Lucian continued walking forward along the banks of the Ainsel River.
Clusters of silver fireflies shimmered softly, illuminating the path ahead.
Though this place was considered the river's main current, the water level had long since receded, leaving behind only a shallow stream barely deep enough to cover one's feet.
Vegetation grew thick and abundant everywhere, though there were almost no living creatures to be seen. Most of them had probably already been eaten by the ants.
If not for the suffocating darkness underground and the giant ants lurking nearby, the environment here could honestly be considered one of the rare pleasant places in the Lands Between.
Before long, a Site of Grace appeared ahead of Lucian.
He activated the Grace, but rather than continuing onward immediately, he sat down beside it.
Within the light of Grace, there would be no disturbances.
Lucian wanted to try communicating with Petite Ranni.
If he could establish contact with Ranni now, that would naturally be ideal.
Otherwise, given Ranni's personality, she might deliberately avoid him just to keep him from finding her.
Lucian took out the Petite Ranni doll once more and held it in his palm.
Resting his chin against one hand, he began considering how exactly he could make Ranni respond.
Previously, even using the moon-mark to contact her had yielded nothing. She was probably intentionally ignoring him.
And if Ranni had really left her consciousness within Petite Ranni, then she definitely wouldn't answer easily either.
In that case, he needed some way to stir her emotions enough that she could no longer keep pretending to be an ordinary doll.
The problem was…
Actually pulling that off would probably be extremely difficult.
Players only needed to press the interaction button a few times in-game, and the mute Tarnished would somehow manage to make Ranni appear while blushing furiously.
But Lucian had far more things to consider.
To him, this felt like playing a galgame where all the dialogue choices had suddenly transformed from multiple-choice options into open-ended essay questions.
Honestly, it was pretty challenging.
Still, Lucian decided to give it a try.
After all, he had nothing to lose.
Even if Ranni hadn't attached her consciousness to Petite Ranni, so what?
From Ranni's perspective, it would merely look like he was talking to a doll by himself anyway.
Lucian looked at Petite Ranni before opening his mouth… only to close it again.
…Alright.
Talking to a figurine really was painfully embarrassing.
Even though Lucian had been a hardcore shut-in otaku in his previous life, he hadn't reached the level of talking to collectibles alone in a room.
Petite Ranni's face remained tilted upward, staring directly at him.
Lucian gritted his teeth. In the end, he forcefully suppressed the embarrassment and spoke toward Petite Ranni as though muttering to himself.
"I really didn't expect Ranni to leave behind a doll like this…"
"What exactly does this even mean?"
"But it's crafted incredibly well. It perfectly recreates that unique beauty of hers."
—
Somewhere hidden within the Lands Between, inside a cavern no one could ever find, Ranni sat quietly atop a smooth stone.
At this moment, Ranni was completely restless.
Her doll body, usually somewhat stiff in movement, was now unusually nimble. Her fingers twisted around each other nonstop while her toes curled involuntarily.
Because she felt like she had just discovered a secret side of Lucian that nobody else knew about.
Lucian…
Actually talked to dolls when he was alone.
And he even seemed to be complimenting Petite Ranni's appearance.
Listening to the voice coming from the tiny doll, Ranni suddenly began regretting why she had intentionally left that doll body behind in the first place.
Originally, she had simply thought that if Lucian arrived, then leaving behind one of the dolls she had personally made could serve as a keepsake, a memory commemorating their pleasant cooperation.
And if Lucian never came…
Then the doll wasn't particularly important anyway. It could simply be abandoned there…
…Alright.
Ranni admitted that wasn't actually how she felt inside.
If Lucian failed to follow after her, then Petite Ranni would remain there forever, ignored and forgotten.
And Ranni would feel awful about it.
At first, when she glimpsed that unreliable fragment of fate, Ranni had strongly resisted it.
She was absolutely certain that nobody would stand beside her. The idea of having a companion, let alone a consort, was impossible.
And it certainly wouldn't be Lucian.
But gradually, over time…
Certain fantasies had begun appearing in her heart.
She found herself wondering what things would look like if that hazy glimpse of fate truly became reality.
During the time they had spent together, Ranni had developed a considerable fondness for Lucian.
That was why she had deliberately left behind her doll.
And while Lucian had indeed found Petite Ranni successfully…
Talking to the doll like this was simply too embarrassing.
Were there really things he couldn't say directly to her face?
…Oh right.
She was the one deliberately ignoring him at the moment.
