And so everyone gathered in Philly's room.
A strange tension filled the room, making it seem less like a family reunion.
Even Philly found this situation quite burdensome.
She had three daughters she loved dearly, but their relationship was complicated, to say the least.
"Aten, it's been a while."
It was Elysia who spoke first.
There was no need to hesitate in saying what she had thought about before coming here.
"And, I'm sorry."
"...Sister."
"For everything I've done. And for being so late in apologizing, I'm sorry."
Aten looked at Elysia with innocent eyes.
Elysia had expected this reaction from Aten.
Her pure gaze seemed to show that she had not only forgiven her but had never been hurt in the first place.
She used to think that the pure and innocent Aten was the weakest and most fragile of them all, but now she wondered if she was actually the strongest person in all of Terst.
"I was afraid to apologize to you. I wanted to put it off for as long as I could."
But regardless of Aten's kindness, Elysia had to say it.
Atonement could not be different depending on the other person.
Atonement was about paying for one's sins. It wasn't about doing less for those who were kind.
"I'm sorry for being a bad sister."
"No, you're not."
Aten shook her head.
"Thank you for saying that."
"...Yeah."
Elysia nodded.
Aten reacted exactly as she expected. And Aten herself would know that. She knew that Elysia had asked for forgiveness because she knew she would be forgiven.
But by doing so, they reconciled.
Aten believed in Elysia's goodness, and Elysia was stained by that goodness.
Only Aten knew everything and yet remained untainted.
"Ahem, it seems like you two have grown up so much that Mom doesn't need to intervene."
Philly smiled awkwardly, looking at the two of them.
Aten smiled back at her.
"No, Mom. I'm glad you called us all here."
"Me too. I would have put it off again if you hadn't."
Elysia nodded in agreement.
Philly was relieved to see them like this and smiled, but...
Surprisingly, their reconciliation was the least of their worries.
"..."
"..."
"..."
A brief silence fell over the room.
Their gazes all turned to one person.
"...Congratulations."
Sale, her eyes unfocused, spoke to the gazes directed at her.
"You've reconciled. I knew you two would get along soon enough."
Her words alone sounded very warm.
However, Sale's eyes clearly showed that the words she uttered were nothing more than a formality.
"...Sale."
"Yes?"
Elysia called out in a worried voice. Sale answered.
Sale was completely oblivious to the concern, worry, and care in Elysia's expression and voice.
She simply answered because she was called. That was all.
'Sale, she's still like this after all this time.'
Sale, who had been possessed by Odin.
In terms of the impact it had on Frondier's current situation, Sale's guilt was second only to Ludovic's.
But on top of that, Sale was now afraid.
She was afraid that Odin, or any other god, might possess her body and do something again.
The Emperor means nothing to me if that happens.
It's going to happen again.
Losing her mind, and then being crushed by regret for losing her mind, all over again.
'...I can't take away Sale's fear.'
It was impossible to tell Sale, "It's okay now."
Her fear was completely valid. They couldn't stop Odin from possessing her again, or any other god from intervening.
After Sale's mental breakdown, the three sisters took turns visiting her regularly to check on her condition.
Sale accepted all of them, but her condition didn't improve over time.
Clap.
Philly clapped her hands lightly.
She hadn't gathered them because of Sale.
"I called you all here today because I have something to tell you."
"...It's not about me and Aten, or Sale?"
Elysia asked. Aten was thinking the same thing.
They thought she had called them together for the sake of a peaceful reconciliation between the sisters.
"Of course, that's incredibly important, and I'm so happy that one problem has been resolved."
But Philly's expression as she spoke was dark.
"But something so important, so urgent, has come up."
Philly slowly began to speak.
The scene from the premonition she had seen.
A black-haired man lying face down, and Malia crying beside him.
The three sisters, who had been listening quietly, slowly stiffened their expressions. Aten's face, in particular, turned cold.
"...The black-haired man."
"I don't know who it is. I couldn't see his face."
Philly shook her head and replied.
It could be Frondier. That's what her words meant.
Aten's heart pounded at those words.
Frondier, dying?
She had learned healing magic to prevent that from happening.
She had been constantly striving to grasp the principles of Restoration.
Every night, she poured over books, trying to retrace the accidental glimpse she had caught of her own future.
"Calm down, Aten."
Elysia spoke up.
"Premonitions can be changed. Right, Mom?"
"Yes. We've been changing them all along."
Philly's premonitions had become highly accurate. If you knew about them, you could avoid them.
In fact, Philly had already avoided many of them. She had even avoided premonitions that were nothing more than feelings, so there was no way she couldn't avoid something she had seen with her own eyes.
"I called you all here to change the premonition. We have to put our heads together at times like this."
"...But we have so little information. If only we knew for sure if it was Frondier..."
"That's why I called you too, Aten."
Philly looked at Aten.
"You experienced a premonition as well."
"...Ah."
Aten nodded at that.
Frondier and Renzo's first fight.
Frondier, who had lost many parts of his body and collapsed.
To heal him, Aten had looked into her own future. To a future where she would one day master Restoration.
Even if Aten's ability to see the future was limited to her own, if Frondier was involved, she might be able to glean some information from it.
However, she hadn't experienced any premonitions since then.
"...Hmm..."
Aten racked her brain. If only she could use her premonition ability on command.
Aten groaned. But just because time had passed didn't mean she could suddenly use an ability she couldn't before.
'...I guess it's no use.'
Just as Philly smiled wryly,
"Mother."
A flat voice suddenly cut in.
It was Sale.
"You said that Lady Malia was crying."
"Huh? Oh, yes."
"So you heard Lady Malia's voice in your premonition?"
"...Yes, I did. It wasn't just sight; I heard the premonition as well."
Malia was definitely crying in the premonition Philly saw.
She was certain of it because she had clearly heard her crying.
Sale's eyes shifted at that.
She asked again, her voice still dry,
"Did you hear any other sounds?"
"Other sounds?"
"The sound of rain, for instance."
"...!"
Philly was startled by those words. And she wasn't the only one. Aten and Elysia also looked at Sale in surprise.
At her words, Philly's memory was jogged, and she said,
"...Yes, I heard the sound of rain."
"It doesn't rain often in the Empire. If we know in advance when it will rain, we can at least deduce when this event will take place."
Sale muttered, seemingly not looking at anyone or speaking to anyone in particular.
Then, when no one answered, she lifted her head.
"It doesn't matter if it's Frondier or Azier who dies. They're both important people."
"..."
Sale lowered her head again.
She returned to her mumbling, as if speaking to no one again.
"Saving them is what matters."
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