"Ah."
Her hand was pricked by a sharp tool. It was a mistake she rarely made. Cider, who had been staring blankly at the blood welling up, sighed and put down everything in her hands.
A drop of blood fell inside along the pipe. It was already too late to wipe it away, but she couldn't just leave it either. It would be problematic for other blood to mix into the machine that extracted magical power from blood.
She pondered for a moment. Not for long. With her bleeding hand, she picked up a hammer and struck the connection point between the machines. The brass pipe screamed as it crumpled. After a few more strikes, the machine completely separated from the main body of the spacetime machine.
Cider looked down at the machine sprawled on the floor, threw down her tools, and slumped onto a stool. She looked down at her bleeding hand and clicked her tongue. A hollow laugh escaped.
It was the first time in her life she had vented frustration through violence.
It was purely a barbaric impulse. And as such things usually are, it was a terribly inefficient method. The broken machine parts, the throbbing aftermath of impact on her palm, the bright red blood. Nothing good came of it.
But she could understand it. Swinging her limbs to resolve the feeling of having all her arms and legs tightly bound by vines. It was simply comprehensible.
Only one person could return. That new assumption had no effect on the conclusion that 'Esperanza will leave.' Even knowing this, she couldn't hide her agitation.
"What was that sound just now..."
Esperanza, who had opened the door and entered, couldn't close her mouth.
She had thought she heard the sound of metal being roughly hammered, but the room was a mess. A machine sprawled on the floor with parts fallen off. Twisted pipes. A hammer with bloodstains. Cider's straight back and invisible hands.
Cider slowly turned her head. Shadow swallowed half his face. He squinted and smiled brightly.
"You must be startled."
"Are you okay?"
That meant something different.
"You know."
He soon got up from his seat and took out a first aid kit from the drawer.
"Since it's my hand, help me while you're here."
There are plenty of potions, so I could use those. More rational thoughts flashed through her mind, but Esperanza blinked and answered.
"Alright."
While applying medicine and wrapping bandages, Cider closed his eyes and leaned against the sofa without saying anything. Esperanza's eyes grew sharp as she glared at the torn flesh wound.
"It's done."
Tendons stood out on the bandaged hand. Esperanza placed her hand on top of it. She pressed down firmly on the back of the hand opposite the injured palm. It was a silent interrogation. Cider laughed briefly.
"What just happened really wasn't a big deal. Blood got into the operating machine, so I separated it before it could enter the main body."
He completely hid the fact that he had used an unnecessarily violent method in the process. But it wasn't something that could be hidden just by hiding it.
"Do you think I'm stupid?"
Cider wore a bitter smile. It was a transparent excuse. Though it wasn't entirely wrong.
Esperanza looked down at the bandage with blood seeping through. In the quiet room, the sound of the grandfather clock's second hand was clear. Her heartbeat also quickened slightly, following the sound of the second hand.
Though she hadn't heard the entire conversation between Cider and Cyrus, she knew almost the gist of it. She also guessed why Cider was so agitated.
Esperanza swallowed all the words lingering in her mouth and decided to ask just one thing.
"You didn't hurt yourself on purpose, did you?"
"How could that be?"
It was a laugh that showed he really hadn't thought of it, so Esperanza's stiff shoulders relaxed loosely.
"About what you discussed with Cyrus today..."
"You don't need to worry. Nothing will change."
"I'm not worried about that!"
"Really? You seem to trust me greatly. I should repay that trust."
Cider was spouting nonsense again. Esperanza, who was about to knock away the hand that was slyly wrapping around her waist, saw the tightly wrapped bandage and relaxed her arm.
"Since you're hurt, you're accepting this kind of thing well too."
"I always accepted it well."
"Hmm. I wonder."
After playing with interlaced fingers, pushing and pulling, Esperanza leaned completely against Cider's shoulder.
Lately, she felt that Cider had become more unstable than before. He tried to treat Esperanza as usual, but sometimes in his wandering eyes or the hand that slowly stroked her hair as if savoring it, she realized he was measuring the end of this time. As the end approached, he had no choice but to despair more deeply.
Esperanza had as much affection for the world she would return to as she felt regret for this world. Returning was sad but hopeful. It was both a bad thing and a good thing.
But for Cider, it was just a disaster where he counted down the approaching days. Even knowing this, she couldn't do anything for him.
Esperanza, who had pulled the large hand around her waist to her lips and kissed his knuckles, looked up at Cider. With a face that seemed to have washed away some fatigue, he smiled with crinkled eyes. She looked at that expression for a long time. And then.
