In those brilliant golden eyes, reminiscent of afternoon sunlight, ripples of heartbreaking sorrow shimmered.
Her crimson lips parted slightly, and Melusine slowly began to speak.
"The truth is... a very long time ago, I already died."
"My body rotted away, my soul crumbled—like a meteor streaking across the sky, burning out before ever reaching the earth."
"Back then, the one who saved me... was Her Majesty Morgan."
"She granted me the name 'Lancelot,' stabilized my existence with a spiritual core, and allowed me to continue surviving as a 'dragon fairy.'"
Aboard Fraxinus, although Kotori Itsuka and the others couldn't communicate with Shidou, they were observing his entire conversation with Melusine.
Every word of Melusine's confession was faithfully recorded.
"Spiritual core... could that be a Spirit Crystal?"
Kotori, sucking thoughtfully on a lollipop, crossed her arms, her mind racing.
"Could it be... the 'Her Majesty Morgan' Lancelot speaks of is the same one who turned me into a Spirit five years ago?"
"Then that so-called 'Master' would be... the spouse of that being?"
Five years ago, Kotori had been transformed into a Spirit by an unknown entity, triggering the great fire in Tenguu City.
That day, Origami Tobiichi lost her parents.
That day, Kotori discovered that Shidou possessed the unique ability to seal Spirits' powers.
In a shadowy corner of Fraxinus, a certain woman's face grew grave, her eyes clouded with unreadable emotions.
Meanwhile, in the bustling Tenguu City shopping district, Melusine's soft confession continued.
"Her Majesty Morgan once showed me great kindness."
"Thus, I am willing to repay her with this sword of mine..."
"But if you were to seal my powers, I would return to the state I was in before I received my spiritual core—"
"My soul would scatter like faint light, and my body would become nothing more than a lifeless husk."
"...I'm sorry... I didn't know..."
A pained expression twisted Shidou's face.
To seal her powers... was the same as stealing her life.
He had only wanted to help her find happiness...
How had it come to this?
Melusine's words, of course, were only her own account, without concrete proof.
Yet in that moment—whether Shidou, Kotori, or anyone else aboard Fraxinus—everyone believed her.
Because the sadness on Melusine's face, the pain in her voice—
those things could not be faked.
Not even the greatest actor could fabricate such raw, genuine emotion.
Naturally—because Melusine had not lied even once.
She had spoken of a "spiritual core" but never explicitly said "Spirit Crystal."
She had not mentioned Morgan being the "Primordial Spirit."
If they misunderstood, well... that wasn't her fault, was it?
Not my fault if you overthink things!
Melusine shook her head lightly, then gave Shidou a small, understanding smile.
"Of course, I know... Shidou, you didn't mean to."
Turning her gaze away from him, Melusine stared ahead.
Her eyes were slightly unfocused, as if lost in thought—or perhaps in distant memories.
"Shidou... you asked me before, didn't you?"
"You asked where my Master was."
"...Yeah."
"At the time, I told you... 'right here.'"
As she spoke, Melusine lightly patted her chest, just as she had done before.
"Right... But what exactly did you mean?"
Just then, a mother and daughter approached them.
The little girl, holding her mother's hand, ran happily up to Melusine.
After a brief exchange, Shidou learned that the girl was the same one who had gotten lost earlier—the one Melusine had helped reunite with her mother.
They had run into Melusine again while passing by and had come specifically to thank her.
Because Melusine had rushed off to meet Shidou earlier, the mother and daughter hadn't gotten a proper chance to express their gratitude.
"Bye-bye, Onee-chan! Come visit my house sometime!"
The little girl waved enthusiastically, her tiny hand clasped in her mother's.
"My name's Lancelot, not 'Onee-chan.' Isn't that weird?"
Melusine grumbled as she waved back.
"...Well, fine. You're pretty cute, so I'll forgive you this once."
After a moment of silence, Melusine turned to Shidou and spoke again.
"Did you know, Shidou?"
"My spiritual core... it actually shattered once."
