This chapter is brought to you by Chimera by aeseaes.

Edited by: bafflinghaze

---

"... What?"

Neo sat there, unmoving, as Astella revealed the one thing that, in another lifetime, would have broken him into a million pieces.

"Alouysia was half Castas. The curse of the Elysiums, which I assumed you already figured out—"

At this, Neo absentmindedly nodded because yes, it was quite obvious that his mother was a missing Elysium child.

"—would have been fully neutralized. She would not have died from a plague, or other such nonsense."

She looked at him like he was dirt. "You, on the other hand, with an Odum Father, exacerbated your Elysium bloodline and would have been susceptible to a multitude of bad luck and illness. It was a wonder how you managed to survive on scraps and the filth of the slums, but the curse was still present and dormant within you, and the plague would have done you in if your mother had not traded her life for yours."

"You're telling me I'm the reason she died."

She blinked. "No, I'm telling you I killed your mother."

There was a mix of guilt and shame in her eyes as she said this, followed by hatred, anger, and resentment.

These were emotions Neo could relate to when he was at his worst.

It would seem they were truly related, after all.

"What did she do?" he asked, feeling his voice strain.

"To save you?"

The face Astella made gave him pause.

She gave a cold chuckle, and instead of answering, she said, "I always wondered why she loved you. Child of hers or not, you were such a strange boy. Those who encountered you in the Garden could see it in your eyes. You were supposed to be impossible to love."

At that very moment, Neo almost decided he didn't want to know this.

He almost decided he didn't want to hear it.

He wanted to blink stupidly at her, filter the words out, and not understand them.

If I hear this, he thought, I would surely be destroyed.

Astella, perhaps emboldened by his lack of response, continued as if she hadn't told him he didn't deserve his mother's love.

"There is a healing spell Laurel and I invented during our apprenticeship with the Wandering Healer. We swore an oath to use it only once, for the price of this treatment required an equal exchange. Laurel traded her womb to save Duke Elysium's child, and I traded your mother's soul to bring you back from the brink of death."

---

They were alone in Alouysia's room after Astella appeased the Madam by tossing her a sack of coins.

"For me and the boy," she said.

"For how long?" The old woman weighed the sack in her wrinkly hands.

"Make it a week."

Never say Astella didn't care for her nephew. After all, no matter how much she disliked him, he was still her sister's son.

But now, she has never regretted anything more.

"I will not let you gamble with your life!" Astella cried out, unwilling to listen any longer.

Alouysia appeased her. "It is not a gamble, Stella. It is a trade."

The world came to a halt.

Of course, Alouysia would never dare to gamble if she knew she would lose.

"You can't be serious."

"But I am."

"You will die."

"I'm sorry."

Astella shook her head and laughed bitterly. "You're not sorry. You will never be sorry, because if you were, you would have never asked me of this."

"Take care of him."

"I won't."

"..."

"I will leave him in the streets and let him beg for scraps!"

Alouysia smiled at her sadly. There was a clear fondness in her gaze as she said, "You will look after him, won't you, Stella?"

As if Astella had not just told her she would abandon the boy if she died.

"Alouysia, if you dare leave me, I will destroy everything! I swear it! He will die a miserable beggar with nothing to his name!"

"I'm sorry, Stella. But I must. He is my son."

"I am your sister!"

There was silence.

Astella felt herself breathing quickly, trying to fill her lungs with air.

But with every breath she took, she felt herself panting even more as if she was suffocating.

"Stella, won't you save my child?"

---

He didn't notice the dampness streaking his cheeks at first—how could he when the weight in his heart felt so suffocating, so all-consuming?

Memories emerged from the back of his mind, vivid and relentless: the hazy wisp of incense and gentle laughter, wide silk sleeves brushing his face, cold nights spent curled up on the floor while the person holding him hummed a familiar melody—all have now been reduced to a ghostly echo.

Astella's dazed expression from recounting the memory turned into a look of horror.

"Why are you crying?"

Neo wiped away his tears. "I'm sorry."

"... You're not sorry."

