Evan was calmly putting the frying pans he'd finished with back into the cupboard when the sound of hurried footsteps echoed, followed by a gust of wind that swept through the kitchen.

Turning around, he saw a dishevelled Eliza, and the moment he met her relieved eyes, he spoke.

"Breakfast is ready. Come have a seat."

"…"

Eliza stared at him in silence for a few seconds before dashing across the kitchen, completely ignoring the food and wrapping her arms around him in a tight hug.

"Oh dear."

Evan dropped the napkin he was holding, turning within her grasp before lifting her and setting her down on the kitchen stool as he continued speaking.

"I hear you've not been eating or sleeping properly. Hugs are off-limits until you finish your breakfast."

He moved around the counter and sat across from her, lightly poking the area beneath her eyes as he spoke.

"You were using magic to hide your eyebags? I only cast a spell that boosted your body's natural need for rest, and the fact that you fell asleep almost instantly shows just how exhausted you were, which is strange since your life affinity should give you more stamina than most people at your level."

Eliza glanced away, her fingers tracing the edge of her plate, and for a moment, she didn't respond.

Seeing this, Evan exhaled and leaned back slightly, his gaze never leaving her as he spoke.

"I heard everything you did, and I mean EVERYTHING. Including how you overexerted yourself doing what I asked of you, and…stress—cleared dozens of dungeons."

Her lips pressed together, and though she didn't answer right away, the silence said enough. After a few moments, she finally muttered, "It kept my mind busy."

Evan frowned, resting his hand on the counter as he asked, "Busy from what? From thinking about what happened to me?"

Her hands clenched into fists, her head snapping up as she met his gaze, eyes filled with an unconcealed mixture of fear and anger.

"You got sent back in time, Evan! By who? Some goddess working with the demons?! What happened to gods being unable to interfere in Mortal Affairs?!

Clearly, that rule doesn't apply to all of them!

Everything I heard about when and where you ended up kept me awake for nights. Every time I tried to focus, my thoughts began spiralling down a hellhole of 'What Ifs'!

Do you honestly think I could've just stayed still?!"

Evan's frown deepened, his hand slamming against the table as he rose from his seat and spoke.

"You overexerted yourself as a way to cope, to keep your mind from wandering to what could've happened to me while I was gone?

Did you also NOT think about how I'd feel coming back and seeing you completely worn down?!

What if you'd pushed yourself so far that you broke, and there was no one around to stop you before that happened, huh?!"

His concern was clear in his raised tone, and Eliza went quiet for a moment at this. She soon frowned and looked ready to argue, but Evan, sighing to calm himself, lifted a hand to stop her.

"Wait, listen, Liz. I'm not trying to fault you or anything.

I just need you to understand that I was worried about you just as much as you were about me, every goddamn day.

I wouldn't have wanted to, in any way, come back and find out something happened to you because you pushed yourself too hard, or got seriously hurt while solo-clearing some dungeon somewhere because you were trying to keep yourself busy.

I don't even want to imagine that."

Taking a seat, he spoke again in a gentler tone.

"Just like you didn't want to imagine what could've happened to me, I didn't want to imagine what could've happened to you.

Did you forget we were in the middle of a battle against Fallen Deities? One of which had clearly achieved Transcendent-level power. I was worried sick!

I kept telling past Artemisia to look out for you all whenever I had the chance.

I did everything I could to keep myself fine so that when I returned, I'd be the same as when I left, without anything wrong that would make you worry even more.

I…just hoped you'd have done the same."

Evan sighed softly after he spoke, pressing his fingers to his temple as he asked in a low voice.

"I even left a video so you'd know I was okay. Did you get it early, or was it later?"

Eliza stayed silent for a while, the only sound in the room being the uneven dripping of water from the tap Evan hadn't completely closed.

She clasped her hands together, her lips pressed as if she were holding back what she wanted to say.

When she finally spoke, her voice was quiet.

"I did get the video… a little over a month later."

She paused for a moment before continuing.

