[Is it true? Hayame does not say it, but the look she flashes Liem then is one that asks him... if it were not true, would she not be outside of this tent, mingling with her fellows like the rest? Would she not be smiling and laughing like an idiot outside with people she was ignorantly proud to call her allies instead of preparing defenses or patrolling the woodland? Would they not be gathered around her, like how they flocked to her enemies and fawned over them despite their foul ways?

She had done her part, and still... Still she felt this way. And surely that was not by fault of her own.]

What those of my world think of me means nothing here.

[She is not comforted in her darkness by thinking of Yubari. Of Matsukaze. Instead, she was tormented.]

And whether I value the opinion of those I despise matters not either. Others value them, and whether they are fair or not the one with the silver tongue will always be believed-

[Her hold on his hand becomes unpleasantly tight without her noticing, her brow furrowing with pent-up rage... and certain incidents bubbling to the forefront of her mind, dark and lurking in the corners of their communion-like touch.]