"So you're alive all this time!" the mayor exclaimed in his gasp.

"Yes, I have been," Allister admitted with a sigh, preparing himself for what was to come.

They were back in duke Illyer's city, this time with the Illyers. What happened was the Court Wizards tried to arrange reunions between the duke's servants and their families. While that was happening, Owen and his father went with Allister to meet the city mayor and the magistrate, who the Court arranged to take over Illyer's domain via Aqua demanding it, in the city hall.

"Has your family survived too?" the magistrate then inquired.

"Yes, they are, most of my household as well," Allister nodded, pausing for a moment. "...And so is prince Albert."

In the mayor's office, the mayor and magistrate were stupefied and surprised when they entered this room after being asked for a private meeting with someone who turned out to be the duke who was supposed to be dead. As the city sort of became a hub for his father's rebellion against king Van, it was easy for Owen's father to convince them to meet an anonymous person out of the blue.

"Prince Albert too?" the mayor widened his eyes in shock. "How is he?"

"Doing well too," Allister smiled. "He and my youngest daughter, Elaine, tied the knot and had a daughter together."

"What about your eldest?" the magistrate added the question.

"Same," the duke replied. "Irene married and had a daughter with a... very wealthy man."

Very wealthy indeed. Owen glanced at his father having a wry smile and imagined him thinking exactly that.

"That is great to hear," the magistrate remarked. "And now, you have returned."

"Yes, I have," Allister nodded, but then his expression turned melancholic. "And I have noticed the city has changed."

"Indeed, it has been ever since you were gone, my lord," the mayor said in a somber tone.

Ronald had said it before when they visited this place for the first time. He said the townsfolk were generally happier under Allister's rule and were quite optimistic despite the second prince putting a lot of political pressure. Now, as Ronald noticed it, that sort of atmosphere was gone and replaced with a sense of loss because of the duke's alleged demise which was lifted somewhat by his father's rebellion stoking a sense of retribution against the new king.

"In regards to that, where were you?" the magistrate inquired. "How did you survive the fire?"

"It is a long story," Allister simply said. "But it is sir Joshua's group who rescued us at the last moment and helped us escape."

"...I see, after witnessing his valor on the battlefield, that makes sense," the magistrate sighed. By his expression, Owen imagined he and his father went way back over the years. "But why come back now? Why did you not return immediately?"

"...That is the story I have to tell."

----------------------------------------

BRAK

"Damn! Even though you saved his kingdom..!" the magistrate cursed, slamming the desk before palming his temple as he supported himself on the same desk. "So it was not just Van, but his majesty too..!"

"And it was simply an opportunity you took to come back here," the mayor sighed. "All because Joshua started his revolt."

"Yes, not only did the sting of my old friend's betrayal hurt, but I knew the moment Albert did it, he had cemented his choice for Van to be the next king," Allister added with a sad tone. "There was nothing I could do even if I reemerged immediately. I was not in a position to rebel myself as Joshua did."

For the next several minutes, Allister told them a sanitized version of what happened when Ronald and Owen's father rescued the Illyers from the fire, the subsequent proof the previous king, who was also named Albert, was in on the plot than what the public believed, and finally the new life his household led away from Kirash; all while omitting the Court and other worlds as Joshua felt he shouldn't reveal that to them yet. It was something that was rehearsed before coming here knowing it would happen.

"So will neither you nor prince Albert ever reemerge?" the mayor asked though knowing the answer already.

"We cannot," the former duke shook his head sadly. "The matter of the fact is we had still abandoned our kingdom, we have no right to simply come back and take charge after all these years."

Not only that, the Illyers were pretty much used to their new lives in Kaomagi Earth. Not only do prince Albert and the rest of the surviving Illyer household have new jobs, but some even have started families there - they simply can no longer return to their previous ones in Spiri Raia. Besides, how was Alicia's cousin supposed to suddenly be the crown princess? That would be a whole other can of worms.

"So will it still be Van's own son replacing him?" the mayor then asked Joshua who was watching the entirety of their conversation.

"Yeah, he's a good kid, nothing like his father," Joshua assured him. "A little nudging from us will make sure he'll be better than him."

