【Why is this potted plant the only one empty…?】

Turing held the tiny potted plant filled with ornaments and sparkling translucent little parts in her palm, giving it a slight spin. She noticed a small name carved on the base of the pot.

To Elizabeth Koshiba

【So that's how it is... I understand now.】

The beautiful font momentarily stunned Turing.

The elusive and beautiful fragrance of the Christ Mountain Cigar seemed to echo Elizabeth's scent, like a just-unfurled spring mist, lingering around Turing's body, unable to dissipate for a long time.

Turing furrowed her brows deeply, reaching out to dispel that icy spring mist, as if she was back to the days of riding horses and singing with Elizabeth.

Should some people just die?

Turing now seemed to suddenly understand this truth.

Whoever loves,

should share destiny

with the person they love

【My original destiny should have been a lifetime of pain.】

【It's because they shared some of it for me.】

【That's why I can have such warm and blooming days today.】

【Originally, I was a person who was loved by so many...】

【But I was immersed in my own pain, to the point of missing out on all that love.】

Turing anxiously dug through the potting soil with her fingers, and soon enough, she found the half-smoked piece of the Christ Mountain Cigar she had once shared with Merka, making half of Elizabeth's grave.

Merka had said that Coreopsis symbolized purity.

So, in the future, they would use Coreopsis to worship Elizabeth.

Turing happened to have Coreopsis here.

【... I don't deserve it, sorry, Sister Mammon.】

【I am not worthy of this flower.】

Turing took out the Coreopsis wreath Anna had given her, picked a flower from it, and stuck it in the pot.

【Elizabeth, you are the one who deserves it.】

【You are more hardworking, more resilient than me...】

【I'm sorry... it's just that fate didn't give you the strength you deserved.】

【I love you, Elizabeth, I love you.】

【Although for you, it's already too late, too late.】

"Meow~"

A sudden meow awakened Turing from her contemplation.

A blue kitten appeared on Turing's shoulder at some point. It was rubbing Turing's cheek with its soft little paw pads, as if to comfort and caress her. The kitten then curved its mouth and planted a kiss on Turing's side face.

Turing was startled for a moment, wanting to reach out and touch the kitten, but it then transformed into a familiar magical wave, following the moonlight as it surged towards the window sill.

A figure glanced through the thin curtains, turned around, seemingly smiling at Turing.

"Merka..."

Turing took a few steps and pulled back the curtain.

The boy Turing had longed for was standing on the balcony, leaning slightly, completely disregarding the moonlight that sprinkled over him like jewels, smiling warmly at her.

"Are you doing okay recently?"

"I have a lot of things I want to say to you..."

Turing desperately wanted to prove her true feelings.

The abuse suffered in childhood by Oedipus left her with a profound sense of insecurity towards anything that belonged to her.

A kiss required achievements, a hug required achievements, even to receive a compliment from Oedipus required speaking with sufficient accomplishments.

In Turing's mind, everything, including emotions, had a price tag, had a cost.

Because of Oedipus, she couldn't break free from binary oppositions, a robot-like binary thinking: either this or that, either one or zero.

Turing quickly moved in, only to be gently stopped by Merka's hand.

Merka placed her fingers gently by Turing's approaching lips and shook her head.

"Care to have a smoke? Xixi."

Merka handed the cigarette she had just smoked to Turing.

At that moment, Turing was staring into Merka's universe-like black gemstone eyes, slowly drifting away. It wasn't until Merka held out the cigarette in front of her that Turing suddenly snapped back to reality.

"Um, you're not... not supposed to smoke, right?"

Turing looked at the half-smoked cigarette left by Merka, feeling surprised.

"It's okay for foreign cigarettes."

Merka smiled faintly and opened her arms, pulling Turing close.

The 1.7-meter-tall Merka was just half a head taller than Turing. The two leaned against each other in the cold moonlight, like mother and child reefs by the sea, the atmosphere beginning to feel old and passionate.

"After the day we parted ways, I've been thinking for a long time about how to solve the puzzle of the conflicts between us."

"Later, I realized that the answer was actually simple."

Turing huddled under Merka's thin cloak, looking at Merka's sexy Adam's apple moving as she spoke, unconsciously swallowing a mouthful of saliva.

"Our conflicts are like this cigarette..."

"Though you can smoke, I cannot."

"Though you are a grand noble, I am a humble commoner."

"Though you are a powerful half-angel, I am a frail human."

"But we don't actually need to abide by the values this world has set for us."

"Even if we can't experience the joy of smoking together—so be it."

"We can smoke foreign cigarettes instead."

"There are always ways in this world for us to be together."

"Otherwise, even war, even class hatred, or even gods cannot be reasons to separate us."

Turing hesitantly took the half-cigarette from Merka, she really couldn't understand what Merka was saying.

But she grasped the general idea from the conversation that Merka was probably no longer angry about the argument from that day.

"Merka... Are you still angry after our argument?"

Turing looked up at Merka's chin, cautiously asking.

"I've never been angry."

Merka lowered his eyelids slightly and looked at Turing.

His eyes, as if capable of absorbing everything, mixed with the moonlight, were simply breathtaking.

"How could I bear to be angry at you."

Turing finally heard the words he wanted to hear, joyfully embracing Merka and tightly grabbing onto his collar, leaning in to deeply kiss his wet lips.

For Turing, having that one sentence was enough, more than enough.