After playing out in the snow for a while, the group filed back into the warmth of the living room, brushing the lingering frost from their sleeves.
Once inside, Flandre suddenly remembered someone. She turned her head toward Beatrice and asked, "Sister Beatrice, I remember that after it snows, the temperature outside drops super low. Will Rope come to the Lungmen Guard Department to eat pork cutlet rice like before?"
"Rope?" Beatrice blinked, stunned for a moment before digging through her memory to recall the clever Cautus girl Flandre was referring to. She let out a small chuckle. "Heh, you know, that's actually quite possible."
She shook her head with a smile. "That girl is sharp. She knows the freezing cold outside after a snowfall isn't fit for wintering in the Slums, so she'll likely find a way to get herself locked up at the station to stay for a few days again."
Thinking of the occasional, quiet cleverness Rope displayed just to survive, a fond smirk touched Beatrice's lips.
"Hmm... then, Sister Beatrice, please check for me tomorrow!" Flandre said, holding up a small finger. "If she's there, let me know!"
"Oh? You aren't planning to go bail her out, are you?" Beatrice couldn't help but laugh, imagining the hilarious scene of Rope putting in all that "hard work" to get arrested for warm pork cutlet rice, only to be immediately bailed out by Flandre.
Flandre shook her head, her crimson eyes unusually serene. "Of course not. I know she goes to the LGD to escape the harsh cold outside. Unless I can provide her with a place to stay that's just as warm for winter and has plenty of food, she'll just go right back out and commit another minor infraction to get locked up again after I save her."
As she spoke, Flandre glanced around the spacious luxury villa. While there was certainly more than enough room for Rope here, given Rope's proud, independent personality, she wouldn't be willing to accept such charity.
After all, compared to Rope's daily struggle, Flandre knew she was undeniably fortunate.
Inviting Rope to move into the estate might look like offering a friend a few good days on the surface, but in reality, it would highlight the vast disparity in their lives at every single moment. That gulf would inevitably create unseen barriers.
One person worried every single day about where her next meal was coming from, where she would sleep without freezing, and whether danger lurked around the corner. Meanwhile, the other was thoroughly pampered, beautifully dressed, well-fed, and surrounded by protective family.
How could the former not feel a quiet, painful psychological disparity when confronted with such a starkly different existence?
While Flandre might not have understood these subtle social dynamics when she first arrived on Terra, back in Gensokyo she had a friend named Koishi Komeiji who used to play with her. She had heard more than once from Koishi about the hidden dark thoughts lurking within human hearts.
Even though those darker impulses could be suppressed deep inside by individuals with strong wills, the faint, subconscious emotions produced were still clearly perceived by Koishi and her elder sister, Satori Komeiji. It was precisely because she was overwhelmed by seeing too many of those ugly, unvarnished thoughts that Koishi had closed her "third eye" to shut them out forever.
Koishi had shared those realizations with Flandre. Back then, a curious Flandre had asked Patchouli why people felt that way, and Patchouli had simply tossed her a stack of books on human psychology and social behavior.
Although reading those books back then hadn't fully made her understand the intricacies of the human heart, the concepts remained locked in her memory. After coming to Terra and fully integrating her consciousness, her mind had grown increasingly grounded and stable. Through years of observing the world around her, she had gradually come to master that knowledge.
She understood one fundamental truth: the "kindness" she thought she was extending might not feel friendly at all in the eyes of the recipient.
It wasn't a matter of someone being ungrateful or malicious; it was simply the natural emotional strain brought on by the gap between raw reality and ideal intent. Almost no one could remain completely indifferent when watching someone else live a vastly superior life or enjoy a warm, effortless family background.
Jealousy and self-consciousness were simply part of mortal nature. When the daily lives of two people from completely different worlds were forced too close together, that constant, glaring contrast would only make the heart more restless.
Flandre knew Rope was a genuinely kind person and a good friend. Precisely because she valued that friendship and didn't want it to turn uncomfortable, she knew she had to maintain a thoughtful boundary in their daily lives.
Of course, maintaining a boundary didn't mean ignoring her entirely.
Flandre reasoned that if Rope really did end up at the station, she would get a copy of Rope's sizing records from the LGD and buy her a set of high-quality, thick winter clothes. That way, her friend wouldn't freeze during the worst of the cold months.
"No problem at all," Beatrice agreed softly, having picked up on the little girl's thoughtful logic. She felt a warm sense of pride—it was an undeniably wonderful thing that Flandre possessed such a mature, considerate heart. "I'll ask around as soon as I reach the precinct tomorrow."
Amidst their chatter, the night stretched late. Feeling the temperature outside plunge even lower as the cold wind howled across the terrace, everyone retreated to their rooms.
The next morning, after waking up and washing her face, Flandre went straight back to her four-volume study marathon. After all, while there was no news from the Guard Department yet, Patchouli's dreaded exam was looming closer by the day.
Around three or four in the afternoon, Beatrice's call finally came through.
Over the phone, Beatrice confirmed that Rope had indeed intentionally gotten herself caught early that morning and was currently enjoying her warm stay at the precinct. The reason the update had taken so long was that she had initially been held at a local neighborhood police booth before being transferred over to the main LGD facility by patrol car a short while ago.
Shortly after hanging up, Beatrice sent a digital copy of the intake record containing Rope's height and physical measurements straight to Flandre's phone.
Upon receiving the data, Flandre immediately dragged Hong Meiling off the couch. "Sister Meiling, let me go shopping!"
"Huh?!" Meiling stared at her in utter shock, her sleep mask hanging loosely off her forehead. "Aren't you supposed to be buried in your theoretical books?!"
"I am studying hard!" Flandre declared, pointing a thumb at her homework stack. "But that doesn't stop me from taking a scientifically timed break! The books clearly state that to sustain high mental performance over long periods, one must balance intense study with proper relaxation..."
She puffed out her chest, adding with absolute gravity, "It's not that Flandre just wants to go out and play—this is science! Absolute science!"
"Alright, alright... science it is," Meiling surrendered helplessly, pulling her sleep mask off her head and sliding off the sofa to follow her out the door.
Flandre waved her phone, displaying the message Beatrice had just sent, and beamed a brilliant, radiant smile. "We're going to buy clothes!"
"Are you still lacking clothes?" Meiling asked, speechlessly recalling Flandre's massive walk-in closet back at the villa, filled with enough high-end outfits that she could wear a different ensemble every day for a full year without repeating.
"Of course not for me!" Flandre giggled, skipping down the walkway. "It's for Rope, my friend! Her living situation in the Slums isn't very good, so she probably doesn't have proper new winter clothes to wear. It's so freezing out today—it would be terrible if she caught a cold! So I plan to buy her a complete winter set."
Following Flandre's explanation, Meiling recalled the quiet conversation Flandre and Beatrice had shared the previous night.
Once the pair arrived at one of Lungmen's premier commercial arcades, Flandre immediately zipped from display to display, quickly picking out several stunning, high-end winter coats and asking Meiling for her opinion.
Meiling inspected the selections, looked at the delicate fabrics, and slowly shook her head, indicating that none of them were suitable.
"Why?!" Flandre's cheeks flushed red with anxious protest. "I think these coats look super pretty!"
She hadn't expected her carefully chosen items to be flatly rejected right out of the gate.
"I know you're anxious, but don't rush!" Meiling chuckled, reaching out to give Flandre's head a soothing pat before explaining gently: "If I remember correctly, your friend Rope makes a living through... delicate hand movements, shall we say? And she resides in the Slums all year round, right?"