Editing Seirei Tsukai no Blade Dance:Volume6 Chapter7 (section)

===Part 3===

Claire was lying on the futon under a blanket.

Her body curled in a ball. She still had some leftover fever.

"Kamito..."

Softly murmuring his name for who knows how many times.

Claire tightly gripped one side of the blanket.

Absentmindedly, she cast a glance towards the little mirror by the bed side.

"What a tragic looking face..."

Her prided hair in a mess, her eyes were all red from crying all night.

"--Clearly from the day I lost my older sister, I promised myself never to cry again."

On the little table, there was breakfast covered with a sheet of cloth. Probably brought by Rinslet.

...But surely I have no appetite right now.

(Kamito, without you by my side, I...)

What was with this pain in her chest?

...Loneliness? No, even though that was partially the reason, there was more--

(I've done so many bad things to that guy in the past...)

Claire reflected over everything she had done till this date.

Whenever Kamito was intimate with other girls, she always felt enraged for no particular reason, unable to accept, wanting to whip him and burn him into charcoal--

(...I really am a fool. Clearly now, I can be a bit more forthright.)

Just as she sighed--

Something squirmed beneath the blanket.

Puzzled, she pulled away the blanket to find the hell cat spirit enveloped in gentle warm flames.

"Scarlet..."

Claire suddenly felt very touched.

Clearly Scarlet was also in a very weak state, but the cat still stayed by Claire's side to provide warmth.

"Meow..."

"...Y-Yes. As the master, I must have faith in that guy."

Encouraged by Scarlet, Claire rubbed her eyes.

Patting her face, she tied her hair with her favorite ribbons.

"...That's right. I can't give up. Kamito is surely still alive."

Her spirit renewed, she got up and started eating breakfast in large mouthfuls.

This was no proper manners for a lady hailing from a formerly prestigious family, but now was not the time to be concerned... She had to recover her energy as fast as possible to search for Kamito.

Just at this moment, a clatter of footsteps could be heard. The entrance to the tent was flipped open with a smack.

Rinslet arrived, clearly frantic.

"Claire, we seem to have found Kamito!"