"Um, excuse me, what happened?", Lefiya asked softly.
For a moment, she didn't have the courage to directly ask the grim-faced Filvis. Instead, she pulled aside a nearby adventurer from Dionysus Familia, a fellow elf girl whose cloak bore a crest of wine goblets and grapes.
That elf girl had a sorrowful expression as well. Hearing Lefiya's question, she was silent for a while before slowly speaking, "On the nineteenth floor, one of our companions was bitten by a venomous spider. Because detox and healing didn't arrive in time…"
The girl paused, not continuing further, but it was already easy to guess, that companion hadn't survived.
Lefiya gently lowered her head, "I'm sorry."
"It's okay," The girl gently shook her head, her tone tinged with sadness, "Then, the captain and vice-captain had a big argument."
"Lady Aura was very agitated and said we shouldn't go on expeditions with the captain anymore. She said that as long as the captain… Miss Filvis… is around, nothing good will happen."
"At the beginning, it was Aura and Filvis arguing within the familia."
The elf girl continued, "The day before yesterday was the memorial day for Aura's deceased brother. Miss Filvis wanted to go pay her respects, but Aura got angry."
("You're the one who got him killed, what are you pretending for!"), Aura said that as she pushed the helpless Filvis to the ground.
Later, the familia's main god, Dionysus, angrily punished Aura, then made the two of them explore the dungeon together.
("Filvis isn't some 'banshee of misfortune.'")
At that time, God Dionysus had said that especially seriously.
However, in this adventure, yet another companion had died.
The elf girl wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes and forced a faint smile, "Sorry, Lady Lefiya, for letting you see that."
———
"Watch out!"
Outside of Rivira town, Emiya caught up with Aura and grabbed her shoulder.
"Trace—on!"
[Futsu-no-Mitama ] in his hand slashed out a cold gleam, cutting the bear-shaped monster charging at Aura clean in half.
As the beast fell, Emiya felt a slight weight on his shoulder, Aura had collapsed weakly into his arms.
The elf girl gazed blankly at Emiya's profile, her expression dazed and lost.
The face of God Dionysus, once deeply engraved in her mind, now seemed permanently scarred by the recent pain and humiliation.
Aura's eyes shimmered with tears. She reached out and gently wrapped her arms around Emiya's neck, pressing her whole body closer, "Please, Lord Emiya."
Her voice trembled slightly, "Let me forget everything…"
She closed her eyes and leaned against Emiya's shoulder.
Those glistening, plump lips carried the rich scent of wine.
"Filvis and I… we're among the few remaining members of the old Dionysus Familia," Aura whispered as she leaned on Emiya's shoulder.
The nightmare of the twenty-seventh floor, Emiya knew of that incident. The Dionysus Familia was annihilated, with only Filvis surviving. Aura had not been part of that expedition.
"Your brother… it was then?", Emiya asked softly.
Hearing the word "brother," Aura smiled self-mockingly, "So you heard… Lord Saber."
She paused briefly, then continued, "My brother and I came to Orario together… We were originally royalty from a certain elven forest."
Among the elven race, aside from the high elves of Alfheim, there were many other elven forests, each with their own royalty. For example, Hedin and Hogni of the Freya Familia had once been kings of such elven nations.
However, the royal line of Alfheim, namely Riveria's bloodline, was that of a true king, or even "emperor," with a higher status. The other royal families of the elven forests were more like "lords."
"Our father lost in a power struggle for the throne," Aura said, "My brother and I were exiled from our homeland and drifted to Orario. Later, we joined God Dionysus's familia."
"My brother… he liked Filvis," When Aura said this, her tone carried a hint of sorrow.
"After that nightmarish event, the surviving members of the familia all blamed Filvis. My brother, who stayed behind to care for my illness, hadn't joined the expedition, so he survived."
"At that time, he stood up to defend Filvis, arguing with the others, and said he would go into the dungeon with her."
Aura took a deep breath, tears seeming to well up in her eyes, "Then he died… He was already level 2, just about to level up, but on that adventure, a monster ripped his heart out. And that woman, Filvis, she survived again."
The girl's voice gradually quieted as her hands tightly gripped Emiya's clothing.
"Why… why was it her who survived… while I lost the only family I had left," She choked up, and tears finally fell, dropping onto Emiya's shoulder.
Emiya gently stroked Aura's soft hair, his fingers threading through her silver strands, trying to soothe the pain in her heart as gently as possible.
Aura closed her eyes, letting the tears fall from the corners, "Actually… I know it's unreasonable to blame her. The dungeon is a place where anything can happen."
"But… I just can't help hating her," She paused, hesitating whether to continue, then took a deep breath and went on, "You know, Lord Emiya… I even had a dream once, about Filvis… taking her own life."
Aura's voice was almost inaudible, but the pain in it was crystal clear.
"Then, before I could react, her corpse suddenly stood back up, with that hollow smile on her face, walking step by step toward me… She chased me, and I desperately tried to escape, but I couldn't, and in the end she killed me."
The girl's lips curled into a bitter smile, "Looks like… no matter what, I really can't forgive her."
"Lord Dionysus…", The girl's lips curled into a bitter smile, "It seems that I really... no matter what, cannot forgive her."
"Lord Dionysus favors her, his trust in her has never wavered... maybe the gods are right. No matter what, Filvis is a member of our familia, she is our companion. And I... I fantasize about her dying in the most painful way, even being unable to rest in peace after death."
Her voice carried strong self-blame and disgust, "I really am a filthy elf."
Emiya was momentarily speechless. In Aura, he once again witnessed the terrifyingly high moral standards of the elven race.
Aura looked at Emiya and spoke softly, "Lord Emiya, please use your mental control skill on me, let me forget all of this, forget Filvis... in exchange, I'm willing to offer my humble self to become your possession."
Emiya almost couldn't maintain his expression, "Mental control skill? Where would I get a skill like that?"
But, he saw it. In the girl's hollow gaze, there was a deep and strange sense of distortion and fragmentation.
This feeling of self-collapse, of sinking into a quagmire, made him recall the past Ryuu, that time full of self-doubt.
And now, Aura's mental state seemed even more dangerous and abnormal than Ryuu's was then.
Seeing the scene before him, he couldn't easily reject the girl's request.
Emiya reached out his hand, supported Aura's shoulders, letting the girl's gaze meet his own.
Aura's body instantly froze, her breath halted as she looked at him, those deep purple eyes full of confusion.
"Yes, I agree," Emiya said in a low voice, "But I don't want to destroy your mind directly... so, we need to take it slowly, alright?"
"Mm…", Aura instinctively opened her mouth and softly responded.
At that moment, the girl's heart, which was on the verge of collapse, seemed to gain a bit of support, finally stabilizing slightly.
'Something's not right,' Such a feeling in Shirou's heart grew stronger and stronger. [T/N: Honeytrap]
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