Fate is a tortuous repetition.

But unlike fate, love is a sweet cycle.

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Before Merka had a chance to recover from the resounding word "civil war", the loud sound of breaking glass pierced through her thoughts.

"What civil war?" Turing, wrapped in glass shards, protected herself with one hand, and the violent magical power sent her from the window into Maria's house.

She was dressed in a concise, one-piece magical robe, draped in a large black cloak, completely different from the youthful and beautiful dress she wore in the morning.

Turing took off her hood, revealing her beautiful and cute little face, but now this face seemed a bit too serious.

"No matter what you guys are talking about, Merka, the situation right now is really bad."

"Although there doesn't seem to be any turbulence on the surface outside, the Kepo special agents are everywhere."

"Joseph's situation is beyond our control. Mom is determined to take me back home immediately."

"I guess you're still with Maria. I sneaked over here to say goodbye to you."

"I guess we won't be able to see each other for a while. I thought we could at least have a meal together... damn it."

Merka looked at Turing with a hoarse voice, as if a flickering flame, Turing, who looked weak and sad, felt that her throat was as if lit by the sad redness of the person in front of her. Along with the smoke, there was a slight burning sensation.

Merka had a feeling that Turing should not be suffering only to this extent.

Turing, at some point, has learned to wrap her pain like an onion within her body so that people around her won't worry and shed tears.

"Little Turing, I have something to tell you two. Can you give me some more time?" Maria untimely interjected.

Turing glanced at Maria, clicked her tongue lightly, and stood by the wall, indicating tacit agreement.

"I just got some information from Merka about the situation." Maria showed no signs of noticing Turing's scornful attitude.

"Although there are many difficulties, the solution to all this is simple." Maria took out the half metal sphere from her pocket. The dense scratches on the sphere seemed to tell a story of how many people had fought and bled for it.

"Merka, pretending to be Turing, will endure a month in the Altria household and then reveal her true identity during the competition, letting Turing take the stage."

"During this time, Merka will be responsible for replenishing the magic power of this metal sphere every day and finding ways to play the role of Turing without arousing suspicion."

"Dropback has its limits, any extravagant behavior will deplete the magic power and eventually expose the disguise. I believe only Merka, who is familiar with Turing, can accomplish this task."

"On Turing's side, she needs to take Joseph and visit Gabriel, the Archduke of the McNewdeau household. She will have a way to treat the Demon's Curse."

"And also," Maria paused, her mechanical limbs clanking and fierce. It made creaking sounds from time to time, as if it would interrupt Maria's thoughts.

"If you go, she will definitely agree to help you treat Joseph."

"Only you can do it."

Turing's face reached a level of uncontrollable anger. In the blink of an eye, she appeared in front of Maria, raising her slender arm. Undoubtedly, her arm contained the divine power to destroy everything in this monastery with just a wave.

But she held back.

"Just a horse, how audacious!"

"Who do you think you are, daring to threaten me?! Know that I am the legitimate heir of the Altria family! With what you have done, I should have cut you in half long ago!"

"Sending Merka to such a dangerous place...what a wild idea! Why don't you go back home in my place?!"

Maria crouched down, slowly letting go of Turing's arm. Her height of nearly 1.8 meters, combined with her large robe, made her appear as some kind of huge beast in front of Turing, but a grass-eating, gentle beast.

"Miss Turing," Maria's cold mechanical arm poured a cup of cold water on Turing's anger, "why would going home be dangerous? Dropback is a perfect transformation technique, Merka won't be recognized."

"Could it be that something has happened that has made going home equally dangerous for you?"

As soon as Maria finished speaking, Turing's face suddenly turned pale, and her breath became increasingly irregular.

Maria gazed at Turing's face, which was damp with suffering, as if showing a faint, anticipated smile.

"I see...in that case, shouldn't you focus on the next competition? Otherwise, if you also lose the next competition, what do you think the Oedipus Grand Guild will think?" Maria's voice initially sounded as light as a feather, but in Turing's ears, it was as heavy as a thousand catties.

"How...how did you know that it was me who lost?" Turing seemed to be on the verge of tears. "Did you know from the beginning?"

