Morning came. Last night, Subaru had wrapped her left arm in bandages and gone to sleep. Though "sleep" wasn't quite the right word. Every time she closed her eyes, the coldness of her left hand gnawed at her. Fingers without sensation. Skin like stone. Beneath the bandages, something was quietly advancing—that feeling kept her awake the entire night. The sound of a chair scraping in the dining hall echoed down the corridor. Subaru pulled on a long-sleeved jacket over her long sleeves and entered the dining hall. So the arm wouldn't show. So no one would notice. So everything would look normal. The moment she sat down. The sleeve of her jacket slipped. Gray skin was clearly visible from her elbow. A voice came from the corridor. "[surprised]Subaru!" Footsteps thundered. Emilias burst into the dining hall. Silver hair swayed as his 175cm frame stumbled against a chair, coming to stand before Subaru. The color drained from his face. Pale violet and silver mismatched eyes locked onto Subaru's arm. "[crying]Why... why didn't you tell me!!" His voice was on the verge of tears. Trembling even as it wavered. "Wait, Emilias, this is—" "[crying]It's reached your elbow. In just one night... You've been carrying this alone the whole time!?" A hand reached out. Emilias's hand moved to gently wrap around Subaru's petrified left arm. Hesitant, yet desperate. Then. A sound at the dining hall entrance. Thud. It was Leon. His fist against the wall. Crimson short hair with black mesh. Red vertical slit eyes stared at Subaru's arm. Thick brows furrowed tightly. The small horn on his forehead didn't move an inch. "[sad]...I couldn't protect you." His voice was low. Emotion suppressed, wrung out. His knuckles against the wall had gone white. Subaru looked between their faces. Emilias's eyes on the verge of tears. Leon's jaw clenched in profile. Both faces showed they were thinking of Subaru. That warmth pierced her chest alongside guilt. She couldn't say anything. --- Everyone was gathered in the great hall. Bianca stood at the center of the long table. White hair tied back, forty-two years old, a mage—even days after inhabiting a male body, the sharpness in those golden eyes hadn't changed. The worn grimoire in her right hand was gripped slightly tighter today. On the table lay a fragment of stone tablet. What had glowed pale blue yesterday now shone a dark red. It flickered irregularly. "[serious]Everyone, show me an arm or a leg. Something." "[surprised]Huh? Why?" "[cold]Unpleasant as it is, I've been thinking all night. The petrification might not be limited to Subaru." Golden eyes swept across everyone in turn. Bianca held the fragment and approached Leon. She brought it near his right leg. The fragment flashed red. Leon's right shin. The skin had turned a faint gray. "[surprised]...You've got to be kidding." "[serious]Next." Emilias's left hand. From the fingertips to the first knuckle, gray as well. Emilias stared at his own fingers, then ran his right hand through his silver hair—and stopped midway. "[surprised]...Well." That was all. Words wouldn't come. Bianca brought the fragment to her own right ear last. It glowed. The edge of her right ear was faintly gray. "[cold]...Me too. Well, it can't be helped." Her tone was as cold as always. But her fingertips trembled, just barely. "[scared]Everyone... everyone's petrifying!?" "[serious]Subaru wasn't the only one hiding the truth. Everyone was hiding. That's why everyone's beginning to turn to stone." The great hall fell silent. Ram entered. Pink short hair. Her expression was hard. "[serious]There is something I must inform you of. A messenger from the Royal Selection Administration is heading this way. Word has arrived." Emilias's face went blank. "[sad]...A messenger from the Royal Selection Administration." "[serious]Word reached Arram Village. That a Royal Selection candidate has been cursed. It was only a matter of time before the capital heard." Emilias stepped back toward the wall. His back pressed against it. He didn't move after that. "[sad]It's because of me... If they learn a Royal Selection candidate is cursed, my qualifications will—" "[cold]Wait. Don't think about that right now." "[sad]But everyone—" "[cold]The petrification comes first." That moment. Leon stood up. He tried to step forward with his right foot—and it slid