"You want to go on a vacation with that pervert?!"

Amelia’s face suddenly turned deathly pale at the mention of me staying a whole month in Vesperia with her sister.

"It’s just so that I can obtain the Terra-shard I promised your father. She’s helping me," I explained, but she already had a murderous gleam in her eyes.

"You don’t know Amanda. I bet part of the reason she is doing this is to embarrass me. Don’t listen to anything she tells you."

"OK."

"And don’t let her grope you. And no matter what she says, it’s not normal to take showers together."

"Huh? Did the two of you... never mind."

That was a dangerous thought. Suddenly, her murderous air seemed to be directed at me.

"Just remember your real body will be left back here with me," she warned.

"I remember this whenever we have an argument and I have to leave."

Suddenly, she went quiet, as if deep in thought, until a few seconds later she finally spoke.

"You know, after you return, I may look a bit different."

"You mean your stomach would’ve gotten bigger?"

Her facial expression suddenly dropped.

I gently took hold of her hand until our fingers were intertwined before giving her a kiss on the forehead.

"I’ll be looking forward to seeing you when I’m back."

Amelia’s face glowed bright red as I rested her head on my lap and gently stroked her hair, which caused her to become suddenly calmer, as if she had completely forgotten about me leaving tomorrow.

We spoke at length about many mundane things until her eyes closed as she finally drifted off.

As she slept, I lifted her up and carried her off to our bedroom and placed her on the bed.

After everything that happened today, I was exhausted. I was barely keeping my eyes open.

But before I went to sleep, I decided to check my email for any new messages. I had been so busy lately that I haven’t gotten the time to.

The moment I opened the email, it was flooded with notifications. Tiredly, I rubbed my eyes before clicking on the one at the top.

The email was from Alfred, with the subject being his first name written in bold.

"Ah, this is the spread sheet for my recent payments."

Seeing that it wasn’t anything that required my immediate attention, I decided to click off, but just then, something caught my eye.

My eyes widened as I blinked twice to make sure I wasn’t mistaken. The drowsiness evaporated from my body instantly.

What caught my attention and shocked me was the name of the email that I never paid any attention to before.

[email protected]

A.Steele...

A.Steele?!

Alfred Steele!

I’m such an idiot!

Alfred’s last name is Steele, making his initial A.Steele.

That’s the same name I saw in the book about the different types of magic.

The information on chaos magic came from someone named A.Steele.

I always knew that Alfred’s last name was Steele, even from the first time Amelia introduced us, she called him by his last name.

It didn’t click until now. Could they be the same person? If they are then how does Alfred know enough to give information about chaos magic?

Since there is no other information available about chaos magic, not even a mention of it in the countless other books in the university library, it would seem that he was the only one knowledgeable about this type of magic.

But how? Is he a player?

No, that would be impossible. He couldn’t be a player and at the same time run his own brokerage. He wouldn’t have the time.

Alfred was the broker for several other guilds, including Amelia’s father’s guild, along with several other top guilds.

Maybe this has something to do with it? Reality-bending magic isn’t something someone just discovers out of the blue.

Maybe he has some other connections with the game world?

Asking outright wouldn’t be a viable option. I need to figure it out for myself.

For now, I climbed into bed next to Amelia and closed my eyes as I slowly drifted to sleep.

The next morning, we gathered together to say our goodbye. Lily, Aphrodite, and Dracule would be coming with me since they also needed to get stronger.

Amelia hugged them tightly before wiping away the tears that were accumulating in her eyes.

Even though they were monsters and weren’t from this world, she had come to see them as her own children.

"Take care of yourselves, Lily, Aphrodite, Dracule. I will miss you all."

Lily looked on the verge of tears as she created a beautiful green flower in the palm of her hand and placed it in Amelia’s hair.

Meanwhile, Aphrodite and Dracule’s faces softened. They didn’t say a word, but the sadness was evident on their faces.

Finally, when she was done saying her goodbyes to them, she turned to me, causing more tears to flow down her delicate face.

I pulled her into a comforting hug before giving her a kiss. We stood together in embrace for a long while, neither of us budging, until I finally broke the hug, seeing it was time to leave.

I laid comfortably on the bed while Amelia attached the drip. Slowly, my mind began to drift off as I entered the game world, but just a split second before I was gone, I felt something soft pressed against my lips.

...

Watching the person she cared most about in the world leave, Amelia felt a pang in her chest.

She had handled it well and fought against her instincts to beg him to stay.

Still, she felt as if her whole world had packed up and left, as an unbearable coldness wrapped around her.

Unable to bear it, she climbed into bed beside him, just like she always did, and pretended to be in his embrace.

This was her secret. It was how she allowed him to leave every time without making a fuss. But now she wasn’t sure if she could sustain herself like this for an entire month.

Just the thought of it brought a sadness that crippled her for hours. She didn’t want to leave his side, eat or talk to anyone. She just wanted to sleep until this dreadful month had passed.

Slowly, her hand reached out and rubbed her stomach. This simple action brought her a sliver of joy.

"You can do this, Amelia. It’s just one month." She told herself. She then glanced down, as if talking to her own stomach. "We’ll both keep each other’s company."

KNOCK.

KNOCK.

Suddenly, the sound of the door being knocked permeated through the lonely apartment.

"Coming!"

Sighing to herself, she slowly pried herself out of bed and went to answer the door.

’Who could it be? I don’t remember ordering anything.’ She thought as she approached the door.

She found it strange since she didn’t have many friends that came over.

KNOCK.

KNOCK.

The person on the other end knocked once again, as if they were eager to get in.

Feeling annoyed, she quickly opened the door, but the moment she saw who was on the other end, her eyes widened in shock.

Standing outside was a woman carrying several luggage.

Amelia couldn’t tell the woman’s age just by looking, but she got the feeling the woman was older than she actually looked.

She was wearing a stylish red dress, along with a few pieces of jewelry that were stylish but didn’t seem all that expensive.

The woman looked at her in confusion before removing her sunglasses.

It was at that moment that Amelia finally recognized the woman, but before she could say a word, the woman spoke first.

"Is this the right apartment? Forgive me, I’m looking for my son, Liam."