Sandrone watched Columbina, her lips trembling slightly, unconsciously.
At this moment, Columbina was still the same as always: cold and aloof, with a faint smile often tugging at the corners of her mouth, looking innocent and simple.
Sandrone truly could not understand how she could recount those events bit by bit in such a flat tone, as if they had nothing to do with her.
Sandrone understood even less how, over hundreds of years, through countless days and nights in this vast Winter Palace, under the Fatui’s greedy extraction of her power, Columbina…
had managed to endure it all.
Aside from her few friends, and those fleeting moments of warmth and joy, what else did Columbina possess within the Fatui?
What an innocent and simple person she must be, to be able to face these things and remain as clear as moonlight, unchanging from beginning to end.
An inexplicable emotion took root and sprouted in Sandrone’s heart, quickly growing into a towering tree in a very short time.
No matter how stubborn she was, at this moment, Sandrone had to admit that she felt heartache for Columbina.
Even…
there was an impulse from the bottom of her heart…
she wanted to…
“Sandrone?”
Columbina had waited for a long time without receiving a reply from Sandrone.
On the contrary, she “saw” that the eyes of the usually stern Sandrone seemed to be slowly turning red?
she had never seen Sandrone like this before.
Columbina was a bit worried.
she wondered if something had malfunctioned in Sandrone’s body, so without much thought, she raised her hand and slowly reached toward Sandrone’s face.
“Sandrone, you…”
At this moment, Sandrone finally snapped out of her deep thoughts.
she saw Columbina’s hand getting closer and subconsciously stood up and took a step back, then lowered her head as if to hide something.
“I…
I’m fine!
It…
it’s just some unimportant screws that came loose.
I’ll just fix them when I go back.”
“Really?” Columbina also stood up, her brows slightly furrowed, one hand raised as if she still wanted to check if Sandrone was truly alright.
“Sandrone, I’m a bit worried about you.”
But Sandrone waved her hand, firmly preventing Columbina from coming closer.
“I told you I’m fine!”
Sandrone seemed a bit anxious; her words were a bit sharp, causing the atmosphere of the entire room to drop to zero.
For a moment, only an eerie silence remained in the room.
Columbina stood there blankly, her “gaze” still lingering on Sandrone, her hands hanging weakly in mid-air, not knowing where to put them.
And Sandrone realized instantly that she had gone too far.
she originally just didn’t want Columbina to see her like this, but the result…
Seemed to differ somewhat from her expectations.
In the silence, Sandrone quickly completed a self-check.
After barely recovering to normal, she looked up and immediately saw Columbina, who looked a bit hurt.
It was as if…
The complete reflection of a bright moon in the water had been disrupted by something.
Tsk…
Sandrone pressed her lips together tightly, then raised her hand to firmly grab Columbina’s hand, which was still hanging in mid-air, and led her back to the wall.
“Th…
that, just now you asked me what I thought of these paintings.
I think they’re…
they’re quite good, and I like them too.”
Upon hearing this, Columbina turned her head and “saw” Sandrone “earnestly” looking at the paintings in front, then her “gaze” shifted downward.
It was their hands, tightly clasped together at this moment.
she raised her other hand and controlled the Lunar Rectangular Force to gather upon it.
“Thank you for liking them, Sandrone.
However, these paintings were drawn a long time ago.
Now, I want to draw another one.”
“Hmm?”
Sandrone’s expression flickered slightly.
she turned to look at Columbina and discovered that her fingertips were guiding the Lunar Rectangular Force to move slowly in mid-air.
Columbina was drawing very earnestly, yet she almost didn’t pause to think; it seemed as if this painting had already been drawn in her heart.
“Sandrone, look in front.”
At some point, Columbina withdrew the hand she was drawing with and turned her head to “make eye contact” with Sandrone.
Seeing this, Sandrone realized what she had been doing just now and hurriedly lowered her head.
Damn it!
What is wrong with me today?
Intuition told Sandrone that all her abnormalities today stemmed from Columbina beside her.
As long as she left her, she should be able to return to being that brilliant, composed Harbinger again.
But…
Oh, right, the purpose of coming to find Columbina today was to question her about why she sent me that kind of novel.
How could she leave when the goal hadn’t been achieved yet?
Right, that’s it!
Damn Columbina, she actually wasted so much of my time.
Just you wait…
“It’s to look in front, not for you to lower your head, Sandrone.”