After taking down Van, the plan was to ironically replace him with son, also named Van - royals do love naming their kids after themselves. In fact, one of the otome game routes was Van junior and was often seen as the 'true' route given it was the one most connected to the protagonist's backstory for obvious reasons. Of course, otome Van and Maria were first cousins and the same went here, so...

"Well, we do need to work on his self-esteem," Joshua admitted. "But eh, it shouldn't be too hard."

Another point for Van junior was that he was the second prince - worlds sure liked writing its ironies. His older brother, who already graduated from the academy, was the heir and he was as much of a dirtbag as his father, constantly bullying his younger brother to the point he became closed off and reclusive.

In the otome game, most of Van junior's route revolved around instilling confidence back into him so that he could face his brother in battle and beat him before taking over Kirash as the new king in the final part of the game. Otome Maria, of course, became the queen. Outside of his route, Van junior still ended up being king but with his issues unresolved alluding to more problems down the line.

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"So, is there really no way?" the magistrate pleaded to the former duke.

"No, there is not," Allister shook his head again with a sigh. "Besides, sir Joshua is already riding high on his rebellion. If there is an opportunity to join in, it is already too late. It is better for the Kirash people to still think we have perished."

"And we already picked up Van junior," Joshua added. "He was screeching like a cat after we more or less kidnapped him from the academy, it'll be pretty awkward if we put him back now."

It'll also be a task to do what otome Maria was supposed to do to Van junior for the entire time they were in the academy in just a few weeks at best. Not only did he almost get a heart attack when Owen's father launched the siege just as he left for the academy, but he also got dragged back to Kirash by the very same rebels and told he was going to be the next king and a legit one at that.

"Damn," the magistrate palmed his head again. "If I had struggled a bit more, would you have still stayed," he mumbled.

"Hm?" Allister hummed, catching what the elderly man in front of him said. "What do you mean?"

"...You know I was your staunchest ally during the succession war," the magistrate started. "I was proud to be by your side then and as far back as the Fichs invasion when we first met."

"Yes, I still remember seeing you for the first time," Allister reminisced. "As your forces were about to be annihilated, my father and I charged between the lines and saved you at the last moment."

"Indeed, that must be the moment when I started to follow you forevermore," the magistrate chuckled before lamenting. "Yet, as much as I like to think that, in the end, as our allies were picked off one by one, I too was pressured to back out."

"Even so, you still held out until the end," Allister consoled his old friend. "That is why I recommended you to the greater water spirit to look after my domain," he revealed.

"It was you?" the magistrate widened his eyes before a nod of understanding. "I see. I wondered why I, of all people, was demanded by lady Aquarius to take over your territory. Not that I am complaining, it was a chance to atone for my cowardice and I took it with zeal."

"And I can see my territory was taken care of with the best of your ability," Allister said. "You have my gratitude for that."

"You are welcome, my lord," the magistrate smiled warmly, though with a hint of melancholy. "Perhaps that is why I also gave you a chance, mister Ruze," he then said to Owen's father. "When you showed up in this office with the man from that merchant company stating your intention to stage a revolt, it did not occur to me to be skeptical of your claim."

"Yeah, you kinda just accept it easily. I had expected you to be more suspicious of my proposal," Joshua admitted. "Like, at least ask me if I could even pull it off."

"And you did," the mayor interjected. "While I heard there seemed to be trouble with the spirits in the war effort, you still have yet to make us regret putting our faith in you."

"Yeah," Joshua nodded. "You still won't regret it."

----------------------------------------

CREEK

"I take it you are done, Allister?" Ronald said to his father-in-law as the group returned to the Bell Branch lobby. "How was it?"

"Quite good overall, for all intents and purposes," Allister lightly coughed. "But I suppose it was not so for the others..."

All around the lobby, Owen can see the maids and butlers working in Alicia's mansion, Illyer's household servants from this world, as well as the police officers, Allister's guards, in a mixed state of emotions. Some were content while others were not so, and some were comforting others who were mourning.

"Some of them were able to have their reunions and left on both a good and bad note," Ronald explained. "But more often than not, they either couldn't find them or find out their relatives were already gone."

"I see..." the former duke muttered.

