"So let me repeat—"
Livia stood before the group. Her voice wasn't loud, but it carried an unmistakable calm and authority.
"From now on, aside from the three of us, no one is allowed near the building where the vault is. No exceptions. Not even for something as simple as retrieving supplies—go around."
She paused, letting her eyes sweep across the room, lingering briefly on Elias and Marcellus, then continued:
"Even the three of us—only if absolutely necessary. And when we do, we must report our movements and state immediately. No one goes in alone."
"And one more thing—"
Her tone grew even more solemn.
"Starting tomorrow, the three of us will meet at the hospital every day at noon. Elias and Marcellus will observe and document our condition. If we do fall under its influence, it'll be caught—and stopped—right away."
No one responded, but everyone nodded firmly, as though holding back a rising tide of unease in their hearts.
As Livia finished speaking, a thought nearly escaped her lips:
"Besides… I don't think the Grail actually means us harm."
But she didn't say it.
She couldn't say it.
Because that feeling was only a shadow in her subconscious—an indistinct, dangerous sort of whisper, like the Grail was watching her… sensing her… even embracing her in some unknowable way.
But how could that be?
It had destroyed Celesta.
It had twisted Edgar.
It had nearly brought down an entire city.
She forced the thought away, sealing all those stray emotions in the deepest part of her mind, and turned to Elias.
He was still staring at the closed diary, his gaze caught somewhere between stunned and reflective. His fingers pressed lightly against the cover, as if he hadn't fully returned from the story they had just read.
"You're right,"
He finally spoke, voice low and steady.
"Let's do as you said."
In that moment, there was a faint tremble beneath his calm.
He lowered his lashes—as though coming to terms with a piece of himself.
Those two words—father and mother—had long been little more than hollow symbols to him, wrapped in coldness, even anger.
He had heard the rumors. Everyone had.
That he was just a "spare," a shadow raised for some secret plan devised by two so-called "great parents."
But now, after reading the diary, he realized those whispers may never have been true.
They had only ever wanted to build the city.
Their ideals had been pure.
Even after learning the Grail's horror, they had fought to contain and destroy it.
They never treated him and Marcellus differently.
He remembered one line in particular: "May Marcellus and Elias live in a world without poverty."
That—
That was their true intention.
A pang of sorrow rose in his chest.
For all his years of misunderstanding them.
And for the ruin they left behind.
"So this… was the truth all along.
They died trying to save the city."
His breath caught slightly. He looked toward Marcellus.
The other boy didn't notice. Still lost in thought.
Elias watched him quietly, a tangled current of emotion surfacing in his eyes—
It wasn't quite brotherly love.
It wasn't merely the solidarity of comrades.
It was something deeper—an emerging resonance between two people finally beginning to understand each other's lives.
"What are you thinking right now?"
He asked silently.
But he didn't speak the words aloud.
Perhaps…
It was still too early for that.