Athan was back to his room, standing and overlooking the wide windowpane that has a beautiful view of the tall skyscrapers and buildings that eclipsed the golden radiance of the sun that smeared the tangerine skies.

    Marveled from the sight, he realized that this was what Mystique planned all along, and even for the short duration of his stay here, he realized how strong and advanced the world he was in right now.

    The development alone paled the Dysnomia Empire in comparison.

    Even after the decade war and reclaiming the territories from the long bloodshed, the progress had yet to set a foothold; even the crazy inventions were still in their basic form.

    While this was a good opportunity, he pondered for quite some time with the main concern inside his head.

    ''Does this mean Violette came and lived here for quite some time now?''

    Crossing his arms, he reached for his chin to a scratch, trying to recall and think deeper about how he would be able to connect what he knew from the truth that was revealed to him earlier.

    The lady, Nathalie, in front of him earlier was none other than the sole creator of the world.

    He couldn''t help but come to a deep realization; even his omniscience was nowhere near from such comparison.

    Quite arrogant and fresh from him to think that she was on the same level as him; after all the speculations— especially from the golden light incident.

    A myriad of thoughts came into his mind, but a few stood out.

    "Even so, I saw her heart wavered a little as though she acted that it was on behalf of Mystique''s feelings..." he mumbled. "I should''ve asked more..."

    A beet-red flushed over his face when he realized what he did to her, for better and for worse— even the recent, intimate moment he had with her.

    If not for Mystique that lingered within her, then things might''ve changed, even when the curse was there.

    He shook his head, almost close to throwing his head off elsewhere for a while before he heaved a deep sigh.

    Somehow, he lurched from his stead when every furniture and even the walls and ceilings danced, spiraling out of control.

    ''Ugh, why did I do that? It didn''t help at all.'' He scratched his chest from the sudden onset of burn he felt, especially the disappointment he got.

    Thinking he had no choice either Mystique or Nathalie hurt him so bad.

    Athan now went into a tedious pace, walking back and forth as he continued to ponder.

    With the help of Arnold, somehow it shed a light on the confusion he had from the side of their story.

    Mystique performed a forbidden curse, tiers higher than the ''Fever Dreams,'' which wasn''t only hidden but destroyed in the world of wizards and witches.

    There had been a lot of forbidden arts, and they were called as such because they don''t require an amount of mana like the rest of magic found in the world.

    But the forbidden arts mentioned required not only mana but also several artifacts and live sacrifices.

    The image of Arnold breaking down while choking his words that her sole daughter, Mystique, sacrificed herself to achieve what she wanted. He propped his forehead on his clasped hands like he didn''t want to look at any of them.

    ''She went too far...''

    Her ambition knew no bounds.

    Alas, Arnold was beyond ashamed.

    He mumbled he was the one to blame for what happened to her.

    For Mystique, as much as Athan pondered in good conscience and good faith, never changed and only got worse.

    He halted his steps, clenching his fist.

    Her desires never stopped there, when she went beyond, in which not anyone had known ever since.

    Although amidst it, Arnold''s question raised some concerns, even to him.

    ''He said about how she got the idea of this kind of curse?''

    Athan couldn''t help but go along with his train of thoughts, even Arnold attested not an ounce of kept information nor in the Imperial Vault contained such a message.

    There were strict standards held for every practitioner of magic; as much as about people being the empire''s most natural resources were concerned, having grave punishment was an understatement.

    Albeit Arnold mentioned that even if she sacrificed herself, it was still not enough— To challenge a Goddess, and imprison her in the world she created.

    Something else took place.

    ''Great sacrifices… Great sacrifices… Great sacrifices…'' Those words became a mantra in his head, and he scratched his scalp hard from utter frustration. ''While I know she would do some secret shenanigans, just what was Mystique into some bat shit crazy then?''

    Ashtra knew about so many spells, but Arnold denied that part— there was no way such an arrogant creature like him would be that willing, and her daughter had a mutual feeling.

    Even then, the ''Frost Wyrm'' neither witnessed nor learned about this side of her, he already saw her when she was young so he knew who she was then.

    ''Which means she never asked for help from anyone I know of the future then…''

    While it was the side of Ashtra and Arnold, he also considered what Nathalie and Jonathan had experienced.

    Undeniably so, another innocent life got taken; with Jonathan, he now played an important role in the world like he was a resident there in the first place.

    His gut instinct was right all along, he knew about that, which was odd. Everyone except him and her had the same notion, even if she was the Goddess.

    Somehow, what happened since the Auction gave him an epiphany.

    ''I suppose I overlooked her change, especially when she went into that luggage. I should''ve known better…''

    Even then, Nathalie wanted to deny being called a Goddess or the like.

    It was the first time she had opened a difficult topic to them; especially whenever she was in her sleep, a bombardment of scenes came into her head— she was also a viewer and knew what happened in their world.

    Only she was at peace when she finally wrote them.

    ''She didn''t lie… I give her that— But I can''t connect it, more so to Violette''s case…"

    Apparently, Jonathan chimed in that they already realized too late that Mystique could intervene once again; even if they didn''t know the exact formula, such a thing took a toll on her body and she would need to recover.

    ''Though she mentioned another manuscript…''

    Mystique became the problem and was the unfinished business, and until then, Nathalie and the rest would look for a solution.

    ''Great sacrifices… Great sacrifices… Great sacrifices…''

    Unbeknownst to him, the door opened, and only he snapped in his thoughts when Nathalie called him out.

    "Keith is already awake.. Let''s go."