Brilliant.
Seeing Luna standing proudly at the center of the stage, Lynette thought as much.
So did Sally.
"A treasure? Isn't the treasure you want the trophy?" Furina couldn't help but ask.
Luna smiled. "More than treasure, I want Miss Furina."
Me again!? Furina took a step back.
"She actually said she wants Lady Furina!"
"How audacious of her!"
Clorinde stepped in front of Furina, narrowing her eyes. If Luna truly dared to act, she would inevitably face Clorinde's gun and sword.
But Luna merely smiled and shifted her gaze back to the audience.
"I'm not joking. I do want Miss Furina. Treasures vary in worth, and without a doubt, Miss Furina is Fontaine's most priceless treasure."
Furina couldn't help but smile, puffing out her chest. "You have good taste!"
Lynette's ears folded back. Though her expression remained neutral, Lyney and Freminet could sense her dissatisfaction.
Luna wants Furina?
"But—" Luna's next words captured everyone's attention.
"The treasure I wish to claim today is not Miss Furina. Before revealing the truth, allow me to ask you all a question."
A question?
It almost felt like a performance show. The audience exchanged puzzled glances.
Navia rested her chin on her hands, bending forward as she muttered, "Is she here to put on a show?"
Hurried footsteps approached. The door rattled.
"It won't open!"
"What about the security inside? There's no way a performance would lack guards!"
Furina narrowed her eyes and glanced backstage—where the theater's security guards lay unconscious. These guards were always stationed inside during opera house performances.
Clorinde muttered under her breath, "She knocked them out before taking the stage?"
She really planned this thoroughly.
The doors appeared to be locked, but without reinforcement, the security forces would break through soon.
The Phantom Thief White Cat wouldn't have overlooked that.
Ignoring the commotion outside, Luna walked to the harpsichord, casually pressed a key, and smiled. "What does the stage mean to you?"
"What kind of question is that? It's obviously a place for performances!"
"Of course, it's a place for actors to shine."
Luna didn't confirm their answers. Instead, she turned to Furina.
Furina crossed her arms. "It's an actor's lifeline."
"That's right. Life. Only by standing on this stage, feeling the heat of the lights, can an actor truly feel alive."
"But what about those who can no longer stand on stage?"
Luna played a note on the harpsichord. "'I don't want to be on stage anymore, I don't want to be seen—don't look at me!'"
The deep sound of the keys echoed through the space.
Furina was momentarily stunned.
"They can't step onto the stage, refuse to step onto the stage, believing themselves unworthy. And in doing so, they miss the most important opportunity."
"What opportunity?" Furina asked.
Luna closed the harpsichord lid, slowly extended her thumb—
And pointed it downward.
"—The opportunity to crush all their enemies from the most dazzling, brilliant, and spectacular position."
Sally: "!"
Navia's eyes widened slightly. Though she had no concrete proof, a vague suspicion surfaced in her mind.
Perhaps this was how the Phantom Thief White Cat stole treasures.
"Do you seek the sun, or do you seek the spotlight?"
"Do you want to endure in silence, or raise a bold middle finger at those who think they are beyond your reach?"
"The choice is yours."
Bang! The door finally burst open.
Guards and small security automatons flooded in, startling the audience, who had been engrossed in the Phantom Thief's words.
It was like an abrupt intrusion into a play.
"Phantom Thief White Cat, you have nowhere to run!"
"Surrender now!"
There weren't many escape routes in the opera house, especially indoors.
But even so, the guards remained cautious, gripping their weapons as they slowly approached.
Luna chuckled. "Although I'd love to chat more with my dear audience, time is up. Besides…"
"I have already received my treasure."
She placed a hand over her chest, raised her arm, and declared:
"It's time for the curtain call! But first, let me present you with one final performance!"
"The stage will always answer the voices of those who wish to shine!"
"Just like this—"
Luna lightly snapped her fingers.
Click. A mechanism activated, followed by the rapid descent of ropes.
