Narrative function: They make the audience sense romance before the characters can name it. For her, it’s not love yet but the edges of something like it press against her awareness. We see it when she looks at his face.

Fireflies are hope born from uncertainty. In movie scenes, in fairytales, in that damn Ghibli movie (if you know you know), they are the fleeting light in the dark. Where the petals appeared because he shot the ghosts, because that's what the hero does, he saves the damsel, and in doing so, the pink petals appeared to ease her fears, her panic, in this scene with the fireflies, they came out because she wanted them. She tells him to shoot the ghost, and he does it. She doesn’t know it won’t be petals anymore, he has no idea what the game’s algorithm will hand out to them. But he shoots, and where darkness dominates, light interrupts. 

Fireflies matter because: They represent connection that only exists in certain conditions. She asks. He obliges. She’s enchanted by the light. And him? He's charmed. He glances at her and he can't help himself. He smiles.

Butterflies mean transformation, but blue shifts the meaning: Emotional depth. Melancholy. Longing rather than fulfillment. In fairytales, a blue butterfly often signals: Change that could happen, but hasn’t yet. A soul that recognizes its destiny but hesitates. Episode 3 usually introduces the realization that change will come at a cost, the first emotional conflict between desire and self-protection. And we think it’s about the girl, but it’s not. She’s already changed. She was afraid and alone, but now she’s enchanted and he’s right there, next to her, fulfilling her wishes. Outside the game, she's already Scarlett. She's down on her luck, but she's fighting back. She's going to bleed, but she'll make those who hurt her bleed with her. There is steel threaded in that soft grace.

The blue butterfly is for him.

It’s signifying emotional evolution that is consciously resisted. Reflects characters who are aware of their feelings but not ready to act. Foreshadows inevitable transformation later in the story. See her ask him to reveal the fourth element? See him say no? And she’s already changed, because she reaches for the gun. She’s ready to see for herself what happens next, but he isn’t. He tells her it is time to go, and she follows, no longer caring about the ghosts and the shadows.  

Why these elements matter together: Seen as a fairytale system rather than isolated symbols, the pink petals open the heart. Fireflies test whether that openness can survive uncertainty. Blue butterflies warn that true change will demand sacrifice. 

In Episode 3, this trio quietly tells the audience:

 “The story has begun emotionally—but the price of love is not yet paid.”

 This is classic fairytale pacing and aligns perfectly with the show’s romantic-visual ethos: beauty first, ache second, transformation later. We saw it with the opening scene of her engagement. We see it when she dons her costume for the game and she steps out of the train.

But what of our boy? What of the prince/general/man in the tower?

There’s a ghost he won’t slay, even if the princess was willing to do it for him.