It’s not out until 6/19, but the sample should be soon, SO

V10 LIVETHREAD. I’ll start tweeting here when the sample releases, and bc it’s a new release, I’m gonna do something I don’t normally do: tag it.

#SarahVSJR10

Will I come out unscathed? No, proabably, but that’s fine.
THEY SURE DID RELEASE THE PREVIEW TODAY

I will not be starting for a couple hours because, alas, I am actually on the clock at work, but please mute #SarahVSJR10 if you haven't already if you want to avoid spoilers!
#SarahVSJR10

OH NO IT REALLY IS RICHARD’S POV OF MEETING SEIGI
“When did i become so afraid of reaching out to others?” Yamete
#SarahVSJR10

I WILL REMEMBER THIS TAG I SWEAR TO GOD

The last line of Richard’s pov is

How happy must the person be who can become the ‘place to return to’ for someone with a heart like a living gem.

Is he...talking about seigi? He also views seigi as a lIVING GEM?
#SarahVSJR10

OH WOW THE blog entry is really short

October 8

I won’t be able to update for a while. I’m with people I can trust, so don’t worry. I’ll be off now

Iggy.
#SarahVSJR10

And then it goes straight into ‘day 1.’

....and stuff about octavia, it looks like....

Idk if I’m ready for this
#SarahVSJR10

Ohh my god that just. Really comes from you from paragraph one, huh

Octavia was caught in an avalanche. She was in a vehicle, so she was Okay, but the heat eventually stopped working, and her parents crowded around her to keep her warm

They were dead the next day
#SarahVSJR10

she was TEN YEARS OLD that’s horrifying!! That’s absolutely horrifying?!?!?
#SarahVSJR10

It was like this vicious cycle. She inherited wealth, got kinda tyrannical with it, but because everyone knew about the accident they couldn’t bring themselves to say anything. So she got worse, people heard about her disposition, and then pulled away from her.
#SarahVSJR10

Seigi starts crying and buries his face in jirou ;u;
#SarahVSJR10

Oh.

Octavia told Richard and Deborah that she hates allies of justice, saying “why do they just go off and die like that.” Rather than being thankful, she’s angry at her parents....

And.

Mm.

Thinks about how Seigi has almost thrown away his life for Richard

MM
#SarahVSJR10

“I never asked them to save my life, and I don’t get and don’t even WANT to understand why they left me all alone. It’s like they’re playing super hero. It doesn’t make me happy in the slightest.”

Super hero.........super hero......
#SarahVSJR10

Seigi thinks about her behavior, how anger comes from how hard it can be to say thank you to someone that has died for you, and the line “why would you burden me with a debt i could never repay” is HOO BOY
#SarahVSJR10

WAS NOT READY FOR THIS SPECIFIC COMPARISON

Seigi says he never would’ve understood this anger in his teens, but having loved so much it turned into anger (diamond) and having the same thing told to him (tanzanite) has him think he understands, even if only a little
#SarahVSJR10

Richard says when he met Octavia, she was compatible to a geyser.

Usually quiet, kind of spaced out.

But sometimes, she would explode, overflowing with anything from happiness to anger to sadness
#SarahVSJR10

It’s been hinted throughout part 2 and never really dwelled on but there really was a point in Seigi’s hotel stay where he just...has no memory

Richard compares Octavia to a “doll by the name of nihility,” and seigi actually remembers being called that as well
#SarahVSJR10

He used to joke to himself calling it “empty period,” but then stopped when richard said the above to him.

Yikes....I wonder how long that lasted....
#SarahVSJR10

I think he STILL doesn’t have full recollection of that period, but it is coming back to him in bits and pieces, apparently
#SarahVSJR10

Based on this, tanimoto and shimomura also knew, at least to some degree, what had gone on with seigi during that time.

Tanimoto helped with school, and Seigi says he was thankful Shimomura knew but otherwise didn’t pry too much.

I’d always wondered about that
#SarahVSJR10

Seigi also brings up how it probably wasn’t odd for Octavia to view Richard and Deborah as parental figures.

He continued to write letters to Octavia for at least a little while after the breakup, but didn’t have any details because he didn’t want to be followed.
#SarahVSJR10

After.... a lot of text, the idea seems to be that the stewards or WHATEVER YOU WANT TO CALL THEM is in a panicked rush to get all the fake jewels, and may be using octavia as a shield so the brothers can direct their anger at this Toward Her Instead

...i think lol
#SarahVSJR10

There is....a very long conversation about honor that i will have to probably revisit later, but they also discuss the inheritance in relation to it, and how not wanting to ‘sacrifice’ someone for it is exactly why they had to wait for someone like seigi to fix it
#SarahVSJR10

Oh, phone call from jeff

He has Confirmed that he is also coming to Sri Lanka. I was wondering if this would be a surprise or not
#SarahVSJR10

Jeffrey is....coughing. Richard asks if it’s a cold, and he’s like nah just the usual overwork

Sir.

Sir please rest i swear to GOD
#SarahVSJR10

No that’s adorable sTOP seigi asks into the phone like a New Yorker “hey you alright?” And jeffrey gives this super weak laugh...
#SarahVSJR10

IT STOPS MIDSENTENCE

Apparently, Henry is dead-set on going as well, though Jeffrey obviously doesn’t seem happy about it.

BOY OH BOY
#SarahVSJR10

He’s like, “guess we’re all gonna meet up, even tho it’s gonna happen anyway when dad dies. But the house is in a right state right now, so it’s probably better for him to get out.”

