It felt like there was no way to get out of this silence that had spread over each of them yet at the same time, they knew they had to say something. And while the silence had consumed their minds as they succumbed to their own sadness and sympathy for Belle, Jesidril only stood from where she was to think.

From her part, this was none of their business yet there was a part of her that told her otherwise. Not like, this was the first time she thought of this anyway.

Nozomi, on the other hand, thought about how she would be able to help. As this request was out of her own expertise, she figured that this would give her a difficult time to come up with a piece of advice. Especially since there was a child involved and that there was no way for her to start aside from this letter.

"Livendough, huh." Nozomi finally broke the ice.

"Arabelle Livendough's death was international news a year ago and her husband, Edel Livendough became an international case because she disappeared. Last she was seen was her onboarding Merryqueen." Jesidril said, trying to get the facts straight for now.

"From what I can remember, Merryqueen was one of the ships that got crushed by storms somewhere in The Gloopy's Sea. Several bodies were found but it was nowhere near the amount of total passengers. The rest was never obtained." You added.

"So, Edel was presumed dead. Indeed heavy for the child." Nozomi then folded the letter and put it in the envelope once more.

"But, to tell the truth to little Belle, is it really right for her to know at her age? She wouldn't be able to understand." Dia pondered and Ruby nodded in agreement.

"It's the mother's wish, and if that's the case then we should trust her judgment and respect it. Moreover, telling her in one go will only confuse her and worse, she might deny it. Too slow is not good either, we can't just pour everything over this." Eli pointed out.

"Then, how about we play pretend while we prepare her?" Chika suggested and everyone turned their heads towards her.

"What do you mean, Chika-chan?" Ruby asked.

"First, let's not focus on how the parents ended up. Let's focus on how they were before all that. I have read from one of the magazines that little Belle likes to pretend that she's a princess living in a castle and that both Arabelle and Edel remembered that little Belle wanted to be an actress someday so.."

"So, they decided to play along and pretend that they're a royal family!" You finished Chika's sentence to which Chika raised a finger and lightly tapped the air to prove the point.

"Exactly!"

Nozomi hummed, "And if little Belle thought of Eli-chan as her father then…"

"We can also play pretend with her! That way, we can prepare her for the truth!" Ruby continued.

Nozomi nodded in agreement with Ruby then looked at Jesidril, "Looks like I won't be able to come by for a little while."

Jesidril nodded, "Just be careful."

Eli blinked; as far as she knew, all Nozomi ever did was give advice. Did she miss something?

"I want to ask." The blonde spoke and Nozomi turned to her with a slight head tilt.

"What is it, Eli-chan?" Nozomi asked.

"Don't you only give advice to people and they will just follow them?"

Everyone else exchanged glances before smiling at each other; right, Eli didn't know.

"Mhm, that's right." Nozomi answered.

"Then, why are we doing all this for them?" Eli never turned away.

Nozomi gave herself a moment before responding:

"Because words are sometimes empty shells."

Eli didn't understand; what was the connection between that and what she does?

Chika chuckled, "I think you'll be able to find it out soon, Eli-chan."

Eli looked at Chika with an eyebrow raised and Jesidril could only smile as she watched. In her mindscape, she could visualize:

A kneeling Eli with her head bowed down in a knight's armor and Nozomi in a queen's red dress with her back facing the blonde.

Jesidril couldn't actually tell why in the world she saw those two that way. But, a part of her mind thought that they weren't ready yet simply because they were still too early – on fire but they were too weak to withstand that fire.

Then again, another thought piqued: was anyone ever ready for love?

Their own story was just like anyone else's: unique and pure. All they had to prove was that it was true.

Right now, their love was a blank canvas that Eli just started to paint without Nozomi by her side or the reason Nozomi wasn't there was because she was the subject of Eli's painting. And in a way, that kind of love was bound to end faster than they would anticipate. Worse, it was bound to hurt the both of them.

But, Jesidril would not pry and get in between them just because of a hunch. It was too early for her to judge what life had in store for the two of them. And perhaps, this journey of moving on would give them a lesson or two.

Of what lesson would it give to a woman who was afraid to take risks and an Alter who wasn't? Even she didn't know because they were unrelated and this request wasn't even in Nozomi's expertise. As a matter of fact…

… Nozomi never encountered how to deal with putting closure for the love of a parent to its child.

But, really? A knight was painting a canvas?

"Pfft." Jesidril scoffed in amusement at that thought, causing everyone to look at her in curiosity.

"What is it, Jesi-chan?" You asked.

The former journalist shook her head; there she went again with her visualizations of other people. It never got out of her system even after all these years. But she had to admit, they were beautiful.

She gave You a response:

"Nothing."

A/N: Annnd here is another chapter for y'all! Hope you guys liked it! Comment down what you think! Let those thoughts out!