"!!!"
Spiritual cores... can break?
No—more importantly...
"But you said it was the spiritual core that stabilized you— the thing that kept you from self-destructing, right?"
Shidou's eyes locked onto her, wide with fear.
"That's right. So... back then, I came very close to dying."
"Or maybe it's more accurate to say... I already died once."
"Then right now..."
Lowering her eyelids slightly, Melusine murmured,
"The reason I'm able to stand here now... is all thanks to Master."
"Because I met Master—"
"Because we formed a bond—"
"I didn't become a rotting corpse."
"I was able to rise again as a 'dragon fairy,' able to soar through the skies."
She slowly raised her arms, pressing both hands lightly over her heart.
Her porcelain-doll features softened into a serene, almost sacred smile, as if she were embracing something infinitely precious.
And then, in a voice so gentle it seemed ready to spill over with warmth, she whispered,
"Master is right here—"
"Within this body."
"I can feel Master's heart beating inside my chest."
"I can feel Master's blood flowing through my veins."
"I can feel it all."
The happiness, the bliss that filled her words, was so strong it was almost tangible.
"From that day onward,"
"Master gave me salvation."
"And from that day onward, I made a vow—"
"That this heart of mine would beat only for Master, and no one else."
"Until the very end—"
"Until the day the stars themselves burn out."
Melusine's words answered many of the questions Shidou and the others had been grappling with.
How had Melusine met her Master?
Why did this Master hold such unparalleled importance in her heart?
Why did she say she couldn't bear even a second apart from Master—
yet they had never once seen this Master near her?
The brilliance of it was that Melusine had not uttered a single lie.
Each sentence was true if taken alone—
but together, they led inevitably to a very misleading impression.
For example:
She had never said that Master had died...
But in the hearts of Shidou and the others, the image formed naturally— that her Master had sacrificed themselves to save Melusine.
Hmm... I feel kinda bad for tricking them like this.
Melusine furrowed her brows slightly, but quickly shook her head, brushing away the trace of guilt.
No. Everything I said was the truth.
There's nothing to feel guilty about.
---
Confusion.
Inside a restroom at the shopping mall, Shidou Itsuka stood before the sink, his head hanging low, a look of complete confusion reflected back at him in the smooth mirror.
Ever since hearing Melusine's story, he had been stuck in this dazed state.
"After hearing all that... how am I supposed to continue the date with Lancelot...?"
If he sealed her Spirit powers, she would die.
And beyond that—
he had absolutely no confidence that he could ever replace her "Master" as the most important person in her heart.
Originally, he thought it was just a case of a naïve Lancelot being deceived by some manipulative woman.
But if what Lancelot said was all true... then it was no wonder she was so utterly devoted.
In his heart, Shidou had already decided to give up.
Anyway, Lancelot can already hide her powers herself, and she seems perfectly capable of living in human society.
When you think about it carefully... there's really no need to seal her powers at all.
The thought left him feeling strangely relieved, and he exhaled softly, his whole body relaxing as though a heavy burden had been lifted.
I'll explain it to Kotori when I get back too.
Tell them to give up on trying to capture Lancelot...
Though honestly, they're probably thinking the same thing by now.
There's really no reason to push it anymore.
Just then—
a clear, emotionless yet melodious voice rang out behind him.
"Shidou, just now... who did you say you were going on a date with?"
"Origami? I just said I was going to have a date with Lan—"
Instantly, a chill ran down his spine.
It was like exploring a haunted hospital and suddenly feeling something lick the back of your neck.
"O-Origami!"
He spun around so fast he almost slipped, catching himself against the sink just in time.
Pressing his back firmly against the sink, Shidou stared at the white-haired girl in front of him, sheer terror in his eyes.
Even though there was nowhere left to retreat, his legs instinctively tried to shuffle backwards.
"Wh-Why are you here?!"
Tobiichi Origami tilted her head slightly, her voice and expression as calm and emotionless as ever—
so much so that calling her a highly advanced android wouldn't be far-fetched.
