"Alright, Dusk… it seems I misjudged her this time. I didn't expect that little one to have such firm convictions."
"…Her name was Li."
"Right… I didn't expect Li would hold onto her decision even in her final moments."
Leaning against the doorway, Zhu Jiuyin looked at Li's peaceful, lifeless body and at Dusk, who stood beside her, lost in thought.
He couldn't tell what new revelation the great painter Dusk had reached this time.
But to him, Li's final words had sounded… oddly naïve.
"How does it feel to watch everyone around you fade away?"
"What's there to feel? Isn't it inevitable?"
"Whether it's fragile terrans like you, or powerful beings like us—none can escape it."
"Loneliness doesn't discriminate between the short-lived and the immortal."
"…To live long enough to die of old age—that's already a blessing."
---
During their journeys across the land, Dusk and Zhu Jiuyin had once saved two people.
One was a monk from Higashi. The other—a homeless girl named Li.
Dusk saw great potential in her. The girl's eyes, her brushstrokes—they brimmed with a natural sense for art. So Dusk took her in as a student.
But eventually, Dusk realized that keeping Li by her side would trap the girl forever in the illusion of her paintings.
Dusk woke her disciple from that dream—before she became yet another soul lost within the canvas.
And Li understood. She finally saw that the world within her paintings was nothing but an escape from reality's sorrow.
She no longer wished to live in that false, beautiful dream.
So, she chose to face the real world again.
Though she was reluctant to part with Dusk…
Dusk had Zhu Jiuyin by her side, didn't she?
A mortal like Li had no right to disturb that harmony any longer.
---
"It's been a while, Ch'en."
Sitting calmly in the interrogation room, Talulah greeted the woman across from her with an easy smile.
"...Cut the act, Talulah!"
Ch'en Hui-chieh's voice wavered between anger and unease as she stared at the woman who looked almost exactly as she had years ago—unchanged by time.
Was this still the same Talulah she once knew? The reckless, kind-hearted girl who burned with idealism?
The woman before her wore a military uniform, her wrists bound with Originium suppressing cuffs—yet she didn't look the slightest bit defeated.
On the contrary, Ch'en had the chilling sense that Talulah could shatter those restraints whenever she pleased.
Her thoughts flashed back to the time they trained together…
That day, she'd witnessed Talulah's Arts firsthand—the overwhelming heat that could melt steel and scorch the very earth.
---
"Ch'en, you lost again~"
With a flick of her blade, Talulah effortlessly sent Ch'en's sword flying.
"...Did that Duke teach you that well?"
"Heh. Of course not! It's all my own natural talent. Kashchey just... offered a bit of guidance."
Talulah's grin was full of pride.
After all, unlike her, Ch'en hadn't had an ancient being of vast knowledge personally instructing her in swordsmanship.
Kashchey's training had been harsh—merciless, even. But under his tutelage, Talulah had long since reached the level of a true master.
Certainly far beyond the newly enrolled student of Victoria's Royal Guard Academy standing before her.
"But really," Talulah added with a teasing glint in her eyes, "my Originium Arts are even stronger."
"Oh? I don't believe that."
"Really! I'll show you sometime—let you see just how powerful the Arts I… ahem—developed myself are!"
---
A few days later, the two stood together on the open plains.
There, Ch'en witnessed the true might of the young Draco before her.
The ground itself melted beneath that unbearable heat—air shimmering, rocks turning to slag.
"How about it?" Talulah called out, her voice laced with pride. "Impressive, right? My own Originium Arts."
That familiar, self-assured tone brought Ch'en back to her senses.
"…I'll catch up to you one day."
"Haha, I'll be waiting."
Strange, Talulah thought, scratching the back of her head as an odd chill crept over her. Why does my head feel cold all of a sudden? Kashchey's not around, is he?
She rubbed her temple nervously.
At that moment, the Black Snake coiled within Talulah's mind looked on, faintly irritated as it watched her continue to sweet-talk Ch'en Hui-chieh.
"...Her monthly allowance will be cut in half," Kashchey muttered darkly. "We'll say it's because she only got a 'B' on last month's political theory exam."
Kashchey could be remarkably petty at times.
---
"Strange… not here."
At the edge of a secluded graveyard, a ragged vagabond dug quietly into the land.
"Where is Edward's body?"
A faint silhouette of a Black Snake shimmered within the tramp's pupils—Kashchey's projection, wearing terran skin for the time being.
He had come here with a purpose.
He was searching for a replacement for Talulah… someone who could serve as another card in Victoria's hand, another pawn for its unseen master.
The "Reunion Movement" had already drawn the attention of countless powers across Terra.
As an entry point into Victoria's political web, Talulah was no longer ideal.
She carried the mark of an Infected—an indelible stigma.
Outside of Kazdel, where the Sarkaz had their own ways of rule, few nations would ever crown an Infected as monarch.
At the very least, such a ruler would need to conceal their affliction well.
Unfortunately, Talulah was far too flamboyant… and far too disobedient.
"Edward," Kashchey hissed under his breath, a cold smile twisting across the vagrant's lips, "you've made this old friend of yours work terribly hard to find you again."
---
"Well then, I won't keep you two any longer. I'm heading off!"
After finishing her meal, Nian waved goodbye cheerfully and left the pair behind.
Though, before leaving, she did drop off a few more scripts for Zhu Jiuyin.
"See? Aside from little Lava, someone else out there appreciates the brilliance of my writing after all~"
Nian felt oddly satisfied. She still didn't quite understand what sort of person Zhu Jiuyin really was—but at least, he seemed to have good taste.
There were many things in this vast land that even Nian herself didn't fully grasp.
A brief encounter was hardly enough to understand someone's depths.
"Well, I'll just have to visit Little Eleven again next time."
After all, the siblings shared a bond beyond ordinary ties.
"But next time," she mused, "I'll have to tell Eleven about my plan. I refuse to fade away like a passing illusion."
---
"Dusk," Zhu Jiuyin said quietly, "you shouldn't invest so much emotion in that child. You know how fragile the short-lived ones are compared to us. Look at that monk, for example—he's managed just fine. Even as we travel together, he keeps his reverence for the divine, never once attempting to grow close to us. True, he might not be as endearing as that girl, but at least he knows his boundaries."
"If you truly care for her," he continued, "there's… an experimental technique I've been developing. With your assistance, we could attempt to free her from the bounds of mortality—to make her one of your 'painted people.' That way, she could stay by your side much longer."
"…You make it sound so cruel," Dusk said softly. "As if I see them as playthings."
"I'm only trying to help. What ill intentions could I possibly have?"
"And I don't see them as toys…" she added bitterly. "A toy wouldn't be capable of hurting me."
"As a ruler well-versed in terran nature," Zhu Jiuyin replied evenly, "I understand them better than you do. I see both their charm and their malice. To love them is to see both sides clearly."
"…Fine. You're just that kind of being, aren't you? You don't want to interfere with others, and you don't want others to interfere with you. Always hiding away in your little world."
"But beings like us," he said, his tone faintly cold, "living upon this land—we don't have the luxury of standing apart from it forever."