"No," he answered. "I'm sorry she chose me over you."

"..."

Astella leaned back against her chair and tilted her head.

"You know what they call a person like you with two cursed bloodlines? A Chimera Child. You were never meant to live as long as you did, yet your mother carried you all the way through, and your father brought you home and cherished you. Do you not wonder what lengths people are willing to go to keep you alive? Even when you've done great evil?"

"I never asked for it."

"Yet you yearned for it. It is only natural, for you are human. You yearn for love, you seek to have all the good things in life, and you are driven by greed and ambition. You are the very reflection of your bloodline, and that will inevitably drive you to a great destiny... or madness."

Her voice dropped into a dangerously low octave at the last part.

"..."

She snorted when she saw his stunned appearance.

"Not that there is anything to be said or done regarding your potential. My sister is still dead and you are still alive. Whether or not it was worth saving you is already out of the question. You are the living embodiment of something that should have never existed in the first place."

There was something difficult about sitting there, trying to take in the words being said to his face.

Astella had repeatedly told him directly and indirectly that his life was a mistake.

And in a way, Neo couldn't help but agree with her.

If he had not been born, perhaps his Mummy would have lived.

If he hadn't existed, Aurelion and Guinivere would not have suffered through the trauma of having a terrible older brother.

And if there was no Nazareth Odum in the world, his friends wouldn't have had to deal with all the bullshit that came with associating with him.

It was so easy to think this way.

That taking himself out of the equation would fix all that had gone wrong with the world.

But Neo was also selfish at heart. If his mummy had been unwilling to trade her life, he would have accepted that and died without regret.

But she did trade her life for his.

And that meant, at the very least, she believed he was worth the sacrifice.

Knowing that she did what she did, Neo could say without shame that he deserved to live; that he deserved to be here, living and breathing and making the mistakes he made—and no matter if he harmed others or upended the world with his insanity, he was alive and he would make it everyone else's problem.

In his mind, there was a strange mix of stubbornness and defiance colliding with the urge to comply and agree.

It was not a pleasant feeling, but that was fine.

After all, who would judge him other than this woman, who seemed to remind him so much of himself?

Only the two of them would ever know of their own ugly nature—know of just how deep the abyss stretched.

It was like meeting like, but in a very twisted way.

A reflection, Neo realized.

Because beneath all that anger and resentment, he saw the simmering grief waiting to burst.

Saw the self-destructive nature and horrifying thoughts leaking through.

It was something he could relate to, however much he disliked the fact that he could empathize with this woman.

"I don't agree with you." He met Astella's cold eyes without flinching.

"... What?"

Neo reached out and took the teapot that was left on the center of the table by Rainier before he left the room.

He grabbed the handle and poured himself another cup of tea.

Under Astella's scrutinizing gaze, he added a spoonful of dandelion syrup and took a long, slow sip.

Then, he said, "Aunt Stella, mummy loved me."

The woman stared at him in disgust.

Neo played with the rim of the cup. "It is true that if I hadn't gotten sick, she wouldn't have needed to die. But that was something she chose for herself."

"You—"

"I'm not saying to accept her choices." Neo cut her off with a slight frown. "But you underestimate the kind of person mummy was. As you've said, she is also a Castas. Did it not occur to you that she also had greed, selfishness, and ambition in her heart?"

"How dare you say that about your mother?!" Astella's eyes turned red in anger. "She died for you!"

"I love her," Neo replied, calmly. "I love her with all my heart, but that does not negate the fact that I was born because she wanted something to call her own. And in doing so, I suffered on the streets."

He finally said it.

The truth of the matter.

For he could not deny that his mother knowingly, and willingly, kept him—going as far as taking a gamble and hiding her pregnancy from the old Madam until it was too late to terminate it—despite having nothing to her name.

The wind was completely taken out of Astella's sail upon hearing his words.

In an instant, she seemed to shrink in on herself, as if in denial of the truth, and Neo almost pitied her.

"She loved you more than she loved me," she hissed in a wretched tone, "Made me swear to watch over you."

"..."