Things are so hard at home, and yet Jeffrey’s doing all this...
#SarahVSJR10

AND THAT IS WHERE THIS ENDS FOR NOW

9 DAYS UNTIL RELEASE...
#SarahVSJR10

I’m settling down to read but lemme just put this out there: i do not CARE what you saw on jp twitter, if you even so much as hint at spoilers i will die, so please do not
#SarahVSJR10
table of contents....lord
1) prologue
2) day 1
3) day 2
4) the days after
5) epilogue
#SarahVSJR10

fjdskal ooohfjdkslah RICHARD SOFTLY TELLING JEFFREY TO SLEEP.............
#SarahVSJR10
oh god richard’s calling henry now???
#SarahVSJR10

i’m laughing at seigi’s internal monologue being like

(reallly srs stuff about henry)

also he’s my friend’s session mate. when tf am i gonna tell richard about that???
#SarahVSJR10

“I want to act. Because if I don’t, nothing will change. And I want to change. I don’t want to just cradle my head doing nothing anymore. So, this time, I’ll act.”

HENRYYYYYY
#SarahVSJR10

huh. change of flight plans...octavia’s now going to sri lanka directly instead of taking her time like she was originally going to
#SarahVSJR10

oh god the last thing i wanted was confirmation jeffrey feels like he doesn’t deserve richard’s kindness bUT HERE WE ARE!! HERE WE FUCKING ARE!!!
#SarahVSJR10

THE IDEA THAT it is *less awful* for richard to play up the annoyance than it would be for richard to (genuinely) say he’s never really hated jeffrey for what he did, and for jeffrey to internalize things and pretend it never happened, all alone,

wHY
#SarahVSJR10

wow damn day 1 was only 40-odd pages

on to day 2
#SarahVSJR10

aside 1: plantations and colonialism

this sure is. talking about plantations and colonialism.
#SarahVSJR10

I’M CRYING AT THE IMAGE OF JEFFREY SLEEPING ON THIS TRAIN

white mask, black eye mask, earplugs blanket, slippers, and a damn knit cap
#SarahVSJR10

WE REALLY TALKIN ABOUT THE EAST INDIA COMPANY NOW, HUH
#SarahVSJR10

they get to the resort and it’s egregiously british in taste, and seigi talks to himself like, what kinda game were these people playing here?

and then says “i don’t have to be vince to know this kind of game exists” SEIGI P L E A S E
#SarahVSJR10

damn octavia really just. booked the whole hotel for at least four days
#SarahVSJR10

VINCE! HELLO! HI!

EXPLAIN
#SarahVSJR10

o...kay?

so i guess she’s getting them to go on a search of sorts. there are two paths: the road of jewelry, and the road of jp lit.

seigi and richard cannot go on them together. they have to solve? puzzles? i guess, as they do this

WHAT ARE YOU DOING, OCTAVIA
#SarahVSJR10

>vince and jeff talk
>I EXPLODE
#SarahVSJR10

so seigi took the jewel path and in the first room there’s like. a fancy dinner set up. there’s a gem on one of the plates and two cards under the silverware

the two cards are his multiple choice answers, based on the gem he’s given.
#SarahVSJR10

his first stone is an obsidian, so of the two cards he picks the one with the native american, since the other name for obsidian is “apache tears”, and that gives him a new card key for another hotel room
#SarahVSJR10

oh my god the next puzzle is to arrange four gems top to bottom, and seigi figures it’s based on their location from crust to mantel re: where you can find them

coral
emerald
peridot
diamond

for the curious lmao
#SarahVSJR10

there’s a lot more of these but like. damn seigi you got some knowledge in there now huh
#SarahVSJR10

he gets to a room with the puzzle “what is my name” and a single stone.

either lapis lazuli or turquoise are the two choices

but something nags at him. is this really one of these two?

he looks around the room and finds another card: “something else”
#SarahVSJR10

i looked at the table of contents again and day 2 is not quite half the whole book

help
#SarahVSJR10

vince why are you wearing a zebra-print hoodie i’m crying
#SarahVSJR10

seigi got all the puzzles correct. good boy. incredible child. i love you

now what jklfdha
#SarahVSJR10

oh shit, she’s here. i didn’t actually think we’d get to physically meet octavia this early.

it’s just her and seigi for now...
#SarahVSJR10

she immediately asks seigi what his ‘happy ending’ is, so this conversation is sure gonna be interesting.
#SarahVSJR10

she eventually elaborates, telling seigi she knows from video and image and vince’s stories that seigi likes richard, that richard is important to him but where does he want that “like” to lead to...

HEY. WHAT.
#SarahVSJR10

i don’t want to CONTINUE i am STRESSED what the FUCK I WAS EXPECTING. IDK. BUT NOT THIS. NOT UNTIL I HIT HALFWAY THROUGH, AT LEAST
#SarahVSJR10

seigi says he wants to be richard’s friend. octavia wonders if that ‘happy ending’ would be impossible if richard married or got closer to someone else and seigi says no, probably not, friends aren’t a ONE AND ONLY kinda deal
#SarahVSJR10

and after a bit she says “then maybe you’re not th right choice,” and then goes on to say she wants a happy ending for both richard and deborah

I AM. IDK MAN I’M JUST. HERE I GUESS.
#SarahVSJR10

o-oh??? oh is. is seigi kinda (in)famous in high society??

apparently there have definitely been Rumors about the whole diamond yeeting incident???
#SarahVSJR10

octavia says she wants to ‘put an end to everything’ like seigi did at the manor

so i think she probably wants happy ends for richard and deborah *whether or not that means they get back together*, and tho seigi may have been it for richard she isn’t so sure rn
#SarahVSJR10

“Is what I did back then you’re idea of a happy ending?”
“It is. You should understand that better than anyone.”
“...I don’t understand. What do you mean?”
“Of course you do. You were ready to die, which is why you were able to throw a 300m pound diamond to protect
#SarahVSJR10

the person important to you. That, to me, is the definition of a perfect happy ending.”

