"What do you mean, you like me and her?"
That was like throwing oil onto a fire.
For a split second, Kiana felt all the blood in her body freeze solid, a chill shooting straight up her spine. She forgot how to breathe, her eyes darting nervously to Acheron—whose expression had turned completely rigid after hearing those words.
It was over. Completely over.
Licking the spot on her lip where Acheron had bitten her earlier, Kiana cursed herself silently. What in the world was she saying?
Who could possibly say something like that out loud?!
Yet Acheron didn't explode in fury like she expected. Instead, those beautiful eyes locked onto her with terrifying calm. "...What did you just say?"
Only five words—but the quiet that followed was suffocating, the calm before the storm.
And Kiana knew she was guilty.
Because she was guilty.
Her heart skipped a beat at the sound of Acheron's voice. She shrank under that gaze, her own voice coming out weak. "That's... not what I meant."
Acheron acted as though she hadn't heard her.
She knew perfectly well what that tone meant—it wasn't denial, it was a plea not to be angry.
"Do you like Ruan Mei?" Acheron asked, her voice low and steady.
"I..."
"Be honest."
Acheron's gaze deepened. "Your next answer will decide how I respond to this."
She wanted an attitude. A choice.
Having vented the worst of her anger already, Acheron now seemed calm—at least on the surface.
Be honest?
Kiana fell silent.
Did she like Ruan Mei?
She didn't even have to think about it. She'd known the answer all along.
"Yes."
Her voice was quiet but firm. "...I think I do like her."
She sighed. That was the reason she'd come back to face Acheron instead of hiding it.
She liked Ruan Mei. She'd fallen for her during the days they'd spent together while she'd lost her memories. She just hadn't been sure whether Ruan Mei was even capable of feeling the same.
She liked Mei. And she liked Ruan Mei.
Both of them were precious to her—people she couldn't bear to lose.
Trying to keep both was bound to end badly. Lying about it would end even worse.
At least she'd said it.
Acheron closed her eyes for a moment, steadying her breath. When she opened them again, her tone was calm, but her question cut like a knife. "Between Ruan Mei and me... who do you like more?"
Who did she like more?
That was not a question with an easy answer.
If she asked that now... then the next question would surely be: Who will you choose?
"Mei... I don't want to choose between you two," Kiana said, her voice trembling with guilt and desperation.
Don't want to choose?
Acheron pinched the bridge of her nose, her expression complex. "You don't want to choose?"
"Yes. I know it's wrong, but you both mean so much to me. I don't want to be separated from either of you."
So it really was because she hadn't been there during that time—because Ruan Mei had taken advantage of that gap and carved out a place in Kiana's heart.
"I'm angry," Acheron said flatly. "And you know your words would make me angry."
"I know you won't change your mind, so I won't waste breath on what-ifs. I'll just ask you one thing—have you thought about this?"
She pressed a hand to Kiana's shoulder again, her tone low and deliberate. "Even if I could accept it... could she?"
Ruan Mei was a member of the Genius Society—someone with pride and brilliance beyond measure. Even if Acheron could bend, could Ruan Mei truly accept sharing?
Prideful people never compromised. It wasn't in their nature.
Fate was cruel like that.
Ruan Mei wasn't some passing stranger. She had met Nous, the Aeon of Erudition. She was one of the brightest minds of the Genius Society.
"A–accept what, exactly?"
Kiana blinked, caught off guard. She'd thought about it before, briefly—but hearing it out loud was another matter entirely. "I just... think keeping things as they are is fine."
She faltered, shrinking back a little.
Shamefully, she'd chosen to retreat.
Just as Acheron had said—Kiana didn't have the confidence to make two people of Emanator-level power yield for her sake.
And yet, she still didn't want to choose.
Choosing meant giving something up.
And Mei—Acheron—was someone she could never abandon. But Ruan Mei...
"..."
Maintain the status quo?
What kind of answer was that?
It was easy to feign ignorance when things were hidden, but now that everything had been laid bare, there was no turning back.
Was Kiana really thinking that way?
Maintain the status quo?
