Varian spent the next two weeks understanding instead of arguing, indulging instead of resisting and loving than worrying.

Even though he had a complaints regarding their actions, if seen from their perspective, this was a fairly mild and controlled response.

Before humans came into contact with aura, they lived short lives. The highest milestone being a hundred years.

Now, imagine a young woman who deeply loved her man. And she turned into a widow at 20. And she'd wait for the next 80 years of her life, hoping for a reunion at death.

How many such stories existed in the history of humankind?

Varian couldn't count many.

And what did these girls do?

They waited for a thousand years.

Since the start of their relationship, they were already aware that he had a tendency to get himself into trouble and even vanish for a while.

But this was of simple another magnitude.

Even today, a 20 year old would not be able to wait 10 years for someone, much less 100. But they waited a 1,000 years.

Unlike Isadora, they didn't have the life experience of living centuries. They were very, very young.

Varian sometimes compared the past few week with being imprisoned in a palace built of love.

But in the minds of the three, the separation put them into prison. And it's the worst kind of prison because they had no idea if they would be able to see him today, tomorrow, the day of their death or never.

The suffering was difficult to describe and any normal human would have a difficult time understanding what they went through.

Every decision they took since his return, no matter how silly and ridiculous it seemed, stemmed from their deep insecurity that he'd once again disappear.

Why so much physical intimacy, to the point of even giving him medicine?

It was a desire or wish to have him with them all the time, at least for their bodies. And a way to convince themselves that he didn't abandon them.

Why restrict his movement to a particular area, even though it's very large?

The three of them had similar dreams of him disappearing once he vanished from their sight. This was their way of coping with that fear.

Every action, every word, every smile was done in hopes that the tragedy doesn't repeat again.

Perhaps because they sensed Varian's willingness in his actions and the understanding he displayed, the wounds began to heal and the scars began to fade.

"Oh right, do you want to see others?"

On a fine evening when they were having a picnic in the mountains, Sarah said out of nowhere.

Varian clenched his fist for a moment before nodding heavily.

Sensing the grave expression on his face, Sia rubbed his hand. "Don't worry, almost everyone is fine."

Varian's face sank at her words.

Sarah sighed and tapped her fingers toward Varian. The restrictions on his powers was lifted and for a moment, he felt omnipotent.

Isadora glared at Sia and flicked her wrist.

The world shifted and they stood in front of a small cottage house in the outskirts of a forest. There was no one living nearby.

A middle-aged woman, who looked to be in her early 30s, was taking care of cabbages in the backyard. Then, she shifted to the carrots, spinach and a few more vegetables growing in the small field.

There was no trace of aura in her actions and she was sweating lightly by the time she was done.

After she freshened up after the work, the woman laid a mat and laid down in the garden, looking at the sky in silence.

"...Secretary Alison."

Hearing an unexpected voice, she turned around.

Alison's eyes widened and she shook her head with a dismissive smile. "Am I already so old? No, no, I'm pretty sure I didn't sleep yet."

Varian stepped forward, his face downcast.

Alison didn't seem to age and her body seemed to be healthy but…the aura in her body was totally messed up, preventing her from using any power. On her neck,

there was a conspicuous red scar.

"Fuck." Varian growled.

"Can't you stop profanities even now?" She chuckled with an amused expression and patted the mat. "Care to join?"

Varian turned back to Isadora who accompanied him for the trip and glared at her, barely containing the rising anger. "I hope you have a good explanation or you'll be sorry."

Isadora's expression hardened and before she could speak, Varian was pulled to sit down.

"It's not her fault. I asked her not to heal me. They all wanted to help me out, but I remained stubborn." Alison leaned back and said with a nostalgic smile.

Varian gave Isadora an apologetic glance and she looked at him with a vengeful expression.

'Try your best to cool me down or you'll be sorry.'

'…'

Varian didn't argue after making a mistake and merely nodded. Turning his attention to the Alison, he asked in a sad voice.

"…What the hell is going on? You were a rank 9 before I left. No one could do this to you."

Alison paused for a moment before she burst out laughing. "Hahahahaha."

"It's not funny. If this happened, you could've died."

"I mean, it is funny that you still think this is the world you remember. 20,000 years is enough to change a lot of things." Alison turned to him with a smile.

"Thankfully, time in this zone flows normally or I'd have died already. Even if I managed to stay alive, I'd have been an old hag. It doesn't seem nice if the Emperor has an old woman for a secretary, right?"

The imperial secretary tried to make a joke but Varian couldn't laugh.

"I've seen explosions in a city, people were paying stupid taxes and there are big walls. What the hell is going on? Hortus wasn't like this. The bloodshed…I hate it."

"I am the one responsible, your majesty." Alison said in a soft voice. "I didn't let them intervene."

"You!"

"You don't know what they were facing…they were on the verge of going crazy." Alison said with a sad smile as she studied his face. "You should've seen their states back then…I couldn't even stand in front of them…it's crazy…I had to thank the stars for them not slaughtering everyone."

"It can't be…" Varian turned to Isadora.

The princess shook her head. "She's right. Sarah, Sia and Enigma, all of them were in a really, really, really bad mental state. The madness you saw is not even the tip of the iceberg.

Every time they woke up from seclusion and came to their senses, the situation got worse.

I don't know what would've happened if we were really called to take action.

Violence…as you know…has the quality to bring out desire for more violence. Even if I and Calamity acted, everyone in Hortus would've died once they lost

control."

Varian closed his eyes and sighed heavily. What the hell was this?

Was it really so difficult to live a thousand years apart when he lived a billion years locked away?

'No. If I didn't have Isadora with me back there, I too would've gone insane in the first few hundred years.'

"So," Varian said in a tired voice. "What happened to Hortus Empire?"