Miss Chloe stared blankly at the staircase extending from beneath her feet toward the Higher Place. She seemed to understand now.
Shade said:
"Mrs. Marcus is your fear of loneliness, as well as your anxiety over experiences from the past that you cannot forget. You regarded her as the most important part of yourself, so you gave her your middle name and surname."
After hesitating, he added:
"So, the thirteen people in your memories were actually all you. You divided yourself, then actively accepted and reclaimed yourself—this is the road you chose. The one who is especially good at making vegetable soup was also you. It really tasted quite good."
Chloe could not help but smile. The twelfth-level Golden Staircase looked much more solid now, and beyond its end lay a pitch-black sky.
"This gentleman."
Shade waved at the cowering man. Origin in the man's pocket automatically flew before Shade. Trembling, the man rose to his feet and came before him as well.
Holding the card, Shade said:
"In the name of the next owner of Myriad Aspects of Impermanence · Darkness, I forgive your theft."
He placed a hand on the man's shoulder, then looked at Miss Chloe:
"You made many mistakes in the past. Some were too shameful for you to speak of, things you were even unwilling to remember. So you turned the image of those mistakes into a man hated by witches, and did not even give him a specific name."
"I..."
Those crimson eyes looked at Shade.
"But this is not entirely bad. Because you understood that it was wrong and accepted your mistakes. That is far better than Larkin, whom I am about to face, accepting his mistakes. The proof that you accepted your mistakes is that, even on the most dangerous final stretch,