Walking on the streets, one could see the huge blocks of ice in the wasteland by looking up. The cold air made it difficult to get excited, with only the cold constantly cooling one's back.
The pedestrians on the street kept their heads down and hurried on their way. A heavy pressure was pressing down on this city, on everyone's head.
What a Herrscher was, not many people in this city knew. The higher-ups had only announced the Herrscher's name, and remained silent about everything else.
And the members of the Snow Wolf Squad would not go around saying what a Herrscher was. They were busy looking for the Herrscher's traces, to prove Bianka's innocence.
Although Rita and the others knew what kind of existence a Herrscher was, they did not explain it to Susannah in detail. After all, compared to Susannah's grandfather, Rita was more willing to deal with the people from the Snow Wolf Squad.
The days in the City of Sighs were one of the many dark times that Rita was unwilling to recall.
And today, it was the third day of Siegfried's injury.
In the villa, in the room that was already covered with a thin layer of frost, Bianka was still in the same posture as three days ago. If it weren't for the slight rise and fall of her body when she breathed, Cecilia, who had entered the room with food, would have thought that Bianka had become a sculpture.
She gently exhaled a puff of white air, and Cecilia touched the food box. After feeling a trace of residual temperature, she approached Bianka.
Feeling Cecilia's approach, Bianka curled up even tighter, afraid of touching her.
"Little 'Kiana', it's me, Cecilia," Cecilia half-knelt in front of Bianka. "Don't worry, no one will hurt you."
Bianka did not speak, but just curled up again. It was clearly a posture of self-protection, but she exposed her most vulnerable neck, like a fragile kitten. The only thing she could use for protection was her weak tail.
This appearance made Cecilia want to reach out and touch Bianka's head, but the extreme cold that was constantly emitting from Bianka's body made her have to withdraw her hand.
That kind of temperature was not something a human body could withstand. If it were Siegfried, it would be fine, but if she touched Bianka, she would definitely be injured.
It wasn't that she was afraid of getting hurt.
Right now, in the Snow Wolf Squad, and even among all the people who might be gathered to fight against the Herrscher, she was the absolute core.
And her strength was seriously dependent on her own state. Sometimes, a bad mood would affect her final result, let alone being injured.
She was the peak that all her peers looked up to. And after marrying Siegfried, her brilliance had indeed been restrained a lot. More people's eyes were on Siegfried.
But she had only become low-key, not regressed. She was still the only peak among her peers.
Including in terms of combat.
Only the Snow Wolf Squad and the core personnel of Future City knew that she was stronger than Siegfried.
Even if the weapon in her hand was not specialized in combat, it was no worse than Siegfried's Star of Judgment in her hands.
But that was a battle after all. A slight carelessness would leave behind some inexplicable internal injuries. Even if she relied on Future City to repair them, it would rarely be as good as before.
And as a member of the Schariac family, the most important thing she couldn't touch was the control of her body. That was why Siegfried had taken on most of the combat missions and made himself a spokesperson.
But now, the person standing in front of her had fallen. She was the last line of defense in front of others. She could not affect the possibility of protecting others just because of a moment of weakness.
After withdrawing her hand, Cecilia opened the lunch box in front of Bianka. The self-heating lunch box contained a sumptuous meal. It was one of the only two sources of heat in this cold room.
Bianka, who was curled up, trembled slightly.
"Eat something," Cecilia sat down on her side in front of Bianka, taking out the food from the lunch box one by one and placing it in front of Bianka.
"I'm sorry, you've been at home for a few days, but I've only made one breakfast for you. I don't know what you like to eat, so I can only make everything I can for you..."
Cecilia picked up two pairs of chopsticks, but hesitated when she handed them to Bianka. "You... you should know how to use chopsticks, right?"
She showed a troubled expression. "Oh dear, it seems I still have to go down and get a knife and fork."
As she spoke, she got up from in front of Bianka and quickly walked out of the room.
And in the room, Bianka's lowered eyes lifted for the first time in three days, and she looked numbly at the place where Cecilia had just been sitting.
After a while, Bianka realized that Cecilia had left. Only then did she lower her head and look at the dishes that had been arranged one by one in front of her.
The dishes didn't actually look that good. It was hard to imagine that the dishes made by Cecilia would have some burnt marks, but the desserts looked very good.
Bianka's stomach growled, but she still naturally looked away.
The bitterness in her mouth made her have no desire to open her mouth. She just looked at the frosted French window with eyes that had been in the dark for a long time.
A breeze formed by the city's wind generator blew in through the crack of the window, gently blowing the bangs on her forehead, revealing the numb and haggard face.
There were no tears on that face, only a strong sense of death, like a person who had given up everything and was waiting for the judgment to come.
She was thinking... why am I still alive?
Why am I alive?
...
The door was pushed open again.
Cecilia, who had two sets of knives and forks in her hands, saw Bianka who had raised her head, and a hint of surprise appeared in her eyes. But when she saw the untouched food on the floor, she couldn't help but feel a little helpless.
"I brought the knife and fork," Cecilia sat down in front of Bianka again and placed a set of knife and fork in front of her.
Bianka remained motionless, her eyes just staring blankly out the window. It was as if she had just changed her posture.
Cecilia was silent for a moment, then pushed a bowl of porridge over. When she spoke again, there was a hint of pleading in her words.
"Eat a little..."
Bianka finally came to her senses. She turned to look at Cecilia, then lowered her head as if she had been electrocuted, not daring to look at her.
"I'm sorry..." she bit her lip lightly and said in a low voice. "I... it was my fault..."
"It wasn't your fault," Cecilia raised the spoon in her hand and gently pressed the spoon full of porridge to Bianka's lips. "We should be the ones to apologize to you..."
"Sorry for dragging you into this mess."