oh god i think. she mentioned the death thing before but i think. she’s. very traumatized about her own ‘happy ending’..
#SarahVSJR10

ohhhh my god is she going to KILL HERSELF when this is all over???
#SarahVSJR10

oh my god seigi haaaaates that something that he did - something that was ultimately meaningless and foolish - has come back in this way
#SarahVSJR10

whew seigi was definitely half a step away from suicidal ideation just now...
#SarahVSJR10

he was ready to jump out the window to like, prove a point, but the way it was framed...
#SarahVSJR10

oh do. do vince and octavia play games together??? christ

he’s very good at handling her, either way. seigi mentions he speaks almost like he’s younger than her
#SarahVSJR10

fjdksh seigi gets kicked out of the room, but not two seconds later vince comes out like

hey nakata go play game with her

(also WHERE IS RICHARD. SIR. WHERE.)
#SarahVSJR10

i made the UGLIEST NOISE

DID VINCE TEACH OCTAVIA JAPANESE SLANG

SHE JUST SAID 草
#SarahVSJR10

seigi, obviously, has no idea what this means, or why it means what it means, and wonders if richard would know

please, god, i want that conversation so bad. i want that conversation SO BAD
#SarahVSJR10

vince and seigi are Being Dumb, and i love them.

it’s mostly vince just taking the piss outta seigi because seigi can’t play to save his (virtual) life
#SarahVSJR10

my eyes shifted ahead and i can’t wait to moan and groan as i read thru this scene where seigi makes a fool out of himself because he doesn’t understand net slang
#SarahVSJR10

VINCE IS LIKE ‘YOU AREN’T SUPPOSED TO USE THAT WORD ABOUT YOURSELF’ AND SEIGI JUST DOESN’T. GET IT.

AND VINCE IS TRYING SO HARD NOT TO LAUGH HOLY CHRIST
#SarahVSJR10

ooh, seigi hits on something i’d kinda wondered

vince may have been teaching octavia japanese
#SarahVSJR10

h.huh. hmm.

seigi thinks there must be someone else involved here who’s getting vincent to do all of this. why would he, otherwise? why would he go along with octavia while quietly helping out seigi (and richard) all the while?
#SarahVSJR10

I GOT A NAME! i was wondering if one of the amorphous butlers would get a name

Laurent....i think is the spelling. supervisor for the stewards/butlers/whathaveyous
#SarahVSJR10

It was apparently through him that octavia found out everything she knew, from deborah’s divorce to everything else going on with richard and seigi
#SarahVSJR10

RICHARDDDDDDDD

seigi was kicked out again, and runs into richard. apparently he was made to decipher some old jp (that Really Illegible Cursive Style). seigi figures that was done to keep him away. octavia wanted to talk to seigi, but didn’t want to see richard.
#SarahVSJR10

oh motherfuck i want to see what henry looks like so bad. the way seigi describes him...a black felt coat with a grey scarf, black suit with black shoes, a cane with a silver rabbit topper, and light blond hair that mixes really nicely with his natural grey
#SarahVSJR10

he has brought a (personal?) butler with him, which fills me with more fear than it probably has any right to tbh!
#SarahVSJR10

HENRY’S ALSO SPEAKING JAPANESE WHICH IS...

I FEEL THINGS ABOUT HENRY CLAREMONT
#SarahVSJR10

FDJKA MY FEARS ARE FOUNDED, LAURENT IS THE BUTLER THAT CAME WITH HENRY
#SarahVSJR10

HMM

so Caroline Manorland was a hidden trustee (in the same way that garret or whatever his name was was the trustee for the will) for Leah alone in the case that something happened, and holds a copy of leah’s illicit records.

which is what the stewards want
#SarahVSJR10

they’re basically going along with octavia’s “plans” to try and get that copy from her
#SarahVSJR10

laurent turns to henry and says that HE is the cause of all this

you better fucking explain yourself because i Will hurt you. i ABSOLUTELY will bury you.
#SarahVSJR10

‘a flame burned in richard’s eyes. if jeffrey were here, i’m not sure laurent would have remained uninjured.’

WOW
#SarahVSJR10

OH??? HENRY WAS ENGAGED????

she broke it off via a messenger i guess? saying that she didn’t think they’d be able to make a happy family together. but they barely knew each other besides

I FEEL LIKE I SHOULDN’T BE SO SURPRISED, AND YET
#SarahVSJR10

REMEMBER WHEN SENSEI TWEETED ABOUT HOW HARU SHOULDN’T TEACH HENRY WEIRD WORDS

HE FAILED

HE FAILED SO MISERABLY

HENRY IS CURSING THE FUCK OUT OF LAURENT IN JAPANESE
#SarahVSJR10

THIS IS ACTUALLY INCREDIBLE PLEASE RUIN HIS DAY HENRY
#SarahVSJR10

NO SHUT UP THIS GOT EVEN FUNNIER

richard thought he was going to repeat it in english and almost?? covered seigi’s ears before coming to his senses

they are so fucking panicked right now, christ
#SarahVSJR10

points at jeff

something. something is about to happen here. i am terrified and don’t like it but unfortunately i have to read.

smol break first oh my god
#SarahVSJR10

henry....believes that jeffrey was forced to “choose” once again

oh god
#SarahVSJR10

so, as henry puts it,

one of the stewards got jeffrey’s personal secretary to get info

jeffrey felt responsible, and so made a deal with the stewards in the hopes that no harm would come to jeffrey or richard

and offered himself instead
#SarahVSJR10

henry said he read every single email

all three thousand of them

“it wasn’t that many,” he adds.
#SarahVSJR10

ohhh my god jeffrey quite literally offered himself

he promised to get married and produce a proper heir if they promised not to hound richard and henry about doing so as well
#SarahVSJR10

ohhhh my god the way laurent phrases this....

how godfrey was so kind to them, he had two sons and ‘even raised a spare’

i will RIOT
#SarahVSJR10

they’re only even worried about ~having an heir~ to secure future employment!

