Anathasia lowered her gaze slightly, resting her chin against one finger while quietly thinking. Her eyes narrowed briefly before lifting toward Liscia once again.
"Perhaps Yukihime could handle the investigation…"
A short pause followed.
"…alongside Rania and Roselia, if possible."
Silence immediately spread across the pavilion.
Roselia's eyes widened.
Then she rapidly crossed her arms into a panicked "X" while shaking her head so aggressively it almost looked painful.
Rania merely raised an eyebrow before slowly turning toward Anathasia again. Meanwhile, Liscia sighed and looked away entirely.
Something about the name felt strangely familiar.
I tilted my head slightly before leaning further back against my chair.
"Yukihime…?"
"Who exactly is that supposed to be?"
"The Sovereign of Crystallization."
Anathasia paused for a brief second before continuing.
"Yukihime No Shimo."
A blue-haired woman suddenly manifested directly between Anathasia and me.
The sudden appearance caught me off guard enough to make me instinctively lean back slightly.
"…Who?"
The woman ignored my reaction entirely.
Instead, she calmly lowered her head toward Anathasia.
"Did you call for me, Milady?"
Anathasia instantly stiffened.
Slowly—
Very slowly—
She turned toward Yukihime with a completely flat expression.
"…Are you on speed dial or something?"
Yukihime tilted her head slightly.
Her gaze wandered across the pavilion briefly before she immediately stepped backward and bowed deeply.
"My apologies."
"It appears I arrived at an inappropriate time—"
"No, no," Anathasia interrupted while waving one hand dismissively.
"You actually came at the perfect time."
"We were just discussing asking for your assistance investigating whatever's wrong with two of Aegea's continents."
Yukihime paused.
Then slowly raised her head before looking toward Rania and Roselia seated nearby.
Roselia was still frantically signaling "NO" with crossed arms.
Yukihime silently looked back toward Anathasia.
Then nodded once.
"Understood."
"So Aegea is my next assignment."
Roselia visibly deflated.
Meanwhile, my eyes narrowed slightly.
Roselia's barely audible whisper of "No…" didn't exactly escape me either.
I folded my arms across my chest before letting out a small sigh.
"…Wait."
I glanced toward Anathasia.
"Is she the same subordinate you mentioned earlier?"
"The one who erased thousands of people in 'self-defense'?"
Anathasia instantly froze again.
She slowly picked up her teacup before casually taking a sip while avoiding eye contact entirely.
"Yukihime specializes in Crystallization," she explained carefully.
"Meaning the stabilization and suspension of reality itself."
"I figured she'd probably be useful for researching the anomalies."
"So she is the one."
Anathasia flinched slightly.
Then reluctantly nodded.
I sighed before slowly standing from my chair.
"With that said…"
"…I think this meeting's probably concluded, right?"
"Rhea's settled in now."
"And with both her and Anathasia around, I doubt we'll have to worry much about external threats anymore."
My gaze drifted across everyone seated around the table.
One by one, they nodded quietly in agreement.
Including Chi Rong Guang, who still sat beside Kagariel with noticeably restrained posture.
"I will immediately notify everyone if I detect any abnormalities both within and beyond the Ruins," Kagariel said calmly while setting his teacup down.
"I will also personally oversee Miss Chi Rong Guang's development."
He briefly glanced toward Guang beside him.
She met his gaze with something resembling admiration before quickly lowering her eyes again.
Kagariel then turned toward me and gave a small nod.
Across the pavilion, Rania responded with an oddly stiff thumbs-up.
Meanwhile, Roselia had buried her face into her hands again while quietly muttering things about catastrophes and unavoidable disasters. Liscia and Anathasia had already drifted into their own worlds entirely. Yukihime now stood silently behind them like a ceremonial attendant.
Liscia herself seemed more occupied forming some incomprehensible geometric construct above her palm.
Or entity, I couldn't really tell.
Kagariel and Guang stood first. He straightened his suit before looking toward me once more.
"Farewell for now, Mr. Kyle."
A faint smile crossed his face.
"If the opportunity arises again, I would like to learn additional tea blends from you."
A small smile tugged at my own lips.
"Sure."
Their forms slowly began fading afterward, disappearing side by side.
Rania stood shortly afterward as well.
Unfortunately for Roselia, she was immediately dragged upright by the arm despite still grumbling incoherently under her breath.
Rania lowered her head politely toward us before briefly glancing at Yukihime.
The blue-haired Sovereign silently nodded before flickering out of existence and reappearing beside the two women.
"We shall also be taking our leave," Rania said calmly while lightly pushing Roselia forward by the shoulders.
"Take care, Sir Kyle."
