Haute Couture::The Crimson God of Le Rouge Sinclair's Story

In a memory as hazy as a dream,

I went up and down the floors of the Grand Magasin with others at my side, with a virtue whose sheen had not yet faded draped over my shoulder.

There were people who would now and then turn to look back at me as I followed them. Sometimes, they would even kneel down so our eyes would be level.

As I walked with them, the hunger receded so deeply into a corner of my mind, as though it had never been there.

And yet, when I reached the very end, I chose to stay.

Because there was simply too much laid out before me. Too much that I felt I had to take care of myself.

As dictated by the hunger I'd carried since birth, as demanded by my own nature, I reached for the jumble of plates.

*crunch*

And always, with that sound, the memory breaks off.

Making fashionable new pieces we like and putting them up for sale matters, of course, but winning over new customers that way takes several seasons.

So, while the Noirs turn their Mannequins to the exit, the Rouges keep them close... as materials to be worked on.

Le Noir and Le Rouge may set the pace in the Grand Magasin. But when all is said and done, the majority decides what is in fashion.

Thus, with the advantage of numbers on the Rouges' side, I need only seize the chance to remodel the Maison du Noir on the third floor into Boutique du Rouge.

Though one cannot overlook the close ties that exist, not all who twine threads and weave fabric are aligned with Le Noir.

For they too, under the shower of sunlight, have faced their immanent yearning... and possess a desire for the Golden.

As long as they see worthiness in the value Le Rouge pursues, cooperation is possible.

I harvested some Golden Hide from the walls. They were to be goods for the transaction, to be carried downstairs by the Rouges who have heard my Voice.

If we cut off Le Noir's thread supply line, there should be no need for us to waste our strength severing the Alterationist.

Besides, this deal will gain Le Rouge a new ally in the B2F Floor Manager.

Overwhelming victory followed overwhelming victory in Le Rouge's path.

Le Noir's Brand Manager tried everything at her disposal to slow Le Rouge's advent,

but none of her efforts deviated from the margins of my predictions.

And that was why... my anxiety only kept growing as the seasons continued to cycle.

The Obsidian God should also remember what came before the Liquidation...

Then why simply stand by as the Noirs are kept on the back foot?

I never managed to find a satisfying answer to that question...

... even as I led Le Rouge to total victory over Le Noir.

Driven to the absolute brink, Le Noir laid a do-or-die siege on the Luxury Hall to reclaim it as theirs. Another predictable choice.

They likely chose this particular season to blindside me, but...

... to me, it was just a replication of something I'd already experienced.

The hunger surges back, the void once again rushing into me relentlessly.

And just as it once had, the wishes and expectations of the Rouges fill me from head to toe with nary a bit of breathing room.

Eventually, I depleted the department store. The lessons learned from the first ending spared me the fate of becoming hideously bloated, but that was of no consequence.

The basement floors became nothing but the site of a horrid, endless cycle of death and rebirth...

... and under the fading golden light, the Néants began to appear from the unseen corners of the Grand Magasin.

Within that sequence of events, I came to understand that the Grand Magasin was becoming... incorporated into something.

Seemingly random, partial Liquidations came and went, almost as though the powers that be were testing something. And at the end of each cycle, the department store was left emptier.

And once again, the season changes.

No, this isn't the wheel of seasons. A greater cycle is beginning to turn, ever so slowly...