CHAPTER 36 - ELISE AINDREA P7

~36.7~

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“To think you, of all people, would become her mother here.”

“Me?” Atalante asked. “What do you...” She stopped abruptly and held a hand to her head. She held on to the table with her other hand to keep herself steady. Sanae appeared next to her, and enveloped her in rainbow mana.

“Don’t fight it. Let the memory play out in your mind.”

“What is this memory? I’m having an afternoon tea with Kye and Alethea... no, Elise and Maya. They’re wearing the uniforms those two were wearing from the Aristide Academy in Gallia. There are two blonde girls, twins, there as well. I already know that I had met them in the living world, but... was I?”

“At the time in the story, Crown Princess Eglantine Gallia,” Sanae confirmed.

“The memory stopped.”

“It’ll come in time if you want to remember.” Sanae dispersed the rainbow mana after Atalante calmed down. “Whenever this happens, let it play out and breath.”

Lanti looked at me and asked, “Is this what you went through? When your memories were still sealed, during your first year at the Royal Academy, you once keeled over in pain in the council room.”

I laughed dryly. “It was a little different for me, but essentially, yes.”

“Except for you, it was twenty-three worldlines worth of memories coming all at once. I can only imagine how bad that was.”

“It was awful. But anyway, yes, you were Eglantine.”

Atalante smiled. “So that’s why the scene felt so familiar. I was thinking she handled it the same way I would have... And now the girl who was my friend back then is my daughter now.” She glanced at Alethea, who gave her a warm smile.

“Funny how things worked out, eh?” Alethea said. “I wouldn’t change anything.”

“When did you figure it out?”

“When I casted Eye of Providence last year trying to find Rei.” Alethea grimaced at the memory. “I couldn’t peer into souls at the time, but after Mavel played around with my DNA... I regained the rest of my abilities. I could only see into souls with Eye of Providence until then... and although you weren’t there at the time when I casted the spell, the effects of world magic linger for a while afterward. You heard the prayer and came right away. You arrived soon enough that I could see your soul for a brief moment. I recognized you as Eglantine, but Shi-chan didn’t have her memories yet, so I kept that to myself.”

“You didn’t have to keep it to yourself very long. Less than a year,” Michelle said.

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Alethea smiled apologetically. “Right. And I suppose you knew the first time you met her. You were always able to see into souls. You recognized every one of us at a glance.”

“I can’t see nearly as deeply now as I could back in the Transcendent World, but yes, I recognized Eglantine immediately.”

“You are also Transcendent?” James asked.

“As am I,” Adele said, lazily raising her hand without raising her arm.

“I am, as well,” Luma added.

“That explains your attachment to Elysia.”

Joey stopped drinking from her milkshake for a moment and added, “I am, too. I came here to be mom’s blade.”

I smiled at the thought. Yeah, although I was exiled, they still followed me here. I shook my head. “Anyway, the question was about how long I’ve lived. Each worldline has been seven hundred trillion years, give or take. In Alpha, Sanae and I were still whole until I started transmigrating. The time we begin transmigration is at the six-ninety-five trillion year mark. And that lasted around five trillion years. Every worldline ended here in Atlantis for one reason or another. We have so far averted all twenty-three regression points.”

“Before coming to Elysium was our life in the living world. Eighteen years in Aindrea and two years from the start of the academy to the World Tower. That’s when we founded Alexandria and created Elysium, Tartaros, and Eden.” I paused for a second, not realizing my face gave away my annoyance.

“What’s the matter?” Layla asked.

Realizing it, I laughed dryly. “You know what? I’ll tell you one thing about the Transcendent World. Its name is Eden. I named the celestial prison after it in a fit of rage. Maya, Adele, and Adara tried to talk me out of that briefly, but gave in when Luma said-”

“‘No, they deserve it for what they did to Elysia!’” Luma proudly quoted herself.

“You said that, and we agreed wholeheartedly,” Adele said with a shrug.

“Yeah, f*** ‘em,” Michelle said. The entire room looked at her. She crossed her arms and added, “I said what I said.”

Half the room chuckled at her and some giggled to themselves quietly.

“I can’t imagine what will happen if we ever go back,” Alethea said. “Shi-chan, you know it’s going to be bad.”

“If,” I emphasized. “I have no desire to go back where I’m not wanted. But if we do...” I didn’t bother to hide the anger on my face. I sighed after a moment. “They’re not worth the breath to even say what.”

“I dare not think about the hell you could bring if you set your mind to it,” Allison said.

“Yes, well. Anyway. Continuing. We maintained our identities in Gallia. The world at large didn’t know Elise Aindrea was Elysia Alexandria. After that, we lived a while in the living world. I was Crown Princess of Alexandria until I finished school as Elise Aindrea. I finished the academy at age twenty-five. Then I was crowned King of Alexandria. At thirty, the war against Phantom began in earnest. Until then, it was a pretty much a standstill at the frontlines on the other continents. Three years in, and I confronted him myself. He fled, after realizing he could not win.”

“Where did he go?” Layla asked.

“We followed him into Elysium, leaving Mavel and Xera to maintain Alexandria. Until then, Zalen was The Primordial, but Xera took over that role soon after I established Athas. We’ve been hunting Phantom ever since. He’s quite good at hiding, so it’s been difficult. Seven years have passed in the living world since then. The worldline resets don’t affect the living world directly. They’ll see all twenty-four regressions at once from the system monitor.”

I looked back at James. “So there you have it. Thirty-three years in the living world, seven years of living world time in Elysium, though that seven years was twenty-four sets of seven hundred trillion years. However, if I include the Transcendent World on top of all of that, my time in this world has been but a drop in the bucket. I won’t bother with a number.”

“I see...” James said.

“Something doesn’t add up to me,” Layla said. “The whole thing about Eve having conditions for you, and-” she glanced at Mavel.

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Revision: 2025-2-7