"It was unfair. You added no goodness to the world. I watched you go down a path of sin, and you never looked back or considered the people around you."

The mention of another lifetime appeared once more.

Neo hadn't expected that of all people to come back, it would be someone who seemed completely unrelated to the past.

"Even when I kept my distance, you still sought out the Iron Lotus. You chose your path to destruction, and I didn't care enough to stop it... so perhaps I am also to blame for my son's death."

What?

"Elliot died?"

Neo regretted the words the moment they left his mouth.

Astella burst into a fit of crazed laughter.

The once cool and composed Countess of Moores was nowhere to be seen, reduced to a grief-stricken mad woman.

Her face was entirely stained with tears as she laughed with abandonment.

She covered her face and muttered, "I am not ready for this."

Neo sighed and slumped over, resting his chin on a propped-up hand as his other hand played with his teacup.

"Neither am I." He raised his gaze back up. His mind swerved to the left of the topic, and he landed on the most important thing.

"So you came back, too?"

"Ha, I should have known you would remember," Astella sneered half-heartedly. "Only you could upend all the work I've done."

Neo was equal-parts offended at the accusation, as well as accepting of it. "I'm not back for revenge if that's what you're thinking."

"Two years worth of work has gone to waste because of you."

"Two years?"

Astella narrowed her eyes. "What? Think you can do better? Try running a criminal organization, boy. It is not as easy as killing everyone who displeases you."

"No." Neo shook his head. "It's just—I came back during the spring quarter."

"..."

It took a few seconds before Astella broke into another fit of laughter.

"I will not admit to being bested by someone who only regained his memories less than six months ago," she said with venom in her voice.

Neo wanted to throw a teacup at her. "It's not about besting anyone. Can't you see I am also trying to fix the past?"

"To become the next Duke of Odum, I assume."

"No. I am trying to prevent the next 'golden era' of human trafficking and stop the attack on the school."

"All of which were the consequences of your own actions."

Wow. Duchess Elysium was right about her.

Astella rolled her eyes. "And to think, you almost fooled me into believing you died."

"You keep saying I don't deserve to live, but you still came to the wake. Why waste Ricin Flowers and Trileave Clovers on keeping me down?"

Because that was what Astella was doing, wasn't she?

She hadn't intended to kill him.

She only wanted to get him out of the way.

"I sent you letters to warn you off. To not mess with my plans. But you continued to defy me."

Neo thought back to the first week of break, and remembered receiving a few threatening letters in the days leading up to the gathering with his friends. It was why he'd been prepared to counter the enemy's actions by planning a fail-safe in case he ever fell.

"What did you think I was planning to do?"

Astella crossed her arms. "Were you not gathering children of noble families from both factions to align themselves to you? I saw the invitation you sent Elliot. I could not allow him to enter your farce of an alliance once more."

"No," Neo said, slowly. "It really was just a party to celebrate the end of terms."

The look of disbelief on Astella's face satisfied Neo immensely.

"You are lying."

"I'm really not."

"Have you lost your ambitions in this lifetime? Do you not desire power and prestige?"

"I'm over it."

"I don't believe you."

"You better believe it. I don't want to be Duke—I want to be a healer."

"!!!"

---

It was like staring at a reflection.

This boy reflected her in her truest form and she couldn't look away, no matter how hard she tried.

In the last two years, Astella imagined confronting the boy and giving him a good smack.

She wanted to tell him, "Look at what you've done with yourself! How could I possibly meet your mother's eyes in the afterlife and tell her what a monster her beloved son had become?!"

But it didn't quite happen the way she planned it.

When Alouysia begged her to save her son, she was initially confident.

But the boy's body rejected the antidote, and his symptoms grew worse with time.

He was about to die, and Astella felt sad—for her sister who loved the boy.

She felt sadness until—

"What about that magic spell you and Laurel invented?"

"... Spell?"

"The one that requires an exchange. What does it need from me? An arm? A leg? I will give anything—"

"Who told you there was such a treatment?!"

"Laurel! She said the two of you made a spell to bring someone back from the brink of death—"

"No."