Ranni sighed softly, though inwardly she also felt somewhat happy.
She had been paying close attention to everything happening around the tiny doll.
After saying farewell, Ranni had departed alone to walk the dark path that belonged solely to her.
She and the Two Fingers had cursed one another, and now she journeyed onward to kill them.
Quite some time had already passed since her departure, and she had made some progress. Earlier, she had merely been resting.
Which was precisely why, the moment she sensed someone touching the doll she had left behind, she was able to immediately project her consciousness there.
Originally, Ranni had assumed it would be another accidental disturbance from ants like before and had intended to drive them away.
Instead, she discovered that the one touching the doll was the very person she had been waiting for all along.
And so she silently observed him until the moment Lucian finally spoke to the doll.
Even so, Ranni had absolutely no intention of revealing herself.
Lucian's voice continued:
"I can't contact Ranni right now. I wonder how things are progressing on her end."
"If I can't reach her, then after everything's over, I don't even know whether she'll just run off with the Fingerslayer Blade…"
Ranni raised an eyebrow.
What a joke.
Whether as "Witch" Ranni or "Lunar Princess" Ranni, she always kept her word.
For Lucian to question something like that meant he really didn't trust her enough, despite how deeply they had already cooperated.
Then again, it made sense.
After all, she herself had been the one to warn him from the very beginning to stay wary in the deceitful Lands Between.
But still…
Having that caution directed toward herself felt incredibly irritating!
On the other side, Lucian fell silent for a moment before continuing:
"Sigh. There are a lot of things I normally can't say out loud, so I'll just pretend you're here and use this opportunity."
"To be honest, I've never doubted your commitment to our agreement."
"Even if something unexpected happened, I know you'd still find a way to return the Fingerslayer Blade."
"I'm just not sure whether you'll succeed in your revenge… or rather…"
"I'm worried about your safety."
Hearing those words, Ranni froze completely.
Frost rapidly spread throughout the cavern.
The massive stone beneath her instantly froze solid and cracked apart, exposing her panic without the slightest concealment.
Ranni parted her lips, her fingers trembling slightly.
Then Lucian's voice echoed once more from Petite Ranni, dragging Ranni's chaotic thoughts back to reality.
This time, Ranni listened with complete focus.
"At first, I only approached you because I wanted your cooperation to achieve my own goals…"
"But somewhere along the way, I started to notice your unique charm."
"I never expected that I'd gradually become drawn to you."
"You always act cold and distant, like you're keeping everyone at arm's length, but deep down you care about others more than anyone."
"Even burdened by sin, even when you carry yourself with dignity and composure… in the end, you're still just a delicate, adorable girl who constantly forces herself to shoulder everything alone."
Hearing Lucian's words, Ranni pursed her lips quietly.
"Sometimes I can't help wondering if there's any way I could help you."
"If that happened, then maybe you wouldn't need to carry everything on your own anymore."
"But in the end… it feels like the things I managed to help with were pretty limited."
Ranni closed her eyes and gently shook her head.
In truth, it was the exact opposite.
Without Lucian's involvement, she might never have been able to take even the very first step.
After all, the first obstacle had been defeating her brother, General Radahn, undoing the shackles upon the stars so fate could begin to move once more.
Blaiid alone could never have accomplished that.
And afterward, it had also been Lucian who personally retrieved the Fingerslayer Blade for her.
Even so, Ranni still didn't control Petite Ranni to respond.
Seeing that she remained silent, Lucian let out a faint sigh.
Everything he had just said was genuinely from the heart, even if part of it had also been meant to lure Ranni out.
Since even that failed to provoke a response, Lucian decided he had no choice but to escalate things further.
And this time, he would employ an especially vicious tactic.
"While I was in the Land of Shadow, I learned many unexpected things. Some of them even involved you."
"…Actually, forget it. Even if I say it here, you probably can't hear me anyway."
"I'll tell you next time we meet."
The moment Lucian abruptly cut himself off mid-topic, Ranni immediately clenched her teeth in frustration.
He had deliberately brought up something incredibly intriguing, only to stop right at the important part.
How infuriating!
People who spoke halfway and then refused to continue deserved to be punished severely!
Ranni took a deep breath.
At some point, frost had already spread across the entire cavern, and icy mist flowed into the hollow shell of her doll body.
Though it accomplished nothing, the action still helped calm her down somewhat.
Calm down… calm down…
Besides, information about the Land of Shadow had never been part of her original plans anyway.
Right.
She'd just pretend she never heard it.