"And Miss Anathasia…"
After all five of them left, leaving only Anathasia, Liscia, and me behind, the pavilion fell silent.
Well, aside from the faint humming and squirming noises coming from whatever Liscia was holding on her palm.
After a while, Liscia finally spoke.
"Anathasia Veridielle Augthoria."
Anathasia glanced at her, raising an eyebrow.
"What?"
Liscia didn't answer immediately.
She simply watched the little writhing things twisting across her palm while Anathasia's face slowly lost color.
Then Anathasia immediately looked away.
"…Ew."
She covered her mouth with one hand, visibly trying not to gag.
My eyes drifted back toward the things moving around Liscia's hand.
"…That's what paradoxes look like?"
"Only their representation," Liscia corrected calmly.
"By nature, paradoxes should not even be perceptible."
She lifted one finger slightly.
"Think of it as throwing paint onto an invisible person."
"You still cannot see the person itself. But now you can vaguely perceive the outline."
A brief pause followed.
"Invisibility does not imply intangibility."
"I simply threw conceptual 'paint' onto them."
She looked back at Anathasia again, noticing she'd finally stopped gagging.
"Liscia, can you not casually show us paradox gore…?"
"Enough joking around," Liscia cut in smoothly with a sigh.
"Aegea might genuinely be in danger if those things turn out to be paradoxical entities instead of merely malformed lifeforms."
Without another word, Liscia closed her hand.
The writhing entities immediately collapsed inward before melting back into her palm.
"Just hope The Woodlands are merely localized irregularities…"
"…instead of cosmological bleeding between structured reality and unstable existence."
Liscia stood afterward before slowly making her way toward the pavilion entrance.
Then she stopped near the edge and glanced back over her shoulder toward Anathasia, a small smirk tugging at her lips.
"But knowing you…"
"I doubt you'd be careless enough to let something like that happen."
A brief pause followed.
"Otherwise, I'll personally cut your hair into a bob-cut for indirectly humiliating me."
She waved one hand lazily before fading from existence entirely.
Silence settled across the pavilion once more.
I glanced toward Anathasia. Her eyes had narrowed into horrified slits while her shoulders visibly trembled.
"…A bob-cut, seriously…?"
She sounded genuinely disturbed.
I stared at her for a second.
"…Out of everything Liscia just said, that's the part bothering you?"
Anathasia immediately shot me a glare.
I just sighed before standing from my seat.
"Anyway…"
"Shouldn't we head home already?"
Anathasia stayed quiet for a second before casually snapping her fingers and standing up as well.
"Yeah, probably."
The pavilion slowly dissolved around us, the endless grasslands fading away as the familiar walls of the living room reappeared alongside the picture frames hanging across them.
"Finally…" Anathasia muttered under her breath while stretching slightly.
Her clothes shifted moments later, changing into a loose nightgown instead of her usual attire.
"Time to sleep…"
I just shook my head before following after her.
—
The next morning.
Right after waking up, I headed straight toward the bathroom with a towel draped over my shoulder while washing my face.
Meanwhile, Anathasia wandered inside half-asleep, yawning quietly as she stood beside me and lazily splashed water against her face.
A minute later, after I stepped back out in my pajamas—
—a white cat was already sprawled across my shoulder on her stomach.
Blinking slowly.
I glanced at her briefly before heading toward the kitchen to start making breakfast.
"I want sausages…" Anathasia mumbled sleepily while hanging off my shoulder.
"…Yeah, yeah."
The pan sizzled softly while the sausages cooked.
Meanwhile, Anathasia simply stared at them with half-lidded eyes from my shoulder, occasionally blinking while letting out another quiet yawn.
A moment later, Lena walked into the kitchen while gathering her hair behind her head, just about to tie it up properly. Egrathiel followed right behind her.
I glanced back at them with a small smile.
"Morning."
Anathasia remained draped over my shoulder, which immediately caught Lena's attention.
"…Mom?"
"Eh?" Egrathiel peeked from behind her before her eyes widened slightly. "Miss Anathasia is…"
"A cat. Why?" Anathasia answered first.
She climbed up a little before somehow balancing herself properly on my shoulder while looking back at them.
Meanwhile, I continued serving the sausages onto a plate.
Lena and Egrathiel just stood there silently for a moment.
Then Lena slowly raised both hands with an awkward smile.
"Nothing…"
"Indeed… it is nothing…" Egrathiel immediately followed.
The two of them quietly backed right back out of the kitchen afterward.
Leaving me and Anathasia alone again.
She immediately flopped herself back over my shoulder afterward, quietly watching the remaining sausages sizzle in the pan with sleepy half-lidded eyes.