anwhile, in a space far from the wind and snow of Einzbern Castle.
It seed to be a quiet, refined room. Outside the window lay a neatly manicured garden. Sunlight fell gently through the shoji, a striking contrast to the castle's cold oppression.
Irisviel von Einzbern—the homunculus with silver-white hair and ruby eyes—sat kneeling a little uneasily on the soft couch. She carefully took in the unfamiliar surroundings, her gaze full of fawn-like curiosity and a hint of bewildernt she couldn't hide.
At last her eyes ca to rest on the black-haired young man seated by the window on the far side of the room—Rei Ao—who was quietly studying her as well.
Unlike Ahad's anger or Kiritsugu Emiya's chill, Rei Ao's eyes were calm and deep, like a lake that could hold anything. Under that gaze, Irisviel felt neither offended nor afraid; instead, there was a strange…sense of ease, as if a ship long adrift had finally found a harbor.
"Where…is this?" Irisviel's voice was soft and lodious, tinged with uncertainty. "Who exactly are you? Why did you tell those things? And why did you take out of the castle?"
She had spent most of her life in that frigid fortress, educated and "adjusted" to serve as the Lesser Grail. Whisked without warning to a place completely unknown, and faced with a stranger who seed to know everything about her, confusion welled up inside. He had appeared before her out of nowhere and calmly told her so much. From beginning to end, Irisviel had been shocked—and curious.
Rei Ao didn't answer imdiately. He lifted the teapot on the table and poured her a cup of tea, nudging it toward her. The steam, carrying a faint fragrance, chased away a little of her unease.
"This is a temporary place of mine. It's safe—you can relax." His voice was gentle, soothing. "My na is Rei Ao. As for why I took you away…"
He paused, then, looking into those pure ruby eyes—eyes with a trace of the hollowness unique to made things—said slowly:
"Because you shouldn't be bound to a cold castle, existing only as a vessel or a tool. You have your own soul and your own feelings. You deserve a real life—to see what the world outside that castle is like."
"A real…life?" she murmured, repeating the words. A glint of longing flickered in her eyes, but confusion—and a touch of fear—were stronger.
"But…my mission is to be the Lesser Grail, to help my family achieve the Third Magic, and to…with Kiritsugu Emiya-san…"
"Those aren't obligations you were born with, Irisviel," Rei Ao cut in. "They're roles the Einzberns forced onto you. You're an individual, not anyone's property, and not a rung on soone else's ladder. Your value lies in you—your joys and sorrows—in being Irisviel, not in the function called the Lesser Grail."
The words crashed like thunder across the still lake of her heart, where no one had ever told her such things. She had always been taught to submit, to exist for her family's sorrowful wish. No one had ever told her she could belong to herself, that she could choose. Of course, those were Rei Ao's words—and, more than anything, he himself was very interested in Irisviel.
"But if I don't fulfill my mission, my family—Lord Ahad and the others—they'll…" Instinctive worry tightened in her—reverence and obedience to her makers, etched into her core.
"They can't hurt you anymore, and they can't force you to do anything," Rei Ao said with unquestionable confidence. "I'm here."
Three simple words, yet they seed to hold boundless strength, and Irisviel's shaken heart gradually steadied.
She looked at Rei Ao—this mysterious, powerful man. The way he looked at her was nothing like Ahad's objectifying gaze back in the castle. There was respect in it, and pity—and a tenderness she couldn't quite understand that made her heart beat a little faster.
"I…can I really?" she asked softly—asking him, and asking herself.
"Of course." Rei Ao smiled, encouraging. "Starting today, you can learn what you want, go where you wish, feel the sun and the breeze and the scent of flowers, experience joy, sorrow, anger…all the emotions that belong to human beings. You'll find this world is far broader and more wonderful than the Einzbern castle."
He rose and walked to the window. With both hands he pushed it open, letting warm light and the garden's fresh green breath pour into the room.
"Look—that's the world outside. It may not be perfect, but it's real, and it's full of endless possibilities."
It did sound like the smooth talk used to lure a naïve girl—and Irisviel was indeed naïve.
She followed his gaze. Sunlit trees swayed outside; birds played; from far away drifted the faint hum of city life. A feeling she had never known—called longing—quietly sprouted in that programd heart.
She turned back to Rei Ao's figure, his silhouette haloed softly by the light. The future was still full of unknowns, and unease lingered. But sothing new—called hope—was quietly displacing the mission she'd been given.
She knew that if she followed this man, her life would veer onto a path entirely different from the one laid out for her—a road toward the unknown and toward freedom.
And Irisviel wanted to try.
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