Entering acceleration movement, Raize instantly muted his phone and took a photo of her smiling face—this sight was rare.
His Century Soup was unfinished. By consuming and manifesting primal natural soup, he had experimented with balance using existing ingredients, burning through many precious materials just to barely approach the threshold of a true Century Soup.
The one served to Eu was, in his view, imperfect. A true Century Soup would cause the drinker to unconsciously display an utterly indecent grin.
Even Raize himself had not been exempt when he first drank it.
Any soup that failed to meet that standard was imperfect in his eyes.
With a bit of mischief, he wanted to see Eu's reaction—it was entertaining enough.
But the original natural soup was all reserved for Nep, and he had kept little for comparison.
With a dazzling smile, Eu continued drinking without pause. After the first sip, she truly didn't want to let that flavor escape her mouth.
Under Raize's gentle gaze, she quickly finished the entire pot. With her appetite, it was nowhere near enough.
However, the nutrition within the soup was astonishing. After drinking it, warmth spread throughout her body, bringing profound satisfaction.
She kept smiling—and noticed Raize staring straight at her. From the mirror behind him, she also saw her own smiling face.
Feeling shy under his direct gaze, Eu covered her face, trying to suppress the smile—but she couldn't. This was the only way she could hide.
(Mmm… don't look… I'm embarrassed…)
Turning away while still covering her face, she held up her notebook toward Raize.
"Why not? You're a cute girl. Your smile looks great."
Seeing her grow shy again, Raize stored the table and pot into his space and smiled helplessly. His casual, sincere words made Eu's shoulders tremble.
The very shy girl pulled the blanket over her head and hid beneath it.
In Raize's eyes, this bashful figure overlapped with another image—a small girl with black hair and gemstone-blue eyes.
{Achoo~ Brother, I'm not a kid anymore. Stop nagging like Mom, okay?}
It felt as though the stubborn, sulky voice of a certain mischievous girl echoed in his ears, as if she were sick.
Lost in memory, Raize's gaze lowered slightly, the smile on his face fading.
He gently patted the raised blanket and spoke softly:
"Your body is basically fine now. From now on, when you eat oranges, I'll prepare them for you and put them in the fridge. Don't peel them by yourself anymore. Get some proper rest. I'll check on you again tomorrow morning. I'll head out now."
Eu only needed rest. Otherwise, he could try that odd folk remedy from the original work—wrapping her in sheets and giving her cola.
It sounded ridiculous, but if it worked, he would do it.
As he withdrew his hand and turned to leave, wanting to let the still-weak girl rest, he was suddenly stopped.
"?"
Raize paused, looking down at his right hand—it was tightly held by a small, delicate one.
Following it, he saw Eu's flushed face, her expression anxious and hesitant. In the dim room, her starlike eyes reflected only him.
"…Don't leave my side… Aize."
This time, she didn't use her notebook. No one knew what she felt in that moment.
She just didn't want to be alone. She didn't want the figure before her to leave her sight.
In her urgent desire to keep him, she even forgot to communicate the usual way—she wanted to say it herself.
[Stay with me]
Once again, Eu's tremendous power surged, flooding Raize's mind. Kirby's power assimilated it, as Raize himself possessed a weakened form of command authority.
Inside him, Nep—who had been gaming—sensed the external force and paused. Seeing through Raize's eyes, she smiled mischievously but did nothing.
After a brief assessment, she subtly altered the nature of the command and allowed it to activate.
Seeing Raize's dazed expression, Eu realized her power had activated unconsciously, affecting someone she never wanted to influence.
Just as she was about to revoke it, Raize suddenly grabbed her hand in return. Amid her startled cry, he climbed onto the bed, pulled the blanket over them both, and held the flustered girl tightly in his arms.
"!?"
Raize's consciousness blanked for a moment. When it returned, he found he could move again.
His body stiffened slightly as he felt something soft and fragrant against him. His nose brushed against her shimmering silver hair.
Feeling improper, he was about to speak—but she spoke first.
"I—I'm sorry… for forcing you… for controlling you… I'm sorry."
Drip—
Raize clearly felt something cold against his chest.
Looking down, crystalline tears fell one by one onto him.
She was crying.
In this room filled with memories, Raize's heart stirred. He hated crying—especially seeing a girl cry.
And now, a girl this close was crying in his arms.
It wasn't unforgivable. Why cry like this?
Though he disliked being controlled, it was Eu—and she had no malice, no intent.
He wanted to say it was fine.
But he sensed the reason for her tears ran deeper.
"You haven't done anything wrong. I know your power is hard to control—it reacts to emotions. You'd never use it to do harm. So if it's you, it's fine."
"…Headache?"
His body relaxed. His hand moved to her head, gently stroking it in comfort.
He didn't care about the command anymore. What he cared about was whether she was hurt.
Hearing his concern, Eu's small hand clenched against his chest.
She lifted her tear-streaked face, eyes filled with indescribable emotion, staring into his gentle gaze.
"…I brought disaster to you. My power hurt you too. Those people in the sky… they came for me. You fought because of me… in a life-and-death battle. I don't want to hurt you."
Last time, Raize had lied to her out of kindness.
But through her power, she had seen everything.
And seeing him fight for her—
Being protected felt good.
But watching the one who always cared for her put himself in danger for her sake—
She couldn't bear it.