In the Ashley Hotel in Kaimeng City, Blood Moon Country, Siffrin knocked on the door and entered the suite. It was deathly quiet inside. Empty bottles covered the bar, and all sorts of odds and ends were scattered across the floor: dolls from World Film City, an hourglass whose sand flowed from bottom to top, Flowing Light flourish cards made by an Ogre artist... They were all things Sonia and the others had bought while shopping over the past half month. Or maybe Ash had bought them, because Sonia and the others did not look that childish.
The curtains covered most of the window, allowing only a thin beam of sunlight into the room. Dust danced in the pillar of light like elves.
Siffrin saw a Veela with long pink hair lying on the huge bed that could fit five people. The Veela was curled up into a tiny ball under the covers, like an abandoned puppy, and the sight softened even Little Bat, who had not wanted to keep indulging her.
After Sonia and the others left one after another yesterday, Freya had seemed as if she had lost her soul. Siffrin had talked beside her for a long time, but she had remained unmoved, clutching the Diary Instance tightly as she sat on the bed in a daze.
In truth, it was not that Siffrin could not understand. After all, the Veela had come to find Sonia with enormous expectations. She had thought she held the key to the truth and naturally ought to be the hero who led everyone to save Ash. In the end, she had turned into a drenched dog that had been splashed with four basins of cold water.
The Veela could not be blamed for that. Even Siffrin herself had not expected Sonia