"Would it be better if I stayed?"
It was impulsive. Saying such a thing.
"Such insincere words."
Cider replied with a tone tinged with laughter as he wound Esperanza's hair around his fingertips. Esperanza pressed her lips together for a moment. He didn't seem to welcome it much.
She hadn't expected this reaction. But Esperanza continued speaking stubbornly while keeping her gaze fixed on his fingertips.
"If I stay here, I have you. There's Cordelia too, and Annie. Cyrus has no one."
"When did you say you only had me."
"That wasn't a good thing."
Esperanza glanced away as she gently pushed away the hand cupping her cheek. Cider kissed the corner of her eye.
"I liked that."
"...Anyway."
Esperanza, who finished her belated response, exhaled.
"Well. It's a problem he has to take responsibility for."
That was true.
Cyrus wasn't making some great sacrifice. He was only taking responsibility for his own and his brother's mistakes. Esperanza, the victim, didn't need to pity him. There was no reason to yield the only ticket home.
But if Cyrus remained here, he would be lonely for a while. He would suffer. This world was full of people who had once died because of him, and he wasn't the type to turn away from that fact.
That wasn't wrong. The things Daria and Cyrus had done in this world wouldn't be enough to repay even if they spent their entire lives doing so.
"I haven't done anything right, but I guess blood is thicker than water. Just, living like that is a bit..."
She trailed off, not knowing how to explain it. Had she brought up something unnecessary after all?
Actually, she wasn't particularly interested in Cyrus's future. This was just an opportunity to voice words she had thought were impossible to say. Words she had never said even once until now.
Esperanza glanced at Cider's reaction from the corner of her eye. The silence lengthened. Tension entered her toes.
"If blood is thicker than water, why would it be that way? It should be this way."
Cider squinted and grabbed Esperanza's wrist. She could feel displeasure in the touch that stroked the inside of her wrist.
Their eyes met. There was no warmth in his downcast gaze. Frozen gray eyes slowly traveled from Esperanza's eyes, across her cheek, down to her chin.
Her body tilted diagonally, and the cold sofa fabric touched her back. Cider, casting a shadow over her white skirt, looked down at Esperanza.
"Don't say such things. As if you would actually stay."
The words he had always kept inside finally burst out. Esperanza's eyes wavered. The light that had been rippling following the yellow lamp couldn't bring itself to meet Cider's gaze. Her free hand gripped the sofa.
"False hope. This kind of thing is cheating."
Cider didn't bother trying to make eye contact. When Esperanza's gaze stopped at a corner of the ceiling, he twisted his expression and gave a crooked smile.
How cruel.
"Esperanza. When everything is over... don't delay and return."
Esperanza, who had forced her stiff lips to move, asked.
"For your sake?"
"For my sake."
Cider, who kissed Esperanza's cheek, slowly got up.
Until the door closed, Esperanza was blankly blinking at the ceiling.
False hope.
Her fingertips dug into the fabric. A cold wind suddenly blew through the open window. The lamp flame flickered. Accordingly, Esperanza's long shadow crossing the room also swayed as if bouncing.
Cider had always shown a firm attitude from the beginning. It was Esperanza who was wavering.
❀⋆｡°✿☆❀✿°｡⋆❀
"Cyrus. Should I be the one to stay here?"
Cold weapons clashed. The building that had been used as a shooting range had long since transformed into Esperanza's training ground. After Cyrus began staying there, it was also used as a sparring ground for the two. The management of this place was often handled by the tight-lipped Butler Howard and, surprisingly, Annie.
Only Annie and Millen in this mansion had even an inkling of the secret of the tremendous sparring the two engaged in. Since Millen's work was generally the kind that couldn't be entrusted to others, the management of the shooting range naturally fell to Annie.
Annie, who had brought a mop, closed the door and watched the two clash in mid-air while diagonally stepping on the railings. The sound of conversation was drowned out by the sound of metal clashing and scraping against each other.
After two more exchanges, Cyrus, who had found some breathing room, answered.
"There's no reason for you to do that. This is my responsibility."
This time, Esperanza's movement crumbled slightly. Just stepping on a position slightly off from where her foot was supposed to land caused the advantage to shift greatly. Esperanza, who had pulled back, reorganized her stance while avoiding Cyrus who was following up.
"It's not for your sake. I'd be fine here too. I just thought about it once."
"Miss Esperanza... you have family waiting for you."
At the same time as those words, with a clang, his sword was knocked away. A sword so enormous that an ordinary maid couldn't lift it even with both hands crashed against the wall and rolled over. Annie froze in surprise.