They walked side by side into the Wednesday evening crowd on Silver Cross Avenue. Bustling pedestrians followed the paths of their own lives, while beneath the setting sun, gray mist blanketed the city.
It was another ordinary Tuesday, another ordinary day in spring. Shade did not know how long this peace could last, or whether some new disaster would soon appear at his side again.
But at least through that indifferent emotion and hollow heart, he had come to understand himself, and all the bonds this Outlander had in this world.
This would not change him, but it made Shade cherish everything he had even more. He hoped days like these could last forever. He hoped that, just as Haila Osenfott had blessed him, all love would always remain by his side.
"This seems a little greedy."
Walking down the street and looking at the prosperous streetscape of the Steam Industry age, Shade sighed silently in his heart.
Then he suddenly turned to look at Iluna's profile and asked softly:
"Iluna, if I said that I could pay any price to protect everything I cherish, do you think that would be right?"
Iluna turned to look at him as well, at that face illuminated by the increasingly brilliant sunset. She narrowed her eyes slightly.
"Of course it's right, because that's what I think too."
Iluna spoke softly, the stirrings in her heart making her blush a little. She knew that Shade and she were fundamentally the same kind of person. Only they were the same kind of person:
"Mortals are far too small. Being able to hold on to what is beside you is already enough happiness."
This was also her answer to If. She firmly believed that she was the one who held the balance.
During dinner, they did