【Where is this...?】

【I seem to have forgotten something important...】

Looking around, Turing saw a long table covered with a pink tablecloth, men and women dressed up, a feast filled with aroma, performers dancing gracefully on stage, and an abundance of flowers filling every corner.

Turing held an empty champagne glass. She felt like a hollowed-out log, drifting lonely in the sea of people.

Turing couldn't find her place.

【Is this the scene of a wedding?】

"Miss, let me get you another glass of champagne."

A cute young boy in a waiter's outfit bowed and offered Turing a tray with a champagne glass in his other hand.

Turing subconsciously put the empty flute glass in the tray and asked the boy, "Whose wedding is this?"

【What exactly did I forget?】

【It feels like... it's something very important.】

Just as the boy was about to speak, a delicate voice sounded and Turing turned to look.

"Sister! What are you still doing here?"

"The bride and groom are about to walk the red carpet."

"Aren't you one of the bridesmaids?"

The voice came from a slightly older girl who looked a little older than Turing, though she didn't possess Turing's gender-ambiguous beauty.

But she walked a different path and could be described as extremely cute.

Her badge told Turing that she was from the Koshiba family.

"Elizabeth?!" Turing exclaimed.

Turing seemed to be on the verge of remembering something, but it slipped away like a passing memory.

"Right, this is your wedding?"

"I feel like... like we had some sort of agreement..."

Elizabeth blushed instantly.

"What is my sister saying? Getting married, isn't it too early for me?"

"Today is your sister's wedding," she continued. "Come, let me take you there. It's already late, and I'm sure that person must be anxious."

【Sister? How could I have a sister?】

【But... this is impossible.】

【I'm supposed to be... the only legitimate child in the family.】

For some reason, upon learning that she was not the legitimate child, Turing felt relieved, like a sweet candy taking root and sprouting in her heart.

Elizabeth took Turing's hand and walked towards a less crowded area.

"Elizabeth, I..."

As the crowd slowly thinned out, Turing felt the reeds surrounding her heart's lake gradually diminishing.

With the receding tide, the walls of her heart crumbled, and a naked feeling of unease mocked Turing.

Turing felt something stuck in her throat, desperate to come out.

If she didn't say something soon, Turing knew she would regret it.

"How have you been lately? Are... you still happy?"

Turing made a simple greeting.

Elizabeth said nothing and led Turing to the entrance of a remote room and escaped under cover.

Just as Turing was about to chase after her, the door of the room opened and a gentle and graceful woman, who could be described as stunningly beautiful, stood there.

Furthermore, she was wearing a wedding dress, which was the most precious moment of beauty for all women.

"Who is that child... she seems to be crying," the woman spoke.

When Turing saw the woman's eyes, which seemed capable of dragging people into the vast ocean of stars, he suddenly couldn't move forward anymore. In a state of astonishment, his trembling lips were about to utter some words.

"Sister."

Turing suddenly understood that this person was his own sister.

The heavy burden that had been on Turing's shoulders for decades crumbled in an instant, and Turing's world seemed to become more radiant all at once.

"Hey."

The woman responded to Turing's call with a smiling expression.

Oh, how sweet it was to have someone who would respond to you whenever you called.

Whether they were relatives, friends, lovers, or even little animals, it was such an indescribable happiness. It was definitely the ultimate happiness that all humans, past and present, pursued.

This woman achieved it in a simple way.

"Sister, what's the matter?"

Turing regained his senses and awkwardly asked the woman. Turing didn't want to admit that he was actually stunned by someone of the same sex.

"What matter do you have?" The woman lightly tapped Turing's forehead in dissatisfaction, supported his shoulder, and pulled him to the dressing table.

"Get ready quickly. Your clothes are in the nearby cabinet. The bridal bouquet is on the table. You'll need it later."

"You're going to be a bridesmaid soon, and I'm counting on my beautiful little Turing to surprise the guests."

The woman pushed Turing into a chair, opened the makeup box, and planned to give Turing a light makeup.

"Do you feel nervous about being a bridesmaid, Turing?"

The woman lowered her long eyelashes, radiating a sensuous tenderness in her words and voice.

"No, not at all. But sister," the more Turing listened to the woman's words, the more a lump of flesh that seemed impossible to grind or crush formed in his heart.

A slight pain, one that could be breathed upon softly, occupied Turing's small heart. Turing realized that everything didn't seem to be supposed to be like this.

"Sister doesn't seem nervous at all either, does she?"

"And also, seems like she's not particularly happy."

The woman felt she had finished the makeup, put down the eyeliner in her hand, and gently rubbed Turing's head.

"Turing, look at this rose."

The woman played with the fresh flowers placed flat on the table and whispered softly to Turing.

