Lanchi and Hughberlian, who had still been on the sofa, watched the estate gradually dissolve and Sigrid disappear. When the manor's music faded away, they knew the time had come.
Hughberlian still clung to Sigrid, unwilling to let go.
Yet the harder she tried to feel Sigrid's soft, tiny body, the more she realized she could no longer touch her.
When the manor walls completely vanished, the starlight over Bojinhe County reached its brightest point before suddenly being replaced by profound darkness.
In the blink of an eye, Lanchi and Hughberlian found themselves in a transparent plaza seemingly enveloped by an eternal starry sky.
"Hughberlian, we'll see her again next time."
Lanchi gently patted Hughberlian's shoulder and comforted her as he watched the disappointment in her eyes.
He knew that Hughberlian had long yearned for a playmate who shared her suffering.
Having grown up starved of love, she habitually offered love to people who had never lacked it, like a pauper donating money to a billionaire.
Sigrid, however, both lacked love and did not lack love.
If Hughberlian was willing to give her love, she would gladly accept it and return an equal amount of love—love that Hughberlian could easily accept.
"Mm."
Hughberlian nodded softly and moved a little closer to Lanchi.
With Sigrid gone, Lanchi was the only one beside her. It was perfectly normal to sit a little closer to him.
Even without speaking, Hughberlian felt at ease sitting beside him.
They were still seated.
The estate and manor had vanished, and the surroundings had become a circular open-air plaza. The two of them sat on its steps.
The only thing that remained unchanged was the clear midsummer sky overhead. The stars glittered hundreds of millions of light-years away, as if recounting stories spanning countless years. Their radiance