Kyrie grabs Imogen's arm and drags her to the bonfire. For every two steps he makes Imogen take, she steps one back. Yet, Kyrie commits to take Imogen to see Laurel singing.
He shoulders this task because he feels like it is the reader's duty to do some romance plot acceleration to those goddamn slow burns that make the readers want to pull their hair out.
Of course, Kyrie has long steeled himself with bottomless audacity when he needs to deal with Imogen. There is really no other way around it since Imogen has a strong steel-like personality.
And, of course, he has to slightly ignore the possibility that Imogen might just take out her sword to chop his head off. Nevertheless, the main character still needs him, so he has to take the opportunity to bug her as much as he can! Why? Well, she can't kill him just yet, right?
Once they see the crowd, Imogen awkwardly stands at the back behind the crowd.
"We need to get to the front!" Kyrie says while tugging her shirt.
She shrugs Kyrie off while wearing an expression of discomfort. Kyrie almost gives up, but somehow his voice has made the crowd turn around.
The crowd looks at each other, and they automatically, in unison, make a path for Kyrie and Imogen to go to the front.
Kyrie turns to Imogen with his eyebrows lifted and sees that her icy expression melts from the crowd's willingness to let her take the front. However, she is still frozen in place like her shoes are superglued to the ground.
Witnessing Imogen's slight change of emotion, Kyrie feels like he understands Imogen a bit more. Imogen doesn't really hate someone's company or even people.
[Is there really a person who wishes loneliness aside from a person who is afraid?]
Kyrie sighs a little bit while looking at Imogen like a difficult case.
[Or… Is she not aware of her feelings and what she needs?]
Kyrie gives Imogen a little push, and Imogen starts to walk on the path that the crowd has parted for them. She looks at the smiles and cheer of the crowd as the song ends from the previous group dance.
The self-proclaimed host flies to the middle while the dancers break apart to join with the crowd.
"That was one hell of a dance! It seems like we still have the moves! Next! Today! We have a special event! One of our guests, Lady Ravenswood, is going to sing for us! We actually caught her singing on her own, so we had to make everyone listen to her voice! Come on up!!!"
The crowd cheers and laughs at Laurel, who is shyly walking up to the open space. Some fairies have to push her to the front because she is having second thoughts. When she lifts her head, her eyes sparkle when she sees Imogen watching her at the front of the crowd. Their eyes connect, and Laurel feels her heart race from excitement.
The host continues, "Lady Ravenswood is singing for us the song…."
Laurel interrupts the host by putting her hand in front of him, "I will sing a song from my birthplace!"
The fairy host almost gets a heart attack seeing Laurel's hand stop in front of him. For a second, the host has thought that he is fated to end up like a random fly getting squashed for simply existing.
He swallows hard before breathing again. He lifts his head to question Laurel, wondering why she has changed her song at the last minute.
He stares at her to get her attention, but Laurel seems preoccupied looking at the crowd.
When Laurel starts with a wordless melody, using her voice like a musical instrument. The circle starts to quiet down because Laurel's voice immediately captures the entire audience's attention. Some even take a sharp breath in amazement. Her voice is clear and moving, and the saying of possessing an angelic voice seems an understatement.
Out of the audience, Imogen is the one who seems the most moved. Although there are no tears, her body mildly quivers from her feelings flooding out. Although she normally forces those feelings in, the alcohol must have done her great disservice today to let her lose control. Imogen begins to hum the same melody of the song that Laurel is singing.
Seeing Imogen react to her song, Laurel's song starts to flow out with more emotions. Some of the audience tears up while thinking back on their good times, and others search for the hand of their loved ones.
Like the surrounding individuals, Kyrie suddenly misses Ian. He has left Ian alone because he is worried about Imogen. So, his eyes automatically start to look for Ian in the crowd, and he finds Ian on the other side watching him. They smile at each other, happy to find each other. Even at a distance, they feel close to each other, like they are actually next to each other.
Once Laurel ends the song, the crowd roars, throwing flowers at her feet. However, her eyes are still with someone else. Imogen lifts her hand, reaching toward Laurel. Laurel bows to the audience and quickly walks toward Imogen, hugging her once she reaches her.
She chuckles in happiness as Imogen caresses her hair.
"You kept your promise," Imogen whispers in Laurel's ear.
Laurel, in turn, remains quiet even though her heart is about to explode. Before they leave the crowd, Imogen gives Kyrie a meaningful gaze. Kyrie only continues to smile back at Imogen and watches them walk away from the crowd.
When Kyrie turns back to look at Ian, Ian is no longer where he was standing. So, Kyrie starts to search in the crowd again.
"Here."
Kyrie turns back and sees Ian breathing slightly heavier from rushing to his side. Ian looks at Imogen, who is walking away with slight concern, but Kyrie brings his attention back by squeezing his hand.
"I think she is going to be fine."
"I really hope so," Ian responds while watching the ongoing show without much concentration.
