Kaede felt like she was about to fall unconscious at any moment. She laid still beside Pascal, and felt so exhausted that she could barely keep her eyes open. Her lips hung ajar to allow her weak lungs to pull in enough air. Her mind was shrouded in a fog that made even thinking difficult.

Yet, this was still better than two hours ago when the healers finished. Their Invigorate spells continued to work their slow magic on her, while Hauteclaire kept her engulfed in his soothing aura.

Regardless, hints of a smile shadowed her pale lips as two consoling thoughts drifted across her mind. One was Sir Ariel’s promise that the ‘operation’ was successful and that Pascal would at least live, assuming continued Regeneration treatments. The other was Ariel’s agreement in sending out an order that all personnel be moved further away from the potentially radioactive fallout zone, along with other precautions that Kaede had asked them to make.

Better safe than sorry. Kaede thought as she still wasn’t sure which form of nuclear reaction had been used by Pascal. She could only make presumptions on what to do based on what she had read of Hiroshima.

In the meantime, the sun had long fallen, and only darkness could be seen through the windows on this cloudy night. The healers and staff had mostly departed. They left only a medic behind to watch over Pascal and his familiar.

Kaede hardly noticed the sound of the cabin door creaking open. The Samaran girl only registered Sylviane’s presence when the young medic bolted to her feet.

“How is he?” The Princess accosted the medic. Her voice was anxious, despite the exhaustion in her slouched stance.

“Sir Ariel said that His Grace should make it through. With further Regeneration treatments, he might be able to recover in time. Although it would be best if he was kept comatose for at least three more days to help his body heal.”

Sylviane’s collapsed into a chair and breathed a deep sigh of relief as her head drooped.

“So he’ll make a full recovery in time then?”

“Not… quite…” The petite medic’s voice turned timid.

“I’m not going to bite the messenger.” The Princess remarked with an exhausted yet irritated look. “Get to the point.”

The young girl swallowed.

“His Grace’s hands and arms have been seriously damaged by the… back-blast, or whatever this ‘radiation’ thing is. The skin and muscles will heal. But as you know… we have trouble regenerating mana-conductive nerves once a critical damage limit has been reached. Sir Ariel believes that His Grace’s sense of touch may never fully return to normal. It’s possible that his arms and even legs may stay numb for the rest of his life. Still…” she glanced at Kaede, “we’re working under unique conditions here, and Dame Kaede’s blood may prove to be the saving grace.”

“Nevertheless…” The medic hesitated before she continued. “His Grace’s facial nerves suffered severe damage, particularly his eyes. We don’t know if his eyesight will ever recover. He will be blind when he wakes up, and Sir Ariel said there is a high possibility that it will stay that way.”

“You’re joking,” Sylviane remarked in a menacing tone.

The medic almost squeaked. It was obvious she was too scared to even contemplate humor.

“Have faith… Your Highness.” Kaede barely muttered. Her wispy words were gasped out between shallow breaths. “I’m sure… that my blood… can work another miracle. Until then… he can borrow… my eyes. Besides…” She added with a fatalistic chuckle that Russian humor was known for. “I’m sure… he’ll look good… even in sunglasses.”

Sylviane blinked as she clearly failed to understand what Kaede’s joke meant. She then exhaled a long breath as she turned to the medic.

“Is that all?” She asked before receiving a hasty nod. “Then leave us. I’ll keep watch over him tonight.”

The young girl didn’t wait another second. She rushed an awkward curtsy before fleeing the room. As the door closed, Sylviane let go of an even longer sigh before pulling up her chair to beside Kaede.

“Do I really scare people that much?” She asked, mostly to herself.

“Do you want… an honest answer?” Kaede smiled a little.

It wasn’t that the Princess had a scary face or anything. But at times she could summon a real, royal temper that anyone who was both intelligent and valued their own head would tread carefully around.

Though for Kaede… there had never been a better opportunity to speak her mind than now.

“Thank you, Kaede,” Sylviane’s gaze shimmered in the dim light as she grasped the Samaran girl’s feeble hand. “For being here, for everything you’ve done for him today… thank you so very much.”

The Princess brought the familiar’s pale hand to her cheek, just as a single, shining tear slid out. Kaede could feel the warmth and wetness of the droplet. It was proof of just how earnest Sylviane truly was.

“Pascal always said… we’re family… aren’t we?” Kaede whispered out. She felt another tear fall onto her fingers as the Princess heartily nodded.

“Yes, yes! We are!” Guilt formed in Sylviane’s wisteria gaze even as an adoration for the smaller girl bloomed. “I’m really, truly sorry for how I’ve treated you up until now. You’ve helped Pascal so many times, risked your life on multiple occasions to defend him. Yet I… I’ve shown you only ingratitude.”

Kaede’s smile took on a forgiving note. Her relationship with Sylviane had certainly been rocky up to this point.

She wasn’t naive though. She knew that whatever Sylviane felt now, there would always be occurrences in the future where royal jealousy would manifest once more. But if Mari and Robert’s dedication to the Princess were any indication, Sylviane was also a girl who knew how to repay kindness in spades. As long as Kaede didn’t overstep enough to lose her head, she should always be able to recover by leveraging their ‘special relationship’ through Pascal.

“Friends?” Kaede took the opportunity to ask.

“Isn’t that a given? If we’re family?” Sylviane replied as more tears fell down her cheeks.

You should know better as royalty. The Samaran girl thought, before noticing that the Princess… was also behaving a little differently.

Sylviane had glanced away. A deep red was coursing up her cheeks, and her sure voice fell to a tentative mutter as she asked:

“Can we be… s-sisters?”

For a brief moment, Kaede found herself caught completely by surprise. However, as the seconds passed away, she found her grin growing as wide as her exhausted cheek muscles would allow.

“Mmh, mmmh!” Her touched gaze nodded with enthusiasm.

“I’m still your senior though.” Sylviane tilted her chin back up as she laid down the pecking order. “So you have to listen to me, understood?”

“Yes, Milady… or rather, Elder sister.”

Kaede noticed that her word simply translated into some compound Imperial term, smashed together in Germanic linguistic fashion. She would have to explain the special significance held in Japanese by the phrase Onee-sama later — which roughly meant ‘esteemed elder sister’ but implied so much more. Kaede’s biological older sister had almost exploded with joy when she first taught Kaede to call her by that phrase. Now, even though Kaede had left her family behind on Earth, she would use the term to address another in her new life.

Though even if Sylviane never understood the respect and admiration endowed in this endearing phrase, it nevertheless sent a broad smile and reassuring warmth through Kaede just to say it out loud:

“Elder sister.”