"What do you think of it?" I asked Nia, as I held out a mirror for her to see what her hair looked like.

"I look like a child with hair like that," Nia commented, a pout on her face, holding her braids up into bunny-like ears.

"Really?"

"That being said, you’re really good at it."

Standing behind her, I braided her hair into twin-braided tresses while she sat in front of her typewriter.

"Thank you, miss. Maybe one of those days, I should open a hairdressing salon. I’m sure I will make Aira like crazy. "

"I don’t doubt that," she said, returning to her typewriting activities.

Well, I’m saying that, but all she’s been doing so far since I started playing with her hair was staring at a blank sheet.

After a long, heavy judgemental silence, she turned back to face, with a miserable expression, "I can’t write anything!!"

"Now, now, what are you struggling with?"

Sighing loudly and ungracefully, she explained, "I’ve been trying to write a story, you know, a true one, not ours. I can’t write a single letter. "

I can see that.

So far, from the day we purchased her typewriter from the old man, all she has been writing, and I can say she’s been writing a lot, were stories about our journey, nothing more, nothing less, except, maybe, that one night she was so furious about Junhua’s dragon story.

"This is driving me insane!" She lamented loudly.

"Come on, this is nothing. I’m sure you’ll be able to write more later on. It’s not like time was something we were running low on.

"Yeah but—"

"There’s no but, remember, even though your father had a lifetime to write all his stories, there is no race here for you to race."

Hearing this, she came, lying her head sloppily on the table, "You might be right."

"I am. So instead, go do something else. I don’t know. Shouldn’t you be on the mother’s side by now? " I asked.

She, upon hearing these words, looked at me with an inquisitive stare. "I attended to her this morning. She said that she would be a bit busy today. "

Well. That would explain why you're here.

"Oh, is that so?"

The mention of her reminded me of the discussion I had with "the mother" yesterday.

"Say, Ronandt," she said, in a rather serious voice.

"Hum? What is it? "

"I spoke with my aunt the other day. "

"What of it?"

"I aware of the stance and the doubt you harbor toward her, but I, not to take side, want to give her assistance in this war she’s waging," she firmly announced.

"Well, isn’t that a good thing?" I simply commented.

She looked at me with an expression saying, "Is that all?" which she in fact said.

"Is that all?"

"What, you thought you would be adamantly against it?"

Nodding, she confirmed, "Yes, I thought you would, since it was me who first said I would embark on a new journey, yet I know by doing this, I’m doing the same thing Rena did wrong years ago, meddling in humans' business."

As weird as it was for these words to come out of her mouth, I could see she harbored clear regret and shame in that regard, even though she was innocent of that part of that world’s history.

"Isn’t it just fine? I mean, I can understand why you want to do this. I mean, if we look at it from a critical point of view, just standing at my side, in my hunt for the Archbishops and the Holy Paladins, you’re already involving yourselves in human business. "

"I guess you’re right. "

"It would be very hypocritical of us to pretend we’ve not already messed with this world way past repair."

"I admit yes," she laughed, "So you’re fine if I personally get involved."

"Well, why not? But just be sure that if you ever somewhat overstep, I will make sure to rough you up back to reason. Only then will I stand against this. "

"I’ll be counting on you if that day ever happens," she smiled.

But that smile quickly faded away, replaced by an empty stare of inspiration.

"I think I need you to leave this room, Ronandt."

"Eh, but your hair, I wasn’t done braiding it."

By the time these words were out, I, too, was out of the room. "I’ll see you when I see you. Until then, you don’t knock on the door. If you do, do it in silence. "I love you, bye," she said, closing the door with a thud behind me.

I don’t know why, but with this the latter part becomes less convincing.

"Well now, where should I go now?"

I had a destination in mind, but it was still early in the afternoon, so I decided it was too early to see her. After all, I'd rather be late to that meeting than early. I wouldn't give her the satisfaction of thinking I was eagerly awaiting her response.

