A few hours later, Fate was being escorted back to his room since his condition was stable enough that he could move efficiently, again. Liza kept a polite expression on her face as she walked by his side, but her eyes seemed to be attempting to burn holes in Fate’s skull, which he attempted to simply ignore but was unable to…

 

Finally, after what seemed like forever for Fate, they arrived at his room and finding that the door hadn’t even been locked, proceeded inside. Two maids happened to pass by at the time, catching a glimpse of Liza’s bandaged arms and bruised legs, causing the two to give her nervous, pitying looks.

 

However, Liza did not seem fearful, or she didn’t show it at least, simply giving a grateful bow to both of them and closing the door while calmly gazing towards them. The door shut with a clack, leaving the maids to struggle, choosing between whether to try and enter the room or move on and attend to their duties...This did not last long, however, since both of them recalled the injuries that covered her limbs, making them fear what the terrifying ‘monster’ that resided in the room would do to them if they disturbed it...

 

They both nodded to each other, offering up a prayer to the Goddess with a solemn look towards the door before proceeding down the hall to handle their tasks, resolving to complain about the young girl’s treatment later.

 

Neither of them could have remotely guessed the true nature of the situation, which would only serve to make them question their sanity if they witnessed it. 

…

Inside the room, Fate had slumped onto his cot, face-first, and seemed to be attempting to bury his face in the weathered cloth. Liza still maintained her polite expression from before but didn’t show any emotion in her eyes as she gazed toward Fate. 

 

Fate stopped flailing around on the cot, ceasing the sound that had filled part of the room, leaving only an uncomfortable silence and gloom hanging in the air…

 

Both children showed no signs of movement, neither did they attempt to ask each other questions or heave sighs of relief that they were both alive, they merely sat in silence. Minutes passed by, with neither of them yielding to each other in this contest of apparent stubbornness…

 

Fate: “...i-i’m...s-so..r-ryy…”

 

However, a new sound began to fill the room at a low pitch. The voice was Fate’s, but it was barely at the level of whisper and it almost sounded as if he was...crying.

 

Liza’s attention was now drawn to the area around where Fate had buried his face in the cot, which now began to darken. The cloth beneath him seemed to sag and continued to darken further until Liza was able to see what was causing it…

 

Fate: “...s...s-sor...I-I...I’m...s-so….sor…!”

 

His stuttering speech was now audible, it seemed as though he had hidden his face in the cot to smother his cries, either out of embarrassment or fear, but now he could no longer keep it bottled up.

 

Fate’s cries no longer formed coherent words, instead, they became a loud sobbing while his tears were now quickly permeating the tear-soaked cloth, dripping slowly onto the ground. However, it didn’t seem like his tears were not the only ones to touch the floor, as the light had now returned to Liza’s eyes and her tears began to pour out as well…

 

The room was engulfed in a discordant symphony of sobbing and cries. Liza quickly paced over to where Fate still had his face firmly pressed in the cot, forcefully pulling him up to meet her gaze with a strength he had not expected.

 

He continued to cry but stared into Liza’s reddened eyes with a look of acceptance. It seemed that he would now reap what he had sown, causing him to clench his eyes shut in expectation… However, the moment he was anticipating never arrived…

 

Liza: “Y...Y-oung...m...as-s..ter…!!!”

 

Instead of a sound thrashing and the berating he had expected, Liza merely thrust her arms around him and sunk her tear-soaked eyes into his chest, crying into it. Fate was completely stunned at this display, but consented to her wishes, allowing her to drown his chest in her sorrows. All the emotions that they had hidden from each other until now seemed to overflow through their tears.

 

Both kept crying for what seemed like forever, but, eventually, their tears seemed to run dry and both lifted their heads to meet each other with extremely reddened eyes…

 

Fate: “I...thought...y-you...wo...would...hate... m-me?!”

 

As soon as he asked her this, he was met with a crisp slap to the cheek! Although she appeared angry, it seemed to be highlighted by deeper feelings of sadness, and even longing.

 

Liza: “...Fate…”

 

Fate was filled with surprise at her quiet response, it could not be helped since this was the first time she had ever called him by his name, instead of the standard honorific. She gazed into his eyes with a nervous smile…

 

Liza: “Fate...I would...never bring myself to hate you...I will never...hate you…”

 

Fate wanted to cry, but his tear-ducts were dry as a desert and his face contorted into one of exasperation, anger, and confusion. However, he didn’t get the chance to voice his lack of understanding before Liza began to continue. 

 

Liza: “Back then...I knew you needed...something, anything to...distract you from what you were feeling...so I cannot complain since I brought this on myself...nor will I blame you for it.”

 

Fate’s confusion only continued to grow with every word she spoke.

 

Liza: “But when I saw...what had happened to you...I...I didn’t know how...to feel...Lord Jacob...had a smile on his face…”

 

Her words were growing slightly distorted so Fate finally returned her hug, despite his reservations. She began to smile like her usual self again, savoring the sensation of his embrace for as long as she could. As she found comfort in him, he found comfort in her...Finally, he had a reason to smile...

 

Eventually, when they had had enough time together, Liza left the company of her young lord and proceeded to attend to her other duties. However, all the maids who witnessed her appearance that day were truly appalled, seeing her so injured and her eyes completely red along with her shriveled eye bags. They all swore an oath to uncover the truth and punish whoever was responsible for making one the manor’s few rays of sunshine assume such a state, still unaware of the truth behind it all…

...