do your job!" Hmm? Hmmmm? What was she talking about? The words came to her readily, but they were accompanied by a third wave of indescribable malaise. She raised her hands up and down in consternation. Kaito, for his part, stretched his arms, then pursed his lips. "I mean, you say that, but... Here, how's this for a number that'll knock your socks off? The last seven years of inventory just...aren't listed." "Heavens, wouldn't it be faster to simply discard them and start from scratch?" "Right? That was the only real option I could come up with... Ugh, all that time wasted..." Kaito let out a big yawn, then went limp and slumped facedown on the table. Elisabeth poked him in the head. Now was no time for sleeping. For her troubles, she received a strange "Gehhh." As the two of them fooled around, a pair of light footsteps drew near. "Good work today, you two!" Upon hearing the cheery voice, Elisabeth looked up and was greeted by a pair of gleaming green eyes and a head of silver hair. They belonged to a beautiful automaton in a maid outfit. Hina beamed adorably as she pushed her serving cart along. Elisabeth found herself overcome with dizziness. However, she still had no idea why. Hmhmmm? "I've brought an afternoon snack for you, my beloved Master Kaito and my dearest Lady Elisabeth! There are tarts and muffins and cookies of every variety, so please go ahead and take whatever you like!" "Damn, you made all that? You sure you aren't overworking yourself, Hina?" "Eek, my adorable husband is ever so kind! Take me now! ...Ahem. Worry not. If it's for my beloved Master Kaito and my dearest Lady Elisabeth, then even baking sweets is like being in paradise! Right now, I feel super-duper happy in strict moderation! Eek, it's like the world itself is jealous of my joy!" "Uh, okay... Well, I'm not sure I totally follow, but if you're happy, then I'm happy, too." No, no, no, hold on a moment. 'Tis nice that Hina seems the same as always, but... Something about it was weird. Elisabeth massaged her temples. But no matter how hard she thought, she couldn't put her finger on what was so odd. Perhaps it wasn't just one thing. In fact, if she were to force herself to put it into words, then... "Everything" is odd. "Lady Elisabeth, which one would you like?" "The raspberry and honey tart, I should think!" In that moment, though, Elisabeth ceased wondering. She eagerly extended her hand. With a "But of course," Hina deftly dished up the tart. Elisabeth peered down at the plate. The tart was piled extravagantly high with raspberries, and the honey gave it a glossy sheen. Looking at it was like feasting her eyes on a mountain of rubies. As Elisabeth grabbed a fork, Kaito made a sly quip. "Man, I can practically see a tail and a pair of ears twitching on you." "Silence, you. I'm no cat." "And yet you're the only one who said anything about cats... Looks like even you realize it." "If I had to choose between being a cat or a dog, I would be a dog! I'd roll on my back, show Master Kaito my belly, and wag my tail so hard, it would almost fall off! Woof, woof!" "That's nice, honey. Even without a tail, you're plenty cute already." Kaito patted Hina's head past her soft maid hat. As Hina let out more delighted woofs, Elisabeth joined her hand to the petting. Hina was overcome with joy. Their Hina-cherishing party continued on like that for a little while. Perhaps it was just Elisabeth's imagination, but the air in the room seemed a bit warmer than it had been before. With the mood suitably lightened, Elisabeth turned back to her plate and spoke with a smile. "Now then, to the tart!" "I do hope it's to your liking!" "Make sure you slow down and chew it so you don't choke." "What do you take me for, a child?" As she shot a complaint Kaito's way, Elisabeth brandished her fork and sliced carefully through the crust so as not to disturb the cream or the raspberries. Then she slowly lifted the bite to her mouth, andâ€” "...It tastes like nothing." â€”with a thudâ€” â€”all the lights went out. Tick, tock... Tick-tock... Tick... Tock... Tick... Tock... Ti-ti-ti-tiâ€” Creeeeeeeeeeak. "Now then, I suppose that marks the end of the first act." A deep voice echoed through the air, and a lamp lit up in the darkness as though it had been waiting for that very moment. The lamp's candle cast a white circle around itself. Because it was pitch-black, even that meager light source seemed as blinding as the sun. Elisabeth squinted. She could see a pearl-gray tablecloth extending out from the circle on into the darkness. Silver buffet platters sat atop it, laden with food so colorful that they almost looked like they were made of wax. There were a number of hors d'oeuvres, from a translucent jelled oyster dish and a vividly orange marinated salmon to a broad selection of pÃ¢tÃ©s. The table was absolutely packed with fragrant foods. However, nobody was partaking in the spread, which looked too good to be true. There was but one person there. The silhouette of a man, sitting at the head of the table. He wore a silk shirt with a cravat, and his coat was decorated with silver thread. Ignoring the buffet platters, he instead ate from a single pure-white dinner plate. Upon the porcelain dish was a slab of meat with blood dripping from it. The raw liver didn't even look seasoned. The man cut thin slices of the meat and carried them to his mouth with his fork. The darkness was broken up only by the candlelight and the soft sound of dishes clinking. After looking at the man's crimson eyes, silky black hair, and beautiful features, which resembled her own, Elisabeth spoke. "And who the hell are you?" "Oh, come now, precious daughter