let the family die just to spite them tbh
#SarahVSJR10

oh...my god? oh my god?

henry called jeff out on his whole “i have a girlfriend!” thing because he can’t keep the location straight

and henry says “I met the man in new york. Why not bring Joachim home? I really like him. I invited him to dinner.”
#SarahVSJR10

jeffrey fucking falls apart, and seigi thinks to himself.

i don’t know who ‘joachim’ is, but i know that’s a guy’s name.

i’m glad we made it in time before jeffrey had to “find happiness” with some random woman

YOO UM

HEY

IS JEFFREY GAY?
#SarahVSJR10

FUCK WAIT OH MY GOD

WHEN SEIGI MIMICS THE NEW YORK ACCENT AT THE BEGINNING

JEFFREY’S VOICE GETS REALLY SOFT FOR A BIT

FUCK! OH MY G O D
#SarahVSJR10

laurent like “i Do Not Give A Shit what you do in your free time, so why not make a damn baby first” and oh boy henry Pissed
#SarahVSJR10

IM STILL! THINKING! ABOUT JEFFREY! F U C K????
#SarahVSJR10

vince and henry finally meet

“i’ve got a varied work history. my hobby is organ transplant.”

“i’ve heard of you. you were quite the help to jeffrey and richard in hong kong.”

“...you’ve gotten a lot better than i last heard.”

“i’m happy to hear you say that.”
#SarahVSJR10

everyone in this story is actually chaotic
#SarahVSJR10

henry and octavia, also meet

“you...”
“yes.”
“there’s so much I wanted to say...but i’m so angry i’ve forgotten.”
“then do you mind if i stay here until you remember.”
“you’re detestable.”
“as I’m often told.”

OH MY G OD HENRY
#SarahVSJR10

you cannot tell me they aren’t playing undertale

this description sounds way too much like the sans fight i’m losing it????

and henry actually does a pretty good job....
#SarahVSJR10

oh my god okay 1) henry describes himself with the same “hyper hikikomori” phrase jeffrey used to describe octavia at one point, 2) henry mentioned all he could do was eat, sleep, and game and 3) jeffrey, weakly “you played games??”
#SarahVSJR10

bit by bit, the whole group is allowed to play games with octavia in turn

until, after almost a week of this, richard is finally allowed in
#SarahVSJR10

richard talks about about amber and electrons, and mentions he was glad to see octavia was still alive after seeing her video
#SarahVSJR10

then it’s jeffrey’s turn, and he says that everything nasty octavia said about him was right, but he’s thankful she never tried to hurt his boyfriend, and didn’t reveal his secret to his family

even though he ended up totally outed anyway
#SarahVSJR10

I had a Whole Moment at the phrase “my boyfriend”

whew. wow. incredible.
#SarahVSJR10

HENRY JUST ASKED OCTAVIA IF SHE WOULD BECOME HIS DAUGHTER?????
#SarahVSJR10

“Even though I’m going to die?”
“As I said, everyone dies at one point or another. And I almost chose that point for myself. But I came back. And now, I know it was so I could meet you.”

ohhhhh my ggggoOOOOODDDD
#SarahVSJR10

they get booted out, bc of course they do, and henry clarifies

since it’s be difficult for him to deal with alone, she’d be welcomed into the family first as their mother’s adoptive daughter—in other words their sibling—on paper. but in reality he’d want to treat
#SarahVSJR10

her as his daughter, and work toward making that more of a permanent thing once he gets married himself.
#SarahVSJR10

oh wow, this sure is outta nowhere

a third person perspective on octavia and vince....
#SarahVSJR10

huh...octavia says she had no idea why vince is with him. she gave him the money (tho she has no idea what he used it for), so why is he still here?
#SarahVSJR10

oh no...oh no this is actually really sweet....

she wants him to leave because she’s afraid that the people around her get hurt

he refuses to leave because he wants to become someone’s hero, too
#SarahVSJR10

vince is like “it’s dangerous to be with you? heroines in otome games don’t even say that kind of thing lately.”

when octavia says she likes shooters, not VNs, he replies “they’re pretty interesting, you know. marian got into them too...i’m sure you’ll get into
#SarahVSJR10

other genre’s eventually, so i’ll be patient and wait.”

christ they’re so awkward but this is endlessly sweet
#SarahVSJR10

this is a conversation i wasn’t expecting here, now, in this way

he says that he went along with octavia because he thought their goals aligned. if richard was suffering alone, he wanted to help him

but, he says, they both know that isn’t the case anymore
#SarahVSJR10

...HM.

before octavia thought of this ‘revenge’ plan, she had come up with another one.

after deborah’s divorce, octavia sent vince to tell her that she would fully pay for a second wedding if she didn’t have enough

deborah fully turned her down
#SarahVSJR10

the implication seems to be that the money was for Her And Richard

octavia thinks she turned the money down because her money must be ‘unlucky’, but vince is like no. no, it’s because she doesn’t want to marry richard anymore. you get that too, don’t you?
#SarahVSJR10

“But, seriously...I’m getting worried about home. My wife is alone. I mean, she’s a lot more reliable than I am, so I’m sure she’ll be fine.”
“Are you leaving?” Her voice trembles, but Vincent shakes his head.
“No. Not until I’m really, really sure you’re okay.”
#SarahVSJR10

“And the reason I have a home... the reason I was able to PROTECT my home is because of you. I could never thank you enough. I have my happy ending, no matter what happens.”

oh my god, oh my god, vincent, oh my g o d
#SarahVSJR10

I’M AT THE END OF DAY 2 AND

1) this conversation

“Vince.”
“Hm?”
“...Thank you. I love you (daisuki).”
“Ah, you see, I’m a married man.”
“Idiot.”
“Haha.”
#SarahVSJR10

2) That evening, Vincent delivers a message. Octavia has decided to leave. In regards to Henry’s offer, she’s put her answer on hold.

