Anthony continued to sit in silence as he stared at the ceiling. He understood everything Vega had said. In some way, he was just another version of Klaus, an upgraded version that allowed her to fight but did not allow her to experience the True Danger that came with it.

Yet, despite all of this, Vega still sat at the Apexus Mana Rank with quite a bit of combat experience... but as for everything else... she lacked in those areas. There were experiences that strength alone could never provide, lessons that could not be learned from safety, and truths that could only be discovered when one stood alone against an uncertain future.

To Anthony, if Vega didn’t want to follow him, that wasn’t a big deal; he could just follow her to her own Galaxy, but he knew she wouldn’t want that. Even if he promised her to stay far away and never show himself... which might work because he wouldn’t immediately be as powerful when he got there.

More importantly, he knew Vega well enough to understand that such a thing would defeat the entire purpose of what she was trying to accomplish.

Anthony blinked in thought. He had once heard a saying back on Earth; If you love someone, set them free.

Anthony felt like punching whoever came up with that saying at this moment. Such words made it sound like the relationship he was in with Vega was a cage. It made it sound simple, as though letting someone go was an easy choice, when in reality it felt like trying to tear away a piece of his own heart and pretending everything was fine.

Anthony’s heart tightened. What was he supposed to do...? Just send her away? Agree with a loving smile?

But even if he refused, he had no right to impose his decision on her. Vega was her own person. Even if he disagreed for various reasons, Vega could still decide to go through with her own plans. No matter how much he cared about her, no matter how much he wanted to keep her safe, he could not make her decisions for her.

A relationship wasn’t ownership, and love wasn’t a set of chains.

Anthony couldn’t help but give himself a self-deprecating mental sigh as something else occurred to him. Just yesterday, when he was showering, he had been busy thinking about how Aaaninja and Lucian were going to handle their girlfriends and how he wasn’t going to interfere.

Now, he was in that exact situation... it seemed ironic.

Anthony sighed. He couldn’t disagree, he simply couldn’t. It would be clipping her wings; it would mean failing to show support the one time she truly needed and asked for it during their relationship. The more he thought about it, the tighter his chest became. He didn’t want to be the reason she abandoned a dream she had carried for so long. Even if he disliked the idea, he hated the thought of becoming her regret even more.

’Is this what people in long-distance relationships go through?’ he thought to himself.

Back on Earth, he could never understand how those people made it work, both parties staying in different states or even different countries. But at this moment, he seemed to be about to enter the furthest long-distance relationship in existence, one that didn’t span states or countries but two Upper Galaxies, separated by an unimaginable number of light-years.

He had always thought his relationship with Vega had been perfect, no relationship drama, no jealous boyfriend or girlfriend episodes, no lies, no cheating scandals, and no unnecessary complications... just utter perfection.

But it seemed that perfection was now at stake.

If he disagreed and Vega simply rejected his decision, didn’t that mean they might have to break up or give each other space?

As Anthony thought of that, he shook his head. It could still be perfect. All he had to do was support the woman he loved very much; it was simply as easy as that. Well... and hope she didn’t die... or Klaus might destroy an entire Upper Galaxy. The thought was ridiculous enough that it almost made him laugh, but considering who Klaus was, Anthony couldn’t confidently say it wouldn’t happen.

But there was something else Anthony considered. If Vega had gone on her adventure while she was here, within the Lower Galaxy, it might have been better and... safer. But in the Upper Galaxies, it was all unknowns. They didn’t know what races were there. Did they even use mana? What was their power system? What was the setting? Was it a modern-day setting like Blue Planet, a Murim-style setting, or perhaps even one that followed the older eastern historical structures built around noble titles?

But while that made it more dangerous, it also paradoxically made it more... adventurous. After all, without the unknown, there is no adventure, and the moment the path is known, the adventure is over. Every great story he had ever heard involved someone stepping beyond what was familiar and embracing uncertainty despite the risks involved. 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

"Aren’t you going to say anything?" Vega asked softly, her voice barely above a whisper as she wanted to hear what he had to say.

Vega was ready to change her mind if she couldn’t truly convince Anthony. Yes, she loved personal adventure and growth almost more than anything in her life since those things had been denied to her. But she loved Anthony even more. So, all he had to do was say the word, and she would give up on the idea. After all, love required sacrifices sometimes... it wasn’t all bliss and butterflies.

"I was just about to," Anthony replied calmly, his churning emotions gradually coming under control as his eyes began to clear and his tightened heart slowly loosened and settled.

Hearing Anthony’s words, Vega nodded and said nothing else, her beautiful purple eyes meeting his sky-blue ones.

"I have a question," Anthony spoke again. "If I agreed to this, what about your parents? Although I haven’t known your mom for a long time, I’m sure you can convince her, but I’m not so sure about Klaus. He doesn’t look like someone who would just stand by and watch you dive headfirst into danger," he asked calmly.

This part bothered him a bit, as he knew Klaus would never agree. Even if the man did agree, Anthony was sure he might just disguise himself as Vega’s male... or even female friend, or perhaps an adventurer team member, just so he could remain close to his daughter and keep a watchful eye on her.

Although Anthony felt Klaus’ methods might be a little extreme, he didn’t judge. After all, no one knew what the man had gone through in his life. Maybe it was childhood trauma. Or maybe it had simply taken him thousands of years for Amara to become pregnant with Vega. After all, it was known that the stronger one became, the harder it was to have children.

Which was why many powerhouses only had one child or two, and many times none at all.

It could even be that Klaus and Amara once had a child and that child had died on a battlefield.

Anthony didn’t have any answers; he could only speculate, as Klaus kept everything related to his personal life to himself, and only Amara might know a little more.