Envy's voice was heavy, as if coming from deep within an empty chest…

"Look… this little thing is pulsing like I still have a reason to live. But no—it's just a remnant, a red blob of something I once called a soul."

She gripped the crystal tightly, blood and mucus dripping, as if it were still warm. The faint light from the window reflected off its surface— red like a freshly opened wound.

"Funny, isn't it? I envy humans because they can hurt… and heal. But I can only break apart, then come back together, never truly changing."

She stared into her own eyes in the crystal's reflection, a trembling reflection, almost like a cry.

"I hate them… I hate their laughter, their love, their weakness. But every time I see them embrace, something inside me trembles with it. Is that…longing?"

Envy lifted the crystal to her face, touching it as if touching the cheek of someone she never got to know. A small, barely audible sound escaped her lips—

“If this is truly my soul... why does it feel so lonely?”

The crystal shimmered briefly, as if in response. The last red drop fell onto the white sheet, and in that silence, Envy lowered her head— realizing that the envy she had held all this time... wasn’t for humans. But for herself, who had once been able to love.