Dimensional Descent

The music drifted throughout the Viola estate. Yuri, who had barely cobbled her emotions back together, found herself crying once more. It was like the beautiful sound of plucking strings and warm horns was instead the call of death to her ears.

Her fingers trembled as she tried to delicately form the strands of Aina's hair. Step by step, her long hair became an elaborate bun. If it wasn't for how blurry Yuri's vision was, she would probably think it was really beautiful. Luckily, she still had her Internal Sight to rely on, or else she would be a true mess.

As steadily as she could, she placed the ornament of Viola family women atop Aina's hair, completing her hairdo.

"This dress is a bit uncomfortable. It would be easiest if there was at least one slit down the leg." Aina spoke to herself, having long since realized that Yuri was beyond saving. If this was a life or death situation, she might just have to leave her behind completely.

The childish and out of place thoughts in Aina's head didn't seem to stop. She hadn't made any sort of progress at all.

Yuri pulled away, trying hard to control her breathing.

At that moment, there was a light clicking noise as the doors opened once again. Yuri's head snapped back like a frightened kitten. But, when she saw that it was Savahn, the rock on her chest instead got heavier than lighter. It suddenly hit her that the opportunity Savahn had gotten for her was wasted once again. She hadn't been able to budge Aina at all.

Savahn, seeing Yuri's pale, tear streaked face, sighed, realizing the truth without having to hear it explained to her.

Deflated, Yuri collapsed onto a nearby couch. Soon, the maids Savahn had distracted would likely come back. And, with the music playing, it likely wouldn't be more than five minutes before Rychard was here to truly begin things.

The marriage ceremonies of the Viola weren't very heavy on tradition. Outside of the hair piece heirloom, there wasn't much to abide by. However, there were still its own set of rules.

This grace period of music that was playing now was actually for the people to give their well wishes and blessings to the couple before the ceremony began. During this time, a silence would fall over the wedding hall and a peaceful meditation would take place. Beneath this silence and the music, the flower centerpiece would begin to bloom.

The blooming of the flower represented the budding of lifelong happiness.

Once the flower was on the verge of blooming, the soon to be husband and wife pair would walk down the aisle together. Their walk would be timed with the final blooming of the flower, and their stepping onto the stage would coincide with the maturity of said flower.

The timing and control of all of this was taken under the man's lead. As he would be the head of the household, it was his responsibility to take on. The better timing the husband had, the stronger his leadership skills and the more blessings the flower would bestow upon their union.

Of course, Rychard would never ruin the timing of his own wedding, so there was no way that he would be late. And, even if he was, no one was naïve enough to believe that the Viola didn't have their own methods of making sure that this tradition of theirs was followed to the greatest degree possible. There were definitely many tricks and techniques they could use to slow or speed up the progress. In the end, there were no real blessings to be had, it was just a hint of superstition from an olden age and a ceremonial practice.

They had all already run out of time. It was over.

Savahn sighed. Forcing a smile she walked to Aina's back, meeting her gaze through the mirror.

"You look very beautiful. You will make Rychard very happy."

Aina blinked. "I'm not interested in making him happy."

"Oh?" Savahn raised her brows. "And why is that?"

"It seems foolish to worry about the happiness of someone that doesn't really care about your own happiness." Aina responded as though it was very obvious.

"Isn't it very hard to make someone you don't know happy?" Savahn asked. "What makes you happy?"

"Fighting and eating." Aina replied with a beautiful smile.

"Being logical doesn't make you happy?"

Aina paused, not answering immediately for the first time.

"Not really. It just makes him happy."

"Does it make him happy? Or is that just what you think would make him happy?"

"Is there a difference? I know him very well."

Aina didn't feel this was refutable. She did know Leonel very well. She even knew exactly how he would react to this exact situation. In fact, she was certain that he wasn't even thinking about her right now.

Truthfully, she was very annoyed by this, but she had already decided to be logical. Since she was being logical, how could she be illogically angry? He had already warned her and he was simply following through with what he said he would do. What would being annoyed change?

Unfortunately, it didn't seem that Aina had grasped the ability to differentiate between outward shows of emotion and inward showings. She thought that what someone showed them on the outside was exactly how they felt on the inside. It was a very childish way of viewing the world. She still had the emotional maturity of a toddler.

But now that she was feeling this mix of external and internal emotion, she was suddenly confused.

Was there a difference between what she thought and the reality? Savahn's question left her wondering.

"Savahn." Aina suddenly spoke before Savahn could respond.

"Hm? Yes?"

"I have been very, um… Selfish? Yes, selfish to you, right? But you are still here. Is it because you lack backbone?"

Savahn was stunned by these words. She wasn't sure whether she should be angry, sad or enraged.

She managed to calm herself down, but shuddered when she met Aina's gaze again.

"Was that a bad question? Did it make you angry? I'm sorry."

Savahn was stunned again. That was the first time Aina had ever apologized since she lost her personality.

Unfortunately, Savahn never got the chance to respond.

At that moment, the doors opened much more forcefully than they had before. And, this time, it was Rychard standing on the other side.