After careful consideration, I made my way to Maa's quartier, only to find Lidya waiting at the doorstep, seemingly expecting my arrival.

"Good morning, Lidya."

"Good morning, Young Lord."

Glancing at the door behind her, I asked, "Maa is?"

"My Lady is currently holding a remote meeting with Lord Paul."

"Paul, isn’t that..."

"My Lady’s little brother," she confirmed.

"He is also a member of the aristocracy, right?"

"In a sense, yes," she nodded.

"I see. I’ll come back later then. " I announced, but then, unable to hold my curiosity, I asked her, "Is this meeting about..."

Lydia, understanding what I meant, immediately reassured, "It’s nothing to worry about, Young Lord. My Lady is genuinely preparing to withdraw from all this. She is just making the final preparations in that regard."

"I understand. Sorry for asking. "

"It’s nothing, young Lord. I can understand your concern."

With these words, I left Lydia to once again wander around the fortress. While doing so, I, from a discreet spot, saw Aryan and Shania discussing merrily as they walked through a corridor.

While ambling toward the fortress's arena, I noticed Raziel training the children. I simply greeted him from a distance and then left.

Since I felt myself in a rather good mood and feeling that this might not look too early even if I were to go there now, I decided to finally attend the rendez-vous spot "the mother" gave me the other day.

When I had that discussion with "the mother" the other day, when I had asked her for an answer to my question, she gave me no response. Instead, she said she would tomorrow, which is today, at dusk.

It certainly wasn't dusk yet, but there was no sun around to tell me whether it was close or not, so I went to the place where she said we'd meet. The place stood in a very remote aisle of the fortress, a place I never ventured to, for I knew it was where she dwelt.

Following the instructions I was given, I was led to a clear, bright, doorless room. In fact, if it weren't for the fact that it wasn’t possible, I would’ve thought this room was outdoors.

The room resembled a guardhouse, and in fact, it very well could be one. The ceiling was of a sky-like blue color, and a similar thing could be said of the ground, for besides the green plants and multicolored flowers growing around, there were here and there large pools reflecting the radiance of the ceiling.

I wasn't told what the room would be like, but I’ve heard of this room from Nia. She did mention it more than once when I arrived at the fortress, but has never ever mentioned it since.

It's not like I couldn't guess that it was because Nia usually came here to talk with "the Mother."

"If I’m not wrong, she did mention a garden pavi–"

After a short walk in, I arrived at a pillar from which, only a few meters away, I saw a woman’s silhouette, which I was tempted to call out to, thinking it was "the mother," but it was not.

To my surprise, one of my first reactions was to move behind the white pillar so that I wouldn't be noticed. I peered toward her, saw her, and this time I was certain it wasn't the mother at all.

She was sitting on a white bench under the garden pavilion, her eyes closed, wearing the same style of black dress that "the mother" appeared to favor. Her long, lustrous black hair and her eyes closed brought me back to memories of that night.

Still, from where I stood, I saw her opening her eyes and peering toward where I was.

"Come on, you're not going to be staring at me from there forever, aren't you?" She called out in my direction.

My whereabouts revealed, I came out from behind the pillar. I stepped forth and made my way toward her.

"My, my. To have such a pretty boy peeking at me Can I assume I am still that beautiful?" she jested with a smile. "Good morning."

"Good morning. I apologize if I interrupted something. I was told to meet with "the mother" at this place."

"No worries, you didn’t interrupt anything," she casually threw, before contemplatively muttering, "An audience with her, huh? Well, as you can see, she is not around, just me. "

Was this a setup?

What am I saying? Of course it was. She was the one who gave me this place as a rendez-vous place. If she wasn’t here, then of course she’d planned this.

"We’ve never got the chance to meet, haven’t we?"

"Yes, we haven't yet.

"Would you?" she proposed, gently tapping the seat of the bench she was sitting on.