Day 2 end.
#SarahVSJR10

HOOOOO BOY NEXT CHAPTER OPENS ON HENRY BEING CALLED EARL.....

godfrey passed away the day after they returned from sri lanka
#SarahVSJR10

Seigi was actually present for the funeral service and burial...he said in all there was only about 20 people present.
#SarahVSJR10

when people came to the manor to say their regards some people. definitely showed interest in seigi

octavia was not wrong when she said there were rumors about him.
#SarahVSJR10

okay but i’ve got about 100 pages left WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN FOR THE REST OF THE NOVEL???
#SarahVSJR10

henry apparently wanted seigi to be with him when he got his seal ring, which in addition to henry’s initials and the lion crest for their family, has a lotus flower with a white sapphire engraved on the inside
#SarahVSJR10

joachim has a physical description and some hella fashion sense, so he better get fanart at some point

(darkish skin, long ash-grey hair, orange lip gloss, KNEE-HIGH PIN-HEEL BOOTS are some of the stand outs here)
#SarahVSJR10

apparently whe they met at the airport jeffrey looked like death warmed over when he introduced joachim to seigi jfkdlah
#SarahVSJR10

OH, he’s mixed race (white and african american, specifically)! they had the aforementioned dinner before seigi met him, apparently.
#SarahVSJR10

after getting to know each other, they made a promise to “never make each other happy” and became lovers by contract

no i don’t know what this means, no seigi doesn’t either, but he figures it’s similar to a tanuki vs a kitsune

whatever that means
#SarahVSJR10

he says they both seem pretty good at keeping their cards close...

idk this all feels very on brand for jeffrey, so i’ll take it
#SarahVSJR10

joachim mentions something about the promise almost breaking, so he’s glad it’s come to this

ie, i think they’re like. dating but without the weird pretense now??

jeffrey, to the side: chim, please, you don’t have to tell him all that
#SarahVSJR10

i’m just gonna take this to mean they were fwb that fell in love

that’s a whole story on its own
#SarahVSJR10

this is all obviously stressing jeffrey the FUCK out, and seigi’s relieved at how naturally joachim looks after jeffrey, since jeffrey’s always trying to look after everyone else
#SarahVSJR10

seigi is...going somewhere, idk yet

he says bye to joachim, and that he looks forward to seeing him again

“me too. if i get tired of jeffy, let me call you.”
“oh stop it. i’ll never get a call again in that case.”
“oh my.”

oh my god they’re adorable???
#SarahVSJR10

sEIGI

‘when [joachim] blows me a kiss from his glittering lips, i almost feel like i’ve gotten something really nice, and i get all warm inside. incidentally, it’s interesting how the notion of gender just does’t really matter much to me anymore.’

c h r i s t
#SarahVSJR10

so, octavia gives her amber broach to seigi, asking him to hold onto it.

she brings up the story of jurata and kastytis in connnection to the amber, saying that for her it represents the last shining fragment of a beautiful memory.
#SarahVSJR10

it used to be everything to her, but looking at it ow makes her too sad, so she asks that seigi keeps it next to his white sapphire.

the sapphire is like a crystallization of everyone around richard and seigi’s feelings, so she thinks her amber won’t be lonely
#SarahVSJR10

seigi’s like, you should give it to henry, bc who knows where i’ll be???

and honestly it all falls apart jfkdlah
#SarahVSJR10

is he....meeting with deborah?

vince handed seigi a memo with a mail address, saying the owner was waiting for him to contact them....

and he sits next to a woman with a stroller and two kids..........
#SarahVSJR10

oh god he is, this is deborah

i, too, am needlessly nervous
#SarahVSJR10

i can’t really explain seeing seigi say 俺の実の親父と本当の親父 and what that does to me

実 and 本当 are both words for “real” or “true”, but they carry slightly different nuances.
#SarahVSJR10

seigi tells roughly everything that happened the past few years and deborah says she’s glad. he sounds like he’s doing well for himself, and almost like a different person
#SarahVSJR10

her divorce was because their families fought. her uncle got drunk and told her husband “if she hadn’t married you, she’d be nobility!” which led to a whole Thing.

she’s quick to act once she decides something, and when things didn’t get better, she chose divorce
#SarahVSJR10

let it be know this conversation comes about because seigi asks her, before he can stop himself, about getting back together with richard
#SarahVSJR10

seigi asks why she doesn’t really want to get back with richard

and she says the reason is the timing

specifically, richard and seigi’s timing.

that she and richard are both the kind of people that are swayed when they’re told by someone that they like them
#SarahVSJR10

her way of phrasing this is...interesting

she clarifies she doesn’t mean romantically, but just for relationships in general. that since seigi is much younger, that also means he has more he can learn. she doesn’t want to rob a teacher of his student
#SarahVSJR10

“don’t misunderstand me. even without you there, my decision would have remained the same. but because you ARE there, i can make this decision more optimistically.”

interesting.

she also jokes about being a better german teacher than richard, so that’s fun
#SarahVSJR10

seigi wandered around the museum he met deborah at for a bit and richard came and found him

deborah sent him a message saying they met
#SarahVSJR10

BITES MY HAND OFF

seigi sheds a single tear and asks if he can really treasure richard. he wants to, and he’s tried to, but what if he’s just done a good job of fooling himself into thinking he’s done things for richard when he’s just acting for his own greed
#SarahVSJR10

SEIGI

he keeps thinking of what ifs and that happiness for richard might mean rekindling what he had with deborah. what if the timing was different? what if he never saved richard?

does he want to stay by richard’s side so much that he could throw all that away?
#SarahVSJR10

richard has two ways of dealing with seigi’s worries

one with words

and one without words

the latter would be quicker, he says, but seigi chooses the former becuase he feels calm listening to richard’s voice

and i

cannot help but wonder

what the other is
#SarahVSJR10

seigi says recently, he feels as though richard is beautiful even when he closes his eyes. that he always will be, no matter how much time passes.

and after some conversation, richard says that it’s be tasteless to consider seigi’s words just a ‘compliment’ anymore
#SarahVSJR10

he clarifies that he just IS beautiful to seigi’s eyes, in the same way seigi just IS precious (尊い) to him. it’s a state.
#SarahVSJR10

“Seigi, do you understand? You are a part of me, just as I am a part of you.”

