Chapter 151: You... are still there?

At Erik’s villa, the afternoon sunlight quietly spread across the living room floor. Felyn was practicing how to find her way from the window to the sofa by following the edge of the cabinet, counting each step as though keeping the rhythm of a song.

Runi read beside her, while Carmilla stood near the window, waiting for Felyn to find the right path on her own.

"Three more steps and you’ll reach the table," Runi reminded her.

"I remember." Felyn replied cheerfully, but the moment she reached out, her hand touched a box that had just been placed on the table. She startled slightly, then laughed. "Did someone put more things in the room again?"

Runi apologized for placing the wooden box there without telling her first. Felyn only smiled and asked her to mention it beforehand next time. Just then, the doorbell rang. Knowing that Saraya and Vylana had come to visit, she happily turned toward the door.

"You’re here! Come in. I was just about to ask someone for help with something."

Saraya stopped outside the door. She had told herself to stay calm, but Felyn’s greeting still made her heart ache.

She felt sorry for Felyn because she could no longer see, while at the same time, jealousy rose whenever she remembered Erik patiently guiding her as she learned to walk, letting her touch his face before kissing him.

The feeling made Saraya ashamed, because Felyn had done nothing wrong.

Saraya hid her trembling fingers in the folds of her dress. She, too, had once received that kind of tenderness.

"Saraya?" Vylana lightly touched her elbow. "Are you alright?"

"Mm." Saraya forced a smile. "I’m only worried Felyn won’t like our gift."

Vylana led her friend inside and placed a cloth bag on the table. "We brought carved wooden markers for you to mark the corners of the house. You can choose where to place them yourself."

"Really?" Felyn happily held out her hand. "Let me try. But I want to choose where they go myself."

Saraya placed the leaf-shaped wooden piece into Felyn’s hand. Their fingertips touched. Felyn had a few thin calluses from having to rely on touch in place of her eyes, but she happily traced the veins carved into the wood.

"This one is easy to recognize. Thank you, Saraya."

"I only helped choose the wood," Saraya quickly replied. "Vylana was the one who had them made."

"Then I’ll thank both of you." Felyn smiled. "I can’t see, but I still want to know who gave me each gift."

Saraya watched Felyn treasure the little gift as though it were something precious. Erik had given Saraya far more than that, yet she had never known how to appreciate it.

Vylana handed Felyn another wooden piece. The moment she felt it, she burst into laughter. "Is this a bird? Why is it so round?"

"I told the carver to make a sparrow!" Vylana blushed, making both Runi and Carmilla turn away to hide their smiles.

"Then I’ll use it to mark the dining room," Felyn decided. "Whenever I get hungry, I’ll remember this chubby bird."

Carmilla helped secure the markers once Felyn had chosen their places. Saraya smoothed down the sharp edges of the wood, while Felyn avoided a chair that had been pulled near the table by herself. Runi happily clapped when she followed the route correctly.

"You really are improving," Saraya remarked unconsciously.

"It’s thanks to Erik." Felyn blushed slightly. "At first, I thought I would keep bothering him forever. He only told me not to rush, that remembering even one place was already very good."

Saraya bit her lip. She had once believed Erik’s patience would never run out.

Felyn could not see Saraya’s expression, but she noticed that the person before her had gone silent for too long. She turned toward the faint sound of breathing and asked gently, "Saraya, is something making you sad? It’s alright if you don’t want to talk about it."

Saraya intended to shake her head, but eventually lowered her face instead. "There’s something I want to apologize to you for."

"Apologize to me?" Felyn was surprised.

"I was jealous of you." Saraya clenched the hem of her dress, speaking each word with difficulty. "Every time I heard you talk about how Erik takes care of you, I remembered how he used to treat me. I know you did nothing wrong. But sometimes I still thought... I wish I were the one receiving his care now."

Vylana stopped what she was doing, looking at her friend with heartache but not interrupting. Saraya had never dared to say that confession in front of Felyn before.

"I’m also ashamed because you are always kind to me," Saraya continued, her voice trembling. "I pushed Erik away with my own hands, yet I’m still jealous of someone else’s happiness. You don’t have to consider me your friend."

Felyn did not answer immediately. She put down the wooden piece and reached her hand toward Saraya’s voice. "Will you hold my hand? I don’t know where you’re standing."

Saraya hesitated, but eventually placed her hand into the waiting one. Felyn gave it a light squeeze, feeling Saraya’s fingers tremble.

"I get jealous sometimes too," Felyn said softly. "When I hear other people describe a beautiful sight I can never see, I still feel sad. I know they have done nothing wrong, but that feeling does not disappear because of it."

Saraya raised her head, her eyes beginning to turn red.

"I’m not happy to know that you thought that way," Felyn said honestly, her hand still holding Saraya’s. "But you chose to tell me instead of silently hating me. As for what is between you and Erik, I cannot speak for him. He is the one who decides what he can forgive."

Felyn squeezed her hand. "Today, you brought something that truly helps me, and you even asked where I wanted to place it. If you want to be friends, I want to try too."