out from under him. Crash!! He fell hard to the floor. Everyone watched. Leon dragged his petrifying right leg as he tried to stand, saying "[angry]No problem." Ram spoke in a flat tone. "[cold]There are only problems, I'm afraid." "[scared]Leon, can you stand!?" "[angry]I can stand." He couldn't. He was on his knees, stubbornly gripping the table with his hands. "[cold]You sit down. Honestly." The heavy air lightened, just slightly. But then it grew heavy again. --- Afternoon came. In the corridor, Leon stood before Emilias. "[cold]Because you're a Royal Selection candidate, this has gotten this big. Don't be near Subaru." Subaru heard from around the corner and immediately jumped between them. "[angry]Leon, stop it." Leon turned. Red vertical slit eyes looked at Subaru. "[angry]Hurting Emilias isn't protecting me." "[cold]I'll do anything to protect you." His voice was unwavering. Not a shred of doubt. Subaru's words caught in her throat. (Why. Why don't you hesitate at all?) She looked at Emilias. The silver-haired young man's lips were pressed firmly shut. He was hurt. She could see it. But he said nothing. Couldn't say it, or wouldn't— (I can't sort out my feelings for either of them.) Then her petrified left arm throbbed. In a place without sensation, yet the weight came through. Reality clamped down on emotion. "[gentle]...I'm fine, you know." Emilias spoke. In a small voice. With a face that said he wasn't fine at all. "[serious]You're not fine." "[gentle]I have to be fine. If I waver, it troubles you, Subaru." Something pierced Subaru's chest. --- Evening came. Everyone gathered in the great hall again. Bianca was sharing the results of her analysis of the stone tablet. Leon stood quietly. Dragging his right foot. "[serious]If I turn to stone first, the rest of the petrification might stop." Everyone fell silent. "[surprised]...What?" "[serious]If I take it all on myself, the curse's resources concentrate on me. You all might survive." "[angry]There's no basis for that!!" "[cold]But there's a possibility. That's enough." Leon walked toward the exit. "[angry]Wait!!" Subaru ran. She thrust her petrified left arm forward with all her strength. It didn't reach. The arm without sensation grasped only air. Her fingertips didn't even brush him. The gray left hand simply extended into empty space. Leon's back receded. Subaru's knees hit the floor. She collapsed, curling up on the great hall's floor. She gripped her petrified left arm with her right hand. Cold. Her own arm, yet so cold. No one spoke. Emilias took a step forward, then stopped. If he approached Subaru, he might hurt her more—that hesitation bound his feet. Bianca stood motionless, gripping her grimoire tightly. Silence. "[crying]...I've been carrying this alone the whole time." Her trembling voice fell into the hall. "[crying]I thought if I spoke my true feelings, I'd be hated. So... I couldn't tell anyone. Over and over, over and over—dying, starting again, and still I couldn't tell anyone." Return by death. That loneliness she could never voice, no matter how many times she died. The moment she put it into words, her throat burned. No one moved. Tears floated in Emilias's eyes. Unable to step forward, he watched Subaru. Bianca stared at the stone tablet fragment. After a while. After a while, Bianca spoke. "[gentle]...Hey." Her voice was different. Not cold. No calculation. Just a voice. "[gentle]There was another line on the tablet. One line I couldn't read until now... I can read it now." Everyone looked up. Bianca's golden eyes remained on the fragment—glistening. "[whispers]Those who cry out their truth must be prepared to bear the pain of those they love most." Silence. "[serious]If one speaks their truth, the curse breaks. But that person will... bear all the petrification of those dear to them." Emilias gasped. Leon stopped in the corridor entrance. "[cold]...Why is only the last condition written so small? Is this a joke?" She muttered. Her voice had dropped, but her tone remained entirely Bianca. The frozen air trembled, just slightly. Subaru lifted her head from the floor. She gently gripped her petrified left arm with her right hand. Cold. No sensation. But—this was her arm. She was trembling. Her eyes, her hands. But deep in her eyes, something was beginning to kindle. A faint, yet certain light.