After Xixia finished telling the story behind the parchment, she summoned Dox's "ticket" from the darkness—the Holy Light Vine Staff.
"As for this staff..." Xixia frowned slightly. "The emotions contained within it are the most complicated among the treasures your teammates handed over."
"Gratitude resolved to be repaid, friendship stubbornly guarded, love long awaited yet unattained, heartlessness taken as nothing, the sorrow of parting with little hope of reunion, and the yearning of silent waiting... and more."
Angel was somewhat puzzled. "How many people's story are these emotions from?"
"Four. If you count the maker, then five people's story."
Angel: "..."
He had thought that if it were a story between two people, he could already piece together some melodramatic spectacle. Who would have thought it was a story of five people... Wait, no—wouldn't a five-person story be even more melodramatic?
Angel considered it. "Then among these five people, which emotion did Dox belong to? Dox was the one who handed this treasure over to you."
According to the script Angel had imagined, Dox should have belonged to the "love and yearning" part. After all, the vine staff had ultimately been kept in his care, so it was only natural for him to pine at the sight of it.
But if that truly was the script, then Dox's earlier carefree ease had merely been an act? He must still have been reluctant to part with it deep down, after all... he had loved.
Yet before Angel's melodramatic spectacle could take shape, Xixia splashed a basin of cold water over it.
Xixia said, "He doesn't account for much among these emotions. Friendship, I suppose?"
Angel said, "The friendship stubbornly guarded?"
Xixia nodded. "Yes."
"Then using this vine staff to exchange for a ticket seems to mean that 'stubbornly guarded' friendship has