"Astella—"

"I said no!"

"But why—"

"Because you won't know what price to pay until it's too late! For all we know, you could lose your life. What use is there if you leave Nazareth an orphan?!"

"He is my world, Stella."

"... And you don't believe he thinks the same of you?"

"..."

"I will not let you gamble with your life!

In the end, she caved.

It was a fifty-fifty chance Alouysia would survive the exchange, but alas, Astella should have known something was off.

Alouysia did not bet on her life.

She knew, with certainty, that she wouldn't survive.

And Astella foolishly believed she would, all because she had faith that someone as good and pure as Alouysia would be given leniency.

But magic didn't care for goodness. It just needed an equal exchange.

Nazareth was on the verge of death, so someone had to take his place.

Alouysia would have been fine. She would have lived if all she had to do was fight off the infection.

But she wanted more.

She wanted to ensure Nazareth would escape the Elysium curse.

So she offered more of herself than she intended, and in doing so, she lost the protection her Castas blood afforded her.

Astella found out she died a week later and that her son disappeared into the Western Slums.

---

"Of all places, you chose the Western Slums. It was no wonder you came out as twisted as you were."

"That's nice, Aunt Stella. But we're talking about my future in healing. And also preventing the death of loved ones."

She glared at him. "Unrepentant beast."

Neo had somehow adapted throughout their conversation.

They'd cried together, yelled at each other, and poked each other's sore spots without holding back.

This was the stage of no-fucks-to-give.

"Let's make it clear. What you put my friends and family through is unforgivable. Mummy would be disappointed."

"Don't you dare—"

"But I understand why you did it. I don't like it, but I understand."

"You..."

"My stepmother is still arresting you, by the way. The Odum Family won't take this offense lying down."

Astella sneered. "How hypocritical. They let you run wild without consequences, but when harm comes to you, they suddenly demand compensation?"

Neo kept a straight face.

It was fair to assess the Odum Family in this way, and he couldn't argue against what was essentially true.

So instead, he replied, "You were the one who tipped off my father."

Astella paused. "How did you—"

"Duchess Elysium."

"..."

He tilted his head curiously at her silence.

"You blame her."

"Laurel is an overly sentimental fool with the tendency to talk too much. She was the one who told your mother about the treatment."

Ah.

Neo wanted to begrudge the duchess for her indirect role in all of this, but he simply didn't have the energy.

Mummy was gone.

Adding on the life he lived in the Modern World, she had been gone for nearly fifty years.

He had moved on and accepted that she was gone. Even with all the revelations and truths, it didn't change the fact that her remains rested in St. Achilles, on a hill full of dandelions.

Perhaps, it was time for Astella to move on as well.

"Tell me about what happened after I died," he said, changing the topic.

"What? You don't wish to sit with me and think back on all your mistakes?"

"As much as I would love to, we need to discuss the fallout of my death. What horrible things happened?"

Astella didn't answer for a moment.

She had a deer-in-the-headlights look about her, perhaps questioning his audacity for asking this question.

Then, she covered her eyes and took a deep breath.

"The trials happened."

---

Horror.

That was the face Astella made as she stood in the crowd.

Beside her was Leotine, whose face was pale and grim.

Both of them stared at the sight before them, unable to look away.

On the platform, there were three things.

A man with an axe.

A chopping block.

And her son, who was dressed in prison garbs and bound by chains.

The crowd was silent.

There were no cheers, no heckling, no noise.

Just silence.

After all, he was still a child.

Elliot was easily dragged to the chopping block.

He didn't struggle and he didn't scream.

He stared into the crowd, charcoal black eyes scanning the faces watching him.

Astella observed that his hair was matted and that there were bruises on his face, arms, and neck.

Oh, her son.

So young and naive.

The one gift Laertes had left her.

How... did it come to this?

Astella felt a hand touching her own in comfort.

"Mother," Leotine whispered, voice thick with tears. "Is this real?"

She bit her lips and turned away, unable to look at him.

And then—

She met Elliot's eyes.