"..." Owen figured this would happen. No matter the excuse, the Illyers had still left everyone in Spiri Raia behind when they could have stayed. There were probably some shouting matches and crying among them just wanting to see their families and friends again.

And just imagining it already stung his heart.

"Right," Ronald nodded. "Irene and the others are inside, follow me."

----------------------------------------

Owen sat by the lake pier as he watched the besieged capital from afar. The Kirash capital, on an island a bit to the southern side of the great pond, was still surrounded by the ice made by his father in part of his rebellion. He stared listlessly at the entire reason Aqua hid the fact his father was here and sent him on a wild goose chase all this time.

SHIING

Owen lifted his hand and willed his loyal maneg forth, materializing his new Cherished Armament, the blue-crystal flower shield he named [What Mom Given Me]. It was quite convenient that a Court Wizard instinctively knew how to summon it after getting one for the first time and he had frequently been staring at it whenever he could. Having never known his mother, the former flower brooch was the only thing connecting him to her.

"Hey, son," a voice came from behind. Owen dismissed his shield and glanced back to see it was his father. "Lemme sit next to you," he said as he sat right next to his son. Being as tall as he was, his feet reached the water's surface as he sat in contrast to Owen's feet dangling from the pier.

They didn't say anything for a while and instead just watched the view. Owen continued to watch the besieged capital knowing what was to come. With William finalizing the plan and Alicia training with Aqua, they would soon storm the capital to purify the cursed spirits, beat Typhon, and overthrow king Van.

"Your name means 'noble,'" Joshua spoke. "Yours and Alicia's."

Owen blinked and turned his head to his father. He wasn't sure what let that on. As for what his father said, he did remembered looking up the internet the meaning of his name and Alicia's one time. Back then, the two of them thought it was a neat coincidence that their names shared the same meaning, but it seemed there was more to it.

"Ronald and I talked about what we're going to name our kids," Joshua continued, looking up to the sky. "And we decided your names will have to have that meaning."

"Why?" Owen muttered if only to continue on.

"You and Alicia were born from two parents of different worlds; this world and ours," Joshua explained. "We'd be lying if we say you two aren't special."

He heard it several times before, that his mom and dad were from two different worlds only meeting because of the Court and the same went for Alicia's parents. But hearing it again from his father, it hit differently.

"Alicia Emilia Bell and Owen Willows Ruze," Joshua continued. "Named so to honor both Emilia and your mother, and as children with noble hearts born from the most miraculous circumstances."

He had also heard this before, about Emilia Willows whose last name was coincidentally the same as his mother's without the 's'. But what did dad mean by 'noble hearts?', Owen wondered.

Joshua, knowing what he was alluding to, then smiled. "Even though I've been absent for half your life, you're still the same Owen I know," he said. "I know you have been struggling with all the bad things you've seen happening to others, son. You always had a good heart, Owen. You and Alicia."

Hearing this, Owen knew his father was right. Thinking about it, it was his determination to find his father that distracted him. Now that he found him, Owen had the time to reflect on everything he had seen for the past five years and further; from the maids and butlers back in the Bell Branch to Alicia and Rin's time as Court Wizards up until Spiri Raia to the events resulting freezing of the Vulgis volcano and finally, to the television news he watched with his father all those years ago.

And also mister Illyer and those guys at the village, Owen thought sadly. Despite ending on a good note, the orphans and director still never got to see Owen's mother again and at times he felt like they kept their surprisingly positive attitude for his sake. Then there was the magistrate lamenting Illyer and prince Albert never returning which he believed to be his fault. And it still hurts to think about-

Joshua patted his son's head, breaking his line of thought. "But that's okay," he said. "Because we are Court Wizards who have such bleeding hearts we go out of our way to help people from other worlds the best we can because we can do it.

"So don't close your heart, Owen. Keep it open to what others are going through. But don't just despair, do something about the bad things happening in front of you like you always do. And most importantly, remember you are in this together, with me, Ronald, Alicia, and everyone in the Court."

Eight years ago, Owen's father went missing. Five years ago, Owen made it his mission to find him. A few days ago, he found him. Today, he had a heart-to-heart talk with his father, making peace with everything he has experienced in his journey.

"... Thanks, dad," Owen smiled.

"You're welcome, son," Joshua smiled back as he hugged his son.