Marianne's copied letter had spread throughout the academy before morning came. Hina learned of it the moment the De Croire ducal carriage passed through the main gates of the Royal Academy Lycée de Roselia. The instant her feet touched the stone pavement, the air changed. （……Ah. Everyone already knows.） Just walking down the hallway, the gazes of passing students shifted. Classmates who had greeted her until yesterday suddenly averted their eyes. A pair of noble ladies whispered behind Hina's back. "[whispers]So Vanessa really was always like that, wasn't she?" "[sarcastic]How shameless, being so obsessed with the prince. And what she did to Canon too……" （Wow, I can hear them. I can totally hear them.） Hina kept her expression blank while wearing Vanessa's face, offering internal commentary. If her expression cracked, she'd lose. She understood that much. When she entered the classroom, both seats beside her were empty. No one was sitting there. The morning light streaming through the window illuminated those vacant seats with cruel clarity. （This is the scene from the game. The one right before the destruction ending. But……actually experiencing it in real life is so much harder than I thought.） Canon rushed over at that moment. "[serious]Vanessa, that letter is a lie. I can properly——" "[cold]Canon." Marianne smoothly stepped in front of Canon. A smile like a spring flower. But her eyes weren't smiling at all. "[gentle]It would be terrible if you were misunderstood as well. It would be better for you to keep some distance from Vanessa." Canon looked at Hina. Her face was troubled, but her eyes held absolute resolve. Hina gave a slight shake of her head. With just her gaze, she conveyed: "Don't come." If she dragged Canon into this, the situation would become far more complicated. She understood that. She understood it, but. （Thank you, Canon. That's enough.） Hina took her seat alone. 　　　＊ Three days crawled by. On the second day at lunch, Leon called Hina to a corner of the great library. His two-toned lavender hair caught the light, and his mismatched eyes—one color on each side—held a seriousness more intense than usual. "[serious]I examined the letter's handwriting. It doesn't match Vanessa's. I can prove it using ancient document analysis techniques." Warmth bloomed deep in her chest. （Leon……） The next morning, that warmth shattered. Marianne had arranged for a handwriting expert to submit an official certification stating the handwriting "matched." An official document from the nobility-approved certification authority. Even when Leon pushed back with "the logic is clearly wrong," the institutional wall wouldn't budge. A student's research had no evidentiary power—that single excuse was enough to end everything. "[angry]This is absurd. The numbers clearly——" The supervising teacher shook her head coldly. Leon stamped his foot in frustration. But institutions don't move for such things. Hina stood there, staring at the stone wall of the corridor. （There was a route in the game where even when Leon presented evidence, it got suppressed. I knew. I knew everything. But why does it hurt this much?） That same evening, Claude appeared behind Hina in the hallway. "I will remain at your side as your escort." His voice was straightforward. Unwavering. Immediately after, a low voice reached them from down the corridor—the knight commander's. "[serious]Claude. Protecting the prince is the priority. Showing favoritism toward the duke's daughter personally would be a violation of orders." "But——" Claude's protesting voice echoed through the hallway. Hina quickened her pace while listening. She didn't look back. She didn't want to drag Claude into this. That was all. （Thank you. Really, thank you.） She whispered it in her mouth alone, in a voice no one else could hear. 　　　＊ Third day, evening. As Hina walked alone down the corridor, she saw silver straight hair catching the light ahead. Deep sapphire eyes. It was Alphonse. He was walking toward her with a single escort. （……He came.） There was no one else in the hallway. As they passed, Alphonse's footsteps stopped. Hina realized she had stopped too. Standing at an angle, turned away from him, silence fell between them. One second. Two seconds. Three seconds. Alphonse said nothing. As a prince, he couldn't act officially. That reality existed between them as a transparent wall. Hina understood. She knew from the game. The prince had his position, reasons he couldn't move, she knew it all. （I knew. So why……does it hurt this much?） She clenched her back teeth. The moment Alphonse's lips parted slightly—— "[serious]Your Highness, your next appointment——" The escort knight's voice cut it off. Alphonse's words never landed anywhere. Hina walked forward first, her back turned. She didn't look back. （Because I like him, I understand the weight. Because I like him, it hurts. This is probably……so much more complicated than just love.） Only her footsteps echoed down the corridor. 　　　＊ Third day, night. The moment she closed the door to her room in the girls' dormitory Pavillon Lys, the Vanessa face she'd maintained all day crumbled. A sealed letter lay on her desk. The wax seal bore the De Croire family crest. From her father, Gilbert. With trembling hands, she opened it. Written in meticulous handwriting, brief and to the point. ——This concerns the honor of House De Croire. Explain yourself at once. Standing motionless with the paper in hand, Hina froze. （I thought having game knowledge would be enough. I thought I understood everything.） A whisper escaped her lips. "[crying]But……I couldn't handle any of it." The tears wouldn't stop. It wasn't that she'd been holding back. They just came, pouring out. She sank to the floor, hugged her knees, and wept. As she cried, Vanessa's memories flowed into her. The long corridor of the De Croire ducal mansion. A small girl standing before a white door. Her reddish-brown curled hair trembled. The door opened, the physician shook his head, and Father Gilbert said only "I see" before walking away. Young Vanessa watched his retreating back. The corridor fell silent. No one came. No one came to hold her. （Ah……it's the same.） It was a mirror image of her current self. A night with no one to turn to for help. The wall of institutions. The wall of position. Transparent walls. She cried harder. Vanessa's loneliness overlapped with her own, and she couldn't tell where the boundary lay. When she finally cried herself out and sat on the edge of the bed. A white envelope slipped out from under the pillow. （……What is this?） She picked it up. It was unsealed. Inside was a single sheet of paper. ——Reveal the truth at the ball. The other one within you holds the key. There was no sender's name. The same handwriting as the two previous letters. The same paper quality. Another mysterious letter. But this time, it felt different. "The other one within you." Those words connected directly with Vanessa's memories. The small girl alone in the corridor. The girl who practiced smiling in front of the mirror every day to protect the room no one was allowed to enter. Hina slowly stood up. She wiped the tears from her sleeves and spoke aloud. "[serious]Vanessa's destruction is just because it's the game's scenario?" A beat. "[angry]Screw that." Outside the window, stars scattered across the night sky. The night sky of Primera Kingdom always had so many stars, and tonight, that alone was a little kind. Gripping the letter tightly, Hina stood. The tear tracks on her cheeks had dried, and they felt slightly cold. （We'll overcome this together. The two of us will do this.） Fire ignited in her eyes. Because she'd fallen to the bottom, she had something to burn. The Star-Light Festival—the ball held on the winter solstice, the greatest celebration in the Kingdom of Primera. She would reveal the truth there. She didn't know how yet. She had no evidence yet. But she had decided to stand up. Hina carefully folded the letter from under the pillow and filed it away in her drawer with the previous two. The night was still long. But tonight, she thought she could sleep.