For a brief moment, she thought there was a sparkle of light in his gaze.

No one said a word as Elliot was forced down on his knees.

No one said a word as they tied a blindfold over his eyes.

No one said a word as the executioner readied his blade.

(No one said a word as they watched a young man shaking in terror—!)

The blade swung down—

---

"Elliot was found guilty of conspiracy and publicly executed."

The words fully encompassed what had happened in the future-past in the most clinical of manners.

Again, Neo was reminded of what Astella had said before.

Elliot was dead in the future.

And he died because of him.

"But you—no..."

Neo felt a sense of discomfort rising within him. Was it guilt, perhaps?

"No, you wouldn't have let that happen." He shook his head. "He had nothing to do with the attack on the school. How could they have—how could... no. No. He was never supposed to—"

"Shut your blubbering, boy. And don't be so shocked. Did you not remember what was done to that foolish friend of yours from the Benedick Family? You should have realized the Iron Lotus was no longer your ally by that point. I was ousted from my position weeks before and could not afford protection for Elliot once he was deemed your accomplice. How was I supposed to know the loyalty you instilled within him ran so deep? He wouldn't give you up no matter what, and by keeping his silence, they deemed him a criminal of the highest degree and killed him."

"But how?" he whispered. "I was so thorough in erasing the evidence. It should have been impossible to trace them back—"

"Are you even listening?" Astella snapped. "I just said that the Iron Lotus was no longer under my command, boy! That's where you hid all the evidence in the first place! Who do you think was cleaning up all your messes?!"

"I thought your leadership was secured—!"

"Not secured enough, apparently." She scowled. "My competitor gained supporters and led a coup against me. By the time I noticed, it was already too late."

"So the ones I helped into the school..."

"Llwelyn's people. He is my grandfather's secret heir and my so-called long-lost brother—when in truth," her eyes darkened with hatred, "his father was an illegitimate son born from a mistress. Does that not remind you of a similar story, Nazareth?"

It was the first time he had heard her call him by his name.

Neo was shocked to the point he nearly knocked over his teacup.

"I..."

Astella snorted. It seemed she was morbidly fascinated at the parallel.

"He is of no concern, for now. I found him living among the Sand Nomads a year ago and brought him back. Even branded him with the Slave Emblem so he would remain under my control."

The distressed he felt was suddenly pushed down in favor of a new topic.

"What?" Astella raised a brow, perhaps noticing that his attention was no longer focused Elliot's death. "You don't approve of my method?"

"The Slave Emblem caused a rise in human trafficking in the future-past and wreaked havoc across the Empire. As its maker, I can't let that happen again."

Not to mention, it would have potentially been one of the major incriminating factors that led to Elliot's execution.

From what he understood, Elliot was accused of conspiracy due to his association with him—the person who helped terrorists into the Academy, and created the Slave Emblem.

It wasn't far-fetch to assume that the court also believed Elliot helped him with both of these things, as well.

Gods, Neo couldn't imagine what had happened to the others after his death.

Were any of them able to get away?

"What are you implying, boy?"

"I plan to make a counter-spell to remove it."

Rather than plan, should he say he already made it?

Now they just needed to find all the people who'd been sold into the underground black market and been given the Slave Emblem—the ledgers and documents Royce and Finneas brought back from the Holy City helped greatly in locating the different places the "goods" were being stored—and use the Cloud Mark to unshackle them from their chains.

Not that Neo was going to tell Astella any of that.

If she chose to stand against him on this, he would prefer to keep the information to himself.

Astella was expressionless, but he could see there was a dangerous gleam in her gaze.

"It would seem we are at a standstill regarding this subject."

Oh, dear.

"It would seem so."

She tilted her head. "You will not be convinced to see things my way?"

Neo looked down at his teacup.

He played with the spoon, the clinking of silver against porcelain echoed through the room.

"Have you ever wondered what it would have been like for mummy if she was given the Slave Emblem?"

A scalpel came sailing past his face, narrowly missing his cheek by an inch, and hitting the wall behind him.

