Most of the time, Athan locked his gaze at the window.

    The towering spires and a wall of nothing but glass and metal blocks that spread from end to end became an intimidating sight to him— from his view enough to reach the skies.

    Yet downwards, to his eye level, found bustling crowds that paced to and fro on the pavements, even crossing the road path; none of them dreaded from the collision as the cars stopped from the systematic beaming lights from above.

    Showing the different cars, of varying styles of color and size, he couldn''t help but get all fascinated by what kind of world he was in, and definitely so, he would want to learn more about it.

    But his thoughts came to a short end soon as Nathalie moved closer and then pressed a button near him.

    Out of all things that mused his ears, it also happened to be the most infamous one.

    Everyone went quiet from what they heard.

    So does on the other line.

    ''How bold of them…'' Athan pondered while trying to keep his cool, observing the rest inside the limousine.

    Arnold ended up coughing so hard from the wine he drank recently, which alarmed Jonathan and Daisy of what they were up to, and then a sudden rustle went abuzz to their ears.

    "M— Miss Quinn, you''ve called."

    Nathalie was making a long face, trying to hide the embarrassment before it flushed across her cheeks. Her eyes caught a glimpse of Keith, who stiffened to a shock while  Athan squinted his eyes to scrutiny.

    "Get a room…" Ashtra blurted out.

    A loud slap crisped through the air, most probably from the other line.

    ''... Now that sounds painful…'' Inwardly, Athan shook his head after hearing it because he wasn''t a stranger in that position.

    "I hope you''re not ''that busy'' for now, yes?"

    Even so, Jonathan went on after clearing his throat. "But of course, is there anything I could help you with?"

    "I was going to ask if you have already prepared some arrangements already, lest we came back sooner than later."

    "Yes, that''s what I have already asked of her to prepare, in case we''re able to go back, even if it was temporary."

    "That''s good news."

    "However, there were few that I couldn''t place because the storage capacity of the dimension pocket reached its maximum limit."

    Nathalie hummed, pouting her lips for a while before she responded back at him, "Maybe I can also ask His Highness, Athan, and father about it?"

    Right away, the two of them turned in his direction; intrigued by what she asked them, she translated it to their convenience.

    Athan nodded, and he didn''t expect that Nathalie also thought of the same thing, and Arnold was amazed by her insight.

    "That would be marvelous!"

    "I thought it might come in handy; as I don''t know what might happen in the future."

    She then went on and said that she wasn''t as knowledgeable about the prospects of the future.

    "You don''t think so?"

    "Not with Mystique scheming on something else; and this might be the last chance I''d return here…" She grabbed a handful of her leather coat, trembling, and heaved a deep sigh. "All I can do is stop whatever she planned to destroy the world."

    A pang hit his heart, which gnashed his teeth about the possibility of changing the course of the future, as Mystique tampered so much of the events happening.

    Not even the bleak future compared to what she''s doing, possibly enough to call down flames of war rather earlier than he ever prepared.

    "Pardon me for asking, but do you have any idea how she came to this world?" Athan mused at her.

    "Apparently, no. The only thing I knew was she came back from the ''Thousand Isles'' after the exile, and her sacrifice changed the tides of war."

    Arnold''s face went grim, which Nathalie also noticed, and when she contested his gaze, he softened before affirming her and shut his eyes from deep pain.

    However, Athan gave a curt nod, but the explanation was too vague; their topic reminded them about the manuscript that she has yet to show.

    "Don''t you mind showing this manuscript you spoke of before?"

    "Miss Quinn…" Jonathan trailed off his voice, which Athan also understood.

    "It''s alright. We''ve nothing to hide at this point, Jonathan."

    After which, behind Ashtra and Stravwuark suddenly opened and revealed slightly crumpled piles of paper, which the former grabbed and gave to her.

    "Oh, isn''t that what I read when we seek Keith''s fever dreams?"

    "Yes." Nathalie then flipped through the pages to skim before lending it to Athan first then Arnold.

    When it was in his hands, he trembled right off the bat.

    ''What—?! Heavens be damned!''

    The pages became so hard to take his eyes off of it while the tremors of his fingers didn''t stop him from flipping through faster than he ever read in his life.

    He couldn''t stop cursing, while it was inaudible at first, it got stronger despite being out of breath.

    ''No… No way… This— Curses! This can''t be!"

    Until the end, he was at a loss of words while the pupils in his eyes shrank for as much, and he slowed down as he reached towards the epilogue. By then, the papers almost slipped through his grasps but Nathalie was there to catch it.

    "This is…" Athan choked, pausing for a while as he gulped hard and looked at her sternly. " … What happened in the future…"

    Most importantly, he looked at it; while it was from Mystique''s perspective for the most part of the story, everything happened as is, except from ''Thousand Isles'' onwards as it focused on the war that took place, shaking the whole Dysnomia Empire.

    ''She didn''t lie..''

    Getting all impatient, Arnold then snatched it from Nathalie, reading it— in spite of reading with his eyes shaking, from left to right several times as he flipped through the pages, he bore the same reactions as him.

    Arnold was still a cold-hearted man; but now, it was always a different realm when he realized what he had to work hard on the most.

    He parted and closed his lips while he wanted to speak, but he couldn''t as he became in disbelief.

    ''So, it was my fault…''

    Dropping it to his thighs as he gripped his hair in frustration. The man ended up sobbing in silence.

    ''Damn it…'' He averted his gaze, unbearable to look at him as it almost resonated with him as well.