The bright midday sun had gradually dimmed, no longer so glaring. The curtains in the sanatorium office left only a small gap where a ray of light cast upon the desk.
As the temperature began to fall, the air conditioning in the office was turned on. The heating was abundant, yet Loki was experiencing a feeling he had never experienced before, a sensation unique to the human race—coldness.
The corners of his mouth were drooping downwards, his mouth did not even open. He squeezed out a few words between his teeth: "...Stop talking."
"People always overestimate their psychological endurance. They believe they can face certain answers with indifference, but in reality, it is difficult."
Loki stared at him without speaking. Asgardians always possessed an element of classical beauty. Loki's brows were deep, the outline of his face sharp, like a blade. When the shadow completely covered his eyes, he looked both indifferent and profound.
"I could analyze this issue from many angles to tell you where this mindset comes from and how to resolve it..."
Shiller made an abrupt turn in his sentence: "... But it will cost."
Loki's expression was extremely cold; he stood up. However, he felt a resistance from within his body. Venom spoke in his heart: "I advise you to reconsider. This may be an opportunity that comes once in a millennium."
"Don't try to influence me, monster."
"If you are going to vent your anger on me..." Venom's voice was surprisingly calm to Loki: "I will tell you that even if you leave now, you have nowhere to go, orphan."
"Do you plan on confronting Thor with that attitude? To ask him those stupid questions for which you knew the answers or did you really plan to grovel at his feet, begging him to tell you whether he loves you?"
"... I said, enough!"
"Calm down." Shiller's words pulled Loki back into reality; he spoke: "My fees are high, but it will definitely be more effective than you thought."
"More importantly, I believe you don't have the ability to pay the bill right now. So I will charge it to your brother, as he is the heir of Asgard."
"...Then let's start." Loki sat back down.
"Let's look at this issue from a different perspective." Shiller made a gesture of setting something aside, saying: "You should know deep down that you are jealous of Thor, but we can look more closely at this emotion."
"Now, imagine for a moment if you were Thor, what would it be like?"
"What would it be like?" asked Loki: "... What else could it be?"
"Don't rush, just listen, let's assume that now you are Odin's eldest son, the heir of Asgard, receiving Odin's attention since childhood, no matter what trouble you cause, he won't blame you..."
"He..." Loki tried to compose himself as much as possible, then entered the hypothetical scenario.
"You can imagine, put yourself in Thor's shoes, you've been the focus since childhood, Odin valued you, Frigga loved you, your peers revered you..."
With Shiller's words, Loki began to sink into his imagination.
When the bonfire was lit, the cheers in the dueling field became deafening. He stood at the forefront, then jumped down from the seats, stood in the middle of the dueling field, accepting everyone's cheering and shouting. The spectators looked at him with hopeful eyes, believing he would surely win.
Then, he crossed the long Bifrost Bridge, walked into the Gateway of Asgard with joy and excitement. He stands tall basking in the light, Odin praising him, Frigga showing a comforting smile.
He galloped on the battlefield of the Nine Realms, no one could defeat one on one. He roamed freely, effortlessly obtaining the glory of victory, and then brought them back to the Father of All Gods, receiving the admiration of the Asgardian people.
"So where is Thor now?"
Shiller's words did not interrupt Loki's fantasy; they simply shifted his perspective. He saw that Thor was standing behind the crowd cheering for him, watching him. When he returned to the camp, Thor was looking at him from a distance. Their roles and perspectives completely switched, Loki felt a peculiar sensation.
"Alright, continue, bring all the things you did into Thor, he played many pranks on you. And then this behavior started getting worse and worse, it was no longer just pranks, he started to really set you up..."
"No..." Loki's eyebrows furrowed deeply, "I didn't..."
"Don't deny it all, but continue thinking, take a look from Thor's perspective at how you would view these things?"
At that moment, the illusion of honor and glory shattered. Loki's arm began to tremble, his teeth clenched tightly together, then a few words slipped through: "I didn't see."
"What did you not see?"
All of a sudden, his shoulders slumped, his jaw began to quiver slightly, then it slowly subsided, "I did not see those things."
"Really? Do you want to see it again?"
"No." Loki immediately refused.
"Then are you sure, you didn't see it?"
He was silent for quite a while until he broke free from that emotion, then he finally spoke: "Maybe... I saw it."