"I think you should understand something," Acheron said coldly. "People like us—people who walk the Path—we can never be content with the status quo. Neither I nor she could ever accept that."
Even if she wanted to.
Ruan Mei absolutely wouldn't.
That woman didn't seem like the type to settle.
If she didn't even have the courage to seek an answer, how could Ruan Mei have ever walked the Path of Erudition?
Not just Erudition—any Pathstrider who had walked far enough was unwavering in mind, driven by purpose and conviction.
Ordinary people drifted with the current.
But Pathstriders did not.
That was why Acheron firmly believed that Ruan Mei would never agree with Kiana's wish to keep things as they were.
And neither could she.
Still, it was easier to use Ruan Mei's name as an excuse than to speak for herself.
Kiana stayed silent, knowing Acheron was right.
"You still haven't answered my question," Acheron said after a pause. Her words had struck their mark, and she took a small step back. There was no need to push further—not yet. Forcing Kiana to choose now would only hurt them both... and perhaps benefit a third party.
She needed Kiana to think it through—to realize on her own that this situation could never last.
Once she faced reality, she would let go of that impossible dream.
"Which question?" Kiana asked quietly.
Acheron reached out, brushing her fingers against Kiana's lips. "Why did she kiss you?" she repeated.
Kiana had only explained why she hadn't refused—but she hadn't actually answered that.
Why had Ruan Mei kissed her in the first place?
"Uh..." Kiana's eyes darted away, her voice dropping to a whisper. "She was... curious."
"Curious?"
"She said she wanted to know what it felt like," Kiana mumbled, cheeks flushing. "So..."
So she kissed her.
Curious... of course.
That reason fit Ruan Mei perfectly.
Swallowing the bitterness in her chest, Acheron said, "There's more, isn't there? If that were all, you wouldn't have told me this much."
She knew Kiana too well.
Of course there was more. If it had only been a kiss born of curiosity, Kiana would've never looked so shaken.
To tell her the truth meant there was something deeper behind it.
Curiosity alone couldn't explain everything.
Should she tell Mei... that Ruan Mei had just asked her to marry her?
Kiana's face wavered with hesitation.
Better not to say it at all.
Kiana made her decision quickly. She didn't want to hide anything from Mei, but there were some things she simply couldn't tell her outright.
If Mei knew the truth, she would completely lose her composure.
It wouldn't be strange if she charged straight at Ruan Mei with her blade drawn, demanding a duel to the death.
After all, Mei herself hadn't even said something like that to her yet.
And now Ruan Mei had gotten ahead of her—skipping every step and going straight to a proposal.
If Kiana said that out loud, there'd be no walking it back.
Mei had only just calmed down about the whole thing. Kiana couldn't risk throwing oil on the fire again.
"There's... something else," Kiana murmured. "Ruan asked me if I wanted to be with her."
That wasn't technically a lie, right?
Kiana felt a twinge of guilt. She hadn't told the full story—but the meaning was close enough.
Acheron blinked, caught off guard.
"And how did you answer her?"
"I told her the same thing," Kiana mumbled under her breath.
"You told her you wouldn't choose between us?"
Acheron's expression darkened slightly. She had thought those words were meant for her—but apparently, Kiana had already said them to Ruan Mei first.
"And... what did Ruan Mei say to that?"
"Ruan said she wouldn't force me to choose," Kiana explained softly, recalling Ruan's calm, unshakable tone. "She said she'd give me time to think about it."
Acheron's face was unreadable.
So that was it—an open attempt to steal her away.
No wonder Kiana had been so direct earlier, saying she didn't want to choose.
Ruan Mei thought the same way she did.
Accept it? Impossible.
But Acheron wouldn't outright forbid it either. That wasn't her style.
No—she'd rather let Ruan Mei make the first move, then use that moment to make Kiana face reality and choose her.
That must have been Ruan Mei's plan too.
She and Kiana had known each other longer—shared so much back in Izumo.
But Ruan Mei had also spent plenty of time with her afterward—longer, even. During that blank period when Kiana had lost her memories, it had always been Ruan by her side.
Acheron's eyes drifted toward the photo wall—specifically, to the unfamiliar ones.
