Cyania, the Saintess of Fate, rested on the ground, her head raised to meet Princess.

"We meet again, Miss Cyania," Princess said.

"Fate indeed likes us." The subtle hostility flared up from Cyania, but her dull mind suppressed them into a numbing sensation of longing. "I know I can't hurt you, nor do I desire such a thing anymore. However, I wish to clear my doubt."

Princess expressed a knowing smile. "My words can't change reality or your mind. Only you can change yourself."

"I know, but I still want to hear the truth."

"Very well. Unfortunately, I did not kill Canaris."

"Why do I wish for that confession to be a lie?"

A sigh escaped from Cyania. She relaxed and laid on the cold, hard ground. The last remaining flicker of hatred and frustration vanished from her chest, now devoided of all things except ruthless acceptance.

"Even though you didn't care how I think, you still answer my question," she said. "Your highness, you are kind."

"I'm not that kind, Cyania. I'm merely atoning for all my sins."

"It's painful, isn't it?"

"I'm only doing what is right."

Cyania reached out to Princess and grasped her hand. She clung onto it and listened to the silent surrounding. The warmth from her body traversed into Princess while the cold slowly seeped into her. It was the cold which froze soul and numbed mind, the coldness of acceptance.

"So the peak is this cold . . . . I can't claim to understand you, your highness, but I think I know a little about your thought."

"We share a similarity, with Fate at the centre of it all."

"Your highness, you are the victor, while I am the loser."

"You, however, will be the survivor."

Cyania leant backwards and drew her hands from Princess. In that split second, a warmth surged inside her chest and filled her with the will to live. Despite the lack of motivation and goal in the meaningless life where Canaris didn't exist, her heart refused to perish.

"Your highness, why are you so sure? You must remember that Lady Fate has chosen me to take her seat," she said, though her voice was trembling.

"Because I can hear it in your voice," Princess said. "You've once more found someone for whom you cared."

"There is no such person, your highness. My heart belongs to Canaris alone."

"The proof is in your tears. Don't worry, Cyania, she is all right."

Princess placed her hand on Cyania's chest where her heart resided and sent a wisp of essence into her body. A screen which transcended reality manifested and revealed a lonely Elven maid amidst the group of Princess's friends.

Suria, the maid who stayed with Cyania since the beginning, looked at the ring her mistress gave to her.

"Mistress, please be safe," she mumbled to herself, though every word echoed endlessly inside the ever-expanding void.

Cyania touched the screen and passed through it. The fleeting sensation filled her dying body with joy. Her desire to live flared up and ignited her stubborn determination.

"Your highness, thank you for saving her."

"You should give your thanks to Consimia and Ocupas, who saved her from the rubbles, and yourself, who gifted her that ring."

"Your highness . . . you have plans for everything, don't you?"

"If you think so, I won't deny it."

"May I ask you one last question before I go back?"

"The answer you seek will be underwhelming."

"Why must you sacrifice yourself?"

"It is for Angelica, whose soul remained with Lady Fate. I shall take the soul back and free the world of Fate."

Cyania shook her head. "Your highness, I won't tell anyone."

Princess sighed and pushed Cyania. The force brought her through the ground, dragging her soul back into the bubble of reality.

"It's for myself," Princess said as the fabric of reality closed itself.

She turned to Lady Fate, who merely nodded at her and indulged in the inane silence.

"So, that hardhead Primach finally got to rest," Valerin, the Elven Maiden, the vessel of Lady Fate, said. "Peritia, thank you for bringing the message and for helping Light."

"If there weren't me, someone else would do it eventually."

"But you still did it, my dear."

"And it costs me greatly."

"I'm sorry. Every tragedy which befalls you comes from me, either directly or indirectly."

"But so are happiness. You saved my mother from dead, brought Angelica to my side, and laid the groundwork for the downfall of Heaven."

"I also forced your mother to deplete her life force, hurt Angelica, pulled the string to make you hated Heaven, and set everyone against you with the prophecy."