As she had suggested, I sat next to her. She stared—in fact, she scrutinized me down to the very centimeter. A moment later, she reached out with one hand onto my face, caressing the left side of it.

And the moment she did, I felt, resurfacing from my deepest self, a longing warmth that I had long forgotten.

A warmth I once felt, yet never did.

This was once again something that would've been something I would’ve been confused about if I didn’t know the truth about myself and the truth about them.

It was simply a nostalgic warmth I inherited from them, a longing for the one who bore them, the one who held them in herself for nine strenuous months.

"You have the same eyes as he."

Who else could "he" refer to but him?

"You’ve met Luke?"

"Just glimpse from a distance, nothing more," she explained, as she withdrew her hand.

I nodded silently.

"And you do really look like me," she continued.

"I… You thought so too?"

"Yes," she said, gazing contemplatively ahead. "It is strange, don’t you think?"

"What exactly?"

"The fact that I’m supposed to be your mother yet this is, truthfully, our first meeting ever. I’ve always wondered what it would be like to meet you. Would I be able to look like a mother to you? Do you think I do? "

"You do."

Uttering a small chuckle, she said, "Maybe it is you’re expecting far too little of me."

"I don’t think I was ever entitled to anything."

"Yet you were. Every child is entitled to a mother’s love. That’s how I believe it should be. Yet I gave up on you. "

"You didn’t have the choice."

"You think too highly of me. I did have the choice, plenty of them actually. "

"When you were roughly four years old, Mathilda approached me. She told me what I, for a few years, remained completely unaware of. She told me about Luke, about what I did, about you, her young Lord. I was aware that I was a mother, but I made the decision to not return to be at your side as Mathilda wished. You might consider me a mother, Ronandt, but I’m definitely not a good one. "

"It wasn’t your fault... it just befell on you."

"No, it wasn't. When I took that decision, I was already fully conscious and well aware of what was going on. "

"Then the mother—"

"She has nothing to do with that. If I did something, it would be using her and my condition as an excuse. "

She looked at me with a warm smile on her face and said, "I really appreciate how you think so gently of me, but I’m not the good and nice person you might’ve imagined me to be."

"That’s not true… At most, we both had it though."

"You’re comparing yourself, who back then was just a little child, to an adult. Let’s be honest with ourselves. I have no excuse. Even if I were to try, I know the time squandered where we should have been together has been lost forever. But, as hypocritical as it might sound, I would like to know what kind of person you’ve become, not from people anymore, not from Maa, not from her, but from you with your own words. "

Having said that, she started straightening her dress. She then, with a somewhat embarrassed expression, tapped her lap,

"I don't have much but this…"

"Do I really have to do this?" I said, slightly embarrassed by the prospect.

You don't, but please do this for me. You see, I know it’s a little bit late for this one, but I think I really own this one. This is something I’ve never been able to do for you as a child. I want to think that it’s not too late. So can you do this for me, so I’ll feel better? " She shrugged pleadingly.

I knew I was far too old for that, but with a deep sigh, I lay on my back, my head resting on her laps. I averted my gaze, embarrassed by the entire situation, as her eyes met mine as she looked over me.

"So?"

"Where should I begin?"

"I don’t know... Where do you want to begin? Wherever will be fine by me. There is so much to say, I doubt this one sitting will be enough, but as long as we try, why not? I’ll be fine with anything. "

With these words said, I started speaking.

It was as she said, just a session of this wouldn’t be enough of everything I wanted to say, so whatever I told her was just in the form of a short anecdotal story, and though I knew she most likely already knew most of these, whether from Maa and "the mother", I liked the feeling of release I felt upon telling her these parts of the story of my life.

I always wondered, being what and who I am, how I would react if I had to face their mother, who is as much theirs as mine, yet in some ways, felt less.

For me, when I learned the truth, meeting her would be so different from how it was for me to meet everyone else. She was special because of the special link she once had, though forgotten, with them.

