"What are you doing?" Vina asked.
I turned toward her, but my eyes locked almost immediately on Alicia standing beside her.
"…What is she doing here?" I asked suspiciously.
I shouldn't have been surprised, really. After all, Alicia had been housing Vina ever since I asked her to.
Back then, when my relationships with Christina and Alea were still good, I had planned to give Vina a home in the Olphean Kingdom. But things had gone south—fast. With that door closed, I had to consider alternatives. Naturally, Celeste was next on my list.
But that, too, had… complicated itself.
So, in the end, I'd placed my trust in Alicia. She and Vina had apparently grown close during my absence—while I was at Elyen Kiora. It was strange to think how bonds had shifted in the meantime.
Still, this wasn't about that.
I had asked Vina to come alone.
"Entering Central Vedelia is heavily controlled now," Alicia answered instead.
