(Miluno)
"What are you planning to do?"
I surfaced from the memory fragments Black Rabbit had shown me, only to find Mi Xue sitting directly across from me. A table stood between us, with a chessboard spread across it.
She had the black pieces, and I had the white.
This was...
Just like last time, the familiar hall and cage of the Lunar Palace.
"Auntie~ Since you don't have an identity right now, why not stay here with me?"
"Your cage can't hold me."
Holding the black queen between her fingers, she smiled at me.
"When you're with Aunt Ceruno, there's nothing I can do. But if you're alone, I think I can still keep you here, right?"
"Ceruno and I are only separated in this virtual world. In reality, we've always been together, in the room directly across from you... So it's impossible for you to separate us."
I glanced at the chessboard and moved one of my white pawns forward by a square.
"Still, I don't have anything to do for the moment, so it wouldn't be bad to play this behind-the-scenes mastermind game with you~"
"I'm sorry, Auntie, but I won't compete with you fairly."
As Mi Xue spoke, she waved her hand and removed every one of my pieces except for the pawn and king.
"For me, this is a battle I can't lose."
I flicked the pawn with my index finger, knocking Mi Xue's black king off the board and sending it rolling away.
"Whatever. Use any means you want, but we have our own way of doing things. We won't let your interference disrupt our pace."
Mi Xue propped up the king piece and placed it back on the board.
"That was my final warning, you know? I don't want Aunt Ceruno to lose