He looked at the picture she held in her hands.
Clearly, this was how she saw him in her heart. In fact, it was precisely the image he had deliberately acted out, the one he wanted her to mistake for the truth.
Because he understood.
For certain people, a pure soul was the sharpest sword with which to pierce their hearts.
Especially in a world as dark as this.
Feelings so pure were truly precious.
And it was precisely because he knew this that he had been certain his carefully staged performance would earn her trust. But he had overlooked one thing, because sometimes, those "certain people"...
Included him, too.
Something's wrong...
Lynn murmured to himself within his consciousness.
I'm the one winning her over, right... I've been the one winning her over all along, right... That should be how it is, right...
But why?
Why does it feel like it's slowly turning the other way around...
Only at that moment did he truly understand. Yes, none of his theories had been wrong. With the blade of innocence and genuine affection, he had easily cut through the layers of steel armor around her. For beings who had not become utterly rotten, it really was the sharpest blade of all.
But when you peeled away her cold shell, could you have imagined that one day, she would point that same blade at you?
"May I?"
She held the picture, waiting for his answer.
But she received no answer from Lynn.
And she never would again...
Because that was the moment the barrier shattered.
Countless fragments swept across her eyes like bizarre, dazzling phantoms as she stared blankly, each one reflecting the figure that burst out of the light curtain.
She never received an answer.
Perhaps before everything becomes too late...
Lynn