Snowflakes fell.
At the top of Einzbern Castle.
A beautiful silver-haired girl, with black wings on her back, wore a gorgeous Lolita-style dress.
She danced gracefully amidst the falling snowflakes, her dress swaying with her movements, her silver hair fluttering, like a princess from a fairy tale.
"...This is a Rozen Maiden?"
Beside her, Irisviel watched this scene, her ruby-like pupils shimmering with longing. What a beautiful sight this was, in this castle far from the mundane world, an exquisite girl, not like a mortal, dancing in the snow.
At this moment, reality seemed to intertwine with fantasy, that impossible fairy tale, stepping from dreams into reality.
"Mm... Suigintou is the first Homunculus of the Rozen Maiden!"
Aozaki Touko nodded with a hint of pride, a pride for being able to create such an excellent Homunculus, like a parent whose child has been praised.
"In the future... the representative of the highest Homunculus-making Magician in the entire Magician world will be my Rozen Maiden!"
These were very confident words, full of anticipation for the future.
Although her created Suigintou was not yet complete, it was undoubtedly an extremely powerful Magician artifact. With the financial support of Einzbern, this Homunculus had been further refined, and was very close to complete.
"If it's Touko, I believe they will definitely be the greatest masterpieces in the future. I am absolutely certain of this!"
Irisviel smiled gently, a wife's unreserved trust in her husband, without the slightest doubt that the Rozen Maiden could become the greatest masterpiece among Homunculus girls.
"...You could at least contradict me a little~"
Hearing this, Aozaki Touko smiled, then tossed her long hair, revealing a bright smile, like the gentle morning light.
"The next Rozen Maiden's name is Shinku. Do you want to witness her birth with me?"
"Please, let me see!"
Irisviel nodded quickly.
Seeing this, Aozaki Touko smiled slightly, then waved to the dancing Suigintou. Suigintou immediately stopped dancing, rose, and flew behind Touko, like a guardian spirit, her black wings seemingly transforming into a shield... Japan
Misaki City
Drizzling rain was falling, and dark clouds covered the sky.
"..."
Aozaki Aoko held a red umbrella and walked step by step towards the hill. She was going to see a witch, like a witch from a fairy tale, the kind who could brew strange potions and cast peculiar curses.
However, there was one point that needed correction here.
The person she was going to see was neither an old hag nor a malicious villain.
It was an undeniably beautiful young girl.
She was beautiful enough to be the object of any young boy's admiration and affection... The sound of rain gradually lessened.
Aozaki Aoko closed her red umbrella, then tilted her head slightly to look.
An isolated Western-style house appeared in her sight, surrounded by towering iron fences covered in thorny plants.
It was clear this was an old house, perfectly fulfilling people's fantasies of mystery, as a house like this existing deep in the mountains was inherently strange.
"...Arisu, I'm here for you!"
She walked to the door and knocked twice very quickly.
Aozaki Aoko pushed open the door with practiced ease, then, almost without hesitation, walked towards the living room, pushed open the living room door, and in the expanse of her vision...
A stunningly beautiful young girl sat on the sofa, reading an ancient book, enveloped in an elegant and serene aura of a literary girl.
However, the girl's action of turning her head broke this aesthetic, as she looked back at Aozaki Aoko, her delicate little face filled with an unwelcoming expression.
"Even a reply wouldn't be this fast!"
With a slight sigh, she closed the grimoire in her hand. Kujou Alice said coolly, neither welcoming nor driving her away.
She didn't want to have too much contact with Aozaki Aoko.
This girl belonged to a different world from her, and she wasn't one to be overly intimate with people.
However, this girl was her friend's younger sister.
She couldn't just heartlessly drive her away.
Moreover, though she wanted to deny it, this girl had become quite entangled with her during this time, which was evident from her polite but meaningless knock on the door.
She was already very familiar with this place.
"...The reason for coming here isn't just letters!"
Aozaki Aoko tossed her long hair, walked over and sat down beside her, smiling slightly with her head tilted: "I just wanted to come and chat with you!"
"...We don't have anything to talk about."
Kujou Alice said coolly, while pouring a cup of black tea for Aoko.
They were people from two completely different worlds; neither their worldviews nor their knowledge bases could intersect. It was difficult for them to chat like friends.
They could hardly find any common topics.
"Hmm... tell me how my sister met you?"
Aozaki Aoko said as if she had prepared for this, and Kujou Alice, hearing this, stiffened slightly, then picked up her black tea and took a sip.
"...Actually, there's not much to say. When my father brought me to visit your grandfather back then, Touko just happened to be there."
Meeting through the elders' connections is an experience almost everyone has.
However, she still remembered the look in Touko's eyes when she saw her back then—it was like finding prey.
At the time, she even felt as if she had been targeted by a goshawk.
If one were to deduce based on common sense, that look should have been one of joy at finding a peer, or curiosity and inquiry, or even vigilance.
But her intuition told her it was not so.
"Arisu, are you omitting a tiny detail?"
Aozaki Aoko took a sip of black tea, her voice carrying a hint of teasing. She keenly perceived something interesting hidden within.
"...Now it's my turn to ask ~"
Without answering, Kujou Alice retorted: "With such a brilliant sister, don't you feel jealous?"
As her words fell, the atmosphere paused slightly.
"...Do you envy a god?"
Aozaki Aoko countered with a question, then continued to herself: "Sometimes, because the gap is too large, the emotion of jealousy doesn't even have fertile ground to be born."
"My sister has already self-studied university courses, is a well-known genius in the Magician world, and has even made breakthrough progress in cancer research..."
"To be jealous and compete with such a genius... I think it would definitely be asking for trouble!"
Yes, this was already beyond the scope of what effort could surpass. If one were to force themselves to keep up, the only result would be severe injury.
Regarding this, there was almost no room for doubt.