The Infinity Castle grew eerily quiet.
Yuna stood motionless among the floating platforms, her silver threads still faintly glowing around her. Her cold gaze locked onto Kanashimi — the man lying in a pool of his own blood, breathing weakly.
Fear flashed clearly in Kanashimi's eyes for the first time.
She's here…
She really came to kill me.
Before he could say anything, Haru's innocent voice broke the deadly silence.
"Mizuki-sa…! Where is Yuto?"
Kanashimi's heart nearly stopped.
No… Haru, don't—!
Inside his head, panic exploded:
Hey Haru… she will bury me alive if she thinks I've been with another woman. Don't mention Mizuki! But… even if you don't, I'm probably going to die anyway.
Kanashimi forced a weak, broken smile and spoke hoarsely.
"Yuna… you're here."
Yuna's expression didn't change. Her voice was ice cold.
"I have eyes to see you."
She walked forward slowly, each step echoing through the shifting castle. Without warning, she raised her hand and slapped Kanashimi hard across the face. The sound cracked sharply in the silence.
"You remarried someone?!" she hissed, her voice shaking with rage and pain.
Kanashimi's head snapped to the side. Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.
"No! No, Yuna! That's not—"
Before he could finish, Haru ran over and climbed onto Yuna like she was a familiar big sister, hugging her leg tightly.
"Scold him, Onee-chan! Scold big brother a lot and then we will all go home together!"
Yuna froze completely.
She wanted to say it — "I'm here to kill your brother" — but the words died in her throat the moment Haru looked up at her with those pure, trusting eyes.
Kanashimi's voice turned desperate.
"Haru! Get down! Don't Stay high there— Come down right now!"
Yuna gently but firmly pried Haru off her. Her voice softened just a little.
"Haru… we have to talk. Can you leave us alone for a minute?"
Kanashimi's Dragon Shikigami appeared instantly, gently wrapping around Haru and carrying him away to a distant floating platform, far enough that he couldn't see what was about to happen.
The moment Haru was out of sight, Yuna's expression turned murderous again.
She stepped forward and drove her silver-thread blade straight into Kanashimi's already wounded stomach.
"You think a child can save you?" she whispered coldly, twisting the blade. "Then forget it."
Kanashimi gasped in pain, blood spilling from his mouth as he clutched her wrist weakly.
"Yuna… listen to me… I never… remarried… That girl… she just looks like you… Haru thought… she was his sister-in-law…"
Tears mixed with blood on his face.
"I never stopped loving you… Even when you hated me… Even when you wanted me dead… I still loved you."
Yuna's hand trembled on the blade. Her eyes burned with a storm of hatred, pain, and something much more complicated.
"Shut up," she whispered, voice cracking. "You don't get to say that after running away like a coward. After betraying me. After making me suffer for three years."
She pushed the blade deeper.
"But that little boy… Haru… he called me Onee-chan like it was natural."
Yuna's blade remained buried in Kanashimi's stomach, silver threads pulsing with lethal energy. Kanashimi's breathing was shallow, his face pale from blood loss.
But even in that state, he looked straight into her eyes.
"Yuna… please… listen to me," he whispered weakly. "Kill me if you want… but spare Haru. He's only four. He doesn't know anything about our world. He's innocent."
Yuna's hand trembled slightly.
Kanashimi continued, forcing the words out through the pain.
"That night… the man who attacked me yesterday told me the truth. The girl who framed me — Shime — she did it on purpose. She wasn't trying to destroy me… she was trying to save the village. There was a group of people who wanted my heart… my Special Arts. They were planning to attack the village using me as a weapon. She framed me as a criminal so I would run away and take Haru with me. She sacrificed our marriage… our life… to protect everyone."
Yuna's eyes widened for a moment, then narrowed in disbelief and anger.
"You expect me to believe that?" she hissed, twisting the blade slightly, making Kanashimi groan in pain. "Many powerful people were after your heart back then. The elders, rival clans, even some from outside the kingdom. Framing you and driving you away was the only way to stop them from using you against the village. And now you're telling me it was all part of some noble plan? Don't insult me."
Kanashimi coughed up blood, but still smiled sadly.
"I didn't believe it either at first… but it makes sense now. That's why I ran that night. Not because I was guilty… but because I was scared they would take Haru too."
He looked up at her with desperate, loving eyes.
"Yuna… I never betrayed you. I never touched anyone else. I still love you… even after everything. If you want to capture me and take me back to the village, do it. Chain me, lock me up, do whatever you want. Just… don't kill me in front of Haru. Let him keep believing his big brother is a good person for a little longer."
Yuna stared at him for a long moment. Her expression was a storm of conflicting emotions — rage, doubt, pain, and the remnants of old love.
Then she spoke, voice cold and final.
"Shime is dead."
Kanashimi's eyes widened.
"She died two years ago on a mission," Yuna continued. "No one can verify your story. There's no proof. Just the words of some dying man who wanted to manipulate you."
She slowly pulled her blade out of his stomach. Blood poured freely from the wound.
"I won't kill you today," she said quietly. "Not because I believe you… but because that child calls me 'Onee-chan' with such pure eyes. I won't make him watch his brother die."
She stepped back, silver threads retracting.
"But you will come back with me to the village. As a prisoner. You will answer for everything. And if your story turns out to be a lie…"
Yuna's eyes turned icy.
"I will kill you myself."
Kanashimi smiled weakly, blood staining his lips.
"Thank you… Yuna."
At that moment, the Dragon Shikigami gently brought Haru back. The little boy immediately ran toward them, tears in his eyes.
"Big brother! Onee-chan! Are you okay now? Can we go home?"
Yuna looked at Haru, then at the heavily injured Kanashimi, and closed her eyes for a brief second.
The Infinity Castle began to slowly dissolve around them.
The confrontation was over…
For now.