While thinking, Sandrone suddenly felt someone arrive behind her.
The next moment, that familiar, moonlight-clear aura wrapped around her.
It was Columbina.
Sandrone trembled all over, then wanted to break free in shame and annoyance.
But unfortunately, before she could take any action, Columbina’s hands had already cupped her face, making her look straight ahead.
“Sandrone, look.”
Actually, there was no need for Columbina to remind her.
Upon seeing the painting Columbina had just finished, Sandrone was stunned.
It was a scene she was very familiar with.
It was the tea party she had hosted.
she, Columbina, Arlecchino, Rosalyne, as well as Capitano and Tartaglia—a group of people gathered around the tea party table, drinking tea and eating various delicious little cakes, everyone’s faces beaming with relaxed, happy smiles.
On the cold-colored wall, a warm-colored painting appeared.
“Sandrone, in the days within the Fatui, being with you, being with all of you, holding tea parties like this is my happiest time.
I will never forget them.
So I think I should paint it up here, in the most conspicuous place, so that I can see it every day and remember that, in the Fatui, I still have friends like you.”
Speaking of this, Columbina’s brows furrowed slightly.
After hesitating for a moment, she asked softly in Sandrone’s ear: “Sandrone, no matter where we are, we are…
friends, right?”
For some reason, after hearing this, a very bad feeling arose in Sandrone’s heart.
she struggled to break free from Columbina’s embrace, turned around to look directly at Columbina, her tone carrying a hint of questioning.
“Columbina, what do you mean by this?”
Columbina tilted her head in confusion, her face innocent.
“Hmm?
It doesn’t mean anything.
I’m just asking if we are friends, Sandrone?
I remember you didn’t answer me last time.”
she quickly recalled that just this morning, Columbina had indeed asked her whether they counted as friends.
she…
seemed to have run away directly at that time, without answering her question.
For a moment, Sandrone didn’t know how to answer her.
Tsk…
Columbina, isn’t it enough that we know this kind of thing ourselves?
Why ask it suddenly!
I could run away in the morning, but now…
I can’t even run away.
Sandrone’s expression gradually became awkward.
Some things, she really couldn’t say out loud.
Seeing this, Columbina lowered her head quite dejectedly, her tone even revealing sadness.
“Is Sandrone unwilling to be friends with me?”
Sandrone really couldn’t take it anymore.
she crossed her arms, turned her body to the side, her voice as thin as a mosquito’s.
“Yes…”
Columbina seemed not to have heard and took half a step forward.
“What did you say just now, Sandrone?”
The two were already standing in a corner.
Columbina’s advance forced Sandrone to the end of the wall, and she had to look directly at Columbina.
Looking at her, Sandrone inexplicably felt a sense of guilt.
Finally, she couldn’t take it anymore and raised her voice, feeling a sense of resignation.
“Ahhh!
Columbina!
You guy…
Yes!
We are friends!”
After saying this, Sandrone turned her head away, not daring to look at Columbina again.
If she couldn’t beat Columbina, she would have run away in a panic long ago.
On the other side, hearing Sandrone’s reply, Columbina covered her mouth and chuckled softly.
But she didn’t dwell too much on this question.
Columbina lowered her head, “looked” at the book still clutched in Sandrone’s hand, thought for a while, then pulled Sandrone and walked towards the windowsill.
“Columbina!
Where are you taking me again?!”
Sandrone didn’t want to question anything anymore; she just wanted to leave here quickly and then use all her energy to do experiments to forget everything that had just happened.
What on earth have I been doing with Columbina all night!
It’s simply absurd!
Not letting Sandrone wait too long, after arriving at the windowsill, Columbina let go of Sandrone’s hand, sat down on it, and pointed to a space left specifically beside her.
“Sit too, Sandrone.”
There was still a thin layer of snow on the windowsill, and outside the windowsill was a small courtyard.
If one sat here, one could have an unobstructed view of the scenery outside the window along with the night sky.
It was indeed a good place to enjoy the scenery…
Sandrone thought silently in her heart, but refused verbally: “Columbina, I don’t have time to enjoy the scenery with you right now.
You can watch it yourself; I’m going to the Laboratory to do experiments first.”
Having said that, Sandrone turned around, looking like she was really leaving.
But Columbina kept Sandrone with just one sentence.
“But Sandrone hasn’t told me yet what you came to find me for tonight.”