crystal was cold and hard. The distance its clear walls separated was slim, yet it was farther than the World's End. She couldn't touch them. She couldn't talk to them. Just once is all I ask. If I could reach them, I wouldn't mind chopping off my fingers. If I could talk to them, I would happily stitch my lips together. If I could hear their voices, I would light my ears ablaze and then crush them with glee. But there was no one she could pay that toll to. The Torture Princess spoke calmly to the weak self in her heart. "You knew, didn't you?" "Aye, I knew indeed." Their reunion would never come. Yet just now, Alice had put a crack in that hopeless conclusion of hers. It was like she was whispering to her. Your hands can reach through that crystal, she said, tempting her. All she had to do was sacrifice herself and choose to drench the world in blood. "It's okay, Elisabeth; I know. In their heart of hearts, everyone has just one thing that truly matters to them." And for its sake, they could do or become anything, right? Alice Carroll deepened her smile, as though to demonstrate her understanding. It was a pure expression, filled with nothing but concern toward Elisabeth. "...Ah, I see." Elisabeth quietly closed her eyes. She was holding one leg, which was perched atop the chair. Still posed like that, she leaned all the way backward and rested her back against the chair's. Her elegant black hair rustled as it draped around her. She pursed her lips tight. Then she went still, as though considering the demonic proposition. Silence filled the room. Nobody said a word. Even Alice closed her chatterbox of a mouth. And not just Lewis, but La Christoph, too, was wordless. A few moments later, with no warning whatsoever, Elisabeth snapped her eyes open. Her red irises gleamed as she sat back up. Then she looked straight forward. Without asking anyone's opinion, and without exchanging so much as a glance with La Christoph, she gave her answer. Sure enough, her answer was the same as it had been in a similar situation once before, down to the very word choice. "Hard pass!" "That was surprisingly quick." "And decisive." "Yeah, I figured that wouldn't work." Surprisingly, the reactions she got were all fairly nonchalant. It would seem everyone had more or less seen it coming. Elisabeth snorted with a feline "hmph." Her anguish was still there, but she showed no hesitation. After all, it was the only answer she could have ever given. The avengers' motives and actions were reasonable. And their temptation was certainly appealing. But she had her pride, and she wasn't about to abandon it. If that had been an option, she'd have smashed the crystal ages ago. After all, Elisabeth knew. Kaito Sena was a fool. An utter, incorrigible fool. Even though he'd known just how disgraceful, reprehensible, selfish, and cruel people were, he'd forgiven them anyway. Even after concluding they were hideous, he'd still called them precious. And he'd chosen to love and protect them. That alone meant the world was worth defending. The things cherished by the people you care about are beautiful. Even if you bear no love for those things yourself, that fact still remains. Kaito Sena saved the world. His unconditional love had saved everything. Thus, to destroy it all would naturally be an action founded on the opposite emotion. And it then followed that those saved by love had no choice but to prevent that destruction. It was a strange, comical equation. But it wouldn't be beautiful any other way. Anything else would have been a disservice to that boy's resolve and to the way he'd lived his life. And besides, Lewis and his allies had forgotten something. "You're not the same as me. You're different from us. We're completely different creatures. That means I can do whatever I want to you." That was how Lewis now perceived the targets of his vengeance, too. It was trueâ€”the world did force a small few to bear the great burden of sacrifice far too often. If she was forced to say if that was forgivable or unforgivable, she would probably choose the latter. The day of forgiveness would never come. And the victims had every right to curse, resent, and detest the world. Howeverâ€”that was all. There was no reason the persecuted should have free rein to persecute anyone and everyone. "I see no reason why those who've been taken from should be able to take from others as they please." Elisabeth made her assertion loud and clear. Alice's white ribbons swelled up. A fiendish smile carved its way across her young face. However, Elisabeth merely ignored her and went on. "'Tis only reasonable you seek revenge. Your resolve shan't waver, I can see that much. But if you aim to resent, kill, and seize control indiscriminately, act not surprised when your audience bares its fangs at you. For in the end, both are the perpetrator, and both are the victim. Those who kill are killed, and the cycle of revenge only ceases when the side killed relents and willingly presents their own neck. You and yours faced tragedies. 