"Even the most beautiful flower still needs bees for pollination."

"No matter how strong and beautiful it grows, it's useless."

"Just like this principle, it applies to the cattle and sheep that humans domesticate."

"No matter how large they grow, how heavy the expectations placed on them by their mothers, and how much effort it takes for them to reach this point."

"They are destined to be served on the dining table."

"Flowers, birds, fish, insects, the beauty of nature, and even people are the same."

"You cannot betray your fate, no matter how outstanding you are."

"My sister has done everything she can, and all that is left is to accept her fate."

Turing didn't really understand what the woman was saying, but he understood a little bit. If he had heard these words a few years ago, he would have been even more confused.

"Sister..." The woman handed a small box to Turing.

The exquisite and luxurious packaging of the box made Turing not dare to underestimate it.

"This is a wedding ring."

"My sister has temporarily entrusted you with her most important possession."

"Remember to hand it to my sister when exchanging rings."

Before Turing could react, the woman had already left through the back door. Her dreamlike wedding dress brushed against Turing's nose, and the enchanting scent made him uncontrollably intoxicated.

Turing opened the box and saw a wedding ring with a large diamond embedded in it. Somehow, this ring gave him a vulgar and tacky feeling.

Turing was scared. This ring wasn't suitable for his sister at all. Will she appear tacky if she wears it?

After rummaging through the wardrobe for a while, Turing found a plain long dress that the maid of honor should wear and put it on. Turing nervously picked up the bouquet from the table and walked out the door.

After walking through a long corridor, the colors in Turing's eyes gradually became blurred. The voices of blessings, the melodies of the symphony orchestra, the faint sound of hymns, everything was chaos.

Looking through the exquisite and dazzling lotus chandelier as if through a dream, various noble and influential figures, shining fireworks and delicacies, Turing saw a woman waving at him amidst the thunderous applause.

[Sister.]

The woman with a smile stood beside a man.

The man's smile was also gentle, and at first glance, there was nothing wrong with him, but Turing didn't recognize him.

Turing remembered that his sister seemed to have liked someone else.

Numbly, Turing walked towards the woman, handed her the flowers, and was silently pulled forward by her.

Alarm bells were ringing frequently in Turing's heart. He knew something was wrong, but he didn't know what it was.

[Sister has almost limitless resources, with no worries about clothes and food, possessing wealth and power, and excelling in various arts including magic.]

[With such outstanding abilities, what is there to feel unsatisfied about?]

Turing secretly glanced at the woman's profile, feeling a perfect sense of tranquility and happiness welling up in his heart. The previous sense of disharmony in Turing's heart ebbed away like the tide.

"Turing, don't be nervous."

The woman's warm and gentle whisper sounded in Turing's ear, and he suddenly realized that he was actually trembling as he held the woman's hand.

【Why am I nervous?】

【It's not like I'm the one getting married...】

【I...】

Tick-tock, the sound echoed as Turing wiped his face, his hands stained with black blood.

The black tears stained Turing's shirt.

The woman and the man finally halted their steps, a priest-like figure began reciting prayers, indicating for the woman and the man to exchange rings.

"Do you take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife? To have and to hold, in sickness and in health, for richer or for poorer, till death do you part?"

The man nodded, accepting the ring from his groomsman.

"Do you take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband? To have and to hold, in sickness and in health, for richer or for poorer, till death do you part?"

The woman also nodded, extending her hand with a smile towards Turing's direction.

As if the woman hadn't noticed the tears of blood streaming down Turing's face, everyone else around seemed unfazed, as if it were a common occurrence.

Turing caught sight of the woman's fair palm and suddenly panicked, disregarding his own tears of blood. He frantically searched through his pockets, but there was no trace of the ring box.

【It's gone... It's nowhere to be found!】

Turing was on the verge of being terrified. The spotlight was on this widely anticipated wedding, and Turing had managed to mess it up so badly. She was so desperate that she almost turned her underwear inside out to check for it.

Finally, Turing found a box from the bulging chest, but it wasn't the ring box.

It was a narrow lunchbox.

Etched on the metallic surface were the familiar words to Turing.

Oedipus's Roasted Pork Elbow.

"Sister..."

Turing finally remembered what she had forgotten.

"I won't give up."

As if caught up in Turing's intense emotions, blood continued to pour down his eyes, gradually flowing from his ears and nostrils.

"We made a promise, to go out together and enjoy delicious food, have fun, and experience all sorts of interesting things we've never encountered before."

"Sister should never give up either!"

Turing started bleeding more profusely, freely splattering blood that soaked through Turing's shirt, saturating Turing's lips and teeth.

"Despite the cruelty of this world... there are still so many, so many beautiful things."

"Things you should experience!"