In Noah's nightmare, within the meeting room, everyone sat in their places. Neriah and Sirius rested on a nearby couch with Enel between them. Calli sat at the vanity table, fixing her lipstick as she observed the room through the mirror. Lou Yan, separated from the rest, sat on a lone couch, head lowered, fiddling nervously with the hem of her shirt as if to avoid looking in Noah's direction. Livia, as always, stood at the board before them all, while Noah closed the door behind him as soon as he entered.
"Well then, since everyone is here, I'll announce the next play. After that, you may do as you please," Livia said, her expression carrying a gentle, affectionate smile.
Everyone sighed in relief. For a moment, they had thought Livia might break her promise and force them into another round of exhausting work.
"The next play, unlike the stories before, will be about a greedy girl who rose to become queen of a fallen empire."
"Who will be the queen?" Noah asked, confused. Of course, he knew he would act in this play—that much was expected—but he hoped to avoid a repeat of the Alistair incident, where he found himself falling for a girl.
"Hmm… naturally, it's you," Livia said, pointing her finger directly at him, as though declaring a truth that needed no further explanation.
"…Excuse me?"
"You'll be the girl. Isn't it obvious? You are 'the actor,' after all," Livia replied with mild surprise, as though Noah should have known this already.
"Wonderful… a moment ago I was a child, now I'll become a woman. Is there anything left I haven't been yet?" Noah thought to himself in bitter sarcasm and embarrassment.
"The next play is "The Queen of Hearts". It will be very long—likely our longest play yet. So it would be best if you all rest and adjust your schedules accordingly," Livia explained. But as she spoke, she noticed their lack of enthusiasm, especially Noah's, who looked as if he had just suffered a heart attack upon hearing his role. Wanting to ease the tension, she added:
"Well, that's all for the announcement. You can celebrate now. But, of course—don't drink or stay up too late."
Their faces lit up again. They nodded fervently, their excitement shining in their eyes like hungry dogs that had just been offered a great slab of meat.
"This is going to be a long night…" Noah thought to himself, his face pale. Not only had he already been humiliated by his past self—a shadow made of the sands of time—but now he was about to be disgraced further by becoming a woman.
"It couldn't possibly get worse… I just hope everyone outside is doing better than I am… I hope they haven't forgotten me…"
———————
Outside, in the real world, everyone was indeed faring far better than Noah—most of them, anyway. The exception was Lou Yan, who sat quietly inside Noah's hospital room.
The room was cold, the air conditioner having hummed endlessly for days. The faint smell of medicine and rusted iron lingered in the air. Lou Yan sat close to Noah's bed, her eyes fixed on his expression, desperately searching for any flicker of life, any twitch that might give her hope that he was nearing consciousness. But nothing came. Even when his hair shifted slightly, she realized it was only the breath of the air conditioner.
"…Noah… I hope you wake soon. You probably won't believe this, but I had a strange dream… about you and me… well, not exactly us only, since Sirius and Calli were there too… Your name was Alistair Crowley, a famed witch-hunter in a distant kingdom. And, of course, I was the wicked witch—Agatha Lovecroft. But even that didn't stop us from ending up together… I won't deny that Agatha's intentions were foul at the start, planning to use you, but she fell into the snare of the mighty witch-hunter she had sought to exploit," Lou Yan whispered softly, watching Noah's chest rise and fall with each breath before continuing.
"But you were bewitched by another witch… and you killed me—killed Agatha. Not only that but the same witch managed to manipulation the king to slaughter Sirius and Calli first… funny, since they were engaged, though they were nothing alike. And after that, you killed everyone else—innocents, children, women, men… and then, finally, you killed yourself. Tell me… would you really have done that, if we were truly together in reality?" Lou Yan's voice trembled as she spoke, then she reached out, clasping Noah's cold hand between both of hers. His pallor struck her. His exhaustion was written plainly on his face; after all, he had been asleep for five days without food.
