The dressing room door opened.
Lilith walked out.
The crimson dress fit her well, its black lace making her pale skin stand out even more. She had clumsily tied her red hair into twin tails, which gave her an unexpectedly innocent cuteness.
She spun around, her skirt flaring:
"Kid! Do I look good?"
Horace looked at her.
At this "mother" who looked twelve or thirteen, but was older than the Erdtree inside.
He suddenly felt...
Maybe letting her come up wasn't entirely a bad thing?
At least her arrival would make the Lands Between much livelier... no, better take that back.
Horace remembered what had happened to Marika. The Lands Between probably couldn't withstand that sort of "liveliness."
But in any case, the Formless Mother had come to the surface.
At the same time, at Caria Manor.
Candlelight flickered in the queen's private study.
Rennala sat behind her desk, her moon crown set aside and her long hair loose. Her face was pale, and the dark circles beneath her eyes were so deep that she looked as though she hadn't slept in days.
Rellana sat opposite her, her brow deeply furrowed as she looked at her exhausted sister:
"Sister, how long has it been since you rested?"
"Rest? The moon won't let me rest." Rennala smiled bitterly.
She raised her head to gaze at the moon.
"Every time I fall asleep, I 'hear' voices. The moon is conveying information to me."
Rellana's expression grew serious:
"What information?"
Rennala put down the star chart. "After studying it for so long, I think I more or less understand. It 'needs a spokesperson,' 'needs a vessel,' 'needs someone who can compete for Law.'"
She raised her head and looked at her younger sister, her eyes bloodshot:
"The person the moon originally chose... was