Esper still pressed her hand against the hairpin, as if pressing down on a wound that had never healed, but had merely scabbed over.
Now, Rafina had ripped that scab wide open.
Blood welled up from within, scalding hot—so hot that she trembled all over, so hot that she could no longer maintain her disguise.
“What do you know... You don't know anything...”
Her voice grew softer and hoarser.
“Best friends? You say I'm your best friend? Yeah, I used to think so too. But what did you do, Fina? What did you do?”
Tears rolled down from her eyes, which had reverted to their original crimson.
Standing behind her, Eladia felt her trembling. After a moment of hesitation, she took a step forward to stand in front of Esper, turned around, and gently wiped away her tears with her fingers, bit by bit.
Rafina stared at the two in front of her, her mouth hanging open. Whatever she wanted to say ultimately crumbled into fragments.
“Nia... I... I...”
Esper gently held Eladia's hand and wiped the remaining tears away.
“Did you even give me a chance to explain that day?! Did you listen when I told you I didn't betray you?! I was pinned to the ground on my knees, thinking only of explaining everything to you once you calmed down, but what did you do?! Do you really not remember any of it?!”
She stared at Rafina, her eyes still red, looking as though she had just woken up from a high fever.
“You thought I betrayed you! You thought I chose my sister! You felt pain, grievance, and hatred toward me because you thought your best friend betrayed you, but what about me?!”
Eladia had never seen Esper make such an expression.
Not even Rafina had ever seen it.
“You considered me your best friend, but did you think I didn't consider you mine?! Did you not know how much it would hurt me when you did those things?!”
The severed blood covenant, a pain engraved into the depths of her soul.
The despair of learning the truth, the sheer helplessness of being left all alone.
She had bottled it up for far too long.
“You kept saying it was all for me! That you wanted to do things for me! That you cared about me! In the end, when something actually happened, the only one you cared about was yourself! If you really cared about me that much, you should have let me finish speaking back then! You should have kept our blood covenant! You shouldn't have left me without saying a single word!”
Tears welled up once more.
“Did you not know... just how important you were to me...?”
Rafina's mouth opened slightly.
“I thought about you every single day. Every time I felt miserable, I wondered where you were, and if you were doing well.
How far has the Demon King's curse progressed? Would you end up like Gloom, writhing on the ground in so much pain that you couldn't get up? Did you find a better friend while I was gone? Would you come look for me? And say sorry to me?”
She violently ripped the hairpin from her hair.
“Nothing! There was nothing! Even now, you haven't offered a single apology!”
Smack.
The hairpin, bought and gifted when they were seven years old to prove their connection and bond—the only thing she had kept over the past year to remember those times—was thrown.
It struck Rafina right in the face.
“Ni... Nia... That's not it... I just wanted to wait a little before explaining... It's not supposed to be like this...”
“What do you mean 'not supposed to be like this'?! Then you tell me, how exactly is it supposed to be?!”
“Why do I have to say it?! You clearly like me, don't you?! Just like I like you!!!”
Rafina screamed back.
Eladia was stunned, her gaze darting back and forth between their distorted faces.
“Aren't these all supposed to be temporary?! You left me, but this is not the end of our story! Court Head Eliza shared updates about your condition with me every day! And I shared the latest intel about you with her! Just a while ago, your life signs vanished for a moment, didn't they?! Do you have any idea how panicked I was?!
I thought about you every single day! The hairpin you kept for me, which fell to the ground because of that day! The dental braces and dress you left behind the first time you left me when we were kids! Every single memory and trace you left with me, I kept all of them! Because I believed we would meet again sooner or later!
And then we met! You look thinner than before, and you have another woman by your side—none of that matters! You're still wearing that hairpin, which means you still remember me! You haven't let go of me at all!”
Her voice grew increasingly shrill, like a dying soul desperately calling out for hope.
“Why are you doing this to me?! Since you still can't forget me, and I'm standing right in front of you now, then reach out your hand and hold me!”
Tears poured from her eyes.
Meeting again after a year, the two of them finally poured out everything hidden deep in their hearts at this very moment.
Eladia could feel Esper trembling.
Then, she heard Rafina speak again.
“Is it because of this woman?! Because she is here, you've abandoned me?”
Suddenly, Eladia felt Esper stop trembling.
“No.”
Her voice regained its composure, though the hoarseness from her recent screaming remained.
“Fina, you were the one who abandoned me first.”
“...What?”
“Fina, I want to forget you, and I want to like you just like before. But I can't. I can never do it again.”
Suddenly, she smiled with a sense of relief.
“Your head really is filled with nothing but yourself, Fina.”
Rafina's eyes went wide, her eyelids twitching uncontrollably.
“That's why I hate you, Fina.”
She heard her say:
“I will never forgive you.”
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