"Your mom is actually my mom too. Before you came here, I was scared to help much 'cause I didn't want to change history. But now that's not a problem anymore. For sure I'll take care of mom a bit!"

Even though Cylaren didn't say it straight, the meaning behind her words was clear.

"So every time I went to see my mom, you knew about it?"

Cyra finally realized what was going on. Her face turned sour.

I just remembered too - Cyrae and Cyra had this complicated relationship. Maybe when Cylaren parked that fancy car at the school gate, it wasn't just to pick up her great-granddaughter.

"I was wondering why a mysterious girl who looked just like me suddenly showed up near mom. I even thought it might be some Miaten Group trick. Only today I found out it was you!"

Just as expected, Cylaren then spilled all the details about Cyra's time with her mom. Seems like Cyra's secret actions weren't so secret after all.

"Don't worry, even when you're not with mom, me and the main body won't try to steal your good daughter spot, Miss Community Volunteer!"

Seeing Cyra looking all shocked and awkward, Cylaren added one last burn.

"Why are you still sitting here? Didn't her mom leave for the meeting long ago? If you don't go now, you'll definitely be late!" I could see the veins popping on Cyra's forehead. Worried she might explode right in the car, I quickly stepped in to smooth things over and hinted for Cylaren to leave.

"That's the good thing about having a clone! You can get lots done without doing it yourself, but it's almost the same as doing it yourself." With a string of light giggles, I watched the fancy car slowly drive away. All that was left was Cyra's angry cursing.

"Tch, think you're so great 'cause you're rich? It's just a clone, acting all high and mighty. Don't forget me and your boss are the same person. Even the real one has to show me some respect! One day when you get taken back, you'll be nothing!"

"Uh, being rich is pretty great in some ways. But we're not short on money now, so it doesn't feel like such a big deal anymore. But if we could have clones too, that would be really awesome!"

They used to be the same person, I don't know why she's still competing. I tried to reason with her. Suddenly meeting Cyra's angry glare, I quickly jumped far away into the air.

It looks like Cyrae's story really shook her up. Even after we went to the police station together to leave a goodbye note for Raydwin, Cyra still seemed down the whole flight to the H-country military base. This was totally different from her usual hot-tempered self.

The stuff that happened after we got to the base was pretty boring. We had to go through all the same procedures as before. After Cyra finally got through all the base's checks and questioning, on the second morning, we were ready to openly return to the other world with the imperial delegation.

"I heard this space portal will stay open for a while longer. Do we really have no chance to come back to Earth?"

A big crowd was standing in front of the gate built for the portal, waiting for the time. Cyra suddenly came close and asked me, sounding reluctant to leave.

Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.

"You having second thoughts?"

I glanced at her sideways. Of course I knew why she was asking.

"It's not that I regret it... just feels like the two worlds aren't going to be totally cut off right away, so... uh... never mind!"

She hemmed and hawed for a while. Anyone standing nearby could pretty much understand what Cyra meant.

"Don't worry! Since Earth is still under threat from vampires, Feliciana already used that as an excuse to get permission from the H-country military for friendly visits to Earth! And since you're also a six-winged angel, she added your name to the list last night!"

Unable to keep hiding it, Adrian finally told her about my follow-up plans.

I was actually planning to tell Cyra about this after we got back to the other side, as a nice surprise.

"That's great! So we don't have to leave Earth with them right away?"

Of course Cyra was super happy to hear this. "Them" obviously meant Katarina's imperial delegation not far away. There were about a dozen people total, each dragging one or two huge suitcases filled with all the stuff Katarina bought yesterday on the walking street.

This visit was pretty successful for the empire. Not only did they sign a ceasefire treaty with H-country, they also set up all kinds of future trade deals. This was definitely great news for both sides.

Of course, everything depended on the space portal staying stable. Even though Reed and I already warned the H-country higher-ups that the portal might shrink and close in the future, since it stayed open, the military brass probably won't change any policies based on a few words unless the portal starts acting weird.

"We still need to go back first, because I have a lot of things I need to figure out on the other side!"

Watching Katarina's group looking all triumphant and excited like they just won a war, I shook my head and shared my next plans.

Actually, since we already got Cyra permission to pass through, there's no real problem if she wants to stay on Earth for a while. But the main reason I want to keep Cyra with me is in case something unexpected happens on Earth and they need her help. With her current abilities, she might be okay dealing with some vampires, but she'd have a hard time against the high-level monsters hiding behind.

As for me, the first person I need to visit when I get back is definitely Galadra. The big question of exactly when the space portal will close is super important. It affects the future of both worlds.

Also, Elara is probably waiting for me to report on this Earth trip. Considering what happened with the parallel world Cyrae, should I tell her about that part?

"Warmly send off the Ilandra Dominion Empire delegation on their return!"

While I was still unsure, the scheduled time finally arrived.

But before that, we still had to go through the whole farewell ceremony that the H-country government prepared at the gate.

First the honor guard in charge of the send-off took the stage. Then in a familiar melody of instruments, Katarina went up front as the empire's representative. She held the mic and gave a goodbye speech, copying what she'd seen others do. Then it was the H-country leaders' turn to give speeches...

"So boring, I'm about to fall asleep. When are they gonna open the gate? Why do you have to do all this fancy stuff? It'd be so much easier to just go invisible like you and Adrian did at first!"

Cyra yawned and couldn't help complaining. Unlike Katarina and those experienced imperial diplomats, us three "extra personnel" standing in the entourage were bored to death. We couldn't even move around freely without messing up the empire's neat image. It was really frustrating.

"No choice. The space portal's acting weird, so we can only know what's really going on with it by directly dealing with the H-country military that controls it! Plus, even though sneaking through invisible does work, I can't guarantee we'd get past the tight security every time. Instead of risking conflict if we get caught, it's better to set up proper cooperation with the military early on."

I was also super uncomfortable standing there. I could only quietly answer Cyra's question so she'd understand what was at stake.

"Wayne Peng told me to remind you guys to hang in there a bit longer. The farewell ceremony will be over soon. Whatever you do, don't let the higher-ups notice you're here. If anyone starts asking questions about how you snuck in, it'll be big trouble. The whole base would probably get in hot water."

Just then Reed came over. Unlike us, she was officially invited to come along. She didn't have to suffer like us, mixing in with the followers to avoid being spotted by the leaders.

But right at this crucial moment, a series of sharp gunshots suddenly rang out from the base buildings behind us. There were even occasional explosion sounds mixed in.

Everyone on stage and off, including the leader in the middle of his speech, all froze. Everyone turned to look where the sounds came from.