"No, I just had a feeling." Maria smiled gently.

"It has nothing to do with how outstanding you are. Mighty beasts roar in the mountains, and weak little animals naturally come together, united to challenge and trouble you. It's a normal thing."

"Coincidentally, art is a subjective test. And coincidentally, the eldest daughter of the Galleher family possesses talents that are not inferior to yours, that's all."

"Success was never easy, Little Turing."

"It's just that you never had a chance to understand that."

Maria handed the metal ball to Turing, and with her other hand pulled it out from her arm bend, gently stroking Turing's stunned face, as if treating her own child.

"If Joan were still alive, I wouldn't have taken such an extreme path. Everything in this world is actually a result of mutual pressure..."

"You may feel wronged, but even Merka, Elizabeth, and I feel wronged."

"What do you say? Turing, are you willing to believe me once?"

"The Altria family should have no problem accepting this challenge."

"Anyway, you will win in the end, won't you?"

Maria's gentle gaze, different from Oedipus's profundity, was a kind of considerate and delicate tenderness that made people inevitably fall in love with her.

Turing's expression changed, almost taking the metal ball.

"No, it's not possible. It's just not possible."

"I can't let Merka go home and bear the consequences of my failure for me..."

The deep and dangerous silhouette of his mother, like a nightmare, lingered in Turing's eyes.

Turing's pupils trembled, clenching his teeth and turning away.

【I won't run away anymore...】

【Merka and I just promised each other that we won't run away again...】

"Merka, let's go!" A violent gust of wind convulsed around Turing's body again, causing the curtains to rustle.

"Sorry, Lady Bishop, I have to go somewhere." Merka helped Maria back to the sofa, made a hat-off gesture, and then flew away from the window with Turing.

Maria looked thoughtfully at the departing Merka, tiredly rubbed her eyes, and curled up in her own armchair with her heavy body.

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"Turing, did you come out without any preparation?" Merka, speeding through the air, asked Turing.

"I...how could I not be prepared?" Turing's complex expression seemed to drip a drop of sweat.

"I know that Kepler has set up a perception magic network in the air, and now they have issued a city-wide ban on flying. So we can't fly too high."

"I know that their magic vision range is about five hundred meters. They are extremely familiar with my appearance. As long as we get close to them, we will face endless flight pursuits. But because they are in plainclothes, we can't defend against this."

"There are also high-level magicians guarding the city gates, so it's not realistic to try to sneak out of the city..."

"Turing, you know I'm not asking about these." Merka smiled bitterly and said to Turing, the cold wind of early spring almost made him unable to laugh.

"What are your plans for the future? Are you going home?"

"After you go back home, do we still have a chance to see each other?"

"Will your mother blame you for your failure?"

Merka's tone was faint, but the taste held in Turing's mouth was as thick as blood.

These questions were not ones Turing wanted to answer, and none of them were ones Turing could answer.

【So painful... I really want to escape, desperately want to escape.】

"Hmm..." A blown poster covered Merka's face, causing him to almost crash into the wall. Merka stabilized himself, picked up the poster in front of him, and rubbed the braille attached to it with his fingers. "This is a drawing of the competition..."

"Don't look!" Turing rushed over like a little dragon and snatched the poster swiftly.

"Umm..." Merka came back to his senses and realized that they had already flown into the city center. "You told me not to look, but it's everywhere here..."

Although it cannot be described as overwhelming, all the previous advertising sites in the city center, including bus stops and banners on street lamps, have been replaced with artworks from this art competition.

As the first-place winner, Diana naturally had the most works displayed, while Turing, who came in second, had fewer works displayed than the former.

"... It looks terrible, doesn't it?" Turing clenched the poster in her hand and silently lowered her head, as if enduring some great pain.

"I found her! It's Miss Altria!" Suddenly, a plain-looking woman not far away shouted loudly with the small device in her hand, and instantly deployed wings, shooting towards Turing.

"Turing, no time to be sad! Let's go!" Merka glanced back slightly, and her wings behind her suddenly doubled in size. She picked up Turing and swiftly flew away.

