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Look at you, Miorine Rembran. You're a mess.
Miorine looked worriedly at the face reflected in the glass of water in front of her. Lately, there were days when she found it hard to recognize herself. She had always taken great care of her appearance, but not out of vanity. At first, she had done so to emulate the dignified bearing of her mother, whom she admired above all others. After her mother's death, she had discovered that this was much more helpful in maintaining her image of detachment and indifference. She had become the princess, the heiress of the Benerit group.
Now her face was beginning to show signs of anxiety, the result of sleepless nights worrying about things that didn't just affect her. Miorine had to work harder and harder with her makeup to disguise these signs or she would notice.
She.
The girl from Mercury.
The friendly, selfless, naive, sweet, red-haired girl from Mercury.
Suletta had stayed with Miorine to study in her room several times. At first, Suletta had been reluctant to share the bed and had insisted on sleeping on the floor, but Miorine had refused. Suletta had not questioned her orders and had agreed. Now it seemed the most normal thing in the world to both of them.
Sometimes Miorine had spent the whole night watching Suletta sleep. Her sleep was always peaceful, as if she knew she would be safe there. If she felt brave enough, Miorine would reach out her closest hand and slowly stroke a lock of Suletta's hair. She would remain like this until dawn. When she noticed that Suletta was going to wake up, she would close her eyes and pretend to wake up at the same time she did.
The smile with which Miorine accompanied the "Good morning" was always genuine.
"Miorine Rembran, you are in a world of trouble," she said out loud and covered her face with her hands.
"Excuse me, may I come in?"
Miorine had to use every ounce of her willpower not to blush with embarrassment. The door to the greenhouse was open and next to it Nika was waiting politely. She had left it open because she had been the one who had told Nika to come. The bout of self-pity had made Miorine forget all about it.
"Of course, Nika-san. Please, come in!"
Nika walked in and stopped to admire the plants spread out in the various pots.
"You've worked very hard, Miorine-san. They are magnificent," Nika said with a smile.
"Thank you. All the effort has been worthy."
Miorine picked up a box she had ready and placed it on the table. She pulled aside the cloth covering it to show Nika the contents.
"They are the best tomatoes I have ever tasted. Thank you so much for sharing them with Earth House!" said the blue-haired mechanic.
"There are a lot of them and I like that people who appreciate them enjoy them. It's my way of thanking Earth House for all they're doing for Suletta."
"You were talking about her out loud, weren't you, Miorine-san?"
There was no malice or curiosity in Nika's voice. She was merely asserting something they both knew to be true.
"Am I that obvious?" said Miorine after a few moments.
"For the rest of us? Yes. For a long time. For Suletta. No."
Miorine sighed in relief. The last thing she wanted was to add one more worry to Suletta's already complicated existence.
"Can I ask you something, Miorine-san? Don't answer me if you don't want to."
Miorine stared at the Earthian girl. It had been a long time since she had blindly trusted anyone but Suletta, but obviously she couldn't talk to her about "her problem".
"Go ahead."
"How do you feel about Suletta?"
Miorine did not feel pressured or that she was being interrogated. She searched inside herself for a way to express what it was like to have Suletta close to her.
To walk with her around the school in full view of everyone.
Sharing with her the doubts about tomorrow and the terrible injustices.
The unexpected dangers.
The victories.
The quiet moments in the greenhouse.
Studying together.
Her sleeping face in bed as she stroked her hair.
"I... I don't know. I want her to be happy. I WANT to make her happy. But that's impossible, Nika-san. I am a cursed creature. Happiness is forbidden to me. Suletta's destiny is to return to Mercury. If I accompany her, I know that sooner or later I will end up ruining her life. And if she comes to Earth, I'll condemn her to give up her dreams and she will wither away."
A tear rolled down Miorine's right cheek.
"It doesn't matter how I feel. Our destinies are doomed to be parted."