Spark froze stiff.
"Can't you be a little flexible?!" Spark pointed at Sparkle and roared at Chen Li.
"Come on, that's a foundational rule. How am I supposed to be flexible? Do you think I'm a Miraculous Forger?" Chen Li spread his hands, speaking with utter sincerity.
Spark was choked speechless by that, her chest heaving violently.
Taking advantage of the gap while Spark and Chen Li argued, Sparkle, lying on the floor, weakly grabbed Spark's hand again.
Sparkle's fingers were still icy cold, yet her grip remained so tight that Spark couldn't pull free at all.
"Y-you... what exactly are you trying to do?" Spark looked down at Sparkle, her voice trembling.
This wasn't how the plot was supposed to go!
This was completely wrong!
What was happening?
Spark's mind was a complete mess.
Faced with Spark's bewilderment, Sparkle raised her pale face. The tenderness in her gaze toward Spark was nothing like an expression a Masked Fool should have worn.
"As you said... I really am an outdated model. So, I'll leave everything I have—my debts—to you. Letting you inherit my joy... wouldn't that be an entirely new kind of joy?" A relieved smile appeared on Sparkle's lips.
Spark caught the implication behind those words, and her heart went half-cold.
"No way? You're serious?!" Spark's voice shot up several octaves.
"Isn't this what you've always wanted?" Sparkle asked weakly, her calm tone frighteningly serene.
"Hey! Hurry up and think of a way to save her!" Spark looked up at Chen Li, who stood nearby, her eyes full of pleading.
What kind of grand spectacle hadn't Spark seen before?
But she had never seen anything like this!
"She insists on seeking death herself. There's nothing I can do." Chen Li shook his head with an innocent expression.
"You can't