The song that Laurel has sung is significant to Imogen. It is so significant that Yue has written about it multiple times in the novel. Kyrie turns back again, but he can no longer see Imogen and Laurel. The bonfire light has reached a certain point, and beyond that is a plane of darkness.
---
Laurel gazes down at Imogen's hand for a second and takes her eyes away like she is afraid to get caught. Then, she looks again.
She nervously swallows and takes Imogen's hand in a burst of courage. However, Laurel is so nervous that she forgets how to breathe. She coughs away from Imogen, and when she turns back, she can see Imogen looking at her.
She awkwardly laughs and takes her hand away. Nonetheless, Imogen takes it back, making Laurel unable to hold her smile from coming out. She grabs Imogen's hand more confidently and realizes the callouses on her partner's hand.
Laurel has hated the callouses on hers before. The path of a mercenary is not easy, but she has needed money desperately to cure Catherine, who took her in so kindly. Even though Tobias has wanted her to follow a different path, she has taken up the sword because she also loves Catherine like a mother as much as Tobias.
In the end, she has to lie that she wants to travel around the world, and her lie has extended even after Catherine's death.
Yet, she does not hate the sword anymore. An idiot has taught her how to use it properly despite his hellish training.
"Ah!" Laurel suddenly remembers, "Imogen, how did you know that I know that song?"
Imogen stops in her tracks, and her eyes wander like she is deciding what to say.
"I just know a lot of things about you."
Laurel feels her cheeks getting warm.
'Maybe she knows because she was a demigod, right?' Laurel tries to reason with herself.
However, her curiosity wins, "How? Why?"
"Because I have met you before."
"You… did?" Laurel gazes into space, trying to remember, but no one like Imogen pops out in her memories.
"You just don't remember."
"So you knew that I was me from the beginning?"
"Hmm."
"That is why you guided me out of that enchanted forest?"
"Hmm."
"Ah," Laurel becomes self-aware, "Am I asking too many questions? How… how about you asking me?"
Although Imogen knows Laurel well, she has been a bit different for every loop - her personality, her choices in life, and her state of mind.
"Why did you not choose to be a singer?"
"Ah…. Are you asking because I sing fairly well?"
"No…. I am asking because I know you love to sing."
"Eh?" Laurel gets thrown off a little bit by Imogen's confidence in her likes and dislikes, "Hmm… I…. I actually like the sword more. I have learned to use it well, and the way of the sword is a straightforward one…."
Imogen's expression freezes after hearing Laurel's confession. Imogen looks at Laurel talking, but her mind is not concentrating on any words.
Her mind is recounting a woman who looks exactly like the Laurel standing in front of her: she is in a flowy grey blueish dress, carrying a beat old mandolin on her back. Her hair is always brushed to one side, and the waves reach to her waist.
Imogen focuses back on the Laurel in front of her. Laurel looks completely different from the woman in Imogen's memories: her upper body is covered in armor while her hand rests on the sword's hilt. Her hair is brushed up into a high ponytail.
"Laurel?"
"What is it?" Laurel becomes more self-aware as Imogen scans through her.
As if a layer of glass has broken in front of Imogen, she starts to see Laurel differently.
'Who is she?' Imogen slightly doubts.
Although she has always known that Laurel is different in every round, Imogen has not been so into each one's differences.
Imogen's inside slowly starts to crumble.
'What… What… have I been doing then? What for? Why have I not asked myself this before?'
Imogen closes her eyes from a sudden headache throbbing the back of her head.
'No… I did. I did know. I knew since the first loop.'
Laurel grabs Imogen's arm and sways her, "A-are you alright?"
Imogen slightly opens her eyes and stares at Laurel for a handful of seconds, and she sinks to the ground, taking Laurel with her. Laurel scrapes her knees after trying to carry Imogen's weight but couldn't.
"I-Imogen?" Laurel taps lightly on Imogen's cheeks.
"What… What is wrong with you? Why did you suddenly faint?"
Laurel tries to search Imogen's body to see if she is hurt somewhere. She watches her hands tremble like she is out of control.
"S-somebody…. SOMEBODY! HELP! Imogen? Why… SOMEBODY!"
The sound of someone's footsteps comes closer, and Laurel shouts for help again. She lets out a breath of relief when she sees Kyrie and Ian appear.
"Kyrie…."
Kyrie pats on her shoulders to calm her down while Ian examines Imogen.
"She is alright," says Ian while feeling a slight relief.
"What happened?" Kyrie asks Laurel, who is still in panic.
"I-I-I… I don't know… She just asks me why I didn't become a musician…." Laurel shakes her head like she is not understanding.
Kyrie and Ian look at each other because they know that Laurel is a musician in the original timeline.
"And… What happened, Laurel?"
"I just said that I like the sword more…."
"Did I say something wrong?" Laurel grabs Kyrie's arm.
"No! That is absurd, Laurel. You have said nothing wrong."
"Then why…. Why is she… I am so confused… I am always so confused when I am with her…. I don't know what she wants…."
Laurel starts to sob, "It's like she has not been looking at me at all… It is like the entire time she was looking at someone else!"