Photos of Kiana and Ruan Mei together. Judging from the lively market in the background, it wasn't this planet—or the Herta Space Station.
Some other world. A trip, perhaps.
Memories of a journey together.
In one, Kiana was laughing brightly, holding Ruan Mei close, offering her a snack with an affectionate grin.
Acheron's chest sank.
Though she hadn't spent much time around Ruan Mei, Mei had seen enough of the world since Izumo to read people easily.
And Ruan Mei—she could tell at a glance.
No matter how well someone hid it, she could always see the truth beneath.
That woman was dangerous.
In some ways, they were alike. But while Mei's heart had been dulled by Nihility's touch, Ruan Mei... she was simply like that by nature.
A brilliant, emotionless scientist.
And yet, someone like that had chosen to spend time with Kiana—to travel, to share moments like those.
Was it manipulation?
Or had Kiana truly captured her heart—become someone different from everyone else in her eyes?
If it was the latter... then things were far more troublesome than she thought.
Acheron didn't doubt her place in Kiana's heart. Nor did she doubt Kiana's love for her.
But Ruan Mei...
"Was that all?" she finally asked.
"...After that, she told me to leave," Kiana said honestly. "She said she needed to cool off and told me to come find her later to talk."
Taking the opportunity to ask, Acheron's expression shifted. "You didn't tell her about... us?"
"I did!" Kiana blurted quickly, panicked at the thought that Mei might misunderstand. "Of course I told her about us!"
Oh, perfect—an open challenge.
Acheron's expression darkened even more.
"But Ruan didn't seem to mind..."
Of course she didn't! Ruan Mei wasn't the one being stolen from—she was the one doing the stealing!
Acheron could barely contain her fury. That calm, indifferent woman who acted as though nothing ever mattered—who would've thought she could pull something like this?
Was she trying to use Kiana's feelings against her? To deliberately provoke a fight between them, and then take advantage of the aftermath to win Kiana over?
The more Acheron followed that line of thought, the angrier she became.
There was no way she'd let that woman succeed.
Kiana loves me the most, she told herself. As long as she stayed composed, Kiana would never choose Ruan Mei. Never.
The last thing she could afford right now was to let tension grow between them and hand Ruan Mei an opening.
Her instincts whispered that maybe she was overthinking it—that Ruan Mei probably hadn't planned that far ahead. Giving Kiana space to think was likely the extent of her intent.
But Acheron couldn't afford to relax. One mistake, one moment of carelessness, could cost her everything.
And so—she would wait.
"Alright," she said at last, her tone even. "I understand."
She hid her turmoil behind a calm facade. "I won't pressure you, Kiana. Take your time."
If she remained steady, she could handle whatever came next.
Kiana loved her most. No matter how things turned out, she would never be the one left behind.
This was the time to stay calm—to do nothing that might shake her place in Kiana's heart.
"Really?" Kiana looked up, startled.
"Mhm." Acheron reached out and gently patted her head. "I trust your choice."
Trust...
Kiana felt a pang of guilt twist inside her. She knew full well that everything she had said—and everything she had done—was a betrayal of that trust.
"I love you, Kiana," Acheron said quietly.
The words were calm, but her tone carried a depth that left no room for doubt.
"From the moment I first met you, I was drawn to you."
"I wanted to be near you—to stay with you. As long as you're beside me, I'm not afraid of anything."
"I'm sorry. I should have told you sooner."
Her hand brushed gently against Kiana's cheek, her voice filled with both warmth and regret. "I shouldn't have let fear and hesitation keep me from speaking my heart. I should've told you long ago that I've always loved you."
"Kiana, you're more important to me than anything else."
If only she had said those words earlier—back when she had first realized that Kiana was different, when she'd first felt that spark of connection.
If she had acted on it then, maybe Ruan Mei would never have entered the picture.
Acheron's heart ached with regret.
At seventeen, she'd been too young—too cautious, overthinking everything instead of trusting her feelings.
If she hadn't waited for things to settle before confronting her own heart...
Maybe now...
She clenched her fists gently against Kiana's shoulder.
She couldn't afford to make the same mistake again.