"Let's go," Noelle said.

"Sure."

So we left the room together. Of course, on my way out, I gave a 'Thank You' nod to the guards.

It's important to show gratitude to those working in the service industry because they are always so underappreciated.

After a few minutes, we reached the party hall. Since there weren't that many people in this party, finding the members of the New Dawn Guild wasn't that hard.

First of all, why are they still alone? I thought that the fiasco with Noelle could help them socialise and form connections, yet there they are, standing in a group in a corner.

Look, even Jennifer is talking with others and sharing drinks with them. Damn, who would have thought that these guys were even more of an introvert than me. Wow.

"After you," I said to Noelle.

Without saying anything, she took the lead and approached the other wankers.

"Noelle?" Arteria, who was the first to notice her, muttered out.

The others who heard her followed her gaze and looked at us.

The next moment, they all ran over to us.

Bruh.

Who the fuck starts running in the middle of a high-class party? These guys are a fucking embarrassment.

You know what? Fuck it. I just don't want to be seen together with them.

And so, while the wankers were confirming whether Noelle was alright and blah blah, I covertly took my leave.

I mean, I don't need to socialise because I'm the mastermind, and without that aspect the party was rather boring. I couldn't drink either, so it was better to just skip it.

Hmm, but what should I do now? Should I explore the castle?

While amusing, that probably won't be the most tactical decision.

What if the guards see me, think that I'm an intruder, try to catch me, I try to defend myself, my hand slips and I accidentally kill 1 to 47 guards?

That would be super awkward. Trust me, I'd know. I'm a professional transmigrator.

Hmm, then what?

Let's see. It's night outside. Because this is a world free of pollution, the night sky is clear, so I should be able to look at the moon and the stars.

Oh well, I guess I'll just stargaze today.

How do I get to the roof of the castle though? Should I ask Voloha?

Nah, she'd probably ask me questions and try to convince me to stay. When that would fail, she'd try to accompany me to the roof to stargaze with me.

That's a big no-no for me.

Then what? Should I just manipulate a guard to take me to the roof?

Hmmmmm- ah. Why didn't I think of this earlier?

I mean, there's a window right beside me. It's not like this is the Israeli airspace where they'll just shoot me down without even trying to contact me, so let's just fly to the rooftop.

I looked around to check that there was no one around and opened the window.

I was on the 2nd floor, and below me was a huge ass beautiful garden with several types of flowers, trees and bushes arranged neatly and beautifully.

Hmm, fuck the rooftop, let's go to the garden. The grass is way softer than the hard rooftop to lie down on. The overall ambience of the garden is also nicer.

So, after checking that there were no guards around, I quietly jumped. I obviously used magic to land safely; stargazing with broken femurs is not a very pleasant experience.

After a bit of searching, I found a nice place to lie down on.

I opened the top 2 buttons of my shit and lied down.

Above me was the endless black sky, adorned with glistening stars and a bigass moon. A gentle gust of wind of blew, causing both the trees and my hair to rustle.

Hmm, this is more comfortable than I thought.

All I wanted to do right now was sleep, with the sky as my blanket and the earth as my bed, forever, and ever.

Huh, not that I think about it, the moon looks so big while the stars appear as points, even though in reality, the stars are hundreds of thousands of times bigger than this moon.

And there are countless of such stars in the sky. The sky, however, is nothing more than the Universe I can currently see.

However, the stars I'm seeing right now are nothing more than afterimages. These stars are millions of light years away, so by the time their light reaches me, the stars might have changed.

Some of them might have moved, some would have exploded into a supernova and created either a Neutron Star or a Blackhole, and some of them would have turned into White Dwarves.

In other words, what I'm seeing right now is an illusion. Everything except the moon in the sky is a lie.

"Just like my life, eh?" I couldn't help but mutter out loud.

"Meow?"

"Hmm?"

I turned my head and lo and behold, it was Mr. Cat.

"What are you doing here?"

No wait, how did it even enter the highly secured Royal Castle? Is the security here that lax? I should probably ask Voloha to dock the pay of the guards.

Ah, right, Mr. Cat is the familiar of a witch. It probably has some abilities of its own.

"Meow," it mewed as it approached me and sat on my chest.

Do I look like a motherfucking bed or what?

…

"Haah… whatever, just enjoy yourself."

I'm too tired to get him off me, so I'll let him enjoy my chest pillow for now.

Right now, I just want to sleep. Eternally, hopefully, but I know that's impossible.

I have no choice but to live this life. Even if I don't, I'll have to live my next one. And the one after that, and so on, for all of eternity.

Hmm, now that I think about it, have I been near any of the stars adorning the sky? It's possible.

Maybe in one of my previous lives, I lived on a planet that was a part of the Solar System of one of these stars.

The possibility is very low, however. Though it would be interesting if that indeed was the case.

Not that I'd do anything after finding out one of my former homes. It's my policy to never interfere with a world that I've already left.

Huh, I'm thinking too much. This is supposed to be a relaxing activity.

Let's just mindlessly gaze at the stars for as long as I can.