.
Magna whistled. "Damn, you work fast. Nobles and public declarations?"
Finral peeked around the corner with a teasing grin. "I knew you two were too intense to just be rivals."
Even Gordon murmured something about "romantic tension finally paying off," which made Charmy tear up.
"I knew it!" she sobbed into a half-eaten loaf of bread. "True love always wins!"
Yami took one long drag from his cigarette, eyeing Asta and Yuno like two wolves who finally admitted they'd been howling for each other all along. "You better not let this crap get in the way of missions," he said gruffly. "That being said... 'bout time."
Asta scratched the back of his head. "We're not gonna let anything slip."
Yuno, as usual, stayed mostly quiet—except when Vanessa leaned in and purred, "So, is he the top?"
Yuno, without missing a beat, replied dryly, "Obviously."
The entire room exploded with laughter, except for Noelle, who short-circuited and walked out mumbling, "I didn't need to know that."
Later, in a quieter moment, Asta and Yuno stood on a balcony overlooking the capital — just like they had as boys, dreaming of the Wizard King.
Yuno leaned against the railing, the wind in his hair. "It's weird being back."
"Feels the same to me," Asta said. "Except now I get to kiss you whenever I want."
Yuno smirked. "Do it then."
Asta did. Slow and sweet, right under the rising moon.
That moment didn't last.
Because suddenly, Finral's portal burst open behind them, and Luck tumbled through, face pale for once.
"We've got a problem," he said breathlessly. "Mission from Julius. Emergency level."
Asta tensed. "What kind of emergency?"
Luck's eyes narrowed. "Someone's reactivating forbidden Spade Kingdom magic. They're looking for relics tied to you two. And they're calling it… the Broken Star Curse."
Yuno's blood went cold.
Asta's jaw set like stone. "Then we'll break it. Together."