Why... why were my abilities so strong? Why could I so easily do what others could not? Why could I pilot the Freedom Gundam?
Was it all simply because I was the "successful product"?
"Looks like you, just like Mu, were both treated as treasures. Or was it because of guilt? Xia Ya never told you."
"-----"
There it was again. That name, once more like the sharpest blade, plunged straight into Jiliang's already bloodied heart.
This man had spoken Xia Ya's name. And he had done so with a tone that even carried pity.
Jiliang abruptly raised her head, her eyes filled with incredulous turmoil.
Rau Le Creuset had implied that Xia Ya was not entirely unaware, even saying that Xia Ya was very familiar with this place.
The one with short golden hair, who always looked at her so gently. The one who had given her something to lean on when she had been most helpless. The lover she had depended on so deeply.
"What does Xia Ya have to do with this... with the research conducted here—and with Xia Ya?!"
She shouted that question with nearly all the strength in her body. Jiliang wanted to hear a denial, even if it was a lie.
Mu leaned out slightly from behind her, his gun still aimed tightly at Rau Le Creuset. Yet he did not fire. He merely frowned, staring fixedly at every tiny movement Rau Le Creuset made while listening to what he said next. Clearly, even Mu felt a certain unease over this topic filled with mysteries.
"There is no direct connection, but—there is not no connection. I will not let you call it unrelated."
Rau Le Creuset's voice lost its earlier teasing quality and false warmth, becoming as hollow as dead ash.
What kind of