Kuro carried Zofia home like a sack of goods; he generally showed no gentleness to anyone except Noah.
He just threw her onto the bed like trash; Zofia had vomited several times earlier due to the severe jolting.
It was clear that Zofia was not good at drinking.
Noah instructed Kuro to prepare some hangover medicine, while she stayed by Zofia's bedside, holding Zofia's hand.
Mid-way, Zofia had already lost consciousness.
The clarity she had briefly experienced earlier seemed like a dying flicker.
She mistook Noah for Yolanta again, muttering strange things, but Noah didn't take it to heart.
She knew what good friends Yolanta, Zofia, Snitz, and Manner once were.
They were as close as family.
That might have been the time Zofia dreamed of returning to, but now it was almost impossible.
Kuro brought hot water and a towel.
Noah took it and began to wipe Zofia down, from her face to her hands and feet, and even helped her take off her sweat-soaked clothes, leaving her only in her underwear.
After careful tending, Zofia seemed much more at ease.
She had fallen into a deep sleep.
Noah held Zofia's wrist.
Zofia's dominant hand was her left, but due to her injury, she had started to get used to using her right hand.
The injury to her left hand was almost incurable; even though Noah had consulted many doctors, they all said it couldn't fully heal.
Perhaps she should have known this long ago, but she was still unwilling to accept it.
Zofia usually didn't like to talk about it and always acted as if she didn't care.
But what was the reality?
Noah knew better than anyone the feeling of all her efforts turning to dust in an instant.
Perhaps she would convince herself that if one path was blocked, she should take another.
However, if she could so easily decide her own path, she wouldn't be struggling so much.
She clasped Zofia's left hand with both of hers, pressing it tightly against her forehead, her hands trembling as she murmured, "It's okay now."
"You've done very well."
"No need to worry, and no need to be afraid."
"The story's ending will always be a happy end."
She said it to her, she said it to herself.
Kuro had almost never seen Noah so vulnerable.
In her impression, Noah rarely showed any weakness, especially in front of others.
But now, she looked as if she was praying for something, as if the most fragile part of her heart had been touched.
Perhaps she had always endured this pain, this unwillingness, but she had never shown it.
And Zofia was the same.
Zofia's injured left hand was like her own blind eyes, directly depriving her of something she had always strived for, something that had even become a part of her life…
That kind of pain and unwillingness was incomprehensible to those who hadn't experienced it; even Kuro couldn't fully understand it.
She could only stand behind her, watching this girl, who was always impossibly strong, tremble all over.
After a long while, Noah finally released Zofia's hand, wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes, and apologized to Kuro.
"…I'm sorry, I must look a mess, right?"
"No."
"You don't have to comfort me like that."
"I'm not.
I think you are the strongest girl in the world."
"…Thank you."
Kuro's words brought a smile back to Noah's face.
Without Kuro's support, she probably wouldn't have made it this far.
"Alright, I'm fine now.
Let Zofia sleep here for now.
We won't disturb her rest anymore."
Noah smiled, returning to her usual self, and motioned for Kuro to take her back to her room.
However, this time, she didn't choose to have Kuro sleep in the guest room next door as usual.
Instead, after changing into her pajamas, she shyly asked, "Today… do you want to sleep together for a change?"
"Feeling clingy?"
"Let's just say…" Noah's face flushed slightly, and she nodded silently, "That… today, I kind of want someone to be with me."
"I'll sleep on the floor."
Kuro looked at Noah, and her usually calm heart suddenly rippled.
"It was fine before, but now you've grown up.
It's not good to sleep together."
"…I see."
Noah was quite disappointed.
In the past, Kuro didn't mind sleeping with her, but ever since she became an adult, Kuro had never agreed again.
Feeling a little inexplicably sad, she yawned, wrapped herself in her small blanket, and closed her eyes, sinking into the darkness she had grown accustomed to—
This time, for some reason, perhaps because she had somewhat released the pressure accumulated in her heart today, she had a rare dream.
In the dream, there was an endless prairie, the wind blowing across it, and silent figures standing like stone pillars in the air.
Noah felt as if she was among them, moving across the prairie with these faceless strange people.
The sky was full of stars, yet this silent procession did not make Noah feel fear; instead, she felt a heartfelt sense of familiarity.
As if she inherently belonged among them, or was born to be part of their ranks.
She didn't know which strange person started it first, but they began to sing a song, a pastoral song, or perhaps a war song?
The melodious sound of a zither began to play at some unknown point, and at some unknown point, it transformed into a grand chorus of the entire procession.
Noah opened her mouth and sang along with them, the melody graceful, yet containing a powerful strength.
They kept walking, heading north, towards where the prairie ended, towards the snow-capped mountains, towards the end of their journey.
This procession continued to advance, ceaselessly, until the starlight washed over their chests, until only a single leading figure remained—
She hurried forward a few steps, wanting to see the face of this leader, but that person did not stop, nor did he intend to wait for her.
He simply continued forward, towards a circular building.
Noah didn't know if it was her imagination, but she suddenly understood where this leader was going—
He was going to his death.
She stopped, watching that towering figure stride across the starlit river, half of his body swallowed by the sea of stars, yet his forward steps never paused for a moment.
He gradually moved further away, but that desolate pastoral song continued to echo loudly through the sea of stars, deafening and unceasing.
Advance… advance at all costs…
Noah suddenly wanted to follow, but she couldn't move her feet.
The shadows beneath her held her back, preventing her from moving even an inch.
She felt the whole world trembling, and she suddenly realized that this might be the last time she would see that figure.
But at that moment, she glanced into the circular building, and in that single glance, she felt a gaze that transcended time and pierced through the starlit river, meeting hers for an instant—
In just an instant, a sword-spear descended from the sky, severing that gaze.
Noah then broke free from her restraints, and the next moment, she felt as if she saw two familiar backs.
"…Yolanta…" she murmured, reaching out to Snitz and Yolanta, but it was like the moon in the water or a flower in a mirror… unreachable.
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