The café door swung gently shut behind the Astral Express crew.
Now only Kallen remained at the table.
Time really had flown. At this rate, Sunday's ascension was only a few days away.
Thinking that, Kallen shifted her perspective for a moment.
Kiana was already on her way to Penacony.
There was still plenty going on over at Herta's side, but fortunately, Kiana would arrive in Penacony tomorrow.
Kallen let out a soft sigh, pushed aside the cloyingly sweet drink, and switched to the blue mint-flavored one Stelle had ordered.
She took a sip.
Her whole face twisted at once.
"This tastes awful..."
At last, she understood why Stelle always looked like she was taking medicine whenever she drank this stuff.
Just as Kallen was debating whether to keep suffering through that anti-human mint drink or switch back to the nauseatingly sweet secret recipe, the café door opened again.
This time, it was not the Astral Express crew.
It was someone she had not expected.
Robin stood in the doorway, dressed in pale casual clothes, her hair hanging loosely over her shoulders. She was not wearing any of the elaborate jewelry from her performances, nor that signature dress of hers.
She looked as if she had just come from some private engagement, with a faint trace of weariness still lingering on her face.
But the instant her eyes landed on Kallen, they lit up.
"Kallen! I finally found you!"
She hurried over and immediately caught hold of Kallen's hand.
"What exactly did my brother say to you? Why have you been avoiding me this whole time?"
Kallen could only respond with helpless resignation.
This girl really was persistent. She was still looking for her.
Seeing the worry written plainly in Robin's eyes, Kallen felt a twinge of guilt.
She really had been dodging Robin for several days.
According to the script she had in mind, she simply did not have that much time to waste playing house with her.
But judging from the situation now, Robin really did seem deeply concerned about her.
Had she overacted that badly back then?
Though that was what she thought, Kallen did not regret it in the slightest.
Well then. It looked like she would have to put the "melancholy newcomer" persona back on again.
Kallen quickly lowered her gaze, letting a trace of strain appear across her face.
"Robin... I haven't been avoiding you. I've just been busy lately."
"Busy?" Robin's tone made it clear she did not believe her.
"So busy you can't even reply to my messages? So busy that every time I go looking for you, you're gone?"
Kallen opened her mouth, seemingly hesitating over how to brush it off, but Robin clearly had no intention of giving her the chance.
"Kallen, ever since that day in the corridor when I fainted, you've been avoiding me."
Robin sat down opposite her, looking straight at her. "And my brother too. He used to never ignore my calls, but these past few days..."
She paused, fingers rubbing lightly over the edge of the table.
"He's been avoiding me."
Kallen tried, weakly, to smooth things over for Sunday. "Maybe he really is busy? Isn't the Charmony Festival almost here?"
But Robin would not be sidetracked. "And even if he were busy, he still wouldn't ignore my calls."
"I know my brother. The only time he avoids me is when he knows he's done something wrong."
Kallen fell silent for two seconds.
So now Robin was no longer as easy to fool as before.
Ah, she really was a sinner, wasn't she?
Robin cared about her this much now. It only made Kallen look even less like a human being.
But on second thought—
Who was she, Kallen, anyway?
She was the most melancholy of all people. The one destined to betray Preservation before the entire galaxy someday.
What was a little guilt compared to that?
So she lowered her head, and her shoulders began to tremble faintly.
Then a tear slipped down her cheek and dropped into the blue mint drink with a soft plink.
Robin froze. "Kallen...?"
Kallen said nothing.
She simply kept her head bowed and let more tears roll down her cheeks.
One. Two. Three.
Each one fell with unnervingly perfect precision into the blue drink.
Honestly, she really could apply for an "actor" persona someday. Not everyone could cry this beautifully—frail as wilted pear blossoms, heartbreakingly pitiful at a glance.
"Kallen!"
Robin panicked immediately.
She rushed around from the other side of the table, sat down beside her, and fumbled in her pockets in search of tissues.
"I'm sorry! Did I say something wrong? I—I wasn't trying to pressure you, I just..."
The more she spoke, the more frantic she sounded.
"I was just worried about you... If you don't want to talk about it, then don't. I won't ask anymore. I won't ask anything."
Kallen shook her head.
Her voice came out hoarse in exactly the right way, like a string stretched to breaking by the wind.
"N-no... it's not your fault."
"Then what is it?"
At last Robin found some tissues and held them out carefully. After hesitating for a second, she gently rested a hand on Kallen's shoulder.
"Kallen, what happened? You can tell me."
Kallen took the tissue and wiped at her face a couple of times, but the tears kept coming, as though a dam had burst.
She drew in a breath, like someone desperately trying to steady herself.
"Robin..."
"Yes?"
"Your brother didn't threaten me."
Robin's hand stopped.
"What?"
"Your brother didn't threaten me," Kallen repeated, her voice carrying the shattered honesty of someone finally forcing out the truth.
"He... he just asked me to stay away from you."
Robin's pupils contracted.
"He asked you?"
"Mhm." Kallen nodded, tears still falling, though she no longer bothered wiping them away.
"He said... he said someone like me shouldn't get too close to you."
"Someone like you?" Robin's voice rose half a step.
"What kind of person are you?"
Kallen was silent for a moment.
Then she lifted her head and looked at Robin with eyes red and swollen from crying.
"I'm just someone being eroded by Nihility. Someone who doesn't even know how much longer I can hold on."
That was not entirely a lie.
After all, the persona did carry the risk of being corroded by Nihility. Though given Kallen's own "purity," the actual danger was practically nonexistent.
