"This..."
Yae Sakura hesitated. She had not known Herrscher Mei for long, though the bond between them had already grown quite deep.
After a moment's hesitation, she realized she liked Mei well enough. It would not be improper to address her more intimately...
"Then, if that is the case, I shall take the liberty of calling you Mei directly."
"That is how it should be."
Seeing Yae Sakura agree, Herrscher Mei nodded seriously. Then she looked at the small grave before Yae Sakura. Though this space had merely been manifested from Yae Sakura's memories, it felt incredibly real.
"This is... Rin, isn't it?"
"...Yes."
At Mei's words, Yae Sakura's body involuntarily stiffened. She did not know why Herrscher Mei knew about her younger sister.
But after hesitating briefly, she still answered.
"This is my younger sister's grave."
Though so many years had passed, when she spoke of her younger sister, Yae Rin, Yae Sakura still could not help clenching her fists.
She had always blamed herself for Yae Rin. She had even resented her own weakness back then. If only... if she had possessed great power at that time.
Later, when she became a Pseudo-Herrscher, Yae Sakura had not hated that identity nearly as much as she had thought she would. She merely sometimes lamented... if only this power had come sooner.
Even if she had become a Pseudo-Herrscher, she would have accepted it as long as she could change her sister's fate!
After Kallen sealed her together with the fox demon, Yae Sakura had experienced countless cycles. Within those cycles, she had done many things.
She had personally slaughtered Yae Village, killing every man, woman, and child in the village with her own hands. In some cycles, she had even killed Kallen herself, and killed her own father...
Yet