Heavy worries dispersed like temporary clouds as Euphemia exhaled a long, lingering breath. It felt as if she were breathing out all the tension she held for the Fairy Knight. Sunlight once again flooded her clear violet eyes. That signature, ice-melting smile bloomed across her face once more.
"Suzaku," she turned to her knight, her voice as light as a bird skipping through the forest. "I know what it is I want to do."
"?"
Kururugi Suzaku, still immersed in the solemnity of their shared secret, failed to keep pace with this abrupt transition. A look of blatant confusion instantly crossed his handsome face, his green eyes widening slightly. His expression practically screamed, Wait, did the topic change too fast? He looked completely dazed.
This adorable reaction made Euphemia bend over in laughter, her giggles sounding like pearls scattering onto a jade plate.
"Pfft... Suzaku... you really are..." Her laughter washed away the lingering scent of gunpowder from the battlefield, dissolving the heaviness between them from the moment before.
She restrained her laughter slightly, but the light in her eyes grew clearer. She shook her head gently, her waterfall of pink hair swaying with the movement.
"It isn't some grand, ideal nation... nor is it those... so-called Great Causes that require debate, sacrifice, or even combat to achieve." Her words were calm, carrying a liberating power. "Those are... too complex, and far too heavy."
Euphemia lowered her head slightly, her long eyelashes casting soft shadows over her eyelids. Many faces flickered before her eyes: Nina, who studied cautiously in the classroom and blushed shyly after being encouraged; the displaced citizens whose despair turned to sparks of life and gratitude as they received relief supplies; even those who found a moment of peace and reconciliation through her efforts to avoid senseless conflict.
Countless smiles converged in her heart into a warm river. They were not proofs of grand achievements, but the most sincere connections between one soul and another.
"I just... I just want to see smiling faces."
She looked up, her gaze soft as a spring lake yet heavy with an emotion as solid as a mountain. "That is all."
Fragments of memory flashed through her mind—her friends at the academy, everyone at the school, and... that figure buried deep in her heart, of whom she could not speak.
"...Everyone I knew in the past, and everyone I know now." Her words carried a gentle prayer. "I hope everyone... can smile from the heart. That even in this chaotic world, they can still find moments of happiness."
This wish was simple to the point of luxury, yet as heavy as the weight of a world.
★ ★ ★
"Waaaaah... this scene is just too beautiful!"
The red orb system vibrated wildly in the air, simulated tear-shaped lights nearly spraying outward. "Ideals! Bonds! A vow made for a beautiful future! This is mental energy on a miraculous scale! I—I'm going to be moved to the point of formatting myself!"
"Tsk."
A crisp click of the tongue cut through the air. The steam in the bathroom parted like a curtain as Lancelot stepped out onto the cool floor with bare feet. A loose white bathrobe was tied casually around her waist, and her wet silver hair draped over her shoulders like flowing mercury. She didn't even bother looking at the noisy light orb, instead backhandedly swiping at it as if shooing away a bothersome insect.
Smack!
A gentle gust of wind struck the surface of the light orb with precision. It instantly flattened the "weeping" system against the padding of the opposite wall, forcing out a simulated whimper of exhaustion.
All clamor fell into silence under that single strike. Lancelot's gaze had already transcended mundane space, focusing on that sun-kissed land in the distance. In her eyes, the light of ideals and hope swirling around Euphemia was reflected clearly. That sunlit vision was so bright, yet so... in need of protection.
"Just like that..." her voice was incredibly faint, a trace of nearly nostalgic tenderness flickering deep within her amber pupils. "Keep walking forward firmly, Euphy."
In a daze, that slender yet straight back seemed to blur under the bright light, overlapping with an eternally solitary and noble figure in her Heroic Spirit memories. It was Queen Morgan, who sat upon the frozen throne at the end of the Lostbelt, attempting to solidify a phantom happiness at the cost of her own existence. A cautionary tale, winding around her heart like a cold chain.
"And besides!" The flattened light orb stubbornly puffed back out with a pop, using all its strength to let out a cheerful voice. "They just made a special promise! They're going to keep your existence as the Fairy Knight an absolute secret! Sir Kururugi even swore upon the Princess's skirt!"
The faint arc at the corner of Lancelot's lips deepened. "Heh... they really are... good children, so kind it makes one's heart ache."
She whispered, her fingertips unconsciously twining around a strand of damp silver hair. Being protected by humans in such a clumsy yet sincere way was a rare experience for her.
"That is why," her gaze turned toward that radiant place, as if looking through the surface to see the river of will flowing at the base of the world. "The World Consciousness shows such favoritism, perhaps even stubbornly guiding the threads of fate for them?"
"This pure kindness and desire stemming from the soul deserves to be granted an... ending worthy of such beauty."
[Synchronization increased to 60%. Saint Graph Ascension form unlocked—Melusine.]
A soft light covered her body like flowing water. The cold, lake-blue armor seemed to melt into the light, quietly vanishing. The silver-haired girl, now fully confirmed by her true name as Melusine, lowered her eyes slightly to inspect the new attire replacing her cold plate armor.
A simple, sharp cut with elegant, flowing lines—this dress was no longer a shell symbolizing power, but a daily form that better suited her current state of mind. Her fingertips brushed against the delicate fabric, and she nodded slightly.
"Mm, feels good."
Even Melusine (Hernia), who was accustomed to grand court dress, felt pleased by the lightness and appropriateness provided by the aesthetic of the Throne of Heroes. Feeling this sense of relief-like comfort, she felt a surge of anticipation for the future unlocking of her Albion form.