When Bronya found Seele, she was still lost in this pit of despair and self-blame.
Veliona wanted to comfort her, but she opened her mouth and found she had no idea what to say.
After all, from her perspective, she had made a complete fool of herself this time. Not only had she caused a huge ruckus, but she'd gained nothing in the end, only to leave a complete mess in her wake.
But to just play dead and stay silent was even more unbearable. Finally, she gritted her teeth and, throwing caution to the wind, said, "I'm sorry, Seele. I was too impulsive. Pull yourself together. In the next loop, we'll..."
"The next loop?"
Seele mumbled the words, instinctively curling into an even tighter ball. The ten fingers gripping her shoulders turned white from the pressure, her expression growing more bewildered and fearful.
"It's already so late... D-do we... really have another chance? Bronya Oneechan... Sin..."
"..."
Veliona froze, then found herself at a loss for words.
That's right. In the previous loop, it had all ended by dusk. But now, the night was deep, the sun had long set, yet she was still here.
In other words, this disastrous mess she was in was likely to continue.
"Damn it..." Veliona thought furiously. She hated fate's cruel jokes.
"I'm the one who hurt her..."
Seele's self-blame and sadness intensified. She had no idea how she was going to explain what happened to Sin when Bronya Oneechan returned from her search.
Would Bronya blame her? Even hate her?
Although the Bronya here wasn't her real sister, she still found that consequence unbearable.
Just as she was trapped in this spiral of fear and self-recrimination, she suddenly heard the sound of hurried footsteps and equally rushed breathing approaching rapidly. Her heart skipped a beat—how could Seele not recognize whose running footsteps those were?
"Seele!"
The door was pushed open with a Bang!, and there, as expected, was Bronya. Her eyes were filled with shock and incomprehension as she looked at Seele cowering in the corner.
"Why... why did Sin do that?"
Cocolia had already left the orphanage with Sin. Bronya had only heard from a few of the other children on duty that Sin had beaten Seele senseless, and then Mother Cocolia had told them to throw her in the confinement room.
"Seele was beaten up really badly!" the child had said. Seele was already frail, and when they were treating her wounds, the large bruises and dense web of marks were a shocking sight.
They didn't understand why something like this had happened, and neither did Bronya. Seele returning safely should have been a good thing. Why would Sin do something like this, and be so heavy-handed?
"Bronya...Oneechan"
The shocked look in Bronya's eyes made Seele's heart race with panic. It wasn't until she was gently pulled into a hug that she finally broke down and sobbed.
"I'm sorry, Bronya Oneechan... I'm so sorry..."
Oneechan is still so gentle, but I've become so awful, so selfish...
At the end of the day, this was all because of her other self. But wasn't her other self still a part of her?
"It's okay, it's okay, Seele..."
Bronya didn't know the details of what had happened, but she wasn't in a hurry to ask. She just gently held the girl's small, warm head, softly comforting her as if she were a frightened rabbit, and let out a long sigh.
"You came back safely. That's all that matters..."
She had just parted ways with Lin Wei. Only three minutes ago, she had been worried sick about her missing little sister, even preparing for the worst. But now, she was back, safe. That simple fact alone was enough to make her feel as if her soul had been saved.
Nothing else mattered. In this moment, her eyes and heart were filled with only this lost-and-found sister who had been on her mind all day. Everything else had been pushed to the back of her mind.
Including Lin Wei, whom she had left outside the orphanage gates, probably still waiting for her. He had been completely forgotten...
It was only natural. The reason she had sought his cooperation was to find the missing Seele as quickly as possible. But now, Seele was lying quietly in her arms. Her goal had been achieved, so he had naturally become irrelevant.
"I'm sorry, Bronya Oneechan... Sin, she..."
The gentler Bronya was, the more guilt and sorrow Seele felt.
"It's all Seele's fault. If it wasn't for me, Sin wouldn't have..."
"...I know."
The arms holding the girl stiffened slightly. Bronya's mind cleared a little, and her spirits dampened.
"I know. Mother Cocolia took her away..."
A feeling of things changing beyond recognition, as if in another lifetime, welled up in the hearts of these three young girls. It made Bronya feel even more pity for the frail girl in her arms.
