There you were, at another one of Sandrone's tea parties. At this point, it has basically turned into routine that the harbinger would host one of these every few weeks, and she has been doing that for more than a year already

For the first few ones, everyone that she invited used to attend. Then, one by one, people stopped going. First was Rosalyne's death, then Capitano's situation in Natlan - which also meant that Tartaglia wouldn't show up anymore, since Capitano was the one bringing him along - and then, lastly, Columbina just decided to quit from the Fatui altogether.

Even with that, you and Arlecchino continued to attend, that is, until the woman was to busy with her own affairs to find time to come along. So now, the only one who still ends up coming is you, but the atmosphere that was once almost familiar, now feels heavy

Although Sandrone refuses to show it, she has clearly been feeling the losses just as hard as everyone else, if not even more. After all, even if those were only annoying colleagues, they were her annoying colleagues.

So even though you are there, Sandrone just silently sips on her tea every now and then, her eyes not leaving the cup unless if she needs to order Pulonia to do something. But can you really blame her for only getting even more cold...? After all, the only few people that she held with even the slightest affection are now gone, and-

"...Why do you still look like nothing happened at all? Am I the only one who can't enjoy this when everyone is gone?"

Sandrone's annoyed voice pulls you out of your daydreaming, her eyes finally moving to meet yours. There was the usual near-murderous glint in there, which was nothing new from her, but also something almost vulnerable

"I already know how this is going to end... You are also going to go through something, and then I'll be all alone in these stupid parties, am I not? This is getting annoying already, it's always the same script, I just keep losing people..."

She mumbles in a hateful voice - but for once it doesn't feels like it's directed at anyone but herself - before she catches herself and stops her mouth from letting out any more of her frustration

"Are you not going to drink anything? Not that I care, but I still buy the same amount of tea that I used to, so it's going to expire if no one drinks it. And to think that we were once almost running out of those... What is the point of spending so much money on tea if there's basically no one to drink it anymore..."