"I watched it so many times I could almost hear you talking beside me. But every time I looked away, that fear came rushing back.

Trying to ignore it didn't work.

I thought if I kept moving, if I kept doing something, then maybe it wouldn't catch up."

Evan listened in silence, his expression unreadable as she went on.

"I know it was stupid. I knew I was pushing myself, but stopping meant thinking, and I couldn't do that."

Evan sighed quietly, then teleported behind her, pulling her up into a hug as he spoke softly beside her ear.

"It wasn't stupid," he said. "You were scared. You did what you thought would help you get through it. I understand."

Taking a deep breath, Evan continued.

"But you don't have to do that anymore. You need to give yourself a chance to rest properly, both physically and mentally.

I'm not going off anywhere again."

For a moment after he spoke, neither of them said anything. Then Eliza nodded slowly, leaning forward to rest her forehead against his shoulder.

"…I thought hugs were off-limits," she muttered.

"I make the rules, I can change them when I want," Evan replied, earning a small laugh from her.

Another moment of silence followed before Eliza took a deep breath and muttered, "I missed you."

"I missed you, too," Evan replied softly. "Now finish your breakfast before it gets cold. I spent extra time on those eggs, you know?"

That line elicited another small laugh from her, and though the heavy atmosphere didn't vanish, it loosened just enough for the silence that followed to feel calm instead of suffocating.

◇　◇　◇

Cabinet Meeting Room 3D

Royal Palace, Gerfast

GWE

September 13th

Year 1055

Emperor Rudeus Hayes of the Great Western Empire ran a hand through his messy short blonde hair as he pushed open the doors before him, his blue eyes scanning the room for the boy he'd just been told had returned from his journey across time.

Instead of finding the boy, his gaze landed on the boy's companions—the three Deadly Sin Demons contracted to him and his Contracted Spirits, as well as the 'Second Sword' of his Empire, Luke Bowthe, and two Foreign Royals with their guards.

The two Royals were David Thancreed, son of the 'Beast King' Kolvar, and one of the clones of Emperor Lloris Austin of Tarse, accompanied by one of Kolvar's relatives, Dandeyr, and Tarse's 'Warlord,' Isobel Salib.

'It was the goddess, wasn't it?'

Rudeus didn't need to think too hard to know who had teleported foreign royalty directly into his castle without caring about the political complications such an act could cause.

His initial shock at the fact that Evan was close enough to the Chief goddess of the most popular religion on the planet had faded over the past nine months, as she would appear out of nowhere from time to time, nearly giving him a heart attack each time.

And just as he had that thought, another foreign ruler and his second in command were warped into the room, both looking around in confusion at the sudden teleportation.

"Hello, Chief Grand Magus Gavin," David greeted the man, his calm tone helping him regain some composure as he returned the greeting.

The grey-haired old man raised his hand and pressed it to his head with a sigh, his sleeve slipping back to reveal the distinctive scar on his left forearm as he did so.

Beside him, his Vice Chief Grand Magus, Joanna Ritz, silently bowed to the other rulers in greeting before taking a seat beside Gavin.

Rudeus finally stepped further into the room and sat down, greeting the rulers whose faces had become very familiar to him over the past few months.

A bit too familiar, even.

Contact with them was unavoidable because of the smartphone project their nations were jointly developing, but the Tarse Defence Plan layered beneath that had led to even more meetings than anyone would expect.

They'd spent hours discussing everything from Tarse's operations and cover stories to countermeasures against the Demonic Hand and plans for retaliation.

'Where's Laurene?'

Rudeus had expected his daughter to arrive before him, but even though he'd been occupied with state matters before coming here, there was still no sign of her.

Not long after that thought crossed his mind, he, along with everyone else, sensed something rushing down the hallway and heading straight for the door.

Just as they turned their heads, the two doors flew open, and the long-awaited black-haired teenager leapt in with arms spread wide.

"I'M BAC—UGUF!"

His announcement was abruptly cut off as a streak of lightning shot toward him as quickly as he'd entered, colliding with him and sending him flying right back out the door and onto the ground.