"We aren't much different in the end."

"We are fundamentally different, Peritia. You haven't given up." Valerin raised her bound hand, which hadn't moved since time long forgotten. "Ever since the day I became the vessel of Fate, I have given up."

"The God of Light isn't very cruel, is he?"

"He indeed cares too much about his friends."

"And you are his friend."

Valerin fell silent, though a smile crept into her face. "I'm just like him, a tired, broken girl who wants to rest. I originally want you to continue on my seat, but you broke free of Fate, so I got Cyania to do the job. Yet at the last moment, you invoked her desire to live. Why did you go this far?"

Princess gazed towards the sky and drew her hands upwards. "It is for myself, for the people I have killed, and for the Great Races which I vowed to protect."

"You wish to answer the call of your past?"

"She would find me offensive, so I must let her know that all is well."

"You are a strange girl, Peritia."

"Everything is strange, Valerin."

Valerin chuckled. "I'm happy that you are the one who comes to free me. Now, Angelica's soul is with me. Once my life extinguishes, the soul will return to its place, and she will no longer have anything to do with Fate."

"You really did plan to die."

"It's tiring to sit alone in the darkness for thousands of years. I don't care whether or not Fate continues to exist, and Lady Fate herself doesn't, either."

"The past should remain within the past, right?"

"Heaven is now no more, so she doesn't have the place where she belongs."

Princess giggled before she stepped forwards. Her hand slowly moved towards Valerin as the memory which painted her life into a vivid experience unfolded.

Everyone she had ever known stood beside her, whispering into her ears the words which she hoped to hear when they were still alive. One by one, they disappeared, until only a handful of her close friends remained.

Pallear, the Protector of the Northern Mistwood, got irritated by her and flew away. He spoke about a rematch, though he knew he would still lose.

Venetus talked about the new strategy he derived but had never tested it. Halfway through, he found multiple glaring weak points and rushed away to fix them.

Ocupas continued to plaster her with compliments before he went away for his duty.

Inemas merely smiled at her and walked away. His eyes expressed proudness unrivalled by others.

Specria told her the story of their past before she ran away, afraid of crying in front of Princess.

Medoria sighed and wished her the most happiness. She didn't attempt to persuade or wail, for she accepted everything her mistress did.

The last person, Angelica, came to her side.

"Mistress, you can take a step back and come with me," she said, though she knew her words were ineffective.

"These are my promises, Angelica. They are unbreakable and more precious than any other things I have."

"Then, I'll be waiting for your return, Mistress."

Angelica vanished, leaving Princess with Valerin, who waited for the last moment.

"Everyone, farewell," Princess smiled.

Her hand pierced through Valerin and gripped her heart. It disintegrated into particles of light, dispersing her body along the formless, soundless wind of the emptiness.

Valerin closed her eyes and let out the satisfying last breath. Her body broke into tiniest fragments of the essence. Her memory shattered into random flashes of events. Her experience vanished from the face of all realities.

Alone, Princess held Angelica's soul in her hand. It seeped past her body and fell into the bubble of reality, where Angelica's body resided.

With no one and nothing, Princess sat on the Seat of Fate. Her body got heavier and heavier. The chains which bound Valerin flung towards her and locked her into the seat, but they couldn't stop her sense of self from dissembling into nothingness.

As her borrowed time ran out, Princess sang a soundless lullaby which she had heard since the time she was a little.

"To you, whom I love, and to me, whom you forgot."

Her sight blurred as the blackness consumed everything, including herself.

"This is a letter to the one I adore."

Her sense of smell vanished as all became a fragrance which soothed her mind and calmed her soul.

"If I seek you, will you love me?"

The weigh of her body disappeared as her sense of touch was no more. She floated in the endless void where time didn't exist.

"If I reach you, will you hurt me?"

Her own voice dispersed into the indecipherable noises which rang forever and ever inside her ears.

"Please tell me, my love. Is this love, or is this dream?"

Her thought ceased.