without love...

I've had the idea of this piece in my head for a while now, it's based on the impression I had of the game while reading the question arcs specifically, most specifically in episodes 1 to 3. I got the impression that Beatrice was guiding Battler around the story, trying to lead him somewhere he couldn't figure out. It reminded me of a guided rehearsal of a play or of a dance, hence the blue tape on the floor marking the most basic step of the waltz -- the aptly named box step. It might be a personal symbol for me, but I remember doing play rehearsals with blue tape on the floor way back in elementary school 😭.

Lambdadelta and Bernkastel are outside of the frame as observers because at the time, they struck me as a chorus of some kind, being in-universe characters who commented on the events of the unfolding "play". Their expressions partially resemble comedy/ tragedy masks, but that was more secondary for me, I was just trying to capture Bernkastel's bitterness in contrast to Lambdadelta's more relaxed attitude.

The rococo style border is because, well, I love rococo for one, but also because the imagery in rococo style furniture/ frames is inspired by ocean waves/ shells, hence the name.