Click. Click. Click.
Two girls walked down a worn-out corridor.
Clara moved forward in silence, keeping her footsteps light to avoid letting the voices from the meeting room reach them. She wanted to get as far away as possible.
Following behind, Shion stared at Clara’s back, allowing herself to be led.
“...”
She didn’t know where they were going, but she didn’t even have the strength to resist. She was too afraid to speak, scared that hearing the answer out loud would confirm her worst fears.
Like a paper doll caught in the wind, she was simply dragged along.
Even as she walked, her mind was blank. Nothing was falling into place.
Clara said nothing, offering no explanation, which only made her frustration build to the point of madness.
Shion’s thoughts remained fixed on what she had just witnessed. She couldn’t process anything beyond that.
How could this girl possibly know what had truly happened?
Tak!
Clara suddenly stopped.
She glanced around, checking for any presence or any traces of foreign mana. There were none. Everyone was gathered in the meeting room.
‘This should be far enough.’
Feeling reassured, Clara turned her body and lifted her head to look at Shion.
Now, she finally had the time to properly greet her.
But before she could say anything—
Clara’s mouth fell open in shock.
“Sh-Shion unnie!?”
“Uh...”
Tears, as brilliant as gemstones, trickled down the elf girl’s cheeks.
Her already gaunt face, now streaked with silent sorrow, looked even more pitiful as she bit her lips to suppress the emotions threatening to spill out.
Recently, Shion had often found herself feeling miserable. Yet, no matter how much she suffered, tears never came.
She had assumed she had grown numb, that her heart had been ground down so thoroughly that there were simply no tears left.
But that wasn’t true.
Now that she had finally been struck by a true shock, she couldn’t stop crying.
Rohan and Clara.
She had held onto the memories of their time together, using them as an anchor to keep herself from completely breaking down.
But what if she had merely been playing right into someone’s hand all along?
Was that why the elders had been waiting for her that day?
The moment the thought crossed her mind—that it could be possible—she couldn’t stop the sobs from pouring out.
“Unnie...?”
“You can tell me... I... My life has always been like this anyway... I was ready...”
A trembling voice, half-choked with tears.
Clara, unlike Rohan, didn’t understand the depth of Shion’s reaction. Panicked, she grasped Shion’s hands tightly.
“You’ve been through so much, haven’t you? I’m sorry we were late... Please, don’t cry...”
“...?”
Shion, staring at the girl in front of her, suddenly snapped back to her senses.
“Unnie, why is your body so cold...? Your face is so pale...”
Clara took a step closer and hugged Shion.
The elf girl, whose arms had been hanging limply, slowly moved them, wrapping herself around the girl who was holding and comforting her.
In the midst of her confusion—
Shion realized something with painful clarity.
‘A person’s warmth... is this warm?’
The deep chill that had burrowed into her bones seemed to vanish in an instant.
No words were necessary.
With a single gesture, Clara had made her understand—her thoughts had been nothing but dark delusions, ridiculous misunderstandings.
“Shion unnie...! Oppa is here, so don’t worry.”
A delicate hand ran soothingly down her back, as if to say everything was okay now.
Shion felt like crying all over again.
What a truly kind girl.
“Clara. I missed you... I was lonely...”
“I-I missed you too, unnie... Eek!”
Shion pulled Clara into an even tighter embrace.
She couldn’t bear to let go. The warmth from Clara’s body seeped deep into her heart.
Just by pressing their skin together, all of her past suffering seemed to fade away. The fractures in her shaken mind were neatly sealed.
For a long while, Shion didn’t let go. She held onto Clara, using their silent embrace to vent all of the pent-up sorrow inside her.
Then—
A distant noise from the meeting room startled her, and she quickly loosened her grip.
Clara, seeing their eyes meet, smiled bashfully, her cheeks tinged red. A part of her smile came from relief—Shion’s expression no longer looked so gloomy.
“Even between girls, this is a little embarrassing...”
“...”
Shion realized it too.
For the first time in ages, she felt self-conscious.
It wasn’t an awkward shame, like being caught doing something improper. It was a different kind of embarrassment, an unfamiliar emotion she couldn’t quite define.
Her hand hovered near her mask, hesitating on whether or not to put it back on.
“Unnie. How are you feeling? Have you been eating properly?”
At Clara’s question, Shion murmured a vague answer while pulling out a waterskin. She didn’t even remember the last time she had a proper drink.
As the parched sensation in her throat faded—
She finally asked the most important question.
“Clara. What exactly was that situation earlier? I still don’t understand...”
“I don’t really know how to explain it either since I was just watching what oppa was doing...”
Clara pursed her lips and tapped them lightly with her finger, lost in thought.
She didn’t have all the answers either.
But one thing had become clear to her.
“I think they’re mistaking oppa for someone else. And oppa is playing along.”
“Mistaking? Playing along?”
Clara assured her that if she sat and observed for a little while, she would see it for herself—Rohan was definitely acting.
The words only deepened Shion’s confusion.
As Clara continued her explanation, Shion felt herself sinking even deeper into the labyrinth of uncertainty.
“...And that’s how we ended up here.”
“That’s it?”
