Taiwan.
"Because you're dazzling."
"Huh? Did you say something, Genji-san?"
"Nothing."
Goldsmith and the Golden Witch were playing chess in the Golden Land. As they saw a demon emerge, they smiled at him.
"Why don't you join us? Playing's more fun with more people."
"Oh, but Beatrice, chess can only be played in two!"
"Is that so? I didn't know that. Sorry, hahaha!"
The demon watched them still, intent on analyzing their every move. Goldsmith's playstyle was terrible: fickle and unsafe. And yet, he came out on top every time. That was the power of Goldsmith's magic.
"DAMN YOU, BEEEEAAATRIICEEEEEEEEE!"
It was nothing like the way Kinzo said it. It was a roar of pure anger.
Twenty years. Around twenty years of bottled-up emotions, hidden behind a completely neutral face. And those were only the ones with Beatrice Castiglioni.
There was no doubt. She was pregnant.
And what was the last time tears streamed down his face? Did that ever happen before? He had no such memory.
"EVEN AFTER DEATH, YOU BRING NOTHING BUT RUIN TO THIS FAMILY!!! I BET THE LAST WAS THE HAPPIEST DAY IN YOUR LIFE, WHEN YOU COULD JUST LEAVE THIS WORLD UNPUNISHED!!"
Ushiromiya Beatrice began crying and sobbing like a child. She didn't understand why the loyal servant who only did as he was told and never spoke up was breaking down, or what he was referring to. What had she done wrong? What had her father really done to her? Or did she do something to him, that time?
Genji just turned the other cheek.
"Hah... haha... what do you KNOW about love? You furniture!"
Another slap, which revealed Sayo's hidden strength, followed.
"You know nothing! So don't you dare say something like that, EVER AGAIN!!!"
He had committed a mistake. Was it because he raised the child as a woman?
"How dare you... George-sama is 'grooming' me?! HAHAHA!"
Third time. He wanted to dote on the child, entrusted by Beatrice Ushiromiya to him. But he was furniture. He gave the baby to Kinzo. He was furniture.
"I wanted to give you advice. As a f... as furniture."
Fourth time. He remembered her breaking down in front of him, Nanjo and the deceased Kinzo. It was his fault. His sins.
"I have seen Battler. He will be here soon."
Genji was doing his best to minimize the gunshot wounds' effects on Sayo.
"They... solved it... nothing happened..."
"Please do not blame yourself."
"It was... Battler's parents..."
"Yes. You could never kill anybody. I know."
"Will I... survive?"
"I believe so. And Battler will arrive with his white horse at last."
"...I do not deserve this."
"It is I that should pay. You have done nothing wrong."
"Wait... you don't mean...?!"
"Farewell, Sayo-sama. It is time for furniture to be laid to rest."
She gasped. She wanted to scream, to tell him that he didn't deserve to die like that, but she couldn't. It hurt if she tried. She could barely move. And yet, not a tear was shed when Genji left the room of the gold, resignation and emptiness taking place of sadness and worry. Fitting.
Genji spent his last moments sitting in the study. He'd long realized what he'd done wrong in the 70 years of his life. He was furniture. It's not that Kinzo could not give back his feelings; Genji knew this for a fact. It's that he was furniture. And so, Kinzo saw him just as that, sneering at him the whole time. He let the tears that he did not allow to escape his eyes during his journey stream out, and yet they felt dry, as though there was no substance of any kind to them. Yet, they existed. His mind was comprised of regrets when everything was brought to the Golden Land, with the only hope that his daughter would finally reach her happy ending.
Ronove was impaled to the wall, as though he was some sort of macabre decoration. Four red wedges, one for each limb, kept him in place. They read:
"It is because of you that Sayo Yasuda has died."
"It is because of you that Ushiromiya Battler has died."
"It is because of you that Ushiromiya Kinzo has died."
"It is because of you that Ushiromiya Beatrice has died."
A final red wedge was stuck in his chest.
"Curious. You cannot read this one."
Bernkastel looked at it with mild interest. A wicked idea crossed her mind.
"Perhaps if I run it through from your chest to your stomach, I can pull it out."
It was slow and brutal. Yet, it was quick and harsh. Ronove did not react.
As Bernkastel pulled it out, his bloody guts spilled all over her room.
"Oh, yes! I knew you liked me after all!!"
A golden sneer. Blue eyes. Soft skin. He did not. But he was furniture. He could not refuse. The sin. Kinzo never knew. His very own child. But he was furniture. He didn't do anything. It was all his fault.
"Oh? Interesting!"
Bernkastel gave a slight grin in the end. It was short, but it entertained her for a few seconds. The final red wedge read:
"You are Ushiromiya Beatrice's true father."
