At the Nexus headquarters.

Adela sat on an armchair, staring blankly at the ceiling with a lost expression.

"I think I’m going to die, Elizabeth," she suddenly blurted out. "It’s already been more than two weeks since the Master left for that legacy thing. How long could it possibly take?" She let out a heavy, anguished sigh.

"Don’t you have things to do?" Elizabeth replied, without lifting her eyes from the documents she was reviewing.

Adela frowned.

"No. Besides, I told someone to come see us today."

Elizabeth raised an eyebrow, intrigued, but at that moment there was a knock on the door.

"Miss, the Duchess Sylvia Sterling has come to see you," announced a voice that trembled slightly with nerves.

Elizabeth glanced at Adela, immediately understanding who the guest was, and ordered them to let her in. Sylvia entered the room as if it were her own office. She observed the two women with a suggestive smile and sat down in front of them with complete naturalness.

"So? What could the two women who follow that cold man everywhere possibly want?" Sylvia asked, her tone mixing curiosity and mockery.

Adela didn’t take her words well and shot her an angry glare.

"At least we’re not trying to seduce him every time we’re near him."

Sylvia let out a melodious laugh, clearly amused by the reaction.

"Duchess, forgive her," Elizabeth intervened, trying to maintain her composure. "She always has trouble taking well anything said about the Master."

"Mmm, I see," Sylvia replied, giving Adela a smile while the latter looked away, visibly offended.

Then, the duchess’s expression shifted to a much more serious one. She crossed her legs elegantly and stared at them intently.

"Well?"

Elizabeth and Adela immediately adjusted their demeanor to match her level of authority. Finally, Elizabeth spoke:

"We want you to stop trying to drag the Master into so many women. That won’t be good for him, and it won’t be good for you either."

Sylvia looked at them, raising an eyebrow in disbelief.

"Doesn’t it seem like the ones it’s not good for are you two?" she retorted sarcastically.

"I know how it may look, Sylvia, but you don’t know the Master," Elizabeth continued firmly. "Although he often seems cold, he cares too much about those he values. Even though we haven’t been with him for very long, it’s been enough. We don’t want him to be surrounded by women who only want to get something out of him."

These last words seemed to be directed straight at Sylvia, who kept her smile, though her eyes gleamed with a different intensity.

"If you’re doubting whether I care about him, there’s no need; I truly do care," Sylvia replied, maintaining that intensity in her gaze. "As for the other women... Elena owes him too much after what he did for her. Losing her parents the way she did always made it hard for the poor girl to express herself, but I’m sure she sees him as more than just the one who helped her with her revenge. And then there’s Selyne... I can try not to force that if that’s what you want."

Elizabeth kept her icy expression, not letting herself be swayed by the duchess’s reasonable tone.

"It’s not just about forcing or not forcing," Elizabeth answered firmly. "It’s about the Master not being a tool for you all to fulfill your own desires or to use him to fill your personal voids." 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

"By the way, have you heard anything from him? It’s already been more than two weeks and, even though these kinds of things usually take time, I can’t help but worry about the two young people from my house."

Adela answered somewhat irritably, not hiding her impatience.

"The Master went with them; I don’t understand why you’re worried."

Sylvia remained silent for a moment.

"Mmm, could you tell me?" She hesitated a little before continuing. "Could you tell me a bit more about him?"

Elizabeth and Adela exchanged a quick glance.

...

Meanwhile, Margery was visiting Rosalind. The latter was not in her usual state; buried under a mountain of papers and work to approve.

"Margery?" Her voice sounded hoarse. Rosalind seemed a bit sick, lying on a couch with her eyes closed.

"Rosalind! How much work have you been doing to end up like this?" Margery looked at her with reproach.

Rosalind let out a light laugh before opening her eyes and looking at Margery, who reminded her so much of someone who seemed to be avoiding her. She gave a faint smile as she replied:

"It’s just a cold. I’ll be better in a few days. More importantly... do you know anything about Cassian?"

"Still nothing. These things usually don’t last long; even if the journey takes a while, we should already be hearing from them by now."

What neither of them knew was that time passed quite differently inside a cultivation inheritance, and it wouldn’t be until two months later that they would finally hear from them.

An exhausted sigh escaped Rosalind. Although she knew Cassian would be fine—or at least she hoped so with the little she truly knew about him—there was something else that kept her restless. She frowned.

"My mother has been staying in the capital... She seemed quite worried the last time I went to visit her."

"Eleanor?" Margery asked, confused, knowing that woman never let anyone see her in a bad state.

"Mmm, I don’t know what else to do to calm her down. She’s been asking me for money—a sum that not even our father handles—and Elric keeps coming to complain about the same thing."

Margery frowned. Although she had never been close to Eleanor and even held some resentment toward her, seeing Rosalind like this depressed her. And unlike Rosalind, who could be calmer regarding Cassian, her own worry grew with each passing day.

To Margery, Cassian was just an ordinary person; the fact that he had gone with all the geniuses of the empire to such a dangerous place terrified her.

After what had happened in the alley with Pradiles’ people, she had become much more aware of everyone’s safety.

...

BOOM!!! CRASH!!! SMASH!!!

The sound of a marble table split in two and priceless vases shattering against the walls echoed throughout the private wing of the palace.

The guards at the door didn’t even dare to breathe, knowing that entering at that moment was a death sentence.

Rose stayed hidden in a corner, internally praying that they wouldn’t notice her.

The empress was losing her mind; she looked as if she were going through withdrawal from some dangerous drug and could no longer bear it.

After there was nothing left to break in the room, Caelia seemed to regain her composure, as if she had vented enough.

She sat down calmly at the only table that remained intact.

Rose immediately understood that the outburst had passed and called the maids to clean up the mess.

At the same time, she approached her mistress and asked fearfully:

"Your Majesty, would you like me to find someone for you to spend the night with?"

Caelia looked at Rose with sudden fury, as if she were about to hurt her just for suggesting a substitute. However, the anger vanished as quickly as it had come.

She lowered her head, dejected, and asked in a voice full of anguish and longing:

"Rose... how much longer? How much more do I have to wait for him to come see me?"