of mine. This thing you do where you forget I exist isn't nearly as endearing as you think." Vlad Le Fanu put down his knife and fork. Elisabeth merely gave him a scoff. She knew perfectly well who he was. However, her resentment toward Vlad ran deep. The mere fact that she was willing to regard him with apathy instead of outright hostility was a supreme display of self-control. At that point, though, Elisabeth cocked her head to the side. What was it that Vlad just said? "...What first act?" "In a sense, we stand at a legend's end. The space beyond the fairy tale." All of a sudden, Vlad began speaking. He lifted his knife and fork once more. As he sliced up his meat, crimson blood trickled forth from it. "This is the stage past the curtain's fall, the shell of what remains after the final act that was the end of daysâ€”but the performance's end, you see, was nowhere near adequate. With its lease on life renewed, the world continued on. But the bells would eventually toll on a new curtain's rise." For that is the way bells and curtains are. Ting. After cutting his meat, Vlad dinged his knife against the plate's surface. Then he slowly looked up at Elisabeth, his mouth curling into a smile as he went on. "Preventing the play from ending. The three races, unified. A noble sacrifice. It's moving, don't get me wrong. A tale well worth telling. But what about the story that follows it?" "...What story?" "Revolution. Revenge. Betrayal. Any and all of these require diving deep into the actor's psyche and motives. And that means the story that follows can hardly be told. Eventually, all of it will be buried beneath the black veil of history. And with no regard paid to those who fought so valiantly... Although, of course, it's entirely too early to tell if there'll still be a world where one could tell it in the first place. Things are starting to look a little grim." Deftly moving his fork, he brought a taut slice of liver to his mouth and laid it atop his tongue. Then he popped it into his mouth, almost as though hammering home his statement to Elisabeth. The meat's crimson blood painted his lips a slightly darker shade of red as he let out a casual laugh. "Nobody's going to like this. Even seasoned veterans will want to avert their gazes. That's just the way it's going to play out." "Vlad, don't tell me... Did you hit your head or something?" "You know, your concern might well be touching if it weren't always so insulting!" On hearing Elisabeth's reply, Vlad set his utensils back down. In an unusual turn of events, it sounded like he was being relatively serious about what he was talking about. But what of it? Elisabeth frowned. For her part, there was a fretfulness eating away at her so intensely, it felt like her neck was burning. Something is offâ€”I'm certain of it. Her vision wavered. Vlad's description was unpleasant, but more than that, it was disquieting. There was something lurking just below the surface, something she mustn't lay eyes on. However, Elisabeth couldn't even figure out what it was. Every time she tried to think about it, she was obstructed by an intense headache. "What...is this?" Elisabeth pressed down on her forehead. Vlad went back to eating. After elegantly making his way through the meat, he wiped his lips with his napkin and looked up. "Caught your attention?" "What?" The question came out of the blue, and it was notably lacking a subject. However, Elisabeth didn't get a chance to ask him to elaborate. Vlad nodded all on his own, then snapped his fingers. Darkness and azure flower petals filled the air. When they cleared, all that remained on the table was a single bowl. It was deep, and filled to the very brim with water. The water's surface, flat as a mirror, was projecting an image of somewhere else. Elisabeth's eyes went wide. She gasped. "Kaito, Hina..." Kaito and Hina were sleeping, huddled up together with peaceful expressions on their faces. They looked almost serene. It was just beautiful, nothing more. There wasn't anything odd about it. Everyone knew they were married, and it was perfectly normal for married people to sleep together. However... It seems so...distant. That calm, gentle scene was farther away than the world's end. Elisabeth was overcome with a crushing sense of isolation. She knew that the image on the water was just that, an image, but that alone didn't explain why she felt the way she did. It was like the entire space they were in was cut off from her by some sort of transparent wall. She gazed wordlessly at the two of them. Vlad laughed a low, booming laugh. Ignoring him, she reached out, even knowing there was no way she'd be able to touch the scene atop the water's surface. After all, it wasn't real. There was nothing there to reach. There shouldn't have been anyway. And yet. And...yet? ...Splash! Tick, tock... Tick-tock... Tick... Tock... Tick... Tock... Ti-ti-ti-tiâ€” Creeeeeeeâ€” â€”eeeak? "Hey, Elisabeth, what's going on?" "Are you all right, Lady Elisabeth?" ".................................Hmm?" Elisabeth slowly opened her eyes, only to have them immediately seared by a dazzling light. At some point, the room had brightened up. She could still see the pearl-gray tablecloth stretched out atop the table before her, but the silver platters and waxy-looking food were nowhere to be seen. Neither was Vlad, for that matter. In fact, Elisabeth had even swapped places with him and was now sitting at the head of the table herself. And the silver bowl with the image of Kaito and Hina had been swapped out for something as well. It was some sort of strangely majestic container. Elisabeth peered intently at the newly appeared object. I