But Robin did not know that.
All she knew was that the girl before her—the one who usually seemed so free-spirited, so sharp, so untouchable—was now sitting right in front of her, tearing open her own wound and showing it to her.
"Kallen..." Robin's voice trembled. "So that's why you've been avoiding me?"
"Not because of my brother's threats, but because..."
"Because I think he was right," Kallen cut in.
"Robin, you're Penacony's brightest star. The idol millions adore. And I'm just some drifter who doesn't even know where she'll be tomorrow."
"If I get close to you, all I'll do is bring you trouble."
As she spoke, she lowered her head again, her voice growing smaller and smaller.
And just when Robin was becoming even more flustered—
Another figure came to a stop beside their table.
"Kallen, my sister—I finally found you both."
Sunday stood there, dressed in dark formal attire.
Only today, he seemed somehow different.
"Brother," Robin said first.
She rose to her feet and stepped in front of Kallen. "What are you doing here?"
"If you've come to threaten Kallen again, then let me be clear: I won't allow it."
Sunday's brow twitched. "Robin, how could you possibly think that of me?"
But Robin seemed to have no intention of answering that directly.
"Also, why haven't you been answering my calls these past few days?"
Robin stepped forward, staring him straight in the eyes. "Do you have any idea how worried I was? I thought something had happened to you. I thought something had gone wrong within the Family. And this is how you show up?"
"You come looking for Kallen the moment you appear instead of coming to me?"
The corner of Sunday's mouth twitched.
Instinctively, he looked toward Kallen, hoping she might at least offer one fair word on his behalf.
But Kallen only kept her head lowered, her shoulders trembling even harder now.
Sunday drew in a deep breath. "Robin, you've been deceived by this woman."
"She's an Emanator of Preservation."
"An Emanator?" Robin froze, then frowned. "Brother, if you're going to make excuses, at least come up with one that sounds believable."
She turned around and shielded Kallen even more completely with her body.
"It's true that Kallen walks the path of Preservation, but an Emanator? Have you ever seen an Emanator being chased all over the place like this?"
"Robin," Sunday said, more urgently now.
"That's enough." Robin's voice suddenly turned cold.
"Brother, when did you become like this? Just to drive Kallen away from me, you'd actually tell a lie like that?"
And just as the siblings were on the verge of erupting into a full argument—
Kallen acted.
Thunk.
Robin was knocked unconscious again.
"...Kallen, what exactly are you doing?" Sunday's gaze dropped to Robin, once more asleep in Kallen's arms, his voice lowering ominously.
"Nothing much." Kallen tucked Robin more securely into the sofa.
But Sunday was not about to let that pass. "You could have silenced her without knocking her out every single time."
Then Kallen's next move caught him entirely off guard.
She burst into motion, crossing the distance between them in an instant.
Then she raised her right hand and slammed it squarely into his face.
"What kind of Masked Fool do you think you are, barging in here to ruin my fun?"
There wasn't actually any missing content today. The previous chapter was just too long, so I couldn't split it cleanly.
Join here to read ahead.
In Star Rail, Ultra-Beast Armored — Have I Caught "Equilibrium"? l (Chapter 80)
Uma Musume, But I Only Have Five Years Left to Live (Chapter 178)
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 150)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League ( 126 )
TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter110)
Yu-Gi-Oh! — Transmigrated into the White Dragon Girl (Chapter190)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter105)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter225)
Can Playing Games Save the World? 65
Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 77
From Junkman to Wasteland 66
Weekly Refresh of Overpowered 31
I'm Grinding Proficiency Like 46
From Kiana, Lord Ravager, Onwa 195
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 42
Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 65
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 170
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass Volume2/5
The Way the Umamusume Look at 68
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 225
Naruto: Weaving the Future, Be 65
Zenless Zone Zero, but Kamen R 76
Multiverse Crossover: The Perf 66
My Cyberpsycho Girlfriend 65
Uma Musume: The Dark Trainer 210
Uma Musume: A Calamity Born fr 154
I, a Reincarnation-Loop Player Volume4/30
The Violent Girl Group Is Beat 115
Uma Musume: The Horse Girl Who 67
Uma Musume: From Beginner 130
Becoming a Horse Girl, I Will 85
Uma Musume: I Want All 105
I Can Copy Unique Skills 100
Summoning an Evil God, but the 70
Supernatural Multiverse 90
My Harem Is Indescribable 85
Jujutsu Kaisen: Heroic Spirit 90
"I'm just a Valkyrie passing through." 68
Uma Musume: Today Is Another Romantic Battlefield 100
Still playing traditional Honk 69
The Most Filial Son Under Heav 75
What Should I Do After Switchi - Volume2/3
Reincarnated as a Demon, Skill 60
Hell-Difficulty Dungeon? 55
Transmigrated as Sukuna 71
Checking In in Demon Slayer 75
The Reincarnating Trainer of Tracen Academy 80
I Refuse to Become a Heroic 66
My Best Friend Into a Slime? 58
A Saiyan Stands Above Marvel 65
What Do You Mean by Using a Lab Mod to Be the Hero? 63
Tanya Starts from Re:Zero 59
Why did they assign me to Uma 55
MYGO Beauties 56
DanMachi: Emiya the Giant Hero 45
The Gacha Merchant Who Started 49
Honkai's Otherworld? Wait—Who Are You People?! 36
Emiya Shirou, Determined to Slay Every Curse and Evil Spirit 35
The Uma Musume Who Became 30
I'm Definitely Not the King of 35
After Maxing Out Every Class 35
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