“Seirith…?”
The boy’s urgent and worried call cut through the heavy gloom like a ray of light—faint but clear—piercing into Seirith’s fear-shrouded ears.
She stiffened slightly and slowly raised her head.
Beneath her disheveled ice-blue hair was a pale little face streaked with tears, drained of all color.
When her blurry gaze focused and confirmed that the person standing before her truly was Seirith, those hollow blue eyes suddenly flickered with a glimmer of hope, as if spotting the only lifeline in boundless darkness.
Seirith instinctively wanted to rush forward, seeking refuge in that warm embrace.
However, as her body leaned forward, her movements abruptly froze.
She blinked hard, her vision blurred by tears, suspicion and fear washing over her face, and whispered dreamlike murmurs.
“No… you’re not the real Seirith… you’re fake… an illusion…”
As she spoke, terrified of being swallowed by this phantom, she suddenly shrank back again, curling into the narrow space formed by the quilt and the wall—vigilant and fragile.
“Seirith, it’s me. I am Seirith. Look closely, I’m really here.”
Seeing Seirith’s obvious mental trauma—unable to distinguish reality from hallucination—
Seirith’s heart grew increasingly anxious.
He quickly stepped forward and crouched down, trying to keep his voice steady and gentle.
At first, Seirith instinctively flinched backward as he approached, her body trembling slightly.
But Seirith’s familiar voice, carrying a comforting strength, patiently called her name over and over, gradually clearing her muddled thoughts.
“Seirith?”
Summoning her remaining courage, with a hint of hesitation and uncertainty, she carefully and very slowly extended a trembling hand to lightly touch Seirith’s outstretched hand.
The warmth and reality transmitted through his hand instantly shattered all her doubts like an electric shock.
Realizing the person before her was not a terrifying illusion but the very one she longed to see, the emotional dam she had tightly held finally broke.
She could no longer contain herself and burst into a loud, heart-wrenching cry, full of endless grievances, fear, and lingering terror.
In that moment, Seirith practically threw herself into Seirith’s arms, using all her strength to cling tightly, her arms wrapped around his neck with such force it almost suffocated him, as if loosening her grip would make her only support vanish.
“It’s alright now, it’s alright… I’m right here… I’m not going anywhere…”
Seirith was overwhelmed by the sudden surge of sorrow.
He caught her steadily, pulling her trembling, delicate body fully into his embrace.
One hand wrapped around her back while the other gently patted her, soothing her like a frightened little animal, softly murmuring words of comfort.
Seirith’s tears poured like a broken dam, quickly soaking the front of Seirith’s uniform, leaving dark stains.
She buried her face deeply in the hollow of his shoulder, uncontrollably crying while repeating in broken, incoherent words:
“I’m so scared… Seirith… I’m really so scared…”
“Don’t be afraid, Seirith. No matter what happens, I will protect you. Trust me, so you don’t have to be scared anymore, okay?”
Feeling the girl’s fear and helplessness in his arms, his heart filled with compassion and a fierce desire to protect.
He softened his voice and made a firm promise.
Listening to his steady and reassuring heartbeat and soothing words was like a lone boat drifting in a stormy sea finally finding a warm harbor to dock.
Seirith greedily soaked in the reassuring warmth and presence radiating from Seirith’s body.
The constant terror began to ebb little by little, and her panicked emotions gradually calmed, her sobbing diminishing to soft hiccups.
Yet after calming down, perhaps from the exhaustion of a sleepless night, or the mental toll that had depleted her strength, or maybe the recent emotional outburst had drained her completely, her eyelids grew heavy and fought to stay open.
Eventually, in Seirith’s comforting embrace, her breathing grew steady and deep.
With tear stains still fresh, she slowly drifted off to sleep.
Seirith lowered his head to gaze at Seirith’s sleeping face.
Even in slumber, her delicate brows were slightly furrowed, long eyelashes dotted with unfallen tears, and her expression still carried the remnants of fright, as if any moment a nightmare might awaken her.
He reached out, extremely gently wiping away the tears on her cheeks, careful not to disturb her sleep.
Then he bent down and softly lifted Seirith into his arms, carrying her steadily back to bed.
He carefully tucked in the covers, making sure she wouldn’t catch cold.
Having done all this, he did not leave.
Instead, he pulled a chair to the bedside and sat quietly, prepared to guard her through the night.
Seirith worried that if Seirith awoke without seeing a familiar face, she might fall back into panic and helplessness.
Settling into the chair, his eyes fixed on her sleeping face, his hand unconsciously pinched his chin as he sank into thought.
Seirith’s current condition was clearly the result of extreme shock and fear.
Coupled with her strange behavior last night—fleeing hurriedly at the street corner—it was possible to roughly piece together what had happened.
Seirith had likely seen something at the street corner last night that terrified her beyond measure—perhaps a person, or perhaps some unknown entity.
It was this mysterious source of horror that had driven her into the current state of breakdown.
So, the question remained: what exactly did Seirith see?
What was it that frightened her into this lost and shattered state?
[Ruby, query the second critical turning point or element of Seirith’s corruption.]
Floating nearby, Ruby nodded and skillfully traced her small hand through the air, pulling up a semi-transparent system interface to begin the search.
However, after a few seconds, a clear expression of confusion and puzzlement appeared on her petite face, and her hand came to a stop.
“Master… this is… a bit strange…”
Ruby tilted her head, voice uncertain.
“What’s wrong? What happened?”
Seirith noticed Ruby’s oddity and leaned in to look at the system screen before her.
Where the follow-up task node information for Seirith should have been displayed, there was nothing but blank space.
Seirith was stunned as well, completely baffled.
According to the system, after Seirith successfully passed the key node of Rufus, the system explanation should have updated automatically to show the next node’s critical information…
But now…
It seemed all the subsequent data…
Had entirely vanished?
Not a single trace left behind…
What on earth was going on?