Elara froze upon hearing those words, but the fact that she was doing the same brought her a little relief.

Even so, the mask she had been trying to imitate from her master—or from Elizabeth, with whom she had been spending way too much time lately—cracked for a second.

"Don’t be scared," Cassandra continued. An indecipherable smile began to form on her face. "You’ll be staying with me for a while."

Her words left no room for argument; it was an order Elara would have to obey.

...

On the other hand, Cassian was still with Rosalind.

This time, the gentleness with which he treated her made him seem like a completely different person.

After the question she asked him, they talked for a long while. Although Cassian didn’t open up completely—there are memories that stay hidden and refuse to come out—he did tell her a little about why he had really "died."

Even as he told the story, though, he felt like he was lying.

"I had a long life, Rosalind. Sometimes I wish it had been shorter. There came a point when I simply wanted to start over, to see what it would have been like if my relationships hadn’t always carried the weight of thousands of people, or if they had been nothing more than an exchange of flesh."

Rosalind frowned, not fully understanding.

"But you said you had people who cared about you. I still don’t understand why you would choose to abandon them."

"I didn’t abandon them," I said sharply. "They understood it was for the best."

"For the best? What happened yesterday wasn’t ’for the best,’ Cassian. If you need something like that to feel okay, I think you should start looking at it differently."

"I just wanted you to understand what kind of person I am. Every woman I’ve had a real relationship with knows it."

"I didn’t feel like you enjoyed it... I felt like you were fighting with yourself. You should stop doing that. If that kind of relationship amuses you..." she blushed slightly, "I don’t mind giving it to you from time to time, but not because you’re forcing yourself to do it."

The last thing I needed was for a woman thousands of years younger than me to end up being my psychologist.

I smiled ironically and looked at Rosalind with a softer expression.

"Mmm..." I nodded. "From now on, I’ll definitely only do things that actually amuse me, without worrying about what others expect from me."

It wasn’t that I had really thought about that in the first place, but it was definitely something I had to start considering once we left that damned place with Xuehua.

Maybe that’s what having a meaningful relationship means, but in the end I had run away from them thinking I didn’t have any.

Rosalind laughed.

"Oh! But don’t you dare do anything like that with Margery."

I raised an eyebrow, pointing at myself in amusement.

"With my sister? Me? Never."

She gave me a light elbow to my bare abdomen.

"You know what I mean. I’d like for all of us to stay together in the future, and it’s not like Margery wouldn’t give her life for you."

"I’ll try to be honest with her someday, Rose."

I sighed and looked at Rosalind with amusement; she reacted immediately.

"No, don’t you dare. I can’t take any more, Cassian, seriously."

But now, with a clearer mind, I showed Rosalind just how much I truly appreciated her.

Although maybe we went a bit too far.

Neither of us noticed that someone was spying on what we were doing, and their thoughts were difficult to decipher.

...

A few weeks earlier, right after Cassian had fled from the carriage full of women with conflicting interests.

Fengyue immediately burst into laughter.

"Hahaha! So that man can run away like that."

Cassane didn’t seem to find it funny at all. "That man?" she snapped, clearly pointing out the inconsistency they were all starting to notice.

But then, something in the woman’s eyes changed; they became softer, more innocent.

Seraphine was back.

Their souls, which should have integrated, had decided on their own to remain separate, as if Seraphine’s determination had moved something inside Fengyue that forced her to acknowledge her as a distinct person.

"What are you talking about, Cassane? Cassian ignores you and now you’re seeing things where there aren’t any."

That tone, although more confident than usual, was clearly more recognizable.

Valeria frowned. Although she was usually quite dense about her own feelings, when something irritated her she wasn’t going to stay quiet.

"Can we stop acting like we all hate each other for a second?" Valeria intervened. "He left. He’s just a man. If we keep going like this, the whole trip is going to feel endless."

She was trying to convince herself, attempting to forget for a moment that the person she was talking about was the one she admired the most.

Morgana looked as if Valeria had stolen the words right out of her mouth, surprised that she could say something so lucid on such a topic.

Even so, for her, the phrase "he’s just a man" didn’t seem to resonate at all.

...

I look at the worlds in front of me.

Ever since I learned that Nix was on her way, I had been accelerating the recovery of my powers.

I begin to gather energy from chaos mixed with laws of destruction.

I fix my gaze on the target and direct my attack toward them.

The worlds exploded one after another, disappearing and leaving behind only a trail of light visible from thousands of light-years away.

I now turn my gaze to the world I came from.

Insignificant, I think.

But in this one, there were now people who had stopped being insignificant to me.

I look to the opposite side.

Not yet.

I clench my fist tightly. Once the women I met are strong enough, once the world I arrived in is shaped to my liking, that is when I will go ask for their forgiveness.

I shift my thoughts to what I have to do now.

A devilish smile draws across my face.

"Eleanor... I’m definitely going to have fun with you."

Then, I move my thoughts toward the person who had started all this movement in my feelings—whether the one who died long ago or the one with sky-blue eyes who wouldn’t stop trying to get close to me.

Cassane Windsteel... nothing about her attracted me, or at least that’s what I wanted to believe.

But I should also start seeing my relationship with her as a way to leave boredom behind. It’s not necessary for me to actually care about her for that...