Its thrower had stood with an arm outstretched, lips pulled back in a feral snarl, and glared at him with barely restrained fury.

In response, Neo smiled gently and took a sip of tea.

"Aunt Stella, is there no longer any goodness in your heart?"

---

"It's been an hour and they're still inside."

"Relax. Stella won't risk harming him. Did you not see the way she reacted to him imitating Alouysia?" Duchess Elysium asked.

Saintess Auria frowned doubtfully. "It is not Nazareth I am worried about."

"Ah."

Outside the room 'where it happened'—hahaha, modern world joke right there; (it was quite the excellent musical in the East End)—there was a crowd of people waiting in anticipation.

Royce watched as Neo's sister pressed her ear against the door.

Behind her stood Neo's brother, who was rummaging around in his pocket, looking for something.

"Use this," he said, handing her a piece of paper with an intricate design drawn on the front. "Brother could have set up a ward to prevent anyone from listening in."

Guinivere pasted the paper onto the door and returned to eavesdropping with the grace and elegance of someone who had done this before.

"Better?" he asked.

"Much."

"What are they saying?"

"Something about... the black market? I think they're drawing up a business plan."

"What?! That's ridiculous. Why are they starting a business?!"

Royce turned to Finneas and Tybalt, and the three of them shared a look.

Then, as one, they glanced over at Neo's personal servant, who was currently standing next to a tea cart.

The man has been polishing a set of utensils back to back since they all gathered outside the room.

"Wait, they just moved on to Brother's future. The Countess disapproves of his career choice."

"Which is?" Aurelion implored.

"Huh," she made a surprise noise, "Has Brother ever told you he wanted to be a healer?"

"No, but I saw his class schedule for the Autumn quarter. He dropped all of his political theorem classes and is now taking several high Alchemy classes with Professor Rickman, a toxicology class with Professor Dogstar, and Basic Healing Practicum and Theory with—"

"Did you memorize his schedule?"

"... No?"

The siblings bickered back and forth with each other and completely forgot that they were supposed to be listening in on Nazareth.

Royce caught Saintess Auria casually removing the listening charm and opted not to say anything.

"Still inside?" a cool voice said.

Everyone turned their heads and saw Duke and Duchess Odum making their way over.

It would seem the guests invited to the wake have all left.

Both the Duke and Duchess looked worn out, the Duke more so than the Duchess.

The man was pale and looked like he was on the verge of passing out.

The Duchess supported him by his arm, like a knight escort.

Emerald green eyes glared at the closed door.

"What is taking so long?" asked the Duchess, when no one responded to her earlier question.

"They seem to be discussing business deals," Guinivere replied.

The Duchess raised an unimpressed brow. "Is that so?"

Just then, the door swung open.

"—It doesn't matter if you don't like it. This is what you owe me."

"You greedy, manipulative beast! I ought to have poisoned you with Oleander Flower—!"

It was clear that the two people who came out of the room were still hostile to each other, but the intensity of the hatred had morphed into a strange passive-aggressiveness that no one was prepared for.

Royce hasn't seen Neo so openly antagonistic in a very long time.

Countess Moores really brought out the worst in him.

The two of them seemed to have noticed the audience gathered in front of the door and finally stopped arguing.

Neo tilted his head in confusion. "What's going on here?"

"Isn't it obvious? They're here to persecute me." the Countess said with thinly veiled hostility. "Is this not double standards? You poison people and get away with it. I do the same and it turns into a witch hunt."

She did have a point.

Royce somehow found himself agreeing with the person who poisoned his friend.

Neo grimaced, clearly acknowledging what she just said.

However—

Slap!

A crisp sound resonated through the hallway.

Oh shit!

Royce felt his eyes go wide in astonishment.

Around him, everyone was staring in stunned silence.

The Countess staggered back, her composure fracturing under the sheer force of the blow. Her head turned slowly and Royce saw a bright red imprint blooming across her cheek.

For a brief moment, he wondered if she'd retaliate.

Standing before her, the Duchess, with her chin held high and voice as sharp as a cold saber blade, asked her this.