“Yes...! That’s the whole story.”
“What?”
After listening to the condensed explanation, Shion found it impossible to grasp the situation.
From beginning to end, everything was filled with nothing but questions.
It wasn’t that Clara’s explanation was unclear. It was just that every single sentence defied comprehension.
He’s impersonating someone using information he gathered? Did he collect it while dealing with the gang leader in the tunnel? But what if he made a mistake and got caught?
Shion was both impressed and deeply concerned for Rohan.
His method was bold—no, too bold.
And his approach was just as baffling.
Were the elders simply incapable of keeping up with modern ways of handling information?
Or was Rohan simply that adept at extracting secrets?
“Shion unnie...”
“Mm?”
As Shion struggled to absorb everything she had just heard, Clara tugged at her sleeve, drawing her attention.
Then, leaning in close, the girl whispered.
“U-um... Are the elves here... your family?”
“...”
“I-I mean, if they’re important to you...”
Shion immediately understood what was troubling Clara.
If a situation arose where force was necessary, Clara didn’t know how far she was allowed to go.
Family? The elders, my family?
She had spent more time with them than she had with her parents.
As a descendant of Testarossa, she had once believed they were figures she was meant to protect.
...That’s probably how I would have thought in the past.
But ever since meeting Rohan and Clara, her worldview had expanded.
Thanks to them, she had seen and felt things she never would have otherwise. She had realized just how vast the world was—and how small the well she had been living in truly was.
Relationships weren’t defined by the length of time spent together.
And the bloodline that had bound her to the elders for a lifetime?
It had never once fed her a single meal.
“Clara.”
“Yes?”
“I like you.”
Hearing those words, Clara’s eyes lit up with joy.
Shion met her gaze and continued.
“And I like Rohan too.”
“...!?!?”
Clara’s expression twisted into a mix of delight and flustered shock.
But Shion, lost in her emotions, paid no attention and spoke her heart.
“I couldn’t stop thinking about the short time the three of us spent together. I relived those memories every day. It was... truly fun.”
“Unnie...”
Clara could relate to those words in so many ways.
“If you ask me now whether the elders are my family... I can’t say for sure. Not until I hear the truths they’ve been hiding. Maybe I was wrong from the very beginning.”
“...I understand.”
“But one thing is certain—there is no reason for me to take responsibility for them.”
Shion had burned through her golden years, struggling and enduring, giving everything she had.
And she had no regrets about that effort.
Hearing Shion’s firm response, Clara nodded, indicating she understood.
Then, after a brief pause, she brought up something entirely different.
“Shion unnie.”
“Speak.”
“Unnie... You were originally from Tigrova, weren’t you?”
It was something she had heard from Rohan on the way here.
Shion nodded without hesitation, confirming it.
Clara’s face shifted, painted in a swirl of mixed emotions.
“If you’re from Tigrova, then... does that mean unnie also follows polygamy—?”
“Hm?”
Shion tilted her head at Clara’s murmured words.
Realizing what she had just said, Clara immediately slapped her cheeks. Now is not the time to be thinking about this!
“A-ah, never mind...! Let’s hurry back!”
“You’re here.”
“...”
At the sound of Rohan’s voice, the High Elder exhaled deeply.
Clara silently took her seat beside Rohan.
Shion, who had entered right after, found herself standing among the elders sprawled across the floor, blinking in confusion.
I guess I’m really not suited for this kind of situation.
Seeing how lost Shion looked, it was clear that the misunderstanding had been cleared up. She must have heard enough of the story to no longer be hostile.
The problem was, her every movement was stiff and unnatural.
Rohan would have to guide this carefully.
“Levin Maxwell. How long are you planning to make me wait? If you’re trying to provoke me, I’ll commend your courage.”
“Khmm...! Princess. Please, have a seat.”
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At Rohan’s sharp prodding, the High Elder finally spoke.
Shion, lips pressed tightly together, took a seat.
“Princess.”
“What is this chaotic mess? Explain.”
The High Elder had no intention of explaining the situation.
He only intended to proceed with what Rohan had taken responsibility for.
“From this moment on, I will tell you the story that you have been so eager to know.”
“...Suddenly?”
A one-sided conversation.
The High Elder did not answer Shion’s question.
Instead, he simply moved his wrinkled lips, commanding her to listen.
“Princess, you asked before. You wanted to know whether the Great Tiger Emperor truly brought ruin upon the Testarossa royal family.”
“...”
This was the very question Shion had longed to hear a definitive answer to.
For her, who had joined midway into the conversation, this sudden shift in topic felt abrupt.
But it was not something she could ignore.
“The day you fled Tigrova with us elders, the Great Tiger Emperor did nothing more than win a battle. He did not take anyone’s life.”
“Then... my father and mother...”
Shion’s gaze locked onto the High Elder.
There was no attempt to hide the greed lurking behind his wrinkled face.
Slowly, anger spread across Shion’s features.
And in that chilling silence—
The High Elder, in a calm and composed manner, spoke the truth.
“As you have probably suspected, it was I who orchestrated the downfall of the Testarossa family.”
A heavy silence fell over the meeting room.
The atmosphere froze over, turning to ice.