This step she took might seem insignificant to most people.
For an ordinary person, it would be nothing more than a simple statement.
Yet for her, it carried far greater weight.
The girl who had always consumed herself with self-loathing, who wished she could be someone else, had finally found the courage to look directly into those dark eyes for the first time.
Look.
Your efforts were not in vain.
You helped me take this important step.
Now I can do a few small things of my own free will.
So… can you… stay with me?
Look at me more.
Let your gaze rest on me?
She could not bring herself to say those words out loud.
Even just thinking them and taking the smallest action had already used up every ounce of her courage.
Yet within her bright, sparkling eyes, behind the shyness, embarrassment, and fear, that thought had broken through all restraints.
It shone like a lone star in the dark night… timid, yet resolute.
Even if this might cost her the only friend she had.
Even if that friend disappeared like a bubble and she fell into an abyss with no way to linger as she once had.
Even though such a choice should never be made lightly by someone who had spent less than a dozen hours with the boy in an entire year… a choice with no room for regret.
Yet before her mind could catch up, her cherry lips had already parted, releasing the long-suppressed wish from the depths of her heart.
“Please…”
“Leave Elysia.”
The girl spoke words that were difficult to understand.
Her voice was soft and sweet, yet carried an unusual firmness.
“Eh?”
Edward’s expression turned startled and confused.
He subconsciously gripped the card tightly, his fingertips turning pale from the pressure as the edges slightly bent.
His dark eyes looked at the girl in bewilderment, unable to comprehend what had just happened.
What is she saying?
Why would she suddenly say something like that?
Am I in a bad mood lately?
Am I hearing things?
“I said…”
Seeing that the boy did not understand, the girl let out a heavy sigh and repeated herself.
This time, her voice was clear and deliberate.
“Can I ask you to… not get close to Elysia anymore?”
After taking that first step and realizing there was no turning back, she found an inexplicable courage within herself.
===
It was as if she had set her heart ablaze just to produce a single fleeting spark.
When chatting with Edward through the screen, she only dared to be slightly bolder when expressing her feelings through characters.
Even the nearly intrusive act of observing his life had been kept at a safe distance.
She never dared to truly interfere, even if he would never notice.
Only at this moment did she speak clearly, word by word.
“Why?”
Edward was not hearing things.
Her repeated words completely shattered any remaining hope.
A cold, strange atmosphere filled the air, and an oppressive weight made it hard for the boy to react.
Why say these things now?
Could it be… even Vill-V?
“Because you have never been treated well.”
Every confession and complaint he had shared with her on his phone was deeply etched in the girl’s heart.
Elysia simply did not care about Edward.
No matter how beautiful and flawless that fairy-like girl appeared, no matter how brightly she shone, if she did not care, then she simply did not care.
Those directly involved often could not see clearly, but outsiders could.
The essence of any relationship ultimately came down to the time and effort one person was willing to invest in another, and how much both sides were willing to compromise.
No matter how grand the emotions sounded, their core was still rooted in selfishness.
It was precisely because of that selfishness that love for a specific person could be expressed.
It was favoritism that made one person’s love different from the love given to others.
No matter how sweet the words.
No matter how tender the whispers.
No matter how passionately the word “love” was spoken.
In the end, they were just empty words.
Such phrases had been overused throughout history.
Only the emotions shown through genuine actions truly mattered.
Elysia appeared to have a close and intimate relationship with Edward.
On the surface, it seemed their bond was special, just as the boy believed.
But was it really?
Was it truly extraordinary?
Was Elysia actually treating Edward well, or was it only his own idealized imagination?
Vill-V had not experienced it personally.
Though she had created small devices to observe him, she had only done ordinary observation and never invaded his privacy.
But that had been more than enough.
One did not need to examine every single detail and emotion to determine whether someone was sincere.
When Elysia truly focused on Edward, it was only for two or three hours a day at most.
Most of the time, she acted like someone being chased, constantly moving on to meet more people and do other things.
Their so-called “journey together” was mostly one person accommodating the other.
In reality, it had long since become Elysia’s personal tour to meet and help others.
Sometimes she went to find them.
Her energy throughout the day was almost entirely devoted to these matters… things that Vill-V could not even understand the connection between.
One day she might meet a businessman.
The next, she would help a scholar whose research had stalled.
She seemed like a saint, saving and helping everyone she could, trying to change this flawed world.
Being a good person was not something to criticize.
Even Vill-V could not truly fault Elysia for that.
She was not a hypocritical saint, nor was she someone who helped others recklessly despite lacking ability.
She was genuinely capable of changing things.
Any strange threats they encountered on the road were dealt with before Edward even noticed.
Any conflicts were resolved with a smile.
She was like a goddess of the stars and moon, far beyond what someone as incompetent and insecure as herself could ever be.
It was just that… Edward should not have to stay by her side.
Because that was not his original intention.
He had wanted to truly accompany Elysia.
That was why he suggested they travel the world together.
Not to spread endless kindness to every person they met.
He simply wanted to be with Elysia and help her.
Nothing more.
Elysia could not fulfill that wish.
In her eyes, Edward might be no different from a stranger on the street.
Perhaps his place was even lower.
According to what the boy had told her, back in their hometown, Elysia was willing to spend entire days at an orphanage or chatting with street vendors, yet she could not spare even one day for him.
Not even a single insignificant day to play with Edward.
Vill-V could not bear it.
She could not stand seeing her only true friend… the savior who had pulled her out of her self-loathing and insecurity… being treated with such disregard, like an afterthought constantly following behind.
So…
“Please leave Elysia.”
“Although I am very incompetent and insecure, and nowhere near as dazzling as Elysia… the Spiral Workshop is a studio I created myself.”
“Even so…”
“Even if I have no redeeming qualities…”
“Even if I am not worthy of saying these words…”
“I still hope you can accompany me on a journey that belongs to just the two of us.”
[On your birthday, your best friend Vill-V gave you a birthday gift you had never even imagined.]
[A shy voice, yet spoken with firm determination.
It was not quite a confession, but it felt even more meaningful than one.]