I was expecting something from this meeting. What exactly? I wouldn't be able to tell. But though I am not sure if I did get what I was expecting from this meeting, I was satisfied with what I got.

The mere fact of merely speaking here was different from how it felt to exchange the truth with Nia, different from how relieving it felt to tell Lord Emilien I came back, different from how rewarding it felt to tell the Aubrechts I survived all of this, how relieving it was to tell Maa that I was, after all of this, finally back.

This was not a confession, it certainly wasn't, yet I felt serene speaking on so many random topics.

"That’s how we bid them farewell. They were weird people, but they were good company.

"I see. I’m glad you met these people upon your return. "

"Yeah, we do too."

Now that I think about them, I wonder how they are doing. Shawn’s house should’ve been built by now if there hadn’t been some complications.

Nah, with Elliel and the others around, I doubt there could be any complications that could get in his way.

"What is it? You’ve become so silent so suddenly? " She asked.

"I think I've been talking about myself a little too much." I pushed myself out of my prone position and sat back. "How did it go for you?"

"Aah, that. I doubt there is much I can say that you don’t already know. "

"Still, I would like to hear something, anything."

"You may say so, but..." She seemed hesitant but then narrated, "I think, I’m not sure I remember right, but the first thing I felt upon waking up was confusion. I might have forgotten everything, but I was, to a certain extent, aware of that which was missing. I believe something, a part of me, with what happened, was truly lost that day. For a time, I thought I could live up to it, but I quickly realized it was impossible.

"I understand. It must’ve been hard. "

"Well, yes, but as I said, I soon came to the realization. And that day was the day I met her.

"The mother?"

"Yes. She appeared in front of me. I wouldn’t be able to tell if it was simply because she pitied me, or because she wanted to simply make use of me, or simply because she felt kinship toward me, as she, too, was robbed of something, but she appeared in front of me. "

"She gave me, the impostor that I was, purpose. The one to avenge that one part of me that was gone. I devoted the years that followed to that fight, even going so far as to abandon my life at your side as Mathilda suggested.

"I regret not having given you the love you deserved from Barbara, your mother, but even today, as I stand before you, that which I long for is, for her and the woman I once was, justice."

"I understand."

"And you, Ronandt, what do you desire?"

"Yes. She appeared in front of me. I wouldn’t be able to tell if it was simply because she pitied me, or because she wanted to simply make use of me, or simply because she felt kinship toward me, as she, too, was robbed of something, but she appeared in front of me. "

"She gave me, the impostor that I was, purpose. The one to avenge that one part of me that was gone. I devoted the years that followed to that fight, even going so far as to abandon my life at your side as Mathilda suggested.

"I regret not having given you the love you deserved from Barbara, your mother, but even today, as I stand before you, that which I long for is, for her and the woman I once was, justice."

"I understand."

"And you, Ronandt, what do you desire?"

"I cannot speak on Nia’s behalf, but I can speak on mine. While she desires to rekindle the age of old, awakening the dragon from her parturing slumber, I desire nothing but for this world to take its natural course. "

I understand that what I and Nia are trying to do is, for humanity, the exact definition of a betrayal, but that is, for me, the natural order of things and also that which I wish for.

"I know how selfish it may sound, but I will embark on a journey with Nia. One day, Rene will awaken, and though I know I will not be there to witness it, I know that on that day, so will the Gods from their long rest. I intend to do nothing but hand them that which is theirs. To that end, I understand that a radical cleansing must be done, and it is on me that that duty befalls. "

I have made up my mind. If someone, anyone, were to not agree with it, free of that person to stand in my way.

When I glanced at her, I noticed she was staring at me silently with an expression I couldn't put into words.

"What is it?" I asked.

She announced, shaking her head and ceremoniously standing up, "On the standing of being her apostle, the vessel of her words, I have heard of your desire and wish. Having heard of it, even though she isn't present, I will share with you her response to the question you asked her the other day.