Isaac stared at Celia for a long moment after hearing her words. He didn't scold her or tell her not to make jokes like that. Instead, he quietly pulled her into a hug.
"H-Huh? What are you doing? I told you I'm not sad," Celia stiffened in surprise before trying to pull back slightly, her eyes still red.
"It's fine. You can stop worrying about everyone else. At least for now," Isaac said softly.
Celia froze in his arms. The words reached somewhere deep inside her, breaking through the wall she had been trying so desperately to maintain. The tears she had barely managed to hold back spilled over again, and this time she couldn't stop them.
Isaac understood what she had been trying to do. She had never meant those words seriously. She was only trying to ease the heavy atmosphere because she hated seeing everyone around her weighed down by painful emotions.
