First of all, allow me to apologise for disappearing for a while, especially since I made a big deal about trying to be consistent with my uploads and attempting to build readers' confidence in my schedule. Since I don't expect too many of you to care about the reasons for my absence, let me just say upfront that I'll be uploading a double chapter by tomorrow. I’ll also be working to make up for the missed uploads.

Now, for those of you interested in the reason behind my vanishing act…

For the longest time, I just wanted to apologise for disappearing and move on because I didn’t want to sound whiny or, worse, like a liar. But I decided that those of you who trust me with your time and attention deserve at least some explanation.

While I did have some issues with the power supply in my building (due to repair work I mentioned at the end of the previous chapter), that alone would have, at worst, delayed my upload schedule by a day or two. What really disrupted things was an unannounced family visit. (The "look out the window, SURPRISE, we’re here!" kind of abruptness.)

My aunt, uncle, and their kids showed up. Since I live by the sea, have room to spare, and it’s the middle of a very hot August, I suppose I should have expected something like this to happen. While juggling my day job and writing was doable, having four additional people demanding my time was a real challenge. I decided I was going to push through it, regardless. After all, they need to sleep, right? I figured I could sleep right after work and do my writing at night. Well, nice try, but no. My little cousins didn’t appreciate my attempts to be boring and sleep while they were awake and unentertained, so they made sure I couldn’t. And my attempts to sneak in some night-time writing caused even more drama, because the incessant clicking of my mechanical keyboard kept the kids in the next room awake. To make things even more ridiculous, my aunt, aware of the chaos they introduced into my schedule, took it upon herself to keep the place clean. Only… the first time she decided to vacuum, she unplugged my PC’s extension cord and erased over a day’s worth of unsaved work. You should have seen my face when I found out.

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

Anyway, I expect this is far from the last curveball life will toss my way, so now that things are back to normal, I’ve thrown myself into writing with renewed zeal. None of these issues would have happened if I had a healthy backlog to draw from, so that’s what I’m working on right now—writing like mad. There’s some more good news: obsessing over the writing I wasn’t able to do gave me plenty of time to assess and reassess some major plot points in the upcoming arcs. I ended up having a major lightbulb moment.

I’ve made some significant shifts in how certain things are going to play out, and I’m very happy with them—I hope you will be too. I’d be spoiling future content if I elaborated, but rest assured, I’ll cover these points in the notes of future chapters when talking about them is no longer a spoiler risk.

Once again, thank you for sticking around, and I’m sorry for the gap in posting. I’m taking real steps to ensure it doesn’t happen again. Have a sunny day, everyone, and I’ll see you tomorrow with some fresh content!