"Why do you keep doing this? Killing people and bringing them back to life?" Kanae asked. "What do you serve to gain from it?"

"Oh no, we didn't kill Souji Mikage. He was an arsonist," Akio said, as if it that explained anything.

"Did he die in the fire that he started?" Kanae asked.

"If I'm being completely honest, I don't really remember," Akio said. "Anthy always got more attached to our pawns than I did, in spite of her best efforts. That may just be part of being the Rose Bride. I had always assumed that establishing some sort of emotional attachment to the duelists would be unavoidable for someone who had to know them as intimately as she did. It was part of why I always tried to select duelists that she wouldn't have trouble resenting. But I'm probably overwhelming you with all of this information, aren't I?"

He was, but Kanae wasn't willing to admit it. This was the most open that her fiancé had ever been with her, and she wasn't going to let him know she was having a hard time following everything he was saying. That was the most pathetic thing of all, finding out the truth about Akio, she still wanted his approval. She wanted him stop looking down on her and start treating her with respect, even though Kanae wasn't sure that he had any respect left for him. Finding out that he was far from the prince he had promised her that he would be only made Kanae want him to be that prince even more.

"No, I understand you," Kanae said.

"Oh, do you?" he sounded almost offended by that statement.

Did he really think that just because he had magical powers he was beyond comprehension? He obviously didn't have enough power to do whatever he wanted. Otherwise, he wouldn't have needed to keep his sister around at all. In fact, Kanae was pretty sure that the only reason she had left the attic at all is because he didn't have the power to keep the illusion up for very long after Anthy left. Either that, or he had found another use for Kanae now that Anthy was gone.

"I almost do," Kanae said. "There's one thing that I still don't get, though. If you went through all the trouble of killing me, why did bring me back to life? Be honest."

"Well, now that you've asked me to be honest, I certainly will," Akio grinned.

Kanae hated the way his arrogant smile made her cheeks flush. Even now, after knowing he had literally taken part in killing her, she still found herself being overwhelmed by his intelligence and charisma.

"Anthy and I were originally intending to use you the same way that we had used Mikage, as an opponent for the champion in the next duel cycle. Up until the end, neither of us were completely sure how Utena Tenjou was going to turn out for us. She was always unpredictable like that, so we wanted to be prepared. However, after Anthy left me behind, I suddenly found myself in need of a new Rose Bride. And I figured, who better than my actual fiancée? It was difficult bringing you back without Anthy's help, but I'm far from useless without her. The magic she had didn't just come from herself. Part of it came from this place, and this place has been under my control for longer than it's even existed."

Kanae could tell that he was trying to keep her confused with impossible sounding statements. But for once in her life, she wasn't going to take the bait. Kanae was finished letting him drag this conversation in whatever direction he desired.

"So you regret killing me?" Kanae asked.

"Of course I do, my dear Kanae," Akio said. "I never wanted to kill you in the first place. Anthy demanded it, and I had to do what she said. She was family."

"And what if she comes back and wants to be the Rose Bride again? What happens to me then?" Kanae asked.

"I doubt that's going to happen any time soon, but if it does, I don't see why I couldn't keep you both around," Akio said. "I'm sure that Anthy wouldn't mind, as long as you were fine with it."

"I'd rather it just be the two of us," Kanae said. "You shouldn't be calling your sister your bride like that. It's not right. Even if being the Rose Bride doesn't have anything to do with being married, it makes it sound like you two…"

Kanae trailed off as Akio broke out into a fit of laughter. It was the only time in her life that she'd seen him unable to control his own emotions.

"Wait, you didn't figure that one out? You figured everything about us out except for possibly the most obvious thing?" Akio asked.

"What do you mean?" Kanae asked.

"Were we better at hiding it than I thought? Because I always thought that I was dangerously obvious about it all. She was much better at keeping it a secret, when she wasn't purposefully making snide remarks about it, just to get under my skin, of course," Akio said.

"I don't understand," Kanae said, even though she had a feeling that she did.

"Don't you think that Saturday night is an awfully strange time for a sister to come and visit her brother? Wouldn't it make more sense for Anthy to have come to visit me during the day, when we could have done something together out in public?" Akio asked. "Unless of course, we had something to hide."

"You can stop talking now," Kanae said. "I know what you're trying to say."

"Does it disgust you, Kanae? The things that we did on the very couch you're sitting on?" Akio asked.

"Here?! Why here!?" Kanae asked.

"For all the time that I've spent in this planetarium, it wasn't the stars that gave me pleasure," Akio said.

"How could you? With your own sister?" Kanae asked.

"We had a sort of bond most people could never hope to understand. But she's gone now, so it doesn't matter anymore. I'm looking to start over, with you, Kanae," Akio said.

"I don't want to be with you, not after all this!" Kanae said.

"We'll see about that, now won't we?" Akio asked.

He stood up, walked over to the projector, and turned it on. However, instead of the stars she had gotten so used to seeing, after her time in the attic, she saw what looked like a massive swarm of silver insects circling high above her head. No, they weren't insects at all, and they were all flying directly towards her.

Kanae looked down, to notice she was wearing the same purple and black dress she'd been wearing at the end of her dream, the one that looked just like Anthy's. But this time, it didn't make her feel beautiful at all. Akio was standing on the other side of the room, dressed as a prince again.

"AKIO!" Kanae cried out.

"Don't worry about me," he reassured his fiancé. "I'm not going to get hurt."