"Is it painful?"

The Countess did not respond, only staring blankly at her.

The Duchess looked murderous.

"You speak of my son's crimes when you have done the same. Do not talk of double standards, Countess. We are all aware that there is no justice for people like us. The moment you targeted Nazareth was when you should have realized that an enemy of House Odum would be hunted to the world's farthest reaches."

The air was thick with tension.

Royce could feel a suffocating pressure pressing down on him. It sent a shiver down his spine.

The Duchess stepped forward and got real close to the Countess.

She was a head taller than the other woman, which meant she was able to stare her down from her superior height

"Let it be known that I am very displeased. If you do not want my wrath raining down upon your house, you will stay quiet from here on and live as silently as the rat you are."

Would it be appropriate to whistle right now?

Because damn.

Royce did not come for the drama, but he certainly had front-row seats to it.

The Countess didn't say a word, but her silence spoke volumes.

"Mother."

Neo suddenly stepped in front of the Countess.

"Nazareth," the Duchess replied, although her eyes remained solely on the woman behind him.

"If you wish to have her arrested, you are free to do so. I only demand that she be confined somewhere for the next few months and nothing more."

Royce seriously wanted to know what happened inside that room. How did the plan go from trapping the enemy to arguing on the enemy's behalf?

"Is that all you wish for reparation?" the Duchess questioned imperiously. "You are merely satisfied with so little?"

"It is enough. She is still of my blood, and we have come to an understanding."

The rage that the Duchess was emitting finally died down, and Royce suddenly found it easier to breathe again.

"Your father and I will excuse ourselves. I take it you can handle the rest?"

"Yes, Mother. Please take care of Father."

"Hm."

They watched as the Duchess escorted the Duke—who looked completely out of it—away. Their intimidating presence vanished with their departure.

"Where are you planning to confine me?"

---

When Astella asked that question, she was met with silence.

Everyone's focus was on Nazareth, who seemed to be deep in thought.

When it started to look like he was struggling to think of an answer, Auria raised her hand. "May I take her?"

All eyes turned to her.

In particular, Astella's startled gaze greatly amused her.

"Are you sure?" Nazareth sounded concerned. "It will be until winter."

Auria reassured him. "The Holy City is secure. I believe Stella will be most helpful there."

To you.

The implication was left unsaid, but Auria gave her nephew a knowing look.

She was not unaware of the fact that the Holy City housed a subsector of the Iron Lotus behind its pearly gates.

Astella could work from there, and still be under watch.

Manipulative indeed, Auria thought as she looked between her nephew and her former apprentice-sister.

She suspected that the deal they managed to agree upon would require Astella to utilize her position within the Iron Lotus to benefit Nazareth.

"But the Holy City is within the Desertland." Laurel's expression was one of worry, and Auria understood why she was apprehensive.

She had heard Astella was taken away by her grandfather's people when she and Laurel were crossing the Desertland during the war. After that, Astella completely vanished.

Laurel never stopped blaming herself for Astella's actions, believing it was her fault Astella sunk back into the mud of the criminal underworld.

Auria personally thought Astella's actions were her own and Laurel shouldn't have to carry the burden of guilt. It was Astella's choice to break her healer's oath and no one else's.

"Tch," Astella clicked her tongue irritably. "I'm going to religion jail, Laurel, not an execution. Can you be any more dramatic?"

"..."

Laurel still appeared unconvinced, but Auria was sure that with a little more persuasion, she should be appeased.

"Nazareth," she called her nephew.

"Yes, Aunt Auria?"

"Do you mind if we accompany her to the palace?"

"Is there a carriage waiting outside?"

"Vespera called for a group of knights to escort her to the palace."

"Ah, she is arrested so she must be tried," her nephew surmised.

"Exactly."

Nazareth allowed it without any objections.

"I shall see you in winter, Aunt Stella," he said with a kind smile.

Astella scowled at him and turned away.

"Manipulative beast."

Surprisingly, there was no heat in her words.

Auria and Laurel exchanged a brief, knowing glance, their eyes locking with a sense of silent understanding.