"…I don't want you to do something so terrible… Did you think of the consequences? The families of those you'd take? The weight of your actions, the fate that would follow?… I want to say that, out of love, I'd still accept you even if you did… but that isn't true, is it? Because you feel nothing for me…"
"I've changed since I met you… I've grown weaker, pathetic even. I strayed from my path, from my beliefs, simply because my heart was ensnared by your presence, your manner. And when I realized that, I blamed you and pushed you away—even though I knew it wasn't your fault. I said awful things to you… and now here you are… sleeping, half-dead. Maybe this is my punishment. Maybe the gods decided to strip away someone I love…Once again… If I could only turn back in time, I wouldn't have run for student representative. Someone else would have taken my place. The future would have been different. We never would have met. And maybe then you wouldn't be suffering because of me. I caused you pain because I was selfish… Oh, my goddess… 'The Mother of When', please… let me be selfish just once...Just once more...Please… give me a sign… anything that could help wake him… I swear I'll do anything in return… anything…" Lou Yan pressed Noah's hands together, clasping them as in prayer, tears caught in her lashes as she closed her eyes, pleading desperately.
When nothing came—as she had expected—and as the tears began to spill, the sound of the door creaking open reached her ears. She spun around instantly, It was the elder, the Ninth Mercy, September Vallen.
Their eyes met for a moment, and Lou Yan thought perhaps this was her sign from Her goddess. But she hadn't expected that the sign would take the shape of September herself.
"Hm? Child, are you crying?" September asked, curious and puzzled.
"H-huh? N-no, of course not…!" Lou Yan stammered, hurriedly wiping her tears with her sleeve.
"I-it's nothing…" she added quickly.
"I see…" September said, stepping closer. Naturally, she couldn't touch or pat Lou Yan directly—Lou Yan perceived her as a short old woman, when in truth she was about her same height. Any touch would reveal the illusion. Instead, September nudged Lou Yan's leg gently with her own, drawing her eyes back toward her.
"Girl, there's no shame in crying. It isn't a fault."
"I-I wasn't crying…" Lou Yan insisted, clearly uncomfortable at being exposed like this.
"…How many times have you cried over someone you've lost? How many times have you mourned for someone gone? I have cried, and never once felt shame for it. No human emotion should make you feel disgrace. My own tears dried up long ago, but I swore that the next time I lost someone, I would cry even if it meant bleeding. The only thing you should be ashamed of is denying your own tears. By rejecting your feelings, you only destroy yourself slowly from within. Crying is not weakness—it is your will, a sign of the suffering you endure. Even if you do not feel the pain of the one you care for, your tears hold more strength than words. The desire to share the pain, the yearning for empathy, the proof of mercy… So cry, Child, I will not mock you. I was not named 'Mercy' for nothing."
Lou Yan stared at her for a long moment, then lowered her gaze. And before she realized it, tears began pouring freely down her cheeks. Her hands clutched the edge of the bed desperately, her body trembling.
"I-it's my fault!… I don't want to lose him! If only I had helped him! If only I'd listened from the start! If only I'd gone after him that day… he wouldn't be here now! He wouldn't be like this! It's my fault! My fault alone!" Lou Yan cried, trying and failing to wipe her tears with both hands.
"I… I don't want to lose someone I love again! I promised myself I'd be stronger, that I'd shatter my fate… b-but I'm weak. I can't do anything! I can't change! I'm terrified that I'm cursed… that anyone I love is destined to die in the end… It happened again and again… over and over… I don't want it to end like this. Our story hasn't even begun yet… I… I love him… I love him so much… But I don't know what to do… please, tell me…" Lou Yan whispered through her sobs, broken and hopeless.
"…You'll find the answer when he wakes," September interrupted gently.
"H-he… wakes?…" Lou Yan repeated, brushing away her last tear, eyes wide.
"I'm not the empire's greatest healer for nothing… I've found a way to awaken the child"
"R-really?!" Lou Yan's eyes widened in shock and joy.
"Yes. The details remain a secret—I can't reveal them to you. But I'm certain he will wake," September said with a warm, tender smile.
Lou Yan slid off her chair, dropping to her knees at once. She pressed her forehead to the ground, clutching at the hem of September's robe tightly.
"C-child…?" September stammered, stunned by the gesture.
"Thank you!… Thank you so much! Thank you… thank you… thank you…" Lou Yan cried, unable to express the depths of her gratitude.
September's startled, tense expression softened, her heart easing as she heard the sincerity in Lou Yan's trembling voice.
"…It's all right...I am Mercy."