e this colour. Like a flag, isn''t it?" he replied softly.

"Like blood," she uttered, her expression void of emotion.

Andre didn''t respond to her remark.

"You haven''t given me the answer I beseech yet, Edith," he maintained that sincere smile, raising his gaze to meet her eyes as if nothing was amiss.

She saw her own face, devoid of any trace of a smile, reflected in the luminous and translucent ruby, mirrored once again in his crystalline blue eyes.

In an instant, the ardent and profound love of the past year surged within her heart. Countless words floated on the edge of her lips, but in the end, she could only muster a tremulous voice and utter a poignant question:

"Raphael... He''ll be alright, won''t he?"

The smile faded ever so slightly from Andre''s lips, his head gradually lowering, golden locks cascading down.

"You don''t want to answer?" She paused for a moment before asking again.

"Do we have to talk about him now?" he still spoke with a lowered head.

Edith pushed the ring back to its original position. "If you can''t give me a reassuring answer, Quenet, then I''m afraid I can''t give you one either."

It was only then that Andre raised his head, gazing at her with a mournful expression.

Just as Edith was about to pull away and leave, her skirt was tugged from behind. She turned back and saw Andre, both knees now on the ground, reaching out to hold her hand and offering the black box to her.

"At least keep this," his voice trembled, without looking at her, "an