Alice Kuonji sat upright on the sofa, an old tome lying open on her lap. But her fingers brushing idly over its pages and the black tea that had gone completely cold on the table beside her made it clear that countless thoughts were churning through the Witch's mind.
The dim, slightly yellow light shone down from overhead, casting a layer of shadow over her.
Was it because she had spent too long with Aoko and had been infected by her weakness?
The Witch, as beautiful as a doll, could not help questioning herself.
She always gave the impression of being cold and distant, completely out of step with the present era. Even the Witch herself admitted that this view was not prejudice, but simple fact.
Alice Kuonji truly found it difficult to empathize with ordinary people. She lived like a princess in a fairy tale, avoiding everything worldly, and intended to continue that way forever.
But people did change, after all. After so many days of sharing hardships, that point was now open to debate.
Alice Kuonji stared distractedly at the pages before her, a trace of anxiety in her eyes.
Although she had initially thought Roland was merely being alarmist, when she was alone with Aoko today, both of them had already been aware of that subtle sense of distance.
Thinking it over carefully, she really had been deliberately reducing her contact with Aoko lately because of those indescribable feelings. Would that make Aoko mistakenly believe she resented her for not continuing to try to save her despite possessing True Magic?
Perhaps out of shyness, perhaps because of her innate pride and aloof nature, or perhaps simply out of fear of deepening her relationships, Alice Kuonji had always been awkward and less than honest in expressing her feelings.