Azalea turned towards the window, sighing. "Who knows. She loves playing with symbolism too much for someone who claims to be ’rational’."

I fell silent. Pulling the blanket up to my chest. Okay. This was getting weirder. If that Selene was here too, did that mean I wasn’t the only one who "returned"? Or... had I never left? But the Gate of Heaven felt too real. Too tangible. Even now my skin was still cold from the air in that room. Return-By-Memory had never been that realistic. There was never an aftertaste.

"Don’t think too much. The veins in your forehead are starting to show," Azalea said, offering me a cup of tea. I took it—even though my body felt a little... delayed. Like all my movements were still in buffering mode.

"So... do you remember everything?" she asked suddenly.

I looked at her. "Depends. Which ’everything’?"

"The one you’re not supposed to remember." 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

Oh. Well, shit.

In the corner of the room, Selene still sat calmly, legs crossed, twirling her long hair with a finger like a bored child in a history lesson. Of course, she heard. Of course, she understood everything. But, as usual, she chose to remain silent.

Until finally—her characteristic calm and sweet voice rang out: "Arthur hasn’t returned."

The sentence was thrown out casually. Cold. Light.

Azalea immediately straightened her back. I could even hear her chair shift slightly. I myself—froze. My throat tightened. "What?"

"Arthur. He hasn’t returned from interrogation. It’s been two days," Selene continued, still examining her neatly polished silver-gray nails. "They say he’s been... difficult to talk to."

I tried to sit up straight, but my breath hitched. Interrogation? Two days? That meant... that meant this was truly after everything. That meant I really had returned. That meant Return-By-Memory was truly active... but why was I the only one who seemed aware?

"And you’re only telling me now?!" I asked, my voice soft but sharp.

"I thought you needed time. Besides, it’s not urgent, is it?"

"Urgen—"

"SELENE!" Helena, who had been leaning against the back wall, immediately stepped forward. Her face was flushed, and not from embarrassment. "What’s wrong with you?! She just woke up from—whatever that was, and you’re just throwing news about Arthur around like a weather report!"

Selene turned casually. "I’m merely stating facts. Isn’t that better than wrapping everything in soft cotton and false hope?"

"Don’t act like you care, Selene. We all know you’re testing her reaction. You want to see her break, don’t you?!"

Their gazes clashed like two unsheathed blades. I could only remain silent in the middle. But my head was full. Full of questions, full of terrible possibilities. And one most frightening thought: If Arthur hadn’t returned... was it possible he wouldn’t return at all?

Helena still glared at Selene with a burning face, but Selene merely... chuckled softly. "Fufu~" It wasn’t a hearty laugh. Nor was it an awkward one. But Selene’s characteristic laugh: Light. Measured. Piercing.

"My, you’re all so tense," she said, leaning back in her chair. "I was just joking. Arthur is fine. Probably."

Probably. That one word alone was enough to make my heart race again. Not because of the Return-By-Memory effect. But because I knew Selene never spoke idly.

Azalea turned sharply towards Selene. Her face looked like someone who had just seen the first crack in the goddess statue she worshipped. "Selene..." Azalea said slowly. "...You weren’t serious just now, were you?"

Selene looked at her. For a long time. Then smiled. "Too bad, isn’t it? It must hurt when your role model turns out to have a dark side."

"Why would you—"

"Because I can, Azalea." Selene’s tone was flat, yet it seemed drawn by something much deeper. "And because you are too naive if you think all of this can be endured with just smiles, oaths, and tears."

I gritted my teeth, holding my breath which was still unstable. "So you did it on purpose, huh?" my voice trembled.

"For what?" Selene countered, her head tilted, as if I were the strange one for asking.

"To test me. To see my reaction. To shatter my emotional stability."

She shrugged. "I’m just stating facts. If that shakes you, then something is still unresolved."

"She just woke up, Selene!" Helena snapped again. "And you’re playing with her like a lab rabbit!"

"But this isn’t the first time she’s ’woken up’, is it?"

I turned quickly. Helena froze. Azalea frowned. But Selene... smiled. That smile—full of riddles. As if she had just dropped bait and was waiting to see who would bite first.

I bit my own tongue, trying to remain silent. But one thought came to mind: She knows. Selene knows I returned. And she’s deliberately playing everything... from the beginning.

"Alright."

Clap. Clap. Twice, slow, crisp. Selene’s applause cut through the tense atmosphere like a knife through paper. Then she stood up. Her smile was still there, but it was no longer teasing or sarcastic. Now it was a sharp smile, like someone who knew too much and finally decided to share just a drop of that ocean.

"I think we’ve had enough of playing psychologist."

Helena frowned, but didn’t interrupt. Azalea held her breath.

Selene walked to a small table on the side of the room. She opened a drawer, then pulled something out. Mytheia. Still as before: the object glowed softly, almost invisible unless viewed from the right angle. As if it existed between presence and absence.

"Do you want to know what’s truly happening to you, Kairi?" Selene said, her tone flat.

"Do you want to know why you returned to this point, why Arthur is missing, and why everyone in this room is looking at you as if you are some kind of center of everything?"

I didn’t answer. But my body tensed.

"It’s because you didn’t return." She placed Mytheia in her palm, letting it float gently. "You... were released."

Azalea furrowed her brow. "Released? What do you mean...?"

Selene looked at us one by one, then directly into my eyes. "Mytheia is not just a time trigger. It’s not a portal, not a dimension-traveling device. It is... a rejecter of continuity."

Helena tensed. "Selene—"

"What you experienced, Kairi, was not a ’return’. Return-By-Memory is merely a side effect."

I gripped the blanket. My heart shook my ribs. "What do you mean... side effect?"