“Do you really think everyone will obey you absolutely just because you have the title of princess, Amelia Anima? I, Kennevian Kenos Voidineus Tierlamanth Second, am the true sovereign of Omoiland! I won't let you take all the glory of conquering the Liebesherrscher alone!”

“What the heck is this?! I don't have time for a fight between a rabbit and a cat, my friend literally turned into a monster!”

“Oh my, it seems like your Destroyer is quite impatient, isn't she? Heartbreaker Magenta, isn't it? That's why you'll never truly be able to conquer a people, Anima... You can't give convincing orders even to a teenage human.” That black cat, Kenos, mocked Anima in a way that even made me angry. “But look closely, the true absolute Destroyer, the beauty of the Void Stars, my newest creation: Tormenta Violet!”

After Kenos spoke that name, a girl emerged from the shadows, wearing a beautiful short skirt and armed in lilac and black, with fishnet stockings that emphasized her sensuality, beautiful wavy lilac hair adorned with a tiara of thorns... That was the other Destroyer, Tormenta Violet...

With eyes colder than ice, she stared at me, and I could feel in that moment that, if I blinked for even a second, I would be dead.

“It seems they found the Painter of Wreckage, and her vassal was such an interesting human!” Kenos spoke, seemingly amused by my astonishment. “Tormenta Violet, do as you wish, I want you to show those two your true strength!”

“As you wish, Kenos.” The girl spoke, without looking at the little flying cat, she wielded her magical weapon, a giant axe, and then jumped, placing herself between me and Hanna, never taking her eyes off me.

“You're desperate, aren't you? Looking at this world of art has left you lost, hasn't it?” Even though she seemed to be talking to Hanna, she was still looking at me.

“No one understands... I'll only disappoint everyone...” The creature they called the Painter of Wreckage spoke, although she seemed less aggressive when talking to the girl with lilac hair, her heart seemed to suffer more, as if the tears reached her.

“Yes. You're alone. Alone in a world where no one can understand you. No matter how hard they try, this pain is yours and there's no one who can heal it.” Violet turned against the monstrous Hanna, pointing her axe at her, and then making a cut on her chest, causing her heart to shine.

A heart...

Blue?

“Anima, what is that? So far, all the hearts I've seen were red. Why does Hanna have a blue heart?!”

“That...”

“Oh, you haven't explained that to her either, Anima? You really are a failure as a princess!” Kenos laughed, while Anima seemed so sad she could cry. “Listen, child, crystallized hearts are reflections of strong human negative energies. They are based on two principles, burning anger and sorrowful sadness. You, as the Destroyer of Anima, can only purify hearts of the burning anger principle, while my Tormenta Violet can purify or break hearts of the sorrowful sadness principle.”

“So... Even if I fought... I couldn't do anything with Hanna's heart?!”

“Bingo.” The black cat joked, unconcerned. “You're actually learning fast for a human.”

Tormenta Violet didn't seem to waste any time, tearing out the blue heart that shone in Hanna's chest, a dark glow... Almost like a haunting.

“Don't worry, you won't have to suffer anymore... I'll destroy your pain... The only thing I can do for you...” She spoke as she held that crystal heart tightly in her hand.

“NO!” I spoke impulsively, which made that girl turn to me again. She really was indescribably beautiful... “Please, just don't break that heart... I beg you... Don't break her heart..!”

“You... Do you understand anything?”

“Huh? What do you mean by that? If you break her heart, she won't be who she is anymore! She'll lose everything that-”

“Do you have any idea what it's like to suffer like this?! To love something that doesn't love you back?! You spend the whole day smiling carefree, do you have any idea how miserable it is to exist like this?! Put yourself in your place, Heartbreaker Magenta!”

“It's not that, she can't give up!”

I was lying on the ground, trying to reach that girl... The girl who held the heart of my friend in her hands... That girl who said things I didn't understand but seemed extremely hurt when she spoke each word...

I looked as she positioned that heart in the air, grabbed her magical weapon

And split it in two

Like a sharp blade, without turning it into shards

She destroyed it without a second thought

The crystallized monster known as the Painter of Wreckage, my first friend, Hanna Bovary, seemed to melt into ink, leaving only the unconscious body of that young girl with black hair and countless dreams, which were destroyed in that exact moment.

Tormenta Violet turned to me, who was crying pathetically on the ground, looking at the body of my friend, and brought her face close to mine.

“If I could, I would have given up already too.” And with those words, she and Kenos left the chapel, the exhibition, and their presence vanished.

All that remained was just the feeling of emptiness and defeat in my heart

Unable to stop shedding tears for my friend

Who would soon become just an empty shell

Because of my mistakes.