Lonia climbed off Rafina and sat in the dust for a moment.
Should she leave something for Rafina?
She touched her hair and untied the two black satin ribbons she used to tie her hair into buns.
“Here.”
She stuffed the two ribbons into Rafina's hand.
“These ribbons are really good quality. You can use them to tie your hair from now on.”
Rafina sat on the floor, looking down at the crumpled black satin ribbons in her palm.
They were tightly woven, with subtle, invisible patterns embroidered along the edges.
Was there anything else she could give her...?
Lonia thought for a moment, then touched her mouth.
She hesitated, then took out her retainer. It was still warm from her mouth as it rested in her palm, and she instinctively pursed her lips.
“This is for you too.”
“...A retainer?”
“Keep it. Just in case... in case anyone bullies you, show them this and tell them you know the Catoris.”
“...How silly.”
“Wha—?!”
“I-I'm just kidding!”
Rafina quickly patted her shoulder to comfort her.
Lonia searched herself one last time, only then realizing she had slipped out in too much of a hurry to bring anything else.
“...That's all I have.”
She lowered her hands, her red, slitted pupils flickering in the dim light.
Without the hair ribbons, her long black hair draped loosely over her shoulders, making her pale face look even smaller than usual.
“...It's enough.”
Rafina clutched the ribbons and retainer tightly against her chest, the fabric of her satin dress bunching up under her knuckles.
“This is more than enough.”
Lonia stood up and looked down at Rafina, who was still sitting on the floor. She opened her mouth to say something, but in the end, nothing came out.
She turned toward the ventilation duct, squatted down, and crawled inside.
Halfway through, the warm presence deep in her mind suddenly throbbed.
『...Nia.』
It was very faint.
『Mm.』
『...Be careful on the way back.』
『I know, dummy.』
By the time she crawled out of the duct, the phosphorescence in the corridor had shifted from indigo back to a ghostly blue.
Dawn was approaching. Although Abyss City had no true daylight, Gloom Castle's phosphorescence system would brighten at set times to simulate a cycle of dawn and dusk for the demons.
She stealthily hid her dirty clothes, took a bath, and washed away every trace of her crawl through the ventilation shaft.
Once she was sure she didn't smell of dust, she changed into clean clothes, slipped under the covers, and sent a message to the other side.
『Fina.』
『I'm here.』
When the carriage started moving in the plaza before Gloom Castle, Lonia sat in the corner of the compartment, her forehead resting against the thick fabric of the blackout curtains.
Eliza sat opposite her, her long hair shimmering with a cool luster in the morning phosphorescence.
She was flipping through a gold-embossed document, her slender fingers turning a page every few seconds.
The wheels rumbled dully as they rolled over the black stone pavement.
The carriage swayed gently. Occasionally, a sliver of ghostly blue phosphorescence leaked through the gaps in the curtains, slicing across Lonia's pale face.
She didn't speak. Not a single word had crossed her lips since they boarded.
Eliza didn't look at her either.
『Fina.』
Lonia sent a message to the other side of her consciousness.
Silence.
『Fina?』
A long time later, an incredibly faint response drifted up.
『...Here.』
Lonia's fingers clenched into fists beneath her skirt.
『Distance makes the connection fade... but it doesn't seem like it will break completely... I'll talk to you again when I get home!』
『...Okay.』
Sometime later, at the Catori mansion.
Lonia returned to her room, flopped directly onto her bed, and sent a message to Rafina.
『I'm here.』
She didn't fall asleep until very late.
The next day, Eliza sent someone to summon her.
When the study door was pushed open, Eliza was standing by the window. Outside was the courtyard of the Catori mansion, where several dark red roses that only bloomed under moonlight were planted.
“Sit.”
Lonia sat in the chair opposite the desk. The chair was too high, and her feet couldn't reach the floor, so her legs dangled and swung in the air for a moment before coming to a stop.
Eliza turned around, walked over to the desk, and looked down at her younger sister.
“I will not bring up the matter of Abyss City a second time.”
Lonia pursed her lips.
“But you were right. You do need playmates your own age.”
“Huh?”
Eliza's red, slitted eyes were half-closed, her expression no different from usual.
Cold, calm, and absolute.
But the words that came out of her mouth were entirely unexpected to Lonia.
“If you want friends, they should at least be peers of comparable status to the Catori family. When you have free time, go play with Fema of the Flame Demons and Tia of the Nightmares.”
Lonia stared at her sister for three seconds.
Fema. The red-haired little girl from the Flame Demon Court Head's family, the one who had been dragged out by her ears by her mother at the Ten Courts banquet for spilling a whole pitcher of blood wine.
Tia. From the Nightmare Court Head's family, the one who always puffed on a slender pipe she had stolen from who-knows-where, trying to act like an adult.
“They won't sit quietly and read books to me...”
Lonia's voice was muffled, her chin burying into her collar.
Eliza's brow twitched slightly.
“Reading? Since when did you take an interest in books?”
“...Just recently.”
“The Catori library has three thousand seven hundred volumes of ancient texts. If there's anything you want to read, I will have someone deliver it to your room.”
“It's not the same.”
Lonia's voice rose half an octave before she quickly suppressed it.
She kept her head down, her long black hair draping over the sides of her face, concealing most of her expression.
“...It's not the same.”
Eliza watched her, and silence stretched for a few seconds.
“Go find Fema and Tia. That is not a suggestion.”
Lonia jumped down from the chair, her feet landing with a dull thud. Without looking at her sister, she walked straight to the study door, pulled it open, and stepped out.
Before the door closed behind her, she paused.
“...Sister.”
“What?”
“I hate you!”
The door clicked shut.
“...I should assign her more homework.”
Lonia did not hear this quiet murmur.
In the corridor, Lonia leaned against the wall for a moment.
She closed her eyes, searching for that warm silhouette in the deepest recesses of her consciousness.
『Fina.』
A long time passed.
A very, very long time.
Then, from extremely far away, a response lighter than a whisper drifted over.
『...Nia?』
『Sister is making me go play with other people.』
『...Oh.』
『I don't want to. They're noisy and stupid.』
Silence. That thread trembled in her consciousness, like a spiderweb in the wind.
『...When will you come back?』
Lonia opened her eyes.
At the end of the corridor, moonlight leaked through the gaps in the window frame, painting a thin, silvery-white line on the black stone floor.
『I don't know.』
She thought with utmost seriousness:
『But I will definitely come.』
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