Meanwhile, on Lucian's side, he quietly waited for Ranni's reaction after intentionally stopping mid-sentence.
When she still refused to take the bait, he sighed inwardly.
Even those painfully embarrassing confessions earlier hadn't managed to lure Ranni out, so expecting the "stop talking halfway" trick to work really had been wishful thinking.
"Sigh… the information shocked me so much that I honestly can't hold it in."
"Your mother's younger sister, the 'Twin Moon Knight' Rellana, is actually in the Land of Shadow."
Ranni froze.
Her mind immediately began racing through Lucian's words.
'Mine own mother's sister…?'
'How is it that I knew naught of this?'
The revelation was shocking, but not enough to truly shake her resolve.
Setting aside whether the information was even true, killing the Two Fingers and completing her revenge remained the most important thing.
Ranni was very clear on her priorities right now.
Whether it was her mother's younger sister, her supposed aunt, or the mysterious Land of Shadow itself, she would not divert her attention toward any of it for the time being.
Perhaps after finally settling everything, she might attempt to enter and explore that hidden land.
But absolutely not now.
—
Seeing that he still couldn't force Ranni to appear, Lucian sighed and was already preparing to give up.
Maybe if he started saying cheesy romantic lines now, Ranni would finally lose her composure and appear out of sheer embarrassment.
But Lucian genuinely couldn't bring himself to say something like that.
Talking to a doll by itself was already strange enough.
If he started saying weird pickup lines on top of that, it would simply surpass the limits of what he could tolerate.
Lucian sighed again.
Maybe Ranni's consciousness really wasn't inside Petite Ranni after all?
"Hmm…"
Looking at the neatly seated Petite Ranni in his palm, Lucian suddenly had a bold idea.
After obtaining a figurine, what was the first thing people usually did?
Naturally, they examined it carefully from every angle.
Lucian had already appreciated most of it thoroughly.
However, there remained one absolutely crucial area for any figurine that he had yet to inspect.
The underside of the skirt.
No one could resist the instinctive urge to check beneath a figure's skirt after obtaining one.
If Ranni really was present, then this would definitely force her out.
And if she wasn't there…
Then at least it would satisfy Lucian's curiosity.
Just how detailed was this Petite Ranni figure?
He would personally verify it.
Lucian swallowed hard as he slowly reached toward Petite Ranni's legs.
His movements were deliberately slow, giving Ranni ample time to react.
And just as expected, a burst of icy mist suddenly spread outward, completely obscuring Lucian's vision.
"To think the vaunted Rex Solis, of all souls, would lay bare conduct so base and graceless…"
"Thou bringest shame upon Lady Ranni."
As the frost dispersed, Petite Ranni was now standing upright in Lucian's palm, glaring directly at him with an expression full of embarrassment and anger.
Lucian suddenly remembered his original thought.
'Find a way to stir Ranni emotionally so she can't keep pretending to be a doll.'
'Actually doing that will probably be difficult.'
…Was it really difficult?
Lucian smiled toward Petite Ranni.
"Oh? So you really were listening after all."
Petite Ranni's eyes widened as realization struck her.
Everything Lucian had done earlier had been entirely calculated to lure her into speaking.
Ranni let out a helpless sigh.
"And when, pray tell… didst thou perceive mine presence?"
Lucian smiled.
"Honestly? I never actually realized it."
"I just felt like you were the kind of person who'd do something like this."
Seeing herself completely exposed by Lucian, Petite Ranni covered her face.
"…Ahh, what a wearying affair. Never did I foresee thee to be so hopelessly clingy."
"I had thought thee merely possessed of some curious penchant for prattling unto dolls in solitude. Yet now I see… thou wert most deliberate in thy attempts to draw me forth."
"Truly, thou art…"
…Wait.
Once Ranni realized Lucian had known she was there the entire time, she blinked.
Then suddenly reacted.
"So then… the words thou spakest earlier…"
Recalling Lucian's earlier words, Ranni paused.
She desperately wanted to ask whether everything he said about her was truly genuine.
But there was absolutely no way she could bring herself to ask that aloud.
"…Ahh! Cast it from thy mind!"
"Never had I intended for any soul to behold this form. Yet now that thou hast laid eyes upon it… think not thyself permitted to depart unpunished."
"I would ask a service of thee──"
"Aid me in seeking out, and bringing ruin unto, the baleful shadow that haunteth this land."
"…Thou hast brought shame upon Lady Ranni. I shall not suffer thee to refuse."