"That child—no, judging by her age, she seemed to be the older one. Anyway, she still hasn't woken up."
Sakura came out of the second-floor room, gently closed the door behind her, and spoke softly to those waiting outside.
Illya only looked like a girl of around ten. It was hard to imagine that she was actually a little older than both Shirou Emiya and Matou Shinji.
Just what had this child been made to endure?
"I understand. Thank you for your hard work, Sakura."
Anno gave a slight nod and thanked Sakura.
"It was nothing."
Waving it off, Sakura sat down beside Adelson.
"May I ask when you became Illya's maids?"
Anno asked Sella, who was tidying up the tea set.
"We already were, back when we were with the Einzbern Family."
Holding the gold-rimmed tray, Sella answered Anno honestly.
"Leysritt and I were both failed Lesser Grails. We became the young lady's maids because Lord Jubstacheit thought it would be a waste not to put us to use."
"The young lady's identity as a Lesser Grail was decided by the family a very long time ago."
"A very long time ago."
Anno heard those words and could not quite pin down what they meant.
"Very long ago" was difficult to define precisely.
But if these two maids were both failed Lesser Grails...
Ten years?
Fifteen years?
Or even earlier?
Anno vaguely felt that something was wrong.
"I remember Irisviel saying something before she died."
Hinako Akuta, who had been sitting across from them in silence and observing everything from behind her book, suddenly spoke.
"She said... Illya had nightmares. She dreamed of seven enormous things entering her body."
"At the time, I didn't think much of it. But based on what they've said now... it's very possible that