["Hahaha, is that all?" Seele chuckled lightly. "This is like scratching an itch through boots—totally unsatisfying. Looks like before you go back, I'll have to properly teach you some underground slang."]
[Bronya waved her hands repeatedly: "No no no."]
[Seele leaned against the railing, glancing up at the orphanage before turning her gaze to the girl beside her. Bronya was like a gentle stream, imperceptibly tugging at her heartstrings, and she found herself willing to follow its flow... For over a decade, this was the first time Seele had ever felt this way.]
["I've heard some veteran Silvermane Guards say that before the isolation order was issued, there wasn't much difference between the Overworld and the Underworld. People ate the same food, talked about the same topics, and celebrated the same festivals."]
["By our generation, even if our upbringing was a bit different... when it comes to life's joys and sorrows, and the bonds between people, those precious feelings must still be the same."]
["If there were a bridge to reconnect the Overworld and Underworld again... we could return to that era where there was no 'us and them,' standing together against the Eternal Freeze and the Fragmentum."]
[As she spoke, Bronya gazed down at Rivet Town below the mountain. Following her line of sight, Seele seemed to glimpse the future she longed for.]
[Seeing the expression on Bronya's face, Seele tilted her head slightly, pressing her lips together in a smile: "I'm not like you—I can't sum things up so grandly, but..."]
[She extended her hand to Bronya. The bright moonlight settled in her palm, as if waiting for her to grasp that ethereal light together. "If this is the future you want to see, I'm willing to build that bridge with you."]
["Seele..."]
[Before Seele could react, Bronya had already tightly clasped her hand. The girl's smile was radiant, her eyes clear as autumn water, and within those shimmering depths... only Seele was reflected.]
["Thank you, Seele. Your trust means everything to me."]
[As if struck directly, Seele staggered back a few steps, her cheeks instantly flushing with a tantalizing shade of pink.]
——
"So sweet, so sweet..." Mine couldn't help but feel overwhelming envy as she watched the blushing girl on the Celestial Screen.
Why could others hold hands while she had to hug a pumpkin to sleep in the dead of night?!
...She wanted sweet romance too!
"Maybe I should try copying Seele? Maybe that idiot Tatsumi will finally get it?" Mine suddenly had an idea. "Seele and Bronya just successfully held hands on the screen—that's practically a textbook-level demonstration, right?"
Action was Mine's forte.
"Tatsumi."
Mine walked up behind the boy, looking down at him. When he heard her voice and raised his head, she leaned in with a gentle, warm smile, just like Seele in the screen. Mimicking her, Mine also extended a hand to him—as if she were the only warmth that could embrace him in this cold, dark night.
"Mine?" Tatsumi instinctively grabbed her hand and pulled her toward him. Before Mine could react, she was yanked down to sit beside him again.
"I thought you were mad at me," Tatsumi said with a grin. "Look at Seele and Bronya—they're... really great together."
"Ah, uh... y-yeah, they are." Caught off guard by how smoothly things were going, Mine's face instantly burned red. At this moment, every tiny movement from Tatsumi felt amplified infinitely—the warmth of his palm, the light brush of his fingertips, the gentle sway of his hair. No matter how slight, it all made her heartbeat race.
It was so hot... so hot that Mine's vision blurred with a pink haze, as if a string in her brain was about to melt...
"U-um... Ta... Tatsumi."
"What's up? Mine, you've been acting weird tonight. Your face is so red... Do you have a fever?" Tatsumi reached out to touch her forehead, but Mine blocked his hand.
"I-I'm not sick... Tatsumi."
Mine's mind felt like a tangled mess. Struggling to recall Seele's hand-holding declaration, she stammered: "If... if this is the future you want to see, I-I'm willing to build it with you—"
"Mine, I understand how you feel." Tatsumi suddenly cut her off. "You want us to be like Bronya and Seele, right?"
Tatsumi, you finally get it, ahhhhhh—!!!
Mine screamed internally, nodding vigorously.
"I get it. I'm willing to be your comrade-in-arms, sharing life and death with you, Mine." Tatsumi solemnly clasped her hand. "That peaceful future... we'll definitely see it together!"
...Em? Huh??
Comrade-in-arms?
Mine suddenly spotted the critical flaw.
Tatsumi, you finally get it—MY ASS!
"You don't understand at all!"
Mine delivered a swift chop to Tatsumi's forehead before stomping away angrily, leaving the boy utterly baffled as he rubbed his head. "Why's she so mad...? Did I say something wrong?"
——
[Whether it was the sudden change in her mother's stance or the long-buried truths of Belobog, everything was shrouded in mystery.]
[Bronya ultimately decided: she would go to the Overworld and confront her mother directly.]
[Seele visibly panicked: "Y-you... wait, you're actually going? Alone? No, that's way too—"]
["I've made up my mind, Seele." Bronya's gaze was resolute. "Whether as a daughter or as a Silvermane Guard, I must fulfill my duty to advise her in person. Even if..."]
[With that, Bronya handed Seele a letter, asking her to deliver it to Stelle and the others. If she failed to reunite with them... they'd know what to do.]
["Alright, I understand." Seele nodded solemnly. "You know what you're doing—there's no point in me objecting. Just remember one thing: if you're ever in danger, I'll move heaven and earth to save you."]
["Then I'll be waiting for you."]
[Bronya smiled softly, like ripples spreading across a springtime lake, willow branches dipping slightly, gently stirring something unseen.]
[Seele suddenly thought that perhaps one day, Beloborg's heavy snow would melt under the spring sun, merging into the lake of spring. And she, too, would merge into those tranquil waters—indistinguishable, intimately intertwined.]