Sirin paid no mind to Shu's shocked gaze. Instead, she gently caressed the cover of the notebook in her hands. She didn't open it in front of Shu, yet there was a sense that Sirin had already read all the information within.
Sirin's eyes held a touch of sorrow as she slowly spoke.
"I thought... you were different..."
Shu could see the faint marks of exertion on Sirin's pale arms, could see her hands trembling slightly, her knuckles white from gripping too tightly.
"I thought..." Sirin's voice trembled slightly. She lowered her head, gradually hugging the notebook to her chest, as if embracing something incredibly precious.
"Clearly, you've been through so much... Clearly, you could start over for them so many times... Clearly, you could trust them completely without reservation from the very first meeting..."
Her long bangs, along with the darkness, obscured half of Sirin's face. Shu couldn't see her expression clearly, only hearing her trembling voice echoing in the dungeon.
Every word Sirin spoke made Shu's heart skip a beat. Only after she finished her three "clearlys" did Shu realize the fork in his hand had slipped from his fingers and fallen to the ground at some point, taking a mouthful of delicious food with it.
Sirin took a deep breath, her body curling in on itself, making her already petite frame seem even more fragile, as if a passing breeze could topple this vulnerable child.
She looked up, her golden eyes filled with a dead stillness. The divine patterns within them were so dazzling, dazzlingly chilling, making it impossible to look directly at them.
"You clearly promised so much... so why... why wouldn't you fulfill even a small promise to Sirin?"
Her voice was very calm, so calm it almost didn't sound like an accusation.
But the words pierced Shu's heart like a knife, slashing cruelly at his most vulnerable spot.
And Sirin continued.
"Everyone else is a character from the [Original Plot]... Why can they? Why must I suffer your rejection..."
Suddenly, Sirin looked up, took a step forward, and bent down, bringing her eyes level with Shu's.
"Is it because Sirin took Kiana away without your consent? Is it because Sirin hit you?!" she asked, her voice somewhat urgent. In this moment, Sirin was completely different from her earlier self.
The dejected, empty look was gone, replaced by an intense expectation, an expectation that Shu would give her an answer, would say the words she wanted to hear.
Would... give her another chance...
Or... give Shu another chance.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry! Sirin was wrong, I'm sorry!!"
At this moment, she was like a child desperately seeking forgiveness, clumsily and excitedly apologizing to Shu for her actions.
This drastic contrast was so jarring that Shu almost thought he was facing a completely different person!
This was strange. This made Shu very confused... This made Shu... inexplicably a little scared...
So he instinctively shrank back a little, truly an instinctive flinch... just like when he instinctively avoided Kiana's face leaning in.
But it was this small movement, this tiny, almost imperceptible action, an action that Shu had only just begun before his conscious mind stopped it...
Sirin still noticed Shu's intention.
"Are you... very afraid of me?" The expression on Sirin's face froze.
Boom—
Brilliant fireworks exploded in the sky, blooming with the most beautiful radiance. High above, against the backdrop of the night, they offered their most dazzling moment to the one who had set them off.
"Wow! Such big fireworks!!" Kiana Kaslana, having changed into a long dress after a long while, linked arms with Raiden Mei, her eyes sparkling as she pointed at the fireworks filling the entire sky with her barbecue skewer, speaking excitedly.
"Yes..." Mei's pupils reflected the huge fireworks. One hand was held by Kiana, while the other held Bronya Zaychik's.
"Just like the fireworks festival in Nagazora City..." she reminisced, murmuring about the past.
"So pretty..." Bronya held a candy apple with a small bite taken out of it, muttering softly, "If only Seele could see this..."
Everyone was cheering for this fireworks extravaganza. Its colorful lights illuminated every corner of the dreamscape.
It also illuminated the tear that slid down Sirin's face.
"Is it because... Sirin is... a Herrscher?"
"Because... Sirin is a bad child?"
Shu froze. Sirin also froze.
An iron railing separated them, cold and unbreakable.
"Is that so..." Sirin's gaze shifted to the side, unwilling, and daring not, to look directly at the shock in Shu's eyes anymore.
She pressed her lips together tightly. As the fireworks faded, Sirin's face was once again submerged in the darkness of the dungeon.
"Is that so... Sirin can't be forgiven anymore..." A somewhat self-deprecating voice sounded, that dejection and dead stillness creeping back over Sirin's body, engulfing her.
"No..." Shu didn't know why he suddenly had the urge to refute, but after just two words, the rest got stuck in his throat, unable to come out.
He didn't know what to say...
I forgive you? Actually, I was never angry with you?
Those were all lies... When Sirin snatched Kiana away in front of him, there was a moment when Shu genuinely, from the bottom of his heart, hated Sirin.
Although later, through a deeper understanding gained in the [Demon Lord's Castle], that hatred had long since vanished without a trace, replaced by sincere heartache for Sirin.
But that didn't mean Shu had forgiven Sirin for taking Kiana. It didn't mean Shu believed Sirin's actions were "understandable under the circumstances."
Because before all this, Shu's heartache had always been for the Sirin of the past, not the present one.
Perhaps... he could lie?
Shu's mind stirred. He quickly decided to first try and coax the unusually behaving Sirin.
But Sirin spoke faster than him, completely blocking the words Shu wanted to say.
"Because you hate Sirin, that's why you lied to Sirin... that's why you left Sirin, broke the promise you made with Sirin... Is that it..."
Now Shu truly didn't know what to say.
"Promise..." Shu lowered his head stiffly, looking at his hand, at his subconsciously raised pinky finger.
"What promise... did I break?"
Shu looked up and asked Sirin.
Sirin hugged the book in her arms tightly, her voice small and somewhat timid.
"When I come out... I want to see you..."