"To protect you, Shidou."
"...Huh?"
Protect me?
Protect me from what?
"Protect your chastity."
Origami said it as if it were the most natural thing in the world, her tone unwavering.
"I am Shidou's lover. His chastity belongs to me to protect."
No, seriously—my chastity would be way safer if you weren't here!
I don't think anyone else even wants to steal it!
"It's okay. As long as you entrust your chastity to me, it won't be taken by anyone else. It will be perfectly safe."
"I DIDN'T EVEN SAY ANYTHING—how can you answer so naturally?!"
"And could you please stop obsessing over that?!"
Cornered against the sink, Shidou looked like a helpless girl about to be ravaged by...
well, not a burly thug, but a deadpan white-haired beauty.
Origami tilted her head again, then spoke in an even colder voice than Melusine's usual calm.
"Shidou, do you want me to pull down your pants for you?"
"I absolutely DO NOT!!"
Every word that came out of Origami's mouth was utterly outrageous.
The pure-hearted Shidou couldn't help blushing furiously.
At that moment, a very important thought crossed his mind.
"...Origami."
"What is it? Shidou, have you finally decided to let me pull down your pants?"
"Or... would you prefer that I lift up my skirt instead?"
"If it's you, Shidou, I would not mind. In fact, I would gladly—"
As she spoke, Origami really did start to move her hands under her skirt.
"NO! NO, NO, NO!"
"Absolutely not now, not before, not EVER!!"
Panicking, Shidou shouted so loudly that his own throat hurt.
He was seriously terrified that if he hesitated even half a second, the next thing he'd see would be... something he really shouldn't.
Headache... major headache...
No, wait, more importantly...
"This is the men's restroom!"
"Why are you even here, Origami?!"
Earlier, after briefly parting ways with Melusine, Shidou had come into the restroom to calm down and sort through the flood of information he'd received.
Naturally, he had chosen the men's room—
and now, he and Origami were standing inside it.
Thankfully, there was no one else around at the moment, so even their loud argument hadn't drawn attention.
Otherwise, Shidou really would have died of embarrassment on the spot...
Not that he hadn't experienced social death multiple times already.
For example, back when he tried to make Origami hate him—
in front of dozens of onlookers, he had loudly declared himself a lolicon, an extreme mother complex case, a siscon, a cheater juggling ten relationships, and even said his goal was to conquer all the women in Tenguu City.
Not to mention forcing Origami to wear dog ears, a dog tail, and a school swimsuit, and crawl around barking like a dog.
Every time he remembered that, Shidou wanted to die...
He seriously questioned whether he still had any right to live in society.
...Although, embarrassingly enough, all those "lies" he'd told Origami back then...
had kind of come true?
Lolicon—Yoshinon, Natsumi, Kotori—they were all basically lolis.
Extreme mother complex—Shidou would end up having to "capture" his mother, Shouko.
Siscon—Kotori.
Cheating on ten girls—he'd sealed the powers of more than ten Spirits already.
Conquering all the women in Tenguu City—
During his Spirit power rampage, he basically flirted with anyone he came across, including the triplets, Tamae-sensei, and even Ellen.
See?
It all matched up perfectly.
Anyway, back to the current situation—
After hearing Shidou's flustered explanation that this was the men's room, Origami fell silent, as if contemplating something deeply.
"...Shidou, do you need to use the restroom?"
"Huh? Uh, y-yeah!"
"Yeah, that's right!"
"I need to go!"
"So could you, uh... leave for a minute?"
Shidou didn't actually need to go—
but claiming he needed to was a perfect excuse to get Origami to leave him alone.
Unfortunately, he miscalculated.
"...Origami."
"Hm?"
"I said I need to use the restroom."
"Yes, that's what you said."
"Then could you... please leave?"
"It's kind of hard to, uh, go when someone's watching me."
"It's fine."
"If you're having trouble, I can help you."
"...Huh?"
WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN "HELP"?!
DON'T COME ANY CLOSER—!!!
Yamete—!!!