When Symboli Rudolf awoke once more, the sky outside had already turned completely dark.
Glancing around, she saw Symboli Sirius sitting beside her hospital bed, a slight bandage wrapped around her forehead.
Sirius was looking straight back at her.
The two of them simply stared at each other in silence.
Rudolf considered sitting up, but quickly abandoned the thought. Instead, she turned away from Sirius, looking toward the window outside.
The sky was pitch black.
With one hand, Rudolf slowly propped herself up into a sitting position.
She instinctively reached out to touch her pockets.
"You're looking for this, right?"
Symboli Sirius handed Rudolf her phone.
"Mm… Thanks."
Rudolf took it from Sirius's hand.
It was her own phone, but due to their earlier fight, the screen had shattered, fragmented beyond recognition.
Looking at the cracked screen, Rudolf calmly entered her unlock password.
Opening her contacts, she called Symboli Speed.
After just a moment, the call connected.
"Rudolf, did something happen?"
Speed's voice carried no real doubt—after Sirius's earlier questions, Speed had already sensed something was wrong. Rudolf's call, therefore, was not surprising.
"Obaa-san, I…I need to ask you something."
Rudolf hesitated. She feared the answer she was about to receive.
Hearing the tremor in Rudolf's voice, Symboli Speed, standing on the banks of the Thames, raised her head to gaze out toward London Bridge, unchanged since she'd last seen it.
Speed thought back to the questions Sirius had asked her previously, feeling a premonition rising within her.
"Back then…when I ran away from home, the other Uma Musume you sent back… What was her name?"
The question faded from her tone, replaced by resignation, as though she already knew the answer.
After a brief pause, Speed responded calmly:
"Tokai Natural. Is something wrong?"
Hearing that answer, Rudolf lowered her head, hiding her expression from Sirius. After several seconds, she spoke again quietly:
"Sorry to disturb you, Obaa-san."
With those words, the call spanning half the globe came to an end.
Rudolf kept her head lowered, making it impossible for Sirius to read her expression.
Only after several more minutes of heavy silence did the room echo again with Rudolf's voice:
"How… How is Natural doing?"
"Her existing condition flared up severely due to emotional distress. She's still unconscious."
Sirius sighed softly, continuing, "Maruzensky and Mr. C.B. are with her. No matter what happens, they'll look after her properly. You don't need to worry."
Learning that Natural was in good hands, Rudolf remained silent for a few seconds before murmuring,
"I…"
"I was wrong, wasn't I?"
"Without a doubt."
Sirius's blunt reply didn't seem to shake Rudolf's composure.
Slowly lifting her head, Rudolf gazed toward the window again. "If I've made a mistake, then I must bear the consequences."
Saying this, Rudolf forced herself to stand, preparing to leave the hospital bed and do what had to come next.
"What do you intend to do?"
Watching Rudolf carefully, Sirius rose anxiously, worried Rudolf might do something reckless.
"Where are the Tokai Teio test results?!"
At that moment, as Rudolf stood once again, the overwhelming presence of the emperor radiated from her.
"It's currently being compared with your genetic samples. The results—"
Suddenly, Sirius's phone rang.
Answering the call…
"Mm."
"I see."
"So it's confirmed."
"Understood."
Ending the call, Sirius turned toward Rudolf again.
In that instant, their eyes met, and Sirius knew—
The Emperor had reached her breaking point.
Just like the last emperor of a fading dynasty, Symboli Rudolf's state was now perfectly clear.
"So it's confirmed?"
"What exactly are you planning to do?!"
Sirius's voice was desperate; she already guessed Rudolf's intentions.
"I am Symboli Rudolf, recognized by all Uma Musume as the Emperor."
Her overwhelming presence, stronger than ever, instantly suppressed Sirius.
Faced with Rudolf's fierce resolve, Sirius fell silent for a few seconds, then finally nodded. "Tokai Roman is innocent."
Having heard Sirius confirm this, Rudolf straightened herself but did not yet move. She reached into her jacket, searching, and finally drew out a small, delicate personal seal.
Smooth and unmarred, it had survived their earlier struggle intact.
Rudolf tossed the seal gently to Sirius:
"It's yours now."
With those quiet words, Symboli Rudolf walked out of the hospital room.
Sirius stared at the small stone seal resting in her hand. She knew exactly what this meant—especially since Rudolf's approval was required for most of the Student Council's decisions.
When Sirius turned back around, all she saw was the tightly shut hospital door.
That closed door seemed to declare to Sirius that everything had already come to an end.
Rewind slightly.
...
When Maruzensky and Mr. C.B. opened the restaurant door, they saw only Symboli Sirius standing inside.
Sirius's presence gave Maruzensky an uneasy feeling.
Yet, because Maruzensky knew about the relationship between Sirius and Rudolf, she suppressed her anxiety.
Unlike Maruzensky, however, Mr. C.B.'s response was far more emotional.
"Where's Natural?!"
Her question was direct and confrontational.
At Mr. C.B.'s outburst, Sirius stood slowly and answered:
"She's in the hospital. Rudolf came earlier, and Yayoi-san collapsed due to emotional distress, so I took her to the hospital."
Sirius's calm, straightforward answer further fueled Mr. C.B.'s anger, but Maruzensky stepped in front of her before she could act.
"Which hospital? Which room?"
"I'll head over as well. I'll tell you once we're there."
Recalling how Sirius had simply escorted them to Natural's hospital room and then immediately left, Maruzensky's expression turned to self-blame.
"If I had realized sooner why Sirius was looking for Rudolf, then maybe…"
Staring down at Natural's unconscious face, Maruzensky inhaled deeply, then raised her head again.
"C.B.-san."
"Ah?" C.B. was jolted from her thoughts by Maruzensky's voice, turning to face her friend.
"We should…send Natural away."
"Send her away?"
"If she stays here, Rudolf will just find her again, won't she?"
Maruzensky's quiet statement made C.B. fall silent. She stared back at Maruzensky:
"Where would we send her?"
"I don't know. Anywhere far from Japan."
Without explicitly mentioning Rudolf's name, the implication was clear enough.
C.B. searched Maruzensky's face and saw no hesitation or uncertainty.
After several minutes of silence, C.B. finally nodded:
"…Alright."
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T/N: this is just like my dramas :sob: of course the CEO finds out that his childhood sweetheart was the girl he had a child with and kicked out LMAOOO