"You think the final piece is with ."
"Yes." Rita let out a quiet breath. "And I also think... you’ve been waiting for soone like to expose all of this."
By’s mories were clearly flawed. Full of contradictions. Full of gaps.
She had been searching for answers. That much was true.
But searching for answers and truly wanting to find them were not the sa thing.
And more than that...
Maybe she already knew.
Maybe she had been standing at the door this whole ti, afraid to push it open, yet hoping soone else would do it for her.
"Go on," By said.
She flicked her fingers.
The battlefield vanished. The Divine Instruction arena collapsed into nothing, and they returned to the castle study.
She sat behind the desk again, composed, almost calm.
"No matter what you say, whether it’s complete or correct... when the ti cos, I’ll let you leave."
She paused, then added quietly,
"Consider it a courtesy. For the sake of the Vineborne now being in BS."
So she had been gathering information. Watching. Listening.
Just from the na BSCicada, she had already pieced together the current state of the Vineborne.
Rita leaned against the window fra, half sitting, looking outside.
Then she glanced at Nivalis.
"Detective Nivalis can interrupt anyti. Spotting contradictions helps."
Nivalis raised a wing to her head and gave a sharp little salute.
Rita couldn’t help but smile faintly before turning back to By.
"First, I don’t think Deceitful Bloom would give that order."
"Which one?"
"No matter what world, no invasion unless she’s present. No final descent without her."
By’s gaze sharpened slightly.
"That doesn’t sound like her to you? You said it yourself. She likes control."
"Control doesn’t an doing everything personally," Rita replied. "I hate losing control of BS too. That doesn’t an I need to be present for every single decision."
She continued without pause.
"Your ability is more than enough. In Divine Instruction, under those rules, you fought Tingo Howl to a draw.
"If Midsumr had invaded Tingo while Howl was tied up in the ga, the chance of failure would’ve been extrely low."
She t By’s eyes directly.
"I don’t know how long you knew her. But if you were co-leaders of Midsumr, then for soone like her, you were not soone she couldn’t trust."
Capability wasn’t the issue.
Trust wasn’t the issue.
So if invading Tingo was necessary...
Why would she stop it?
By closed her eyes.
The black quicksand around her stirred, restless.
"I don’t get it," Nivalis said, frowning. "From the way you’re talking, invading Tingo sounds extrely important.
"But even if she didn’t trust By completely, they could’ve invaded a weaker world first, right?
"The ga lasted thirty days. There was ti."
"They didn’t have ti," Rita said.
"They were in a hurry.
"A hurry so urgent they couldn’t afford to pick targets.
"A hurry so desperate they needed everything in a single war."
"Why?" Nivalis asked.
"They didn’t know the bell would co that fast after Graveyard of Bones. That’s sothing we figured out..."
Her voice trailed off.
Her eyes widened.
Rita looked at By and spoke slowly.
"Unless they did know."
Silence.
"That’s why you chose Tingo."
She didn’t look away.
"I considered whether one of you had so kind of foresight ability. But if that were all it was, you wouldn’t have hesitated. You would’ve executed the invasion perfectly."
Her voice lowered.
"So why didn’t you?"
By’s elbow rested on the arm of the chair. Her hand covered her forehead.
"That was necessary..." she murmured. "It had to be done..."
Rita continued.
"Until I realized sothing I had overlooked.
"A problem that existed for everyone at that ti.
"One we solved too easily... so easily I didn’t even think about it."
"What?" Nivalis leaned forward.
"Tilines."
The mont the word left her mouth, the black quicksand around By surged violently.
That reaction erased Rita’s last trace of doubt.
"You saw other tilines," she said. "You saw what happened after Graveyard of Bones. You saw how fast the bell ca."
"That’s why you rushed."
Her voice sharpened.
"And because of that... you saw sothing worse."
She stepped forward slightly.
"The tiline you were in... wasn’t brilliant enough."
By’s breathing grew uneven.
Rita did not stop.
"Deceitful Bloom’s tiline would be pruned.
"Like trimming excess vines.
"She would be discarded.
"Reduced to nothing more than a disposable version. A dream of another self."
Her gaze locked onto By.
"And you couldn’t accept that."
Silence pressed in from all sides.
"That," Rita said quietly, "is the only explanation I can think of."
"The only one that explains why you can’t face the truth."
"And why she refuses to see you."
"Enough."
By’s voice was low.
"Stop."
Nivalis imdiately asked,
"What did she do?"
But Rita didn’t let go.
"If tilines are stories, then Starsea prunes the dull ones."
She kept walking forward.
"After every bell, excess tilines are cut away.
"The faster the bell cos, the sooner that pruning happens."
Her tone hardened.
"At that ti, her tiline was weaker than another one."
"Just like now.
"My tiline is the most brilliant one.
"Progress isn’t the only factor, but it matters the most."
She stopped in front of By.
"Deceitful Bloom knew this.
"But maybe she didn’t care.
"Or maybe she believed she could still catch up."
Her voice dropped.
"You didn’t."
"You refused to gamble."
Her words ca faster now.
"How do you make a story shine?"
"How do you make Starsea unable to ignore it?"
"How do you make a version of her that cannot be replaced?"
"I said that’s enough!"
By’s voice cracked like a blade.
The black quicksand surged forward, roaring toward Rita.
Golden lightning rose instantly, forming a barrier.
The impact shattered into sparks.
Rita stepped forward anyway.
One step at a ti.
"You invaded Tingo," she said.
"Didn’t you?"
"She entrusted Midsumr and the Vineborne to you. She trusted you completely."
Her eyes were cold now.
"And you betrayed her."
By didn’t move.
"Song of Avian Cause," Rita continued. "A bird that sacrifices everything for its ideal."
Her voice turned sharp.
"So you chose your ideal."
"You let Midsumr fall."
"You let the Vineborne be destroyed by the bell."
The air trembled.
"You knew Starsea wasn’t rigid.
"You knew it would preserve the strongest."
Her final words cut clean and precise.
"And you..."
"You made her brilliant through suffering."
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