'Tis only reasonable for you to curse the worldâ€”but do not pretend your reasoning is just." Elisabeth fixed her gaze on the two of them, the hideous mixed-race man and the girl killed in another world. Both of them were innocent victims. Words could hardly begin to describe the depths of the wounds their hearts had sustained. And they had no way to make their perpetrators pay. It was only natural they would wish for destruction. However, they had no right to turn that wish on the world. No one did. Lewis was rightâ€”justice had perished long ago. But if that was the case, then using the fact that he'd been taken from as justification was completely contradictory. Those who resented the world could never be loved by it. Kaito Sena knew that. Even when faced with the opportunity to kill his father, he'd turned it down, saying, "I don't need him." And after that, he'd continued suffering in pain time and again. But he'd never tried to make anyone else shoulder his agony. I love you, so I'll shoulder it myself, he'd said. Why, he'd even smiled while saying it. "You people are vile." Elisabeth spat out the epithet from the bottom of her heart. She acknowledged their feelings, but as a person, she held them in contempt. It didn't matter if they had taken or were taken from, if they were sinful or sinless. "'Tis base to proclaim yourself weak for the purpose of trampling on others." The room fell into silence once more. Alice moved to hop down from her chair, but Lewis reached out and grabbed her arm. He was waiting for Elisabeth to finish speaking. The Torture Princess laughed wickedly. "And one more thing. Who the hell do you think it is you've invited? 'Tis hardly an exaggeration to call your choice of guest fatally misguidedâ€”for I am the Torture Princess, Elisabeth Le Fanu. I am the peerless sinner, hated and resented by all. I am the proud wolf and the lowly sow. Having lived the proud and haughty life of a wolf, I shall die like a lowly sowâ€”and yes, true, I acknowledge it all." Elisabeth raised her head in a dignified manner. She thought back on what Vlad had said. He was rightâ€”it was hardly fitting for the Torture Princess to grieve like that. And so she laughed again, a heinous, inhuman laugh. "I have had everything taken from me. At the end of my long battle as the Torture Princess, I was left with nothing. But what of it? Do not mistake me, Lewis. Your sympathy is misplacedâ€”for I was always on the side that took. I slew countless innocents, and by all rights, I shan't have so much as a demon by my side when I die. But what of it?" Throughout Elisabeth Le Fanu's life, she was accompanied by a single dim-witted servant. She would never see him again. She couldn't talk to him. She couldn't even hear his voice. And yet even soâ€” "There existed a calm, banal, dreamlike moment. That moment has passedâ€”but so be it." Even though it was overâ€” â€”a part of it lived on. "'Twas his wish that the world be saved and that I live on. As his master, I aim to honor that decision. Those days were a miracle and a blessing the likes of which were too good for this sinner, and they shan't return. But so be it." Every dream eventually ended. But what was so bad about that? That was no reason to err. It was trueâ€”she could give birth to those vile children, drown the world in blood, and allow vengeance to flourish. But it wasn't the ending the boy had wished for. And because she knew that, it was her duty to protect his story, even if doing so was more painful than death. She had to make sure it reached its proper conclusion. She couldn't allow anything to defile Kaito Sena's story. Even should that choice prove wrong. Something beautiful and radiant existed. That fact was certain and was true to that day. Even rent from beauty itself, its fruits were worth protecting. "I thank you, Alice Carroll. 'Tis true, I was hardly acting like myself, and I've now seen the error of my ways. So allow me to say this loudly and with pride: There was meaning indeed in this peerless sinner's solitary survival, if only but to quash that resentment of yoursâ€”for to lop off the heads of those who've chosen evil is evil's task in turn." Elisabeth sneered unpleasantly. She leaped from her chair and thrust her arm out into the air. Darkness and flower petals wound magnificently around her. From within, she drew her trusty scarlet blade. "Executioner's Sword of Frankenthal!" The Torture Princess's voice boomed loud as she stood with her executioner's blade in hand. This time, Alice hopped down from her chair for real. Lewis didn't move a hair. The faintest of smiles played on La Christoph's lips. Alice's hair bobbed up and down as she prepared to launch into an angry tirade. Before she could, though, Elisabeth raised a finger in front of her face. "And one more thingâ€”no matter what answer I gave, your time was up regardless." "Now listen here, Elisabeth, you... Hmm, wait, what do you mean?" Alice blinked. Lewis raised an eyebrow. However, seeming to have realized something, he immediately shifted his gaze to a section of the wall. Elisabeth nodded. His instincts were sharp. The next moment, a heavy, muffled BRRRRRRRRRRRRRN echoed through the air. The entire villa shook. Chips and splinters rained down from the ceiling. Something was clearly happening. Lewis quickly rose to his feet, and Alice clutched his coat's hem in fear. However, the room had no windows. There was no way for them to see what was going on outside. Despite that, the noise and the tremor had definitely both come from the direction Lewis was looking. It was the direction the Sand Temple lay in. Elisabeth knew that meant all hell had just broken loose. For that sound was none other than the Sand Queen's corpse exploding. 7 A Waltz for Two Right before Elisabeth left for the demi-human lands, another act unfurled in the human Capital. The stage was the royal tomb's lowest floor, in front of the chamber with the kings' coffins. The cast had two members. And the play was about the attack on the demi-human lands, as the ebony Torture Princess so rhythmically told the golden Torture Princess. "Listen well, Jeanne. I intend to head for the demi-human lands, exactly as demanded. But in the meantime...I want you lot to make a move elsewhere. While Alice