A H
#SarahVSJR10

You are a part of me.

Richard repeats himself. The words echo deep in my ears. Am I sitting? Standing? Am I on earth? In space? Where am I? What am I? I...

Did he just say I’m a part of him?
#SarahVSJR10

richard then puts a hand on seigi’s cheek, wiping away the tears, and after lifting his chin continues speaking.

richard says that not only did he not mind seigi’s compliments that even looking in a mirror became less painful for him as a result
#SarahVSJR10

seigi: what was the short course?
richard: A Slap
seigi: i figured...

fuck
#SarahVSJR10

SO

WHEN HENRY GOT HIS SIGNET RING EARLIER

JEFFREY AND RICHARD KISSED HIS RING

BECAUSE NOBILITY

AND SEIGI DECIDED TO

REPEAT THAT ACTION

JUST NOW

HE KISSED RICHARD’S HAND
#SarahVSJR10

wait wait jfkdlsah fwait WAIT AGIVE ME AS IECOND
#SarahVSJR10

“Sorry, but after seeing that earlier I wanted to do it myself.”
“That sounded like words of farewell.”
“Don’t joke about that. I meant that in a ‘from now on’ sense.”
“I suppose I understand that, in a sense.”
“Ahh, I’d be so happy if I could stay by your side.”
#SarahVSJR10

“Do you plan to leave me? That’s impossible. I’ll chase after you”
“That’s my job. I know no fear between Narita and London—“
After that.
What was I going to say?
I don’t remember. But I just couldn’t speak anymore.
Because Richard’s lips had kissed something.
#SarahVSJR10

Something. It’s not hard to guess.
The finger on my hand.
Those two bits of flesh sat at the base of my pinky.
After a while passes, I groan, and Riachrd looks accomplished.
#SarahVSJR10

they were on their way to the museum cafe when this happened, and richard’s like “oh they have a limited rainbow cake rn”

SENSEI YOU AIN’T SLICK
#SarahVSJR10

fjdklh SEIGI YOU’RE HONESTLY INCREDIBLY AT THIS POINT

he’s like, why did he do that? he’d say he was just returning the favor, but why? oh, well, of course, just, you know, so we can get along in the future.

and then he starts thinking about jiro to escape reality
#SarahVSJR10

FJDKSALH HE’S NOT DOING A VERY GOOD JOB.

he’s like. is jirou eating enough? is he whining out of loneliness? what was that kiss about? ah, crap.

but then SUDDENLY?? MAYA CALLS???
#SarahVSJR10

!!! PARTY IN KANDY??!?!??!
#SarahVSJR10

omg..gargantua got totally restructured after all the sexual harassment charges, and maya won a competition to be their chief designer....
#SarahVSJR10

joachim calls seigi iggy........shut up..............that’s so cute.......
#SarahVSJR10

FUCKING EVERYONE IS HERE, HUH. marian.....
#SarahVSJR10

omg catherine is here as well...

this party happened mostly because maya wanted someone to celebrate her (lmao) and richard turned it into a Whole Thing since everything had calmed down
#SarahVSJR10

seigi runs into vince and richard talking, about anything and everything, and he goes back inside to get some RMT for them, but when he comes back it’s just richard.

i’m glad, tho, that they can just. talk normally now
#SarahVSJR10

it’s complicated but seigi hopes that if richard and vince can talk things out, then maybe it’ll eventually help with richard and jeffrey, too
#SarahVSJR10

lmao the look into the claremont records and the tax shit eventually ended with a “we’ll overlook it This Time”
#SarahVSJR10

via vince, octavia gave seigi a few things.

the first is the copy of leah’s Records. he decides to give it to richard to hold on, with the comment of it probably going back to where it belongs

and richard brings up that’s what leah used to say

hmm
#SarahVSJR10

OH..SHE HANDED OVER THE AMBER AFTER ALL. it is in seigi’s care now.
#SarahVSJR10

OH

OH HARU’S COMING

HARU’S COMING AND HENRY’S HERE
#SarahVSJR10

HARU HECKIN ATTACKS HIM WITH A HUG THAT’S ADORABLE
#SarahVSJR10

seigi and henry talked earlier and decided they’d spill the truth to haru when he arrives and henry sounds on the verge of tears as he apologizes for lying, saying he was scared of being hated
#SarahVSJR10

haru’s like, how could i ever hate you?

and i love him
#SarahVSJR10

JFKDSLAH NO FUCK OFF HARU NEVERMIND

HE RUNS BACK TO SEIGI LIKE

PLEASE TRANSLATE FOR ME, I UNDERSTAND THE LAST BIT BUT WHAT IS ‘EARL’
#SarahVSJR10

the party is over but a lot of people are staying over.

including maya, who starts talking about the sister she Had. her name was masago
#SarahVSJR10

they were both aiming to work together. maya worked towards becoming a designer to spend more time with her.

and then she died in an accident
#SarahVSJR10

...she was also saul’s wife
#SarahVSJR10

“nakata-han, do you know why i don’t call you seigi-han?”
“...is it the whole ‘i’ll get attached if you call me by my first name’ rule?”
“if you mean ‘richard wil get pissed,’ you are absolutely correct.”

