Can't you remember things for f***'s sake...

The speech by the cat princess with little knives hidden in her words struck like thunder. To prevent her from continuing to speak without restraint, Leon quickly followed her, grabbing her collar from behind and forcibly dragged her back.

"No! Let me just..."

"Behave yourself!"

After giving her a good thump on the back of her head, Leon, looking at the teary-eyed cat princess who turned back to him, said with annoyance:

"If you really can't hold back and want to talk, then turn into a cat and speak!"

"Oh..."

After sobbing out a few words, the overly emotional cat princess finally calmed down a bit. She then turned into a cute little black cat as Leon requested, pouncing into the Grand Sorcerer's arms and continued to cry and lament about her longing.

Though the exact content of the cat princess's lament was so touchingly sorrowful that even the heavens would be moved, causing Leon's eyelid to twitch uncontrollably, fortunately, the Grand Sorcerer couldn't understand her cat language blabber, so the atmosphere in the small courtyard finally returned to some semblance of normalcy.

"Lord Leon."

Holding the cat princess tenderly in his arms and gently stroking her satin-like smooth back, the Grand Sorcerer with reddened eyes looked up to Leon, expressing gratitude in his eyes, said:

"Thank you, really thank you. Without you, I truly don't know if I would have ever seen Catherine again."

"You're too kind."

Having heard quite a bit about this Grand Sorcerer from the director of the Aquarius Branch, Leon couldn't help but bow a bit in respect to this reliable elder, who had partnered multiple times with the Cleansing Bureau and stood at the forefront of protecting humanity. He then said with a slightly apologetic look:

"Lord Bekinsel, sorry for interrupting your reunion with Princess Catherine, but the binding of the [Bedtime Story] is growing stronger, and the threat of the Slaughter King Association is not yet resolved. There are some things I'd like to inquire of you."

"I understand."

Hearing this, the Grand Sorcerer smiled and then gazed warmly at the face he had seen countless times, speaking kindly:

"The answer to your first question is that I don't know either... Even though I can see the future, I can only see one possibility out of countless ones, and I cannot guarantee you and Catherine will certainly be able to defeat the Narration of Nonexistence, but you do indeed have that chance."

After hearing the Grand Sorcerer's "premature" answer, Leon couldn't help but feel a slight stir in his heart.

So... I haven't even said anything yet, but you've already seen what I want to ask from the future?

"The answer to the second question is 'yes,' you don't need to speak; I can also know what you're going to ask in the future because the closer the future is to the present, the fewer the possible changes and branches, the more stable it will appear in my eyes."

Once again preemptively answering Leon's second question, the Grand Sorcerer, while gently stroking the cat princess's back, patiently explained:

"For instance, before you and Catherine entered, if I foresaw all of this and observed with all my might in advance, I might have glimpsed dozens or even hundreds of futures with slight differences.

She might choose to hesitate, you might suspect I've been controlled, the maids in the inner courtyard might pass by, the two opposing groups in the outer courtyard might cause commotion... all of these could potentially change your decision, preventing you from coming to find me immediately.

But once you walked through the courtyard gate, those vast and complex futures collapsed instantly, leaving only a dozen or so left, and when you stand before me wanting to ask some questions, all the possible futures in the next few seconds would immediately converge into one."

Seems like I understand... You can see the future more clearly the closer it is? But didn't you previously give the director of the Pisces Branch a Crystal Ball with a heap of my weddings in it? How does that...

"Those Crystal Balls recording your wedding were cherry-picked by me from countless future branches, representing the most likely and unique portion of futures.

As in the example I just gave, while there might be nearly a hundred reasons that could prevent you from coming to find me, the likelihood of most of them occurring is too low and the differences between them too minute.

Like the maids in the inner courtyard, it's almost impossible for them to stop you, and in those few futures where they do come, it doesn't matter how many come, the outcome would be the same, and it would have almost no impact on the further future."

Not giving Leon the chance to ask, the Grand Sorcerer once again preemptively answered his question and said with a mild smile:

"But you are truly special; every single one of your actions has an enormous impact on the future... I'm sorry, although the future you didn't oppose, my prophecy indeed influenced your original fate.

However, I assure you, though I did harbor some personal feelings in all this, the parts of the future I discarded would surely bring immense pain to both you and this world.

So Lord Leon, please trust me, though I made some prophecies, I did not attempt to manipulate your destiny, only gently nudged it from the side to avoid dangerous futures that would lead you and this world to tragedy, and did nothing more."

"..."

She must be telling the truth.

After taking a glimpse at the Grand Sorcerer's stable and sincere soul, Leon nodded slightly, releasing the hold of his finger from the ram horn, showing agreement with her explanation.

The Grand Sorcerer seemed to have anticipated his reaction, displaying a relieved expression even before Leon nodded, proactively stating with a smile:

"And your child... hmm... I won't reveal the name, although the name has been chosen by you, giving a name to your own child is an incredibly, incredibly joyful event for parents, and I shouldn't spoil your future happiness.

Furthermore, your child with Her Majesty Veronica, although bearing fragments of power in your bloodlines, really has some influence, but over these days I've already interacted with that child dozens of times; you can rest assured this child won't develop personality issues due to hereditary traits."

"Uh... thanks..."

Feeling somewhat embarrassed, Leon expressed gratitude, then pondered the words of the Grand Sorcerer before asking with slight confusion:

"But just now didn't you say the future holds countless branches and isn't fixed? If that's the case, the future where I have a child shouldn't be fixed either. How could you previously contact my child?"

"Because the non-fixed nature of the future is itself a kind of 'relative' non-fixed."

Sitting in a chair stroking the cat... stroking his daughter, the Grand Sorcerer didn't preempt Leon's question this time. Instead, he gently patted the armrest of the chair and then, gazing at Leon's puzzled expression, answered with a somewhat quirky smile:

"In different futures, the person sitting in this chair sunbathing may change, but the sun in the sky, in every future I can see, will always be the same sun, so no matter how the future changes, certain people and events are destined to happen...

And the child between you and Her Majesty Veronica is such a case. Regardless of who you ultimately choose to marry, there will always be a child between the two of you, the only difference is whether it's sooner or later."

"..."

(」゜ロ゜)」?!

What the...?!?!"