She had just been beaten black and blue by Sin, yet she was still worried about her safety. It was truly...
---||---
Bronya shook her head. She knew this wasn't the time to talk about this.
She gently pushed Seele up, wiped the tears from her cheeks, and said softly, "You haven't eaten, have you? I'll go to the kitchen and get you something. Then you can tell me what happened today, okay?"
"..."
Seele looked like she wanted to say something, but in the end, she just nodded hesitantly. "Okay."
"Alright, I'll be right back."
Bronya helped her lie back down on the bed, then left the room, gently closing the door behind her. Standing outside, she couldn't help but fall silent again, overcome by a strange exhaustion.
"Hah..."
Her despondency lasted less than a second before Bronya shook herself awake and pulled herself together.
A complex mix of feelings swirled within her—relief that Seele was back safely, worry for Sin's uncertain future, and confusion as to why they had clashed at a time like this... She walked silently toward the kitchen.
"Who's there?"
Just as she reached the kitchen door, she heard a rustling sound from inside. Having been on a rollercoaster of emotions all day, Bronya was instantly on alert. She pushed the door open, flipped on the light, and before she could make another move, she saw the source of the noise and froze.
"It's you..."
"Yeah, it's me."
Lin Wei, who had tossed his bulky bearskin in a corner and was now leaning against a warm stove wolfing down food from a huge bowl, showed no guilt for being a thief.
He simply raised a hand in a wave, a half-eaten steamed potato still in his palm, and said without looking up, "I waited outside for ages, but you didn't come back. So I decided to come in and find something to eat first. I'm starving."
As he spoke, he marveled to himself—compared to that bland, greasy roasted bear meat, even plain steamed potatoes tasted like a gourmet delicacy!
"You..."
Bronya hadn't expected him to be such a scoundrel.
"Don't worry, I snuck in. Didn't alert anyone, didn't trigger any alarms."
Cocolia's orphanage didn't provide children, so Lin Wei had to settle for pointing a finger at the newly lit lamp on the ceiling. "See? I didn't even turn on the light."
"...As long as it doesn't cause any misunderstandings." Bronya sighed in relief, walked in, and grumbled, "You... can you really be a thief with such a straight face?"
All you know is eat, eat, eat! Why don't you just eat until you burst!
Grumbling, she walked toward the cupboard. She still had to prepare dinner for Seele.
"I wanted to, but I don't know when the next loop will start, so I wanted to grab some energy and warmth while I could." Lin Wei stood up and walked over.
He helped the struggling Bronya, who was on her tiptoes but still couldn't reach, get a red sausage from a high shelf and handed it to her with a helpless smile. "Maybe the next time I come here, even you will need my help. After all..."
When the world "reloaded its save," a friend he had just made would become a stranger again. It wasn't a pleasant thought.
"...Loop?"
Bronya was about to thank him when the word made her stiffen. The memories she had pushed aside in her joy of reuniting with Seele resurfaced, morphing into an indescribable panic and rage. Her gray eyes glared at him hatefully as she ground out, "But Seele is already back!"
You said the so-called "loop" was tied to Seele's safety, but she's safe and sound in her bed at the orphanage right now! Your words are bankrupt! What else do you have to say?!
"Ah, I heard. Congratulations, Bronya."
Lin Wei looked at Bronya apologetically. After a moment's thought, he didn't try to argue. He just smiled and said, "Just pretend everything I said before was nonsense. Don't worry, I'll leave after a short rest. I won't stay here and disturb your privacy and your lives."
With that, he waved his hand as if to say goodbye, then walked back to his spot and continued to devour the rest of his food.
Wasting food was a shame, especially in this difficult season. He had to refuel while he could.
"..."
Bronya had expected Lin Wei to keep arguing, had even prepared her counterarguments for his nonsensical claims, but he didn't.
For some reason, after Lin Wei so readily admitted he was talking nonsense, she felt an empty void in her heart. She couldn't help but wonder if maybe, just maybe, everything he said was true. Maybe she would wake up tomorrow and have forgotten everything, and be back to yesterday...
She absentmindedly prepared a simple meal, not exchanging another word with Lin Wei. Then she picked up the tray and walked out. At the door, she hesitated for a moment before turning off the light for him, to prevent others from disturbing him.