LMAO GOD I LOVE MAYA
#SarahVSJR10

maya is trying to SAY SOMETHING to seigi that of course he doesn’t get (and neither do i, it’s 1:30am)

and then richard shows up, because of course he does
#SarahVSJR10

NAKATA SEIGI (said in the same cadence massu says ONO KENSHO)((if you get that, thanks))

“About what you were saying before. I don’t really mind if anyone calls me by my name. No matter what anyone says, I doubt I’ll get ‘attached’ to anyone but Richard.”

S I R
#SarahVSJR10

“I know I said ‘attached’ just now, but that was just a figure of speech.”
“I know.”
“Just a figure of speech, really.”
“And as I said, I know.”
“To put it simply, I meant that I don’t think I could ever ‘like’ anyone the way I like you.”

FUCKING SWERVE???
#SarahVSJR10

Richard doesn’t look away. He just laughs, almost with exasperation as he looks at my face. I could be biased, but he looks kind of relieved, too

If he is, that’d make me happy.

“And again, I’ve known that for quite a while now.”

am i tweeting from the afterlife?
#SarahVSJR10

they’re discussing seigi’s future a bit.

and richard says he wants to prioritize seigi’s decision, but there’s also something he wants seigi to understand

no matter which path he chooses, he wants seigi to make time for him
#SarahVSJR10

seigi replies saying that won’t be a problem as long as he lives, because he feels awful when richard’s not there, so he’ll come see him

and compares it to BREATHING OXYGEN. AND DRINKING WATER
#SarahVSJR10

seigi almost says he has two favors to ask richard, but then lowers it to one

he decides not to ask the other, thinking there’s need to more of an accumulation of Something before he can ask that one

screams
#SarahVSJR10

he asks

“will you become the person i like?”

NAKATA SEIGI
#SarahVSJR10

richard like, walks him through it

and his conclusion is

“but that’s what we are now. what changes?”
#SarahVSJR10

RICHARD IS ASKING SEIGI TO SAY THE OTHER ONE

SAY THE OTHER FAVOR, SEIGI
#SarahVSJR10

no SEIGI SAYS HE DOESN’T FEEL NOW IS THE RIGHT TIME....

he’s glad richard gives up so easily and says that in truth, he does want more, but he wants to wait until he can grow more as a jeweler
#SarahVSJR10

okay but

he does say

he hopes the ‘place he belongs/returns to’ can be richard

he says that

out loud

THANK YOU
#SarahVSJR10

I’M NOT CRYING YOU’RE CRYING

richard goes silent, so seigi asks what’s wrong, and richard says “nothing....no, maybe something...what is that”

and says there’s a shooting star.

they look out for a bit, but then seigi has this thought process to himself
#SarahVSJR10

if richard says there was a shooting star, there must be. even if his voice was trembling. i don’t want to see richard’s face if there’s something he doesn’t want me to see. i have to look for shooting stars. i have to look up. i feel like i could cry.
#SarahVSJR10

FJDKSASLH SEIGI GOES TO GET UP BECAUSE HE’S GOTTA WAKE UP EARLY TO MAKE EVERYONE’S BREAKFAST

BUT RICHARD PULLS HIM BACK DOWN ONTO THE CHAIR
#SarahVSJR10

SEIGI LIKE ‘DAMN, WHY DOES RICHARD JUST FEEL SO BEAUTIFUL LATELY’

IT’S CAUSE UR GAY, BITCH
#SarahVSJR10

LAST LINES. OF THIS CHAPTER.

“Hey, so”
“Yes?”
“...Do you want to get another dog?
Jirou gives a little whine of discontent as Richard looks on, exasperated, before laughing like a child.
#SarahVSJR10

EPILOGUE TIME
#SarahVSJR10

..they’re in ginza

THEY’RE IN GINZA?
#SarahVSJR10

seigi’s waiting for richard - he even came half an hour early bc he figured richard would do the same - and when they do meet up, they go to shiseido!!
#SarahVSJR10

HE.......PASSED THE FGA......HE TOOK A GEMOLOGY EXAM?????
#SarahVSJR10

HELLO

HELLO??????

H E L L O????

SEIGI IS /TWENTY FIVE YEARS OLD/
#SarahVSJR10

they’re at etranger now, and saul is asking seigi what he wants to do

“i don’t think i can become a jeweler...but i don’t plan on becoming a government worker, either.”

HELLO????
#SarahVSJR10

he wants to become......richard’s private secretary

that is, actually, genuinely incredible

he let his dick push him to a third fucking option
#SarahVSJR10

he says he wants to support richard in any way he can. whether that be as a jeweler, or as a noble, or in any other capacity
#SarahVSJR10

okay no actually this is kind of incredible. he said going on his own as a jeweler is risky - RISKY - because in theory he should prioritize customers, but if richard was in trouble on the other side of the world?

he’d immediately buy a plane ticket
#SarahVSJR10

he hinted at two things just now

1) the last two years have been a perfect example of how whipped he is

2) a “certain musician” apparently has his music on a bunch of streaming platforms and offers no good excuse for seigi’s aforementioned behavior lmao
#SarahVSJR10

seigi’s like

this is my personal opinion, but whether it be spouse or child, if you prioritize your ‘personal treasures’ over your job, you have no business being in customer service

god
#SarahVSJR10

seigi is just like.

my job is richard.

that is the best for everyone involved and also makes me happy
#SarahVSJR10

saul’s like, what if people call you a parasite feeing off his wealth?

and seigi’s like, i do not care. there’s only one thing i care about

‘being by the person you care about most?’ saul asks

‘yes. ...it’s embarrassing to put it into words like that.’

seigi pls
#SarahVSJR10

RICHARD LMAO also god bless saul

“...nts.”
“What was that?”
“...I have no complaints.”
“That isn’t an answer. Is that a passive ‘yes’? If so, then for Nakata-san’s sake—“
“Yes. An aggressive yes.”
“There you have it, Nakata-san.”
#SarahVSJR10

fjdklsah seigi’s like, thank god i don’t have to think about who gets custody of the dogs now
#SarahVSJR10

he thinks to himself that he can’t say the most important bit but the dog custody thing is still important

so.

hmm. what’s the most important bit, seigi?
#SarahVSJR10

i think richard shuffles saul off the back room so they can talk, and after a bit richard asks how long this arrangement is meant to last for.

