“Knowing you,” said Isabelle, “you already have the answer. What remains is actually convincing you to actually do it.”

Gaius grunted in assent. “Make my heart yield, I guess.”

“That’s an odd way of phrasing it,” Isabelle replied. “Look, wouldn’t Nakama be sad if we suddenly disappeared before telling her? In fact, it wouldn’t be just be sad — she’ll be positively worried. She’s not going to spend her time on the things you wanted her to do, like making friends and strengthening her other bonds. She’s going to overturn the whole of Orb looking for us both.”

“She’s not going to just forget about us after all?” Gaius asked.

“I’m not sure why you’d think that, because you did try to kill the Last Star to save her. If you, back then, was willing to grievously injure yourself for Nakama’s sake, why should she be any different? Or do you somehow believe that you’re the only person willing to brave danger for a loved one?” Isabelle reached out a hand and flicked his forehead. “That’s arrogance. Isn’t it?”

Turning to look at the vast field of greenery and flowers around them, Gaius let out a long sigh. “Turns out that it’s really my problem.”

“Always has been. Gaius…you aren’t the only one who’s capable of making sacrifices. Don’t belittle others, okay?” A pair of warm arms wrapped around him. “And after all we went through, after the past three years…I believe Nakama deserves to know the truth. And she deserves to make her choice too.”

“Like you.”

“Yes.” Isabelle pecked at his neck, drawing him closer a moment later. “Just like you did for me.”

“Xanadu was the one who convinced me to talk to you,” Gaius replied. “But I think some part of me wanted to let you and Nakama know too.”

“And here I was wondering if you were also this…wishy-washy when it came to me,” Isabelle replied, exhaling out slowly.

“Is that relief I sense?” Gaius asked. “Wait…were you jea—mm!”

A hand clapped over his mouth, preventing him from completing his sentence. Struggling feebly, Gaius soon gave up and let himself sink into Isabelle’s embrace — he didn’t want to hurt her anyway. Besides, even if she didn’t let him complete his sentence, her reaction had given it away, something that Gaius found really cute.

“What are you giggling about?” Isabelle asked.

“Giggling?” Gaius blinked twice. Did he let out a foolish laugh or two when thinking about Isabelle?

“Yeah. Were you thinking of something rude?”

“No, I don’t think so,” Gaius replied. “Going back to the main topic…how should I tell Nakama the truth? And…to what extent of the truth should I tell?”

“What do you mean, extent?” Isabelle asked. “Is there something else other than just watching over the Crying Abyss for all eternity?”

Gaius sucked in an involuntary breath, his heartbeat quickening at the same time. Isabelle, whose arms were wrapped around him, clearly picked up on the sudden changes in his body, and then let out a sigh.

“Seems like it,” Isabelle muttered. “Well, it’s a secret of yours. If you don’t want to say it…”

“It’s…”

Gaius closed his eyes for a moment. Did he mind telling Isabelle about how he came here? That the person named Gaius was already dead, and how he occupied his body? What would she think about it? His breathing slowly calmed down. He’d largely forgotten about it, in many ways. If he didn’t subconsciously allude to it earlier on, Gaius would probably let it fallow in the back of his mind, but now that he remembered it…

And Isabelle was someone who should know the truth, after all.

Sitting upright, he turned around to face Isabelle. “There’s…something I’ve been keeping from almost everyone. No one but Nexus knows.”

“Go on.”

“You know that I’m from Earth, right? Another world.” Gaius closed his eyes, and thought through his next words carefully. “I didn’t retrieve memories of my past life, in fact. Rather, I was summoned here, much like the Cardinal champions and the Constellation Heroes.”

“You were summoned here? But you’re…”

“To be more precise,” said Gaius, “my soul was summoned here. Not my body. The original owner of this body died, and I occupied it. It’s not something I can break to Nakama easily, since she knew the original Gaius. But in doing so, I inherited his desire, and blended his emotions with mine.”

His body shuddered as he finished his words. Somehow, his shoulders felt a lot lighter. “Yeah. So…”

“What an interesting phenomenon,” Isabelle murmured, before drawing closer. “Is that how it works?”

“Isabelle?!”

“Wait, I’m trying to figure out how this…soul-inhabiting thing works. It’s like one of those possession stories I’ve read about!”

“You…don’t mind?”

“And why would I? I didn’t know the Gaius before you were summoned to Orb. The Gaius I know and love is you, the you right now,” Isabelle replied. “And besides, I get the feeling that…how do I put it? That…this body isn’t one you’re occupying. It’s yours.”

“And why would you say that?” Gaius asked, somewhat embarrassed at how Isabelle was rubbing his cheeks.

“Remember when you were unconscious?” Isabelle asked. “You returned to your body. You didn’t occupy a dead body or a severely injured one — you returned to your own.”

“I get the feeling that you’re saying something really important here,” Gaius muttered.

“Well, rather than occupying a dead body who no longer houses a soul, I get the feeling that you melded with the original Gaius, if that makes sense to you,” Isabelle replied. “That’s just a theory, though. For all we know, you might actually have reawakened to memories of a past life.”

“You just succeeded in confusing me more,” Gaius replied. Tossing a somewhat shrivelled grape into his mouth, he placed his head down on Isabelle’s lap, and then let out a heavy sigh.

“Don’t worry too much about it, okay?” Isabelle paused. “You definitely should tell Nakama about this, though. Definitely.”

“…Yeah.”

“I’ll be by your side, so you won’t be alone. Okay?”

Gaius gripped her hand. “Thank you.”

Transferring a grape to him via mouth-to-mouth contact, Isabelle laid down on the mat too. Exchanging some random thoughts about the South’s wineries, Gaius eventually dozed off, while hugging Isabelle like a bolster.