"Oh, flock in the horizon..." Holding Turing, Merka whispered an incantation, releasing one after another thick fog to block Kekob's pursuit.

The city center was thrown into chaos by the suddenly appearing fog.

"Sorry, is it too crowded? We can only inconvenience you for now..."

"However, the enclosed space is a good defense against magic detection, after all, magic cannot penetrate everywhere."

"Have you figured out the answer to my question? In this urgent situation, it may not be suitable for us to come up with a perfect answer anymore."

Merka and Turing hid in a trash can. Although Merka considerately lied underneath, preventing Turing from coming into contact with the dirty trash, the foul smell still managed to seep into Turing's nose.

The offensive odor seemed to have brought forth Turing's tears.

"I don't know! I can't think of an answer!"

"I only asked for a little..."

"Why does someone always hinder me like this..."

Turing cried again in front of Merka, thinking that she would never cry in front of Merka again.

"I actually...overcame all the difficulties..."

"Why did it end up like this in the end..."

Turing painfully collapsed onto Merka's body, and her tears fell onto Merka's lapel without restraint.

[Fate is an agonizing repetition.]

A metallic object, reflecting a golden sheen, suddenly appeared before Turing's eyes.

Turing, astonished like a fish out of water, stared at the object in front of her with wide eyes.

"Doesn't this scene look familiar to you...?" Obviously, Merka was a little tired from running around. However, upon reminiscing about the sweetness of cotton candy at sunset, he grinned.

"I brought dropback with me."

[Love is a sweet loop.]

"So, don't cry anymore, or I'll be very sad too." Merka shifted his body slightly, allowing Turing to hold the half-metal sphere.

"How did... I didn't agree to it! Why would she be willing to give you such a valuable thing?" Turing asked in confusion.

"Xixi, don't ask so many questions. We don't have time to waste anymore..."

"When we were flying on the road just now, I was wondering, maybe Xixi wants to escape directly?"

"No matter what happens to the civil war, to Joseph, to the Altria and Agio families, as long as we escape, we don't have to worry about anything. After all, those things should have had nothing to do with a twelve-year-old girl; they were all burdens too heavy for her."

"Maria, Provence, Dungremy, and I shouldn't have told you about these things in the first place."

"What else can kindness imposed on others be besides maliciousness?"

Merka sighed deeply and continued.

"Xixi, take this half-metal sphere, disguise yourself as anyone you want, and just go out casually."

"Leave from here, disappear in the sea of people, even Oedipus himself cannot find you with the dropback."

"Do you want to escape? Turing, just say the word, do you still want to run away?"

Turing stared blankly at the metal hemisphere in the palm of his hand, gazing at it for a while, as if the pursuers outside were no longer important.

However, driven by an unknown force, Turing eventually pushed it back to Merka.

[Yes, I thought I cared about Merka, so I was unwilling to let him go back for me.]

[But in fact, I only care about myself, afraid of losing Merka again.]

[Merka clearly sees the suffering of the world as heavier than his own life... but I keep obstructing him.]

[How selfish I am...]

"But Merka probably doesn't want it this way. If so, I'm afraid many more people will die," Turing said.

"Xixi..." Merka responded softly.

"Actually, you have accommodated me countless times, I'm sorry, I didn't realize it until the day you refused me."

"Don't get me wrong, this time I listened to that woman not for your sake," Turing wiped away her tears, her little face blushing.

"It's for both of us."

"Joseph, victory, and you, I want them all."

"I want to have everything! Instead of giving up something and exchanging it with others!"

Turing returned the metal hemisphere to Merka.

"This is just a temporary separation. Compared to the time we will spend together in the future, it's just a very short, short separation."

"We have so many things to do in the future, to taste all kinds of delicious food, to drink all kinds of wonderful drinks..."

"So now, go out disguised as me, just like Maria said," Turing said.

"Aren't you worried that I might be exposed? After all, dropback is not entirely impossible to be exposed," Merka happily laughed. This time, Merka's laughter was different from any previous helpless, painful, cold, or compassionate laughter.

"Come on, don't be kidding," Turing also laughed happily, "I trust you, even more than I trust myself!"

"Let's evade this war!"