Night deepened. A silky, gentle breeze rustled, and outside the massive arched window, the dark silhouettes of trees swayed, making a soft, sandy sound.
Big Duck Duck, who had been slumped over the table, stirred. Her long eyelashes trembled, and she slowly awoke.
Opening her eyes, Bronya surveyed the magnificent golden hall. The brilliance of the crystal chandeliers and the expensive red carpet intertwined, casting a golden hue upon the pure white chalk pillars.
"I'm still here..."
Had she actually fallen asleep?
Fallen asleep within a dream.
No, this wasn't a dream, but a real, existing world.
Bronya pressed a hand to her forehead, feeling the slight intoxication in her head. The blanket draped over her shoulders slid off...
"Was that Seele? I'm... really not in a good state."
Bronya looked down at the blanket that had fallen to the floor and sighed softly.
She had had a couple of extra drinks, getting caught up in the atmosphere, and had actually gotten drunk...
Was Bronya's tolerance for alcohol this low?
Forget red wine, Bronya could down two or three bottles of strong vodka without a change in expression.
The question flashed through her mind for a moment, then disappeared as quickly as a shooting star.
Bronya was in no mood to dwell on it right now.
She lifted her gaze and looked across the table. Seele, just like her, had fallen asleep in her seat at the banquet, keeping her company.
Bronya raised a hand and gently placed it on Seele's cheek.
"I'm so sorry for making you worry, Seele..."
The hall was extremely quiet, as if everything had fallen into a deep slumber.
Bronya looked toward the wall at the far end of the hall. There was a closed door there.
A door?
Was that there before? I can't remember.
But at this moment, a faint, unidentifiable noise was coming from behind it.
"What is that...?"
Although she didn't think she would encounter any danger in this world, Bronya still roused herself to investigate.
Her high heels, encasing her black-stockinged legs, made no sound on the red carpet.
The clock ticked away, its rhythm merging with her footsteps, the only sounds in the night's stillness.
"..."
Bronya let out a breath and pushed the door open. The silent corridor was empty, save for the clear crystal lamps that quietly illuminated it, reflecting her tall, slender figure in the window to her side.
At the far end of the corridor behind the door, there was another door.
Her high heels were silent on the carpet as Bronya walked, tired yet light-footed.
"Mmph...?"
As she drew closer, the sound in her ears grew clearer. She gradually understood what was causing the noise.
A girl's voice, low and suppressed, like tinder and fire.
"Hey... Feng-kun, that's enough..."
The tense, strained, yet clear voice of the girl passed through the brown wooden door and into Bronya's ears, quickly sketching a distinct silhouette in her mind.
All of Bronya's sleepiness vanished in an instant. The man's voice that followed sent a ripple through her heart, one that spread wider and wider.
"...Keep it down, Mei. If you wake up Big Duck Duck and the others, I'm not taking the blame."
As Ye Feng's calm yet distinctly different voice vibrated through her nerves, Bronya's eyes flew wide open. She pressed her ear to the door.
She was awake, completely awake.
Like a soldier on the battlefield, concentrating on every discordant movement, her trembling nerves and brain overturned everything before her. She made not a single sound, not a single gasp, not a single breath—she concealed herself perfectly, separated by a single door.
Outside the window, a round moon hung high in the sky.
Bronya could even clearly hear a certain kind of footstep...
The heat, mixed with sweat, continuously pooled at the tips of her high heels, and after an intimate embrace with the soles of her feet, was squeezed back to the heel of the shoe by the arch of her foot.
The tender flesh of her feet, soaked in sweat, felt as if it had been coated in a viscous lubricant, making soft, squelching sounds with the girl's light steps.
Bronya, pressed against the door, fell to her knees, desperately covering her mouth.
---o---
Morning.
The first thing Bronya did upon waking was not her usual, unchanging routine of calibrating Project Bunny, but to subconsciously lift her head and look at her sweat-soaked thighs.
A memory so intense that it terrified her in hindsight: last night... she had made a mistake again.
Just like that night in the little grove by the shrine.
Bronya herself found it hard to believe why she had acted that way.
But at the time, her mind had been a complete blank.
She was like a puppet on strings, unable to control her body to rush through the door, yet at the same time, she felt bound by "layers of silk threads," forbidden from leaving.
Like a prisoner gazing at the sky through a tiny window, she could only listen to the sounds pouring out from behind that door, her mind filled with flying curves and silhouettes.
For the first time, Bronya had the thought that "having too good of an imagination" was also a sin.
"Bronya, Bronya?"
"...Here."
At some point, Mei had appeared by her bedside, looking at her with slightly worried eyes.
"You've been spacing out since just now..."
"Umm..."
Bronya averted her gaze, not daring to look Sister Mei in the eye.
But in the next second, a sour, unfamiliar emotion began to rise within her.
This sourness wasn't jealousy, nor was it possessiveness; it was purely due to her own pathetic inaction.
Bronya didn't understand why she was so afraid, why she was hiding, why she didn't even dare to look Sister Mei in the eyes.
She hadn't done anything wrong.
Why did she feel so guilty?
Why should I feel guilty!
"Are you alright?"
Bronya looked up at Sister Mei.
The gentle Sister Mei, the Sister Mei who always cared for and looked after her...
"The Bronya..."
Bronya looked up, her lips parted, but the true words she wanted to pour out got stuck in her throat.
At this point, to suddenly say something like "Ye Feng is the Bronya's husband" would be too strange.
Where was this courage before?!
The first time she met Sister Mei in the office, saying she was from the future... she felt like a complete clown.
Bronya said in a low voice, "I'm sorry, Sister Mei. It's because there are some things... the Bronya can't understand..."
"It's the '300,000 souls' in the Core of Reason, isn't it?"
Mei held up a finger and said, "Feng-kun said that if you can't handle them properly, they can be quite a bit of trouble."
"Mmm... something like that. It's really difficult to fully master the Core of Reason."
"It'll be okay!"
Mei grabbed Bronya's hand.
Warmth transferred from her palm.
"If it's Bronya, you can definitely control the Core of Reason perfectly!"
This confidence came from both her expectations for her friend and her trust in her lover. Ye Feng had said that the Core of Reason was best in Bronya's hands, so it must be true.
Mei squeezed Bronya's hand and continued with a cheerful smile, "I thought maybe there had been some new complication with Bronya's husband."