"W... what!??" Nathan trembled.
"Wait a second, don’t be scared!" She smiled with her eyes still glowing.
Inside the hole, the atmosphere began to shift. Velmora said nothing else—she slowly turned around, her lower body slithering like a soft wave across the ground, producing a krsk... krskk... sound.
Then that sound stopped at the far end.
Nathan was still standing a few steps behind.
"...Velmora, wh-what are you doing?" Nathan stammered.
Velmora turned her head, her face still damp with sweat, her breathing calm.
"I want to turn on this stone."
Velmora smiled, then with a gentle motion, she touched her side — and plucked a thin scale from her own skin.
The scale reflected a faint light. She turned around, raised her tail, and — click — slotted the scale right into the crevice of a red rock.
In an instant, the stone lit up.
Its glow was soft, a warm red, like the bedroom lamp of a child too scared of the dark but too embarrassed to admit it.
The interior of the burrow gradually filled with red light.
All around them, it turned out... there were flowers. Lots of them. Wild flowers, tiny flowers, weird flowers — even one that was purple with petals shaped like tongues.
"This... all flowers?" Nathan murmured.
"Yes." Velmora nodded, her eyes catching the glow of the stone.
"I just like flowers."
Nathan nodded slowly.
A reply too honest. Too pure. And because of that... too simple.
Velmora turned to face him.
"Nathan..." she said softly.
"You’re like a flower." Her smile widened.
Nathan choked on his breath.
"Because... beautiful and fragile?" he asked, laughing awkwardly.
Velmora nodded, her expression calm.
Nathan instantly grew flustered, scratching the back of his head and quickly asking,
"Uhh... if I may ask, which part of me is beautiful?"
Grinning, he touched his own chin — a fake-cool gesture that failed miserably at hiding his nerves.
Velmora stepped closer. Very close.
She lifted her hand... and pointed at Nathan’s forehead.
"...My forehead?" He squinted.
Velmora slowly shook her head, then smiled. Her still-glowing red eyes began to settle into a softer hue.
"No... But what’s inside it." She gently withdrew her hand.
"You have bright colors in there. But it’s as if... those colors are being forced not to move."
Nathan stayed silent.
His gaze was still fixed on Velmora’s finger — the one that had just pointed at his forehead.
His brain was trying to process what she said... "bright colors being forced not to spread."
He looked at Velmora, confused.
"So... what do you mean?"
Velmora shook her head gently.
Her smile hadn’t changed, but now it felt like it belonged to someone who saw things no one else could.
"It all becomes visible... when I use the eyes that can see in the dark," she continued.
Nathan swallowed hard.
"During the Eclipse... I lost control."
Velmora slowly sat down, her lower body curling into a calm spiral that looked like it had coiled through a thousand years of memory.
"But... there was a moment. In the middle of the chaos... something was shining."
She leaned down slightly, touching the petal of a purple flower beside her.
"That... made me calm. Even if just for a moment."
Nathan stayed silent.
Velmora’s words echoed strangely in his head.
Something shining? In the middle of the Eclipse?
Slowly, his brain dragged back a memory he was supposed to have thrown away.
Right after he finished spraying Prunus Vitalis to save his life. Right after the most meaningful masturbation of his entire existence.
Nathan exhaled slowly, his eyes returning to Velmora, who was still looking at him... not as a monster, but as a silent witness to the absurd brightness that once saved her sanity.
"...So," Nathan murmured, "what you saw... back then... was me, right?"
Velmora nodded slowly.
"Well... I.. Lost control, but i felt calm a bit at that time heheh.... So, yeah, your bright colors we’... were good hehehe..’
Nathan looked away, his throat dry.
Time passed without notice.
The scent of earth, and the soft red glow from the stone made everything feel slower.
Nathan didn’t know what to say, so he just stood there... letting the silence speak first.
Her innocence makes me feel valuable, hufft... calm down, calm down — you’re not goddamn special
Nathan stayed silent.
His eyes lingered on the flowers, on Velmora, and on the hole inside his head that, apparently... was full of color.
Everything felt still, as if the world itself had paused to honor the moment.
A cheerful voice shattered the atmosphere.
Nathan flinched, nearly slipping backward.
At the entrance of the hole, Livia’s head popped in.
Her hair was slightly messy, ears perked up, and her eyes squinted like a kitten that wandered into the wrong closet.
Nathan turned around reflexively.
And got even more startled—
The red light from the stone lit up Livia’s face from below, making her look like a baby bunny being interrogated by a seasonal ghost.
Nathan staggered half a step. "Don’t show up like that!!"
Livia laughed out loud. "Pffft—Little Nathan’s still such a scaredy-baby~ ahhahaha..."
Her eyes scanned the space, pausing briefly on Velmora.
"Hmmm... Velmora still likes hoarding flowers, huh," she said.
Nathan was still panting, but gave no reply.
Livia grinned even wider.
"Oh right, just wanted to say... the Blacksteel Boar meat’s almost ready!"
She pointed outside. "Domina’s grinding the sap, don’t forget to eat, okay?"
Nathan remained silent.
Velmora glanced at Nathan, then at Livia, then back at Nathan again... before offering a gentle smile.
"Don’t take too long, Domina wants to feed you!" Livia shouted slightly.
PLUP! Her head vanished from sight.
"N- Nathan, go eat," Velmora said softly, giving his back a gentle push.
"A... eum..." Nathan nodded and walked forward, slowly.
Velmora was still smiling.
Nathan jumped out of the hole and stretched his body.
"Alright, what skill am I gonna get after today’s meal?" he muttered as he walked forward.