Amid the lighthearted laughter, the invisible distance between the two people who had only just met quietly narrowed by quite a bit...
"Come to think of it, according to the information I received, Gwen, it seems the Stigmata you awakened... has something to do with Alicia?"
After laughing, Eden finally asked the question she cared about most. Her sparkling golden eyes quietly watched Gwen, awaiting the answer.
"Yes."
Hearing Eden's question, Gwen quickly reined in his smile. He pressed one hand to his chest and slowly said,
"Right now, Alicia's soul is inside my body.
But...
I lost her..."
"..."
At those words, Eden, who had been anticipating a reunion, widened her golden eyes. The expectant smile on her lovely face instantly froze, and she could scarcely believe what she had heard.
After meeting Gwen's gaze for a moment and confirming that he was not joking with her, Eden, who had leaned forward in anticipation of his answer, sat up straight and took a deep breath, as though she wished to expel all the turmoil in her heart--
"Haa..."
Yet her faintly trembling lashes showed that the surging emotions in Eden's heart could not be calmed so easily.
"Can you tell me what happened?"
Soon, Eden opened her tightly shut eyes again and slowly asked in the gentlest tone she could manage, one that would not place pressure on Gwen.
However, under the gaze of those clear golden eyes, Gwen felt an inexplicable pressure bearing down on him.
"That was after I met you--"
Yet Gwen paid no attention to the slight pressure brought by Eden's gaze and began his account:
"I tried to communicate with you, Eden, to find out where exactly I had arrived.
But before we could establish even the most basic mutual trust, the Herrscher of