Chapter : 1391

When they finally reached the outskirts of the capital, Lloyd sent a coded message to King Liam. He met the King's envoy in a secluded inn. The envoy brought a royal decree.

"The King grants custody of the Artifact 'Golem Heart' to Lord Lloyd Ferrum for indefinite study and safekeeping," the envoy read. "The Museum of Ramos has been compensated with a very large donation and a statue of the King."

"Perfect," Lloyd said, signing the receipt. "Tell His Majesty I said thanks. And tell him I'll explain the 'giant laser' thing later."

With the Heart secured in his personal spatial inventory (which he opened discreetly), Lloyd felt a weight lift. Elisa was safe. She would sleep in his pocket dimension, suspended in timeless white, until he could figure out a way to help her properly.

"Now comes the hard part," Lloyd said to Mina as they climbed back into their carriage for the final leg of the journey.

"The debriefing?" Mina asked.

"No," Lloyd said. "The truth."

The carriage rattled along the cobblestones leading back to the Ferrum Duchy. It was evening, and the lanterns of the capital were flickering on, casting long, dancing shadows inside the cabin. It was a romantic setting for a conversation that was about to be anything but simple.

Lloyd sat across from Mina. He watched her. She was looking out the window, her profile sharp and intelligent against the passing lights. She sensed his gaze and turned, her eyes meeting his with that probing, unyielding intellect he had come to rely on.

"Mina," Lloyd said. His voice was rough. "I need to tell you something. About me. About... everything."

"You have secrets," Mina said softly. She didn't look away. "I know. The 'White Mask'. The strange knowledge of machines. The words you use that do not exist in our dictionaries. You are not just a clever lord, Lloyd."

"It's more than that," Lloyd said. He clasped his hands together to stop them from shaking. "I'm not... I mean, I am Lloyd Ferrum. But I am also someone else. Or I was."

He took a breath and jumped off the cliff.

He told her about Earth. He told her about KM Evan. He told her about a world of steel cities, flying machines, and wars fought with buttons instead of swords. He told her about living eighty years, about becoming a Major General, about dying of old age and waking up in the body of a nineteen-year-old boy.

Mina listened. She didn't laugh. She didn't call for a healer. She sat perfectly still, absorbing the impossible story with the mind of a scholar who had just found the missing piece of a universal puzzle.

"That explains... so much," she whispered. "The rifles. The soap. The way you look at the world like it is a machine you can fix. You are an old man in a young body."

"Thanks," Lloyd grimaced. "I prefer 'experienced'."

"And Rosa?" Mina asked, her voice tightening. "Where does she fit into this? Why do you treat her like an enemy when she is trying so hard?"

Lloyd looked down at his hands. This was the hardest part. "Because I have lived this life before, Mina. Not the Earth life. This life. The life of Lloyd Ferrum."

He explained the concept of his regression. He told her about the first timeline, the one where he was weak, the one where he was the 'drab duckling' who died at twenty-five.

"In that life," Lloyd said, his voice cold, "Rosa was a spy. She worked for the people who killed my family. She watched me die. That is why I cannot trust her. Even if she is different now... I remember the knife."

Mina looked horrified. "And... me? Where was I in that life?"

Lloyd looked up. His expression softened, filled with a complex, aching nostalgia.

"You were there," Lloyd said gently. "In that first life... when I was weak, when I was alone, when everyone mocked me... you were the only one who saw me."

He reached out and took her hand. "You were the first person I ever truly loved in this world, Mina. You were the first person I had a... physical relationship with. We found comfort in each other when the world was falling apart. You were my sanctuary."

Mina’s breath hitched. She stared at him, her eyes wide. She was hearing a memory of a love affair she hadn't lived yet, but her heart seemed to recognize the truth of it.

"That is why you looked at me so strangely when we first met," she whispered. "You were seeing a ghost."

Chapter : 1392

"I see ghosts everywhere," Lloyd admitted. "Airin... the scholar at the Academy... she looks exactly like my wife from Earth. Anastasia. Seeing her was like seeing a dead woman walking. It broke me for a while."

Mina squeezed his hand. "So... am I just a memory to you? Am I just a replacement for the Mina you lost?"

"No," Lloyd said firmly. "That's what I needed to figure out. In Ramos, in the jungle, on the mountain... I wasn't looking at the past. I was looking at you. This version of you. The scholar who jumps off walls. The woman who throws jars at gods."

He leaned forward. "I don't love you because of what happened in a dead timeline. I love you because of who you are right now. You are my partner. You are the one who stands beside me when the world is ending."

Mina’s eyes filled with tears. A single drop rolled down her cheek. "Lloyd... this is a mess. You are married to my sister. You are engaged to a princess. We are in-laws. This is... forbidden."

"I know," Lloyd said. "Society would destroy us. Your father would declare war. My father would probably just sigh and add it to the list of catastrophes."

"But I do not care," Mina said fiercely. She wiped the tear away. "I do not care about propriety. I care about us."

"I want to be with you," Lloyd said. "Properly. Legally. I want to marry you, Mina. Not in the shadows. I want to stand in the light and tell the world that the Scholar and the Soldier belong together."

"But we can't," Mina whispered. "Not yet."

"Not yet," Lloyd agreed. "I have to fix this. I have to deal with Rosa. I have to navigate Amina and the Sultan. I have to win this war against Firefly. But I will fix it. I am an engineer. I solve problems."

The carriage began to slow. They were arriving at the fork in the road. One path led to the Ferrum estate, the other to the Siddik manor.

"We have to separate," Lloyd said, the reality of their situation crashing back in. "It's safer. And we have to keep up appearances until I can clear the board."

"I hate appearances," Mina said.

"Me too," Lloyd smiled sadly.

The carriage stopped. Lloyd opened the door and stepped out into the cool night air. He turned and offered his hand to help her down.

They stood in the shadowed street, the silence of the sleeping city around them.

"Promise me," Mina said, gripping the lapels of his coat. "Promise me that this isn't just a story from a dead life. Promise me we will find a way in this one."

"I promise," Lloyd said solemnly. "I crossed time and death to be here, Mina. I think I can handle a few lawyers and a King."

He leaned in. She tipped her head back.

They kissed. It wasn't the desperate kiss of fugitives running from the law. It was a seal. It was a promise. It was soft, lingering, and full of a desperate hope. It tasted of the future they were going to build.

When they broke apart, Mina looked breathless. Her cheeks were flushed. "Okay. That was... a good promise."

"Go," Lloyd whispered. "Before I do something stupid like kidnap you and run away to a desert island."

Mina smiled, a brilliant, genuine smile that lit up the dark street. She touched his cheek one last time, then turned and climbed into a waiting Siddik carriage that had been arranged to take her the rest of the way.

Lloyd stood there and watched her go. He watched until the carriage turned the corner and vanished into the night.

He was alone again. But he didn't feel lonely. He felt focused.

He had the Golem Heart. He had the knowledge of the enemy. And he had the love of the woman who had been his first true connection in this world, in this life and the last.

"Alright, Firefly," Lloyd said to the night sky. "You want a war? You got one. You want to play god? Fine. But I have a very big hammer, and I have a lot of motivation."

He turned and looked toward the Ferrum estate. The lights were on. Rosa was there. His parents were there. The complexities of his life were waiting for him.

"Time to go home," Lloyd muttered. "And explain to my other two wives why I'm late for dinner. That should be... fun."

He adjusted his coat and began the long walk up the driveway. His shadow stretched out long and sharp under the streetlights. The battle for Ramos was over. The battle for his life—and his heart—was just entering the next, and most dangerous, phase.