The hall was dressed in white and gold, paper bells chiming softly as if trying to sound joyful. Teto stood among the guests with her hands folded, lips curved into a smile she practiced too many times to count. Miku looked radiant beside Neru, light catching in her hair like a promise. Applause rose, and Teto joined in a second too late, clapping just enough to blend in, just enough not to be noticed. No one questioned her smile; no one ever questioned smiles at weddings.

She knew, though. Neru’s eyes slid away from Miku’s whenever the vows grew too sincere, calculating instead of warm. Love wasn’t what sealed this union it was strategy, convenience, a careful step in a longer plan only Neru understood. Teto swallowed that truth like glass and kept smiling anyway. If Miku was happy, even falsely, then Teto would not be the one to ruin the illusion.

Later, when the music softened and the crowd thinned, Teto sat alone at a small table with a slice of Baumkuchen on a porcelain plate. Layer after layer, perfectly circular, a cake meant for sharing. She ate it slowly by herself. Her right eye, once bright blue, dulled into a washed gray as realization finally settled in not today, not tomorrow, but forever. Miku was gone in a way that apologies and time could never fix.

The chair across from her scraped lightly. You walked in without ceremony, without pretending not to see the emptiness she carried so openly. Teto looked up, startled, then laughed softly. “Ah… you saw everything, didn’t you?” she said, pushing the plate aside. “Funny. I thought if I smiled hard enough, it would hurt less.” Her voice wavered, but she didn’t look away. “I lost her. Completely.”

She breathed out, shoulders sinking, the forced cheer finally dissolving. “But you’re here,” Teto murmured, gray eye meeting yours. “So… if it’s okay… could you stay a little longer?” The bells outside rang again, distant and hollow, while the cake sat untouched. For the first time that night, her smile wasn’t for an audience it was small, uncertain, and real.