The day after, Akame once again spent her entire morning in the library.
She never did anything else on her days off.
No hobbies, no outings, not even simple moments of carefree joy.

She had never had a normal childhood.

Watching her, engrossed in her reading, I tried to recall a memory—just one—when I had seen her truly happy. Or simply smiling.
To my dismay, nothing convincing came to mind. Never any outings with friends. Never any laughter shared over a drink or a game. I remembered one day in particular. Her entire class had been invited to a birthday party… except for her.
She was still young at the time. It was close to a certain incident—but about that, I’ll come back to it later.

Even at that age, she had already built a wall of armor.
Cold, distant, seemingly strong. She answered curtly, as if to show she needed no one.
But I knew. I had seen her, more than once, crying alone in her bed.

I approached slowly.
« Akame? »
« Hm? » she replied, her eyes still fixed on her page.
« Can we go take a look at the capital tomorrow? »

She raised her head, bewildered.
« What? »

« Oh… come on! You never go there. You could find new books, buy one or two outfits… or taste some good food at the new café that recently opened… »
« You seem well-informed… » she cut me off suspiciously.
« I am a spirit. I go where the wind takes me… » I replied, shrugging my shoulders with a falsely detached air.
« Then go by yourself, » she said casually.

I made a pouty face.
« I know you want to go. »
« Oh, really? »
« Oh yes. I saw the look on your face when those girls in your class talked about the magnificent butter pastries. »

Her face instantly turned red.
Touché!

« You… you must have been dreaming… » she replied, looking away.
« Oh, come on! Come with me! I’m sure you’ll like it. And… you won’t be alone. I’m here. »

I sensed that she wanted it. But as always, she didn’t dare admit it to herself.
So I pulled out my last argument.

« Besides, they have this new novel that you don’t have… the one I wanted to read. »

She raised an eyebrow, suddenly interested.
« Which one? »
« I’ll tell you… if you come with me. »

There was, of course, no novel.
And I hated lying. But I was convinced she’d have a good time. Maybe she’d even smile… just a little.

She paused, then finally answered:
« Hm. If you wish, then. »

Victory!

Without adding anything further, she turned her head away and calmly resumed her reading.