A tear fell onto the backs of their hands. Saraya hurriedly tried to pull away to wipe her face, but Felyn gently held on. "Are you crying? Runi, could you get me a tissue?"

Runi handed one over, while Vylana sat beside her friend and placed a hand on her back. Saraya wiped away her tears and tried to smile.

"You’re not angry with me?" she asked quietly.

"I’m a little sad to know you once thought that way," Felyn answered honestly. "But I’m happier that you were willing to tell me. If you feel uncomfortable again in the future, just say it. Don’t keep it to yourself and then assume I hate you."

Saraya understood that she could not repair every mistake she had made with Erik. But Felyn did not demand that she change after just one apology, and that made her feel lighter.

"Thank you, Felyn." Saraya finally smiled through her tears.

"Don’t thank me yet," Felyn giggled. "You still need to tell me where the chair is. I want to carry the wooden box back to the table myself."

Saraya nearly reached out to take the box, but stopped herself in time. "Do you need my help?"

"Just guide me."

"To your left, one step away." Saraya watched Felyn avoid the chair and carry the box to the table without stumbling. When she turned and held out her hand, Saraya took it first.

"Next time, shall we mark the path to the garden together?" Felyn asked.

"Alright. I’ll listen to your instructions."

Vylana laughed as well. "Then that sparrow I ordered finally has a purpose."

"That round little bird?" Felyn teased, making Saraya laugh, her hand still tightly holding Felyn’s. Just a moment ago, Saraya had thought she did not deserve to be treated with such gentleness.

At that moment, a strange warmth suddenly ran through both of their palms.

Saraya jolted. She looked down to see the fingers Felyn held in her own giving off a faint pink glow. There was no pain, but a familiar sensation she could not explain suddenly spread from her lower abdomen to her chest, making her heart race.

"Felyn, do you feel...?"

"Yes." Felyn raised her head, confusion clear on her face. "It feels like someone is calling me from very far away."

Vylana immediately placed her hand over Saraya’s, wanting to check what was happening. The moment she touched them, she felt a vibration as soft as the sound of music echoing through water.

Beneath Saraya and Felyn’s dresses, two thin circles of light briefly appeared near their lower abdomens, shaped like ancient Succubus patterns before vanishing at once. No one in the room knew where those patterns came from.

They disappeared so quickly that Vylana thought she might have imagined them.

Runi put down her book and stepped closer in concern. "Lady Felyn, does it hurt?"

"No." Felyn shook her head, her hands still holding Saraya’s. "I only... feel a little sad. But I also feel very warm."

Carmilla had risen to her feet, her eyes seriously observing the three of them. She detected no hostile mana in the room, but the appearance and disappearance of those circles of light made her decide to contact Meira for more information once communications stabilized.

Saraya let out a soft breath. She raised a hand to her chest, trying to listen to the strange feeling that had just appeared.

For an instant, she thought she saw a bronze-colored leaf fall through the light by the window, but when she turned back, there was only the quiet garden outside.

"Did any of you see anything?" she asked, her voice dropping.

Vylana looked around, then slowly shook her head. Felyn could not see, but she still turned her face toward the window, her eyes shifting slightly beneath the blindfold.

A moment later, the feeling of resonance vanished as though it had never existed.

...

Deep beneath the Men’s Council headquarters, Winter was lowering her head amid black chains. Blood still dripped from her wrists onto the stone floor, while old wounds made every breath difficult.

She had long grown used to enduring pain in silence, yet at that moment, her entire body suddenly shook violently, as if someone had touched a thread that ran deep through her soul.

On the magical stele nearby, a symbol that had remained dark for many years suddenly flashed. Winter raised her head, her cracked lips parting. She felt a warmth from far away, carrying traces of Spring and another presence she had thought no longer existed.

"No..." Winter tried to raise her arm, but the shackle pulled her wrist back, causing blood to seep through the old bandage once more.

She did not know who was calling to her. She could only feel a familiar soul paying a price for the protective dome. "Spring... don’t... don’t let anyone else disappear..."

Through the pain, Winter suddenly remembered how someone had once held out a hand to her in a cold field.

The memory was so faint that she did not know who it was, only that the warmth reaching her now felt like a call from very far away. She tried to answer, but her throat produced nothing but a hoarse breath.

A tear mixed with blood rolled down Winter’s cheek and fell onto her tattered dress. She lowered her head, her fingers still trying to curl as though she wished to grasp someone’s hand across an impossible distance.

...

In the sky above the outpost, the translucent girl bit her lip hard, struggling to keep the last threads of light connected to the crack.

Part of the barrier had stopped spreading apart, but her body had also faded significantly, to the point that even the outline of her cream-colored dress nearly blended into the light around her.

"Alright... just a little more..." She forced a smile despite her endlessly trembling hands. "Don’t break apart right in front of me like this."

A very faint pulse suddenly traveled from Silver Moon. She raised her head, sensing that someone had answered the call she herself had not meant to send.

Her amber eyes slowly widened.

"You... are still there?"

The crack before her closed by another small section. But the Dark Mist below still did not fade, and the girl knew she could not keep the protective dome intact this way forever.