"What's happening?"
"The stage's machinery is moving on its own!?"
Lights spread outward, and several set pieces dropped from above, cutting off the approaching guards. They had no choice but to halt.
Lyney whispered, "She tampered with the stage mechanisms…"
Freminet frowned. "When did she do that?"
The stage lights suddenly intensified, converging toward the center.
"Please enjoy—'The Phantom Thief White Cat's Disappearance'!"
Disappear?
No! She's about to escape!
The guards pushed past the fallen set pieces and lunged toward Luna.
But the next second, a blinding flash burned their eyes, and shifting panels disrupted their sense of direction.
Meanwhile, the audience craned their necks.
There—
A cloth gently drifted down, covering Luna's figure. A massive, solid box slowly descended from the ceiling.
The weight of it made the ropes groan.
It was going to fall!
And Luna was still standing beneath the cloth. Was she trying to get herself killed?
Navia leaped forward to stop her, but just as she did, the rope snapped.
The box plummeted down with a thunderous crash, crushing the figure beneath it.
All the stage mechanisms stopped. The lights dimmed.
The guards rubbed their eyes, struggling to process what they just witnessed.
"The thief…?"
"Did she die?"
Furina clung to the railing, peering down.
No, the Phantom Thief White Cat wouldn't do something so foolish, she thought.
As the guards cautiously approached, the box suddenly unfolded—revealing that it wasn't solid at all!
Lynette murmured, "So it was all an illusion?"
"A brilliant magic trick." Lyney nodded.
The lights suddenly flared back on, making the guards jump. Carefully, they lifted the cloth at the center.
No thief—only a small card.
"If the trophy is still considered mine, please pass it to the lovely Miss Furina—The Phantom Thief White Cat."
The guards exchanged glances.
Now what?
"She must have escaped through an underground passage! After her!"
"Y-Yes!"
"But what about the card…?"
"That's not our problem! Wait, why won't the door open?"
"It's stuck!"
A moment of silence. Then, a shared thought—Damn that Phantom Thief White Cat!
"Everyone, please evacuate immediately!" The Melusines signaled for people to leave.
Lynette absentmindedly mused—she had only come to watch the performance, yet here was Luna again.
Had "Father" predicted Luna would take someone else's place?
She glanced at Arlecchino.
Arlecchino softly said, "Let's go. The show is over."
"What about Luna?" Freminet asked.
"If she wants to return, she will. As 'Father,' I will respect her choice. If you want to find her, you can."
If you can.
Arlecchino rose, and Lyney patted Lynette's head.
"…Let's go, Lynette. We'll see her again."
Because she was already someone who shone brilliantly wherever she went.
Lynette silently nodded and followed her family out. Before leaving, she cast a glance at the dimmed stage.
Gold suns and dark shadows would never truly understand each other.
She had thought that sun wouldn't be Luna.
But now…
"Perhaps it is," Lynette murmured, her ears drooping as she vanished with the crowd.
Furina and Clorinde had left as well.
The only ones remaining—aside from the investigating guards—were Sally, still sitting in a daze, and Navia, lost in thought.
"…Miss Sally?"
Sally stared at her hands. "Miss Navia, I want to try."
Her eyes sparkled with excitement.
"I want to stand there like the Phantom Thief, to shine, to win fair and square, and to flip off everyone who doubted me!"
She might never play like before—
But if she could shine like the Phantom Thief White Cat, then it didn't matter. She was at rock bottom already—there was nowhere lower to go.
"Don't actually flip them off!"
Despite her words, Navia was relieved.
Sally was alive again.
Even if she had chosen a different path, it was far better than before.
Four days later, at six in the evening, during the Harpsichord Grand Ceremony—
The Phantom Thief White Cat's letter had promised.
And she had kept her word.
Yet Navia still didn't understand—why had the Phantom Thief done this?
…She needed to find her and ask.
Navia had a feeling—somewhere in Fontaine, the Phantom Thief White Cat was still here.