When I saw Lena crying, my chest tightened painfully.
I thought, I don’t want to see her make that face.
Lena and I are the same.
The weight of what we carry is completely different, but… we’ve both been oppressed.
“Don’t you dare give me cheap sympathy…!!!”
Lena glared at me sharply.
Her whole body radiated anger.
Don’t pity me. Don’t step into my heart. Don’t pretend to be kind.
That was the way Lena rejected me.
“Fate.”
Sofia quietly stepped up beside me.
“I can’t quite grasp the situation…”
“Huh? You can’t?”
I had assumed she’d uncovered something about Lena or the Dawn Alliance and had come to help.
“I just had a bad feeling. So I went looking for you, and when I found that thieving cat, I figured I’d cut her down first.”
“…‘First,’ you say…”
Isn’t that a little too impulsive?
Well, maybe. But thanks to that, she saved me, so I can’t really scold her too much.
“I’ll explain everything later.”
“Understood. Then, let’s proceed with the execution of this thieving cat—”
“Wait wait wait.”
“Yes?”
Sofia looked at me with genuine confusion, as if to ask, Why would you stop me?
Because she’s scary, that’s why.
“Could you leave Lena to me?”
“I’m worried.”
“I’ll be fine. And if we talk properly, I believe Lena will understand too.”
“…Very well. I’ll leave it to you, Fate.”
Sofia gave a small nod and sheathed her sword—though she kept her hand firmly on the hilt.
“But if it comes down to it, I will strike.”
“That’s fine with me.”
Sofia was reacting this strongly because she was worried about me.
I didn’t want to dismiss those feelings.
Alright.
I turned to face Lena again.
“Hey, Lena.”
“…What?”
“I don’t think sympathy is a bad thing. To me, it means trying to put yourself in someone else’s shoes, to feel what they feel.”
Of course, if it becomes pushy…
If you arbitrarily decide someone is pitiful…
That’s not so great.
But being ignored is worse.
Being treated like you don’t matter at all—that’s much harder to bear.
At the very least, if someone sympathizes with you, it means they want to be involved.
And from there, a relationship can grow.
“You might not know this, Lena… but I was tricked and enslaved once.”
“…What?”
“For about ten years, I think. I was treated horribly the whole time… so I feel like I can understand you.”
“…”
“I can’t see you as just another stranger. That’s why I don’t want to hate you…”
I gently held out my hand to her.
“So… let’s stop this, okay?”
“…Fate…”
“Would you be my friend?”
“Ah…”
Lena’s eyes widened.
She looked at my hand, then at her own…
Back and forth, before finally parting her lips to speak.
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