“let’s start with 10 years?”
“no, that’s far too long.”
“what? no, it’ll pass in the blink of an eye.”
#SarahVSJR10

“in that ‘blink of an eye’ you’ll be 35, and i’ll be staring 50 in the face. even so, you—“
“i want to be by your side”

richard’s like, what if i get married?

i’ll learn to be a babysitter?

i want to Hit You
#SarahVSJR10

Even I know he won’t do anything like that.
Taken all together, I haven’t asked him to make time for me, but to give me all his time.
But I don’t know how else to make him as happy as I can.

THESE TWO ARE........GOD
#SarahVSJR10

RICHARD’S LIKE, HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO EXPLAIN YOUR PRESENCE? TO OTHER PEOPLE?

and seigi’s like, saying i’m your secretary won’t work?

so richard says ‘my important partner’

and seigi...

okay oyabun! in or out of work, i’d be happy if i could become your partner
#SarahVSJR10

have you ever hated two people so thoroughly you want to punch through he sound barrier to smash their lips together
#SarahVSJR10

oh they plan to?? invite vince to etranger???
#SarahVSJR10

“i can’t wait to show him the low glass table and make him look annoyed” SEIGI
#SarahVSJR10

holy fUCK VINCE AND MARIAN HAD A KID
#SarahVSJR10

will have a kid????

either way THEY FAM FAM
#SarahVSJR10

VINCE is getting a ring to celebrate, and i think octavia and henry are helping pay for it in secret??? omg....
#SarahVSJR10

and v10 ends with a toast, made with royal milk tea, with the three of them in etranger celebrating that seigi passed the FGA

oh

my god

this thread will update when i have the LE and can read the special story that comes with it!
#SarahVSJR10

got the LE in! the extra story is only about 5 pages long.

the title is 色眼鏡, which can mean colored glasses, or bias (in the same way as the ‘through rose-colored glasses’ idiom works)
#SarahVSJR10

OH.....SEIGI HAS A LARGE AMETHYST

naruhodo, this is what the people were talking about when they said it was a callback to the v1 cover......
#SarahVSJR10

they’re in ginza, but they talk about nostalgia. so this is. is this after the epilogue?

but seigi says he feels more than just nostalgia. he also feels hope.

‘I feel the brightness of large prospects. Because I can imagine the large world that lies at the heart
#SarahVSJR10

of this room, and can imagine the houses of the customers that connect to this place. things I couldn’t do when i worked part time here.’

he also adds, this time out loud, he’s just happy because he loves seeing richard in ginza.
#SarahVSJR10

richard’s like, why are you saying something so obvious? lmao

seigi wonders if it’s annoying, but richard says no, and seigi thinks about how richard Looks calm, but there’s a feeling of “i am happy when you compliment me” coming through...

das cute
#SarahVSJR10

UWAHG HE HOLDS THE AMETHYST UP TO HIS EYE????

THIS REALLY IS A COVER CALLBACK
#SarahVSJR10

‘Beautiful things are beautiful. But the one who feels that beauty is me. That’s my special right.

Everyone looks at the world through their own eyes. Just like Emperor Nero was said to where emerald glasses, everyone looks at the world through their own gem.
#SarahVSJR10

They take it in, digest it, and make it a part of themselves.

Is beauty on the outside, or is it on the inside of those who view it? I don’t know. But I do know two things. I love beautiful things. And beauty is almost sacred. To me anyway.’

HUH.
#SarahVSJR10

ugh WEAR not where, my fingers be moving too quickly lmao
#SarahVSJR10

lmaooo richard is just like, i cannot believe a Qualified Professional is holding a gem like that

so yeah this is, after the epilogue methinks
#SarahVSJR10

You never change, he says.

There’s an incredible expanse in those words.

Like a warm ocean. Or a breeze on an open field. A large presence, telling me I’m okay just like this, that he’ll accept me, unchanging, even from now on.

GOD I HATE THEM
#SarahVSJR10

👀👀👀

so there’s a customer at the door, but it’s not someone that scheduled ahead of time. seigi wonders why they’ve come, who it could be - is it someone he knows? someone richard told that seigi would be returning?
#SarahVSJR10

and then he says that doesn’t really matter because either way, this will be Nakata Seigi’s First Customer here in etranger.......
#SarahVSJR10

richard mentions going to clean the back room and leaving it to seigi, then seigi explains he is no longer here as a part-timer, but as an Official Employer of etranger...or rather, of richard’s.
#SarahVSJR10

‘I do everything I can. So that our customers can enjoy a wonderful time here, and so that Richard can enjoy a richer time here, I manage to make use of every ability I’ve cultivated until now. And I want them to feel good. I also want them to buy a gem, of course.
#SarahVSJR10

I think I’d like the customers here to put on some gem-colored glasses, so to speak.’

IT’S CUTE THAT WE’VE COME FULL CIRCLE LIKE THIS???
#SarahVSJR10

he says he wants to try and make things sparkle for the customers, using the brilliance of the gems, the magic in richard’s words, and the warmth of the RMT he makes

he’s done that up until now, too, so now his main aim is to make the quality that much higher.
#SarahVSJR10

so he doesn’t want to richard’s knowledge and speaking skills, nor to the gems—

or, actually, since winning or losing isn’t the point, he wants to quietly support that brilliance

and then, the customer comes in. seigi greats them.

“welcome to etranger”

THE END!!
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