"Even if you say we should cherish the half of happiness that remains, Captain, I... I can't see something like that as my happiness anymore."
Unexpectedly, Ink Lotus directly voiced her opposition to Larkspur's view.
"H-happiness isn't bread or cake. Even if half of it is taken away, it can still keep its original flavor. Happiness is something like the structure of a magic Spell Formula, like a magic tool. If half of it is taken away, then... then what remains is just a pile of parts."
Slowly sinking the fork in her hand into the cream atop the cake, Ink Lotus narrowed her eyes. Her gaze seemed to pass straight through Larkspur, as though she were looking at something else.
"Something like that isn't happiness anymore. It's only our memories giving it meaning, making us think it is still 'part of happiness.' In reality, it is just parts now."
"You're too easygoing, Captain. At a time like this, we should be thinking of a way to get back the happiness that disappeared, or create another one. Otherwise, we're just... trapped in the past."
This was the first time since their reunion that Ink Lotus had expressed such a lengthy opinion before Larkspur. Though her words still stumbled slightly, the meaning was unexpectedly fluent.
And so, Larkspur was finally able to glimpse a corner of her thoughts.
"Did someone tell you that?" After some consideration, she asked this.
Ink Lotus paused for a moment.
"...No, that isn't it."
Then she explained, "I came up with it myself while discussing things with someone else."
"That is surprising. It doesn't sound like something you would have said in the past."
Larkspur sat upright, folding her hands beside the teacup she had set down. "No, perhaps I shouldn't be surprised. After all, so