"Again?"
Cartethyia caught that key word.
Her mouth opened slightly as she looked at Anby, who had emerged from Ray's Tacet Mark.
This was the first time she had ever seen a Echo emerge from a Resonator's Tacet Mark.
"Who is this...?" Cartethyia turned to Ray beside her and asked.
"Anby," Ray introduced. "Due to special circumstances, we're currently in a symbiotic relationship."
"Symbiotic? With a Echo?"
Cartethyia's pupils trembled slightly, reflecting an incredulous glimmer of light.
To her, this was a miracle that overturned her understanding.
The young woman turned again, looking at Anby before her. She reached out her hand, but just as she was about to touch Anby, as if remembering something, she looked at Ray. "Can I… pet it?"
Ray nodded matter-of-factly. "Of course."
"Wait a minute! Why do you need his permission again!" This déjà vu scene made Anby fume, spinning in the air and protesting, "I'm not some pet! I have personality, no, Echo-ality!"
Watching Anby throw a little tantrum, Ray shrugged helplessly and exchanged a knowing glance with Cartethyia.
The young woman stepped forward slightly, her dawn-soft voice flowing gently.
"I'm sorry, Anby, I was too rash. It's just that I've never heard of such a thing before, so I acted rudely. So, kind and adorable little Anby, you'll forgive me, won't you?"
Anby cracked open a small eye, secretly observing the young woman before him. Catching sight of her clear eyes reflecting the morning light, its voice unconsciously softened.
Puffing out its round body with feigned dignity, it said, "Since you apologized so sincerely, I, Anby, will magnanimously forgive you. After all I am the most generous of Echo!"
Hearing Anby's answer, Cartethyia smiled as she reached out, her fingertips gently stroking the fluffy little head. "By the way, what did Anby mean by 'again' just now?"
"Again?" Anby was momentarily confused, then remembered. "Oh, you mean what I said before? It's simple."
It glanced at Ray beside it. "For some reason, every time Anby wakes up, there are unfamiliar girls around him."
The corner of Cartethyia's mouth still held a faint smile. "Is that so? It seems Mr. Ray is quite lucky in love. So then, which number am I?"
Ray stood aside, not intending to interrupt this wasn't exactly a secret.
But the question was...
Why did Cartethyia's tone feel a bit peculiar?
Was it my imagination?
"Which number?" Abby looked thoughtful, starting to count on its little paws. "One, two, three... Oh no, I'm running out of fingers."
Cartethyia lightly twirled a strand of hair around her fingertip. "I didn't expect you to be so popular."
The golden-haired young woman turned gracefully, casting a rather reproachful glance at Ray, though that emotion appeared only for a moment before disappearing behind a composed smile.
"You believe everything it says?"
"Huh, isn't that true?"
"More or less."
"..."
Cartethyia bit her cherry lip, casting Ray a feigned glare. But that little bit of emotion quickly dissipated like morning dew. She looked into the distance with a soft sigh, her gaze gradually blurring, as if piercing through the veil of time and space. "But that's really nice. Ray must have many friends, right? I hope someday I can make new friends too."
Her voice was as light as a feather, yet it carried a weight of a thousand pounds.
"Don't worry, that day will come." Ray walked slowly to her side and gently reassured her. "When that day comes, I'll introduce everyone to you. New friends will be a fresh start."
Cartethyia pressed her lips together in a soft smile. "Is that so? I really look forward to that day. You'll have to introduce everyone to me properly then."
She looked toward the swaying flowers in the distance, a hint of melancholy in her voice. "After twenty years here, I'm going stir-crazy."
Twenty years, one day after another.
The young woman often wondered how she had managed to survive over seven thousand identical dawns and dusks.
Endless scenery, unchanging pastimes, with only the bone-deep loneliness as her constant companion.
Sometimes she even feared that she, in this static space-time, had slowly forgotten how to interact with others.
Fortunately, Ray's appearance had changed everything.
He had made Cartethyia see the possibility of change in a future that had once seemed fixed.
Watching the lingering melancholy in the young woman's eyes, Ray turned to Anby and gently beckoned. "Bring out the books."
"Oh, those books were for Cartethyia? Got it."
Anby nodded, then opened its mouth wide and began to release the frequency waves stored within its body.
In the Sonora realm, frequency was the foundation of all things.
Every speck of dust, every ray of light, was woven from frequencies. As long as one could parse the unique melody of an object, reshaping its form was no longer a miracle though this only applied to inanimate creations.
Because when it came to living things...
Though they too were woven from frequencies, that vibrant flame of the soul could ultimately not be simply replicated.
The frequencies interwove and condensed in the air, gradually taking the shape of books, and finally fell at the young woman's feet.
"So you really brought them in. I thought you were just talking..."
Cartethyia crouched down. The moment her fingertips touched the book covers, a warmth quietly spread through her heart.
That feeling, like the faint light released by dying embers burning in an eternal, endless night.
Though it was insignificant, it was enough to dispel the loneliness that had wrapped around her for so long.
She carefully picked up each book scattered on the ground, her eyes widening with delight. "You brought so many? And... they're all knight novels?"
"Well, do you like them?"
"Yes!" The young woman hugged the books tightly to her chest, tiny flickers of light shining at the corners of her eyes as she looked up. "I will treasure these gifts with all my heart."
"Just treasuring them isn't enough. Books are meant to be read." Ray picked up a knight novel from the ground and suddenly thought of that young man persecuted by the Order of the Deep.
If Locke knew that his work was being recognized by the Saintess, what kind of gratified smile would he show?
"Cartethyia." He gently placed the book in the young woman's open palm. "Let's read this book together. And the author of this novel, I want to share his story with you too."