"Hmm hmm, everything's going smoothly so far, isn’t it~"
With a finger touching luscious lips, it spoke with an ease as if observing the growth of a plant it had just watered.
"There were more tough ones than I thought among the survivors, so I guess I’ll have to keep an eye on them~"
Fluttering the bat-like wings sprouting from its back, it seemed to be in a good mood, swaying its head joyfully from side to side.
"We’ll have to see if he can take the stage, hmm~ yes"
It nodded once and was about to lightly wave its finger towards the void but was interrupted by a presence that appeared without warning.
"Huh? It’s rare for you to come see me~ Something up?"
Without particular surprise at the sudden appearance, it asked in a frivolous tone.
At first glance, the sudden presence appeared to be a girl wrapped in a kimono. However, atop her head were two beast ears that humans inherently wouldn't possess, and a soft tail extended from her lower back.
A beast-human girl clad in a kimono. Yet that perception too was mistaken. The atmosphere emanating from the girl was not mere humanity. There was a similar air to it, an oddity with wings and a pair of horns.
The beast-human girl-like entity glanced at it with its light-hearted demeanor and slightly frowned upon looking at the scene beyond the window opened before it.
"Are you playing around like that again?"
"Mm~ I’m hurt~ I’m making sure to know when to pull the strings, so it won’t end badly, so it’s fine, right?"
"That mindset is where you're wrong to begin with...!"
The beast-human girl spoke a bit heatedly.
"Are you angry? You are, aren’t you? That figures~. You have a nature that dislikes these kinds of games. I know it well."
However, narrowing its eyes, it spoke with a sadistic smile.
"Even more so, you're concerned about him, aren’t you"
At those words, the beast-human girl’s shoulders trembled ever so slightly.
It deepened its smile at her reaction, but suddenly wiped away the grin, becoming terrifyingly expressionless.
"But, no. He’s my toy. I won’t give him to anyone. Not even you."
"—!?"
With a hehehe, as it laughed, the girl stepped back in astonishment.
"...Why do you go so far..."
Starting to speak, however, the girl shook her head as if to say it was pointless.
"No, I needn’t have asked. That's how you've always been."
"I really don’t want to hear that from you~"
It pouted discontentedly. The girl flashed a momentarily lonely expression at that response but quickly replaced it with a solemn expression.
"Let me clarify, I don’t harbor feelings for him in the way you think. However—"
However, choking slightly on her words in a semblance of agony, the beast-human girl confessed.
"—I just couldn’t bear to see him suffer any more."
She drooped her head. Like a sinner regretting their own sins, she bowed her head.
Observing the girl for a moment, it cut its gaze away with uninterested demeanor.
"You’re truly kind. Kind, but endlessly powerless."
It said, gazing at the scene reflected in the window. Entranced, the beast-human girl also directed her eyes toward the displayed scene.
In the scene projected in the window, a man and woman exchanged affectionate banter.
After watching the exchange between the two for a moment with complex eyes, it turned back toward the beast-human girl as if averting its gaze.
"So, you have no choice but to rely on their power. In the end, you’re all birds of a feather~"
Artificially lightening the end of its sentence, it shrugged its shoulders.
"In that case, I'll just enjoy myself as I please. As long as I am me, after all."
Teasingly sticking out its cute, sakura-colored tongue, the beast-human girl exhaled as if resigning herself.
"Yes, that’s right. I can’t even imagine a scenario where you change, no matter what is said."
"Isn’t that a bit harsh~?"
"Ask your own heart. Well then—"
With a nonchalant retort, the beast-human girl disappeared from the spot just like when she appeared, without any sign.
It gazed at the space where the beast-human girl had been for a moment, then once again watched the scene in the window.
"Hey, why do you have that—"
"Noisy, think a little about what you’re saying—"
In the moment it looked away, the man and woman had started arguing. However, there was no hostile atmosphere; it felt like a collision due to their unreserved nature.
Watching the pair with an affectionate, and joyful gaze, it lifted the corners of its mouth.
"Ah, please entertain me more. You, and you, and everyone, everyone~"
Leaving behind a laugh that seemed almost mad, it disappeared somewhere.