"You're him, aren't you? The royal doctor!" It was in the smirk that he gave me, the confident look, the bold stance. All of it that answered how right I have been.

But I still needed words.

"tch! Am I caught?" He did not seem serious. "you're smart" he commented.

"You did not do a very good job at hiding yourself." I said coldly. He gave a dry laugh at this.

"So I am assuming you risked your life, and became a second human model to that machine of yours in order to check upon me?" I said again after he did not say anything.

He only gave an insincere nod to my words.

"So you time travelled to the past and pretended to be a doctor?" I asked, rather stated.

"Why don't you think that I might have time travelled to the future, and I am pretending to be a scientist here?" he spoke nonchalantly, looking at me closely, waiting for me to figure out his words.

"What?" I asked, despite understanding all the words he spoke, he yet did not make sense to me.

He scorned at my confusion.

"Use your brains." He said finally. "if I were someone who travelled , pretending to be a royal doctor, how would have Your Majesty identified me on the first day there."

Neel. This was the first person in this time zone who finally spoke about Neel.

There was so much I wanted to demand from him, right here and now, but I decided to take one step at a time.

"I thought you were the actual scientist behind this machine. But I guess I was wrong. Who brought you here? Who made this machine and travelled back in time to bring you here?" I was curious, on edge, and tensed for his response.

There has to be one more human who has time travelled.

He mocked at my words.

"You guys think too high of yourself." I narrowed my eyes again. his words were so confusing.

"What do you think, this time travel machine is made in 2069, in the 21st century, because you people are geniuses or something." He sounded mad now. "you people are a little too proud for your own good. Carrying bunch of bullshit in your head, thinking you have accomplished the world when in reality you are barely surviving on brains, and loads of what your ancestors have left for you."

Hell no.

There is no way this machine could be made in the 15th century.

"I made it." he boasted, sounding maniac. "I made it in the 15th century, where people were far far away from technology." He gave out an evil laugh at it. I was too shocked to say anything

"ok ok" he controlled himself. "you guys contributed. I updated my system again and again and again taking advantage of your developmental progress. Taking advantage of some of the equipped resources here. But I can't share the whole credit with you guys. I agree I was able to set up this big of a lab only because of unlimited energy that you guys provide when I had to work hard for it in 1441. But come on, there is only so much this generation can do, help using technologies, because your brains have already rotten. You guys are dependent so much on established technology that it's rare that someone is able to think anything new. Forget about creating one."

I was stunned, lost for words, horrified with every word that left his mouth. My life had taken a rollercoaster, and I was not even buckled up.

"You were travelling between the two time spaces?" I spoke meekly.

"hmm hmm" he rolled his eyes as he nodded

"Then you could have easily brought me back on the first day itself." I was disappointed, demanding answers. Why would he do that?

He took a deep breath in through his nose, not surprised by the question, but yet preparing to answer it.

"Sending you there was a mistake, I agree." He said. "but a genius turns crisis into opportunities. There were many algorithms I had to check, to find it's implication on humans who will be time travelling, but I couldn't do it, if I were a model myself. so I thought this was the best opportunity. Also Aakav told me you enjoyed history so I guess it was a win win situation." He did not look one percent guilty of what he did. Of whatever he put me through.

But can I really blame him?

"So was it because of your algorithms that I stayed additional 3 days in that world?"

"Not exactly. But you can say that." He did not bother himself much.

"Why Aakav?" I asked him, hoping he would understand what I meant.

"He is a science freak, just like I am. I am glad. My genetics will love science even 600 years later."

I scrunched my browns in question again.

"He is my great, great, great, put as many greats as you want, grandson." He spoke again. There was no room left for my words. At this point even an alien attack was possible at this minute

"Send me back" I demanded. I knew he could.

He laughed at me, mockingly.

"Send me back, god dammit." I yelled. What the fuck is he laughing at.

"You were there to challenge history madam, not death." He stated finally.

He shut my mouth up just like that.

"But he survived the war. His step mother left and he was doing well-" I believed we survived all the factors that could get him killed. But then something else struck me. "wait a minute!" I abruptly halted. "Don't tell me my absence will be the reason he dies in the modified history. Just like me, even he would find it hard to see us depart, vanish suddenly. Is that the case?" I asked to the old professor, the medical entity, the scientist, the 'know-it-all' in front of me.

He just shrugged his shoulders screaming 'I don't know'

"Then bring him here?" this was a solution wasn't it.

"What if he dies, because he couldn't survive the time travel and your world. You don't know for sure which factors will kill him. why do you want to be a part of it?"

"Gosh you are annoying. Then taking me back in time is the best option." I cribbed.

"yea.. so that this time your parents sue me."

"but-"

"listen" he cut me off again. "I did not create the machine so that humans like you could go back and forth as you please, and interfere with the past. I have created the time travel machine but I have never for once done anything that would create a havoc. Time and nature takes its own course, and no matter what you do, things will happen the way they are meant to. So stop interfering with it, and let things take their natural course. I wouldn't have let any humans use this machine if it wasn't for my stupid grandson showing it to you. There is a reason I have sent robots to the future, because they won't do anything as per their own will."

"How will Neel survive. How will I survive without him?" I was desperate, begging him to give me some solution out of it.

"All of it is your fate. Neel is a thing of the past. Let him go."

"Never" I yelled. "don't you dare ask that from me ever again." I accepted my defeat, my fate.

I guess Neel was the only person I was able to convince easily. He was the only man who listened to me.

This professor won't send me back and I knew it. The more I tried, the more reasons he had, until I finally gave up.

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