"So, please let me dance one last dance for you, will you?"
"I've never danced for you before, sir..."
Plans never keep up with change. Augetta had no time to mourn her sister's sudden departure. She looked up at Zane, sorrow shadowing her expression but firm resolve glinting through.
Turning a duet into a solo was not difficult for her. Her professionalism allowed her to face it.
Yet even though she was prepared to leave, a faint unease stirred in her heart at the thought of dancing alone. It was unease for Augilia—and for herself.
That was inevitable. She was still, after all, a living, breathing human being...
Zane's expression gradually steadied. The sudden turn of events had indeed shaken him... But certainty never truly existed in this world.
A subtle sense of connection stirred. Zane lifted his gaze, his bright eyes piercing through unseen layers as they fixed on the distance.
There lay the Twin Hollow, now beginning to shrink little by little. When they closed completely, they would fall under Zane's control.
He knew Augetta was right—her time really was running out. Much sooner than expected.
"Let's go."
Zane reached out, took Augetta by the wrist, and opened a spatial passageway, bringing her straight into the Central Theater.
The lights illuminated only the stage and its immediate surroundings. Within the vast, dim hall, no one noticed Zane and Augetta's sudden arrival.
But when they stepped out of the shadows, several attendants froze in shock. Where did these two come from?
Of course, none of them dared voice the thought...
Augetta had already chosen her piece. After a quick word with the orchestra, she walked backstage just as the curtain began to fall.
A performance that should have been carefully prepared had been thrown into chaos by this unforeseen change.
Zane sat back in his seat, his mood slowly calming as his gaze fixed on the curtain. He knew what mattered most now—treating this performance with full sincerity, so Augetta could fulfill her wish in peace.
To complete this dance...
Soon, the first notes rang out across the empty theater as the orchestra began to play the piece Augetta had chosen.
Melodious, yet tinged with sorrow—like a swan wandering alone, bereft of its partner...
Augilia was not Augetta's partner. Yet the bond between them, beyond even blood ties, had long surpassed that of partners.
The twin dancers—the Nette sisters. They had always been inseparable.
Only this time, it could not be so.
Perhaps it was just Zane's own projection, but the grief carried in that music was unmistakably real.
As the curtain rose and the lights converged, Augetta appeared on stage. The lively, charming girl Zane knew now radiated noble, solitary pride.
This was the dancer immersed in her art. The dancer who had once shone brilliantly under the spotlight, admired by countless eyes as gifted and exceptional.
As the notes leapt across the score, Augetta began to move. Her focus was absolute.
There was only one spectator. But he was the one she wished to show her true self to.
She moved across the stage, her resplendent gown glittering under the lights, dazzling as a peacock unfurling its feathers.
The tempo quickened, rising in passion—like the heart-wrenching cry of one cast into The Abyss. The entire melody transformed.
And Augetta transformed with it. No longer the lonely soul drowning in self-pity, she became a resolute warrior.
Her dance grew bold, sweeping, filled with high-difficulty movements that seemed like a display of skill. Yet woven through was a thread of disorder, creating dissonance.
And it was this very dissonance that heightened the song's intensity—like a warrior falling again and again, rising again and again, drawing her sword in defiance again and again.
Drawing her sword against fate!
Struggle. Fail. Struggle again!
Zane's hand clenched tighter. Watching Augetta, he seemed to hear her heart.
She was venting. Venting through the dance she was proud of.
Yes, Augetta and Augilia were kind. Yes, they carried beautiful qualities.
But after being abandoned for saving others, after sorrow followed fortune, and when their final wish was about to be realized only to be shattered...
How could Augetta not feel resentment?
Augilia was no different.
Only... neither ever spoke of it. They buried those dark feelings deep in their hearts.
Faced with Zane's demand, faced with the choice of seeing their grandfather or not, both sisters chose retreat.
Perhaps it was not retreat, but weighing options. Yet why weigh them at all?
Because the choices left to them were so few.
If their hopes had been greater, if their circumstances better, would they ever have chosen such a path?
Do you want to live? Neither Augetta nor Augilia would ever shake their heads.
Do you want to see your grandfather? Neither would ever shake their heads.
But perhaps from the very beginning, everything that befell the sisters had already eroded their will to resist. That lingering shadow had never disappeared.
And now, facing an end long since written, Augetta chose another way to release her discontent.
Whatever she sought to do, in this moment, she was unyielding.
Under the weight of countless burdens, with Augilia's departure as the final straw, Augetta shone with a desperate, fleeting brilliance.
Like a lark in its final hour, singing its last, hoarse cry.
Fragile, yet fierce.
Zane's eyes flickered. He was moved, but he also knew—if time were turned back to the Twin Hollow, if the sisters were asked again, they would still make the same choice.
Just as the music swelled to its peak, like waves about to crash, the dancer suddenly faltered, then collapsed onto the stage.
The orchestra cut off instantly.
Zane was already rushing forward.
Looking at the weakened Augetta sprawled across the floor, he pulled her into his arms.
Resting against him in the silent theater, Augetta's breath came softly. Her crimson gown spread across the floor like a pool of spilled blood.