"If… if only I had known about it earlier… Maybe then I could have done something to help her. Or maybe I could have healed her."
"And yet… I…" Javier's voice grew quieter, his expression pained. "I only found out today… from a letter that arrived a week ago."
He leaned back against Buddy's body, his posture slumping slightly as the weight of the realization settled over him. "And she's been suffering… sick since she was eleven, for more than four years now…"
"Why, Buddy?" Javier whispered, his voice filled with frustration and sorrow. "Why after more than four years? Why not before?"
Buddy fell silent, nuzzling his big head gently on top of Javier's head before lifting his wing to cover him, shielding him as he began to weep.
Meanwhile, at a distance, Garius watched Javier weeping, with Francesca beside him, already dabbing her eyes with her handkerchief.
Alf and Erinette stood in respectful silence, along with all the escorts and officers behind them.
