Klein swore that he had meant to stop her.
But when he opened his mouth, air rushed into his airway, and he suddenly began coughing violently beyond his control. All he could do was watch Alice finish that sentence with shy timidity while coughing.
As expected of you, Fate.
No matter what, Emlyn would not take those words seriously. After some thought, he looked at Gehrman Sparrow.
Klein recovered from his coughing fit, met Emlyn's gaze, and answered without changing expression:
"These were Miss Cynthia's last words."
After more than ten seconds of silence, Emlyn turned to Alice and nodded.
"Thank you."
That instead left Alice speechless. She realized that Emlyn's thanks were sincere—regardless of why she had done what she had just done, she truly had brought back Cynthia's last words.
That response suddenly put Alice in a rather bad mood. It was a stifling feeling deep in her heart, and Alice knew what it represented—it was guilt.
She opened her mouth, only to discover that she could not apologize as naturally as she did when facing Klein.
Alice bit her lip, lifted her foot, and gave Klein's calf a neither-light-nor-heavy kick. Under Klein's incredulous gaze, she dryly tossed a sentence at Emlyn:
"You're welcome."
Alice disappeared from the spot. Klein inconspicuously flexed his calf muscles, restraining the urge to bare his teeth at Alice.
It had not hurt as much as when his eyes had burst open, but it still counted as a rather merciless way for her to vent anger... Klein sighed inwardly and asked Emlyn:
"Is there anything else you would like to know?"
Only then did Emlyn withdraw his gaze from the two of them. The faint desolation around him vanished completely as he spoke in a low yet authoritative voice:
"What exactly happened?"
Klein