Click. The world was plunged back into darkness.
"Sigh..." Lin Wei paused for a moment, then paid it no mind.
"I thought you would try to defend yourself," Schrödinger said. "Even if Seele has returned, that only proves your previous theory was wrong. It doesn't fundamentally negate anything."
"Of course I know that, but there's no need." Lin Wei said calmly. "Her goal was just to find Seele, not to learn the truth of this world. Now that her goal is achieved, that's enough for her."
"Is that so? So that's how you see it. From a humanitarian perspective, that is indeed true," Schrödinger said, understanding. Then she reminded him, "But you've already shown her the view from outside the cave."
When they met on the snowy plains, Lin Wei had already shown Bronya things from another world, told her the truth about this world's loop. To so casually dismiss it now—how could that be possible?
It was better not to deceive oneself...
"A person who has seen the light will indeed be unwilling to return to the darkness. But... for Bronya, Seele is that light. As for me? Heh..."
Lin Wei laughed self-deprecatingly but said no more.
Perhaps everything right now was just a fleeting dream. But so what?
The saying "a single word can awaken a dreamer" works because the dreamer, upon waking, can return to their own world.
But what if this "dream" was his world? If he "woke up," where could he go?
To prattle on about some untimely "truth" in the ears of such a person was both cruel and foolish.
Whether it was self-deception or burying one's head in the sand, her Seele was here, her home was here, and that was enough.
"Sufficiently objective, and quite empathetic. Those are indeed excellent qualities. It's just..." Schrödinger commented at a leisurely pace. "To so casually and single-handedly decide another's fate, while it's undeniable that you mean well... has anyone ever told you... that this kind of behavior and mindset, to a certain extent, can be considered almost identical to Otto's—arrogant?"
Her tone was as placid as ever, but her words were like a venomous snake.
"..."
Lin Wei froze. He wanted to retort but was momentarily silent.
Bronya, of course, was not eavesdropping at the door.
Her mind a whirlwind of thoughts, she carried the tray toward Seele's confinement room. This time, without Sin's troublemaking and sarcastic remarks, she even felt a little lonely.
Sin had been taken away by Mother Cocolia. Of the eight seniors who had undergone this experiment in the past, not a single one had survived.
Though Sin was eccentric and always caused trouble, Bronya didn't hate her. Because on other matters, the two of them always reached a silent understanding...
The thought of losing her made Bronya's heart ache.
Maybe, if a loop really does exist, it's a good thing? Bronya thought wistfully. At least I could ask her to her face why she did that to Seele...
Then she found the thought ridiculous.
Heh, if that were the case, I would have completely forgotten everything about today. So how could I even ask? Forget it, I'll just ask Seele... But what's the point of that?
Bronya was lost. She couldn't stop thinking about that "loop"...
She pushed open the door to the confinement room, gently pulled a chair over to the bedside, helped Seele sit up again, and carefully fed her small bites of this late dinner, still somewhat absentminded.
"Bronya Oneechan, Seele can do it herself..."
Bronya's tired and somewhat vacant gaze made Seele's heart ache. She took the small spoon from her hand and sipped the borscht from the bowl, bite by tiny bite.
Both lost in their own thoughts, an awkward silence filled the room, broken only by the soft scrape of the metal spoon against the ceramic bowl.
"Sorry, Seele, I spaced out for a bit," Bronya was the first to snap out of it.
"It's okay, Bronya Oneechan..." Seele said in a small voice, her head bowed. "I know this is all my fault..."
"..."
Bronya shook her head. Wanting to both vent her own frustrations and distract the despondent Seele, she asked out of the blue, "Seele, if you woke up tomorrow and found you were back to yesterday, and had forgotten everything about today, what would you do?"
It was meant to be a half-joking, half-serious question. The "real" part was for her, the "fake" part was for Seele, the listener. She thought the oblivious Seele would only find her "imaginative" hypothesis strange.
She never expected...
Clatter.
Seele's whole body went rigid. The spoon in her hand fell to the floor as Bronya finished speaking. She looked at Bronya as if she had seen a ghost.
"Bronya Oneechan, you... could it be..."