"Huh?"
In that instant, Asuna seemed to lose all awareness, standing there blankly.
The familiar voice reaching her ears struck her like lightning, leaving her completely frozen.
Meanwhile, Yuuki, after spotting the source of the voice, first widened her eyes, then shouted with overwhelming delight:
"Rozen!"
That shout confirmed for Asuna that she hadn't heard wrong.
The voice she heard was no illusion, no hallucination — it was reality.
Immediately, Asuna hurriedly turned her head.
The next second, she saw him.
At the entrance of the hospital, a boy had appeared without her noticing and was smiling warmly at her.
That posture, that expression — Asuna could not have mistaken it.
"Ro… Rozen?"
Asuna spoke hesitantly, her voice trembling with disbelief, as if she could hardly accept what she was seeing.
Seeing Asuna dazed and flustered, Rozen couldn't help but smile.
"What's wrong? Don't recognize me?" Rozen teased playfully. "I don't think I've been gone that long. What, have you moved on already?"
Rozen found Asuna's reaction amusing, and his gaze softened with warmth.
Having been away from this world for over a month, Rozen hadn't expected Asuna to react with such surprise.
It showed just how much she had missed him.
Thinking so, Rozen felt a warmth in his heart.
At this moment, he had no idea that Asuna's strong reaction was partly because she missed him, but also because something serious had happened.
"Y-You… what took you so long?"
Asuna suddenly felt a sense of grievance, her eyes welling up with tears.
"Uh…"
Rozen was momentarily stunned.
Seeing Asuna almost about to cry, he felt a bit flustered.
"What's wrong? Why are you crying all of a sudden?"
He hurried forward and embraced Asuna.
Unexpectedly, Asuna didn't just struggle in his arms — she looked extremely aggrieved.
"You disappeared for over a month without any contact. Do you know how worried I was?!"
She complained, seemingly full of anger.
"I…"
Seeing her furious expression, Rozen was dumbfounded.
If he remembered correctly, before leaving, he had instructed that she didn't need to contact him; he would be unreachable.
Back then, Asuna had seemed very understanding. So why did she seem… unreasonable now?
Indeed, Asuna now gave the impression of throwing a tantrum.
She was normally considerate, strong, gentle, and responsible — how could she suddenly act this way?
Rozen was genuinely confused.
Adding to this, Yuuki didn't help at all; instead, she started scolding him.
"Yes, Rozen, that's not good. Do you know how much Asuna needs you?"
Yuuki appeared protective yet biased, forgetting entirely that it was because of her that Rozen had to leave in the first place.
Although that had only been an excuse he concocted, Yuuki wasn't typically ungrateful, so why had things turned out this way?
Rozen nearly questioned his own sanity.
What surprised him even more was that something seemed to have changed in Asuna.
Since coming to this world, Rozen had voluntarily deactivated his Mind's Eye, so he wouldn't peer into the past, present, or future of this world.
In previous worlds, due to the lack of interference, he had been able to see all records of past, present, and future through Mind's Eye, which allowed him to resolve various troubles quickly — like dealing with the three major powers and the Order of the Rose.
But in this ordinary world, adhering to the principle of not interfering mysteriously, Rozen had chosen to keep Mind's Eye off.
So he didn't know what had happened.
Yet even so, Rozen noticed something unusual.
Even with Mind's Eye closed, he still had the Wise Eye.
This magical vision was no longer a "power" in the traditional sense — it had been intentionally incorporated into his Rigid Body, requiring no mana, no deliberate use, and lasting continuously unless under special circumstances. Rozen could only partially control it, not completely disable it.
Thanks to this, Rozen sensed it.
(Why is Asuna's spiritual aura behaving strangely?)
He was puzzled.
Through his Wise Eye, Asuna's aura seemed to be nurturing something. It fluctuated constantly, as if hiding something, or perhaps preparing to divide or split into something.
(What's going on?)
Rozen furrowed his brows.
He had never seen an aura behave like this and didn't know what it meant.
He wanted to investigate, but dared not act rashly.
Because, within Asuna's fluctuating aura, Rozen unexpectedly glimpsed a trace of his own mana.
His instinct told him it wasn't a bad thing.
Moreover, for some reason, he felt uneasy.
It was a tremor from his bloodline.
This tremor made him hesitate, unsure whether to use his abilities to investigate.
Originally, Rozen had wanted to ask why Asuna and Yuuki came to the hospital, whether Yuuki still had any unresolved medical issues.
But now, with all these surprises, Rozen himself was confused, completely unsure of what to do.
"All right, stop crying. Didn't I come back?"
Rozen could only comfort the girl in his arms, wiping her tears.
Though he didn't understand what was going on, he couldn't let Asuna feel wronged.
So he chose to soothe her first.
Gradually, Asuna calmed down, reaching out to hug Rozen tightly, as if he were the only anchor in her life, holding him with all her strength.
Rozen could feel her feelings and hugged her back just as firmly.
This, however, made Yuuki beside them quite anxious.
"Wait, Rozen, don't hold her so tightly. Be careful of Asuna's body."
Yuuki quickly cautioned.
"Asuna's body?" Rozen paused, looking at Yuuki in confusion. "What's wrong with Asuna's body?"
"Asuna…"
Yuuki became excited, eager to say something.
"Yu… Yuuki!"
But at this moment, Asuna panicked and quickly stopped her.
"H... Huh?"
Yuuki blinked, completely at a loss.
"What's going on?"
Rozen was utterly bewildered, having no idea what was happening.
Seeing him like this made Asuna even more uneasy.
Although she had wanted to tell Rozen earlier, now she hesitated, afraid of how he would react.
Would he be happy?
Worried?
Or… would he reject it?
At the thought, she instinctively stopped Yuuki.
In short, at this moment, Asuna felt extremely insecure.
Perhaps this was a natural reaction for any woman reaching this stage.