Auria moved to the left while Laurel moved to the right until they were on either side of Astella. They both extended their arms and in an instant, they linked elbows.

"... You can't be serious," Astella deadpanned.

She attempted to struggle out of their hold, but it was a fruitless endeavor.

They were, in fact, very serious.

They walked out of the manor in this fashion, ignoring the stares they were getting, and located the carriage with the knight escort team.

"Bryn misses you," Laurel said once they arrived at the carriage.

Astella scoffed.

Auria sighed. "The Holy City will be happy to host guests. You and Bryn are welcome to visit."

Laurel smiled at the offered invitation.

They looked at Astella, who seemed too stubborn to be civil.

But then—

"... Tell them to bring cookies. And pastilles... I missed them, too."

Auria felt warm.

Their reunion could have taken place in a much better setting, perhaps with more positive circumstances, for this was not the joyful reunion she anticipated.

Certainly, it shouldn't have been at the cost of her nephew's well-being.

She never expected things to turn out like this.

Where did it all go wrong?

Was it when her carriage was attacked on her way back from the Polska Nation and she almost died?

Or maybe it was because she left them, first?

Whatever the reason, the gods worked in mysterious ways, and now their paths have intersected once more.

"I will see you at the trial," Auria promised, once they arrived at the palace.

"Same here," Laurel said.

Astella closed her eyes as if she had given up. "Don't bring Bryn. They don't need to witness my disgrace."

Laurel chuckled humorlessly. "Okay."

They bid her farewell as she was ushered out of the carriage by the knight escort team.

They surrounded her in a tight circle, but she walked with the dignity bestowed upon her by her position.

Watching her go, Auria thought, felt awfully bittersweet.

---

Evening. Moores Manor.

A carriage bearing the Odum crest appeared at the gate of the manor.

No one had anticipated a visit this late in the evening, never mind a visit from a member of the Odum Ducal.

"Right this way, Lord Odum."

Leotine was alerted of the visitor and immediately went to greet them.

He arrived at the parlor and saw a young man waiting on the sofa.

"Lord Nazareth?" Leotine addressed him politely.

The young man turned around in surprise.

"Lord Leotine," he replied. There was a hint of... surprise in his voice as he called his name. "Good evening."

"Good evening to you as well. May I know the purpose of your visit?"

Nazareth's gaze flickered behind him as if he was waiting for someone else. "Where's Elliot?" he asked.

Ah.

"... He is currently visiting Fleur de Lis Manor."

There was a long stretch of silence between them after Leotine said that.

Finally, Nazareth let out a deep sigh.

"Then I will be brief," he said... in an apologetic tone. "Countess Moores has been arrested."

"..."

"... Lord Leotine?"

Gods, he knew he wasn't meant to live very long. At the very least, he would have liked to go peacefully.

Mother, what have you done?

---

Step 55. Talk about your feelings and bond over shared experiences. These are connections that may assist you in the future.

---

The author has something to say:

Oh, Alouysia. You were so good, but just as selfish as any other human being. I put her on that pedestal, but in the end, she was as flawed as anyone else. Don't get me wrong, I adore her character, but just because she loved Neo and gave her life for him doesn't make her flawless.

One of the underlining themes that is most prevalent throughout Volume II is the meaning of selfishness. Many characters have shown their selfishness in many ways, and your perception of these characters were dependent on how they impacted other characters.

Now, I could have provided the backstory beforehand, but why should I? First of all, I take great joy in withholding information from you guys. Secondly, I aim to tell a story with emotional impact, and the more hatred you build up for one specific character, the more satisfaction I get from it.

(I greatly enjoy receiving comments cursing Gareth and Vespera, and occasionally Tybalt and Finneas, from readers just starting the novel ^-^)

Okay, onto more important news. Officially, this arc is over, but I intend to use the next few chapters to close up loose strings. After that, we can finally reach the long-awaited midsummer celebration events and go back to slice of life for a little while. I think we need a little less intrigue and more fluff and romance, don't ya think?