"Here we are!" Ren excimed as they nded on the bottom floor, while she began reabsorbing her clones into her body. The door to it was open, and the kids excitedly rushed up the spiral staircase to the topmost floor, not even waiting for her.

  At the top, the room was surrounded by a clear gss dome, and a giant telescope stood in the middle, looking towards the sky. It was kept clean like every other pce in the pace, yet it could be felt that it was rarely used, if ever.

  "Not many of your family are interested in it, eh?" Ren asked as she walked around, scanning the telescope.

  "Not really," the twins answered at the same time.

  "I guessed so. LeiLei also never mentioned anything about it."

  "But Ren, you look at the sky a lot of times!" Valen added.

  "Ahaha, maybe; I can't deny I find myself watching the Sky, wondering what kind of mysteries it hides behind itself." Ren chuckled, but she meant the true Sky, the one she once tore apart and aimed to do so again, now for real.

  "Behind?" Elyse asked, not really understanding her.

  "You'll know when you get stronger." She shook her head, ending the discussion, "So? Sys? Anything?"

  "No… I don't feel anything..."

  "Mmm, then let's go down," Ren offered, "Slowly walk forward on the spiral staircase, and try to catch the same thing you felt when we were up in the air."

  "Okay!" He saluted once again and rushed to the door while they followed him with excitement.

  "What do you think our Forefather hid there?" Elyse asked in a whisper.

  "I don't really know, but he said any of you can keep something from there if you wish."

  "Really?" all three asked at once, surprised.

  "Yes, yes, so keep concentrating!" She flicked Sys's forehead, who almost fell forward on the stairs, hearing that they could take away something.

  After minutes had passed, they had already walked down to the bottom and almost gave up as Sys let out a defeated sigh. He stood in the middle of the tower, feeling nothing, but before speaking, he suddenly flinched.

  "Mm? What is it?" his sister asked, noticing something happened.

  "Here! I… felt something in the middle!" He looked around as if it was just an instant, a faint, fleeting moment, but then his body shivered for a second time.

  "Hm…" Ren looked at the ground, watching the tiles arranged in a pattern that clearly depicted a consteltion in the night sky. "We may need to wait for nighttime."

  "Until night?" Sys asked as he tilted his head.

  "He pced the room under the observatory. It must have a connection to some consteltion, and it is probably locked tight in the daytime..." Elyse expined proudly, following Ren's gaze, putting the puzzle together.

  "Yup!" Ren nodded, boosting the little girl's pride twofold with just a nod.

  "Ah, I know this!" Valen cpped, watching the floor. "This is the Lady!"

  "The what?" the others asked.

  "The Lady!" He repeated, puffing his chest out, "If you connect the dots, the image draws out a naked dy dancing in the moonlight!"

  "Why does she have to be naked?" Ren asked as she spped the back of the head.

  "Owie…" Valen grabbed onto his head, pouting, feeling wronged. "Frenir told me..."

  "He will get his own smack, too, next time I meet him!" She grumbled, even though she was way worse at his age.

  "What about Sect Head?" Valen blinked his eyes innocently, asking his sister, "It was he who came up with a name for it…"

  "Don't be sassy with me, kiddo, or I'll dress you up in girls' clothing and drag you around the city like a little sister!" Ren scoffed at him.

  "Hauh! N-nonononono!" Valen shook his head, filing with his hands, completely panicked. "Not again!"

  Sys and Elyse, who were ughing loudly, suddenly stopped, blinking their eyelids rapidly, watching the panicked Valen, who now put his hands on his lips, realizing he slipped up. It took a few seconds to process what he said when the twins once again burst out ughing even harder, holding their stomachs, especially Elyse, pointing at him.

  "Uuu…" Valen moaned, trying to look invisible.

  "Fufufu, naughty little boys get naughty little punishments!" Ren chuckled, patting his head. "Don't be naughty, and your Big Sis won't punish you~!"

  "Uuuu…"

  Because they couldn't get in yet, they went back for the day and met up after dinner, excitedly gathering inside the observatory's ground floor.

  "I set the telescope up top to align with the Lady." Ren's voice echoed as she arrived back down. "I don't know if it was necessary, but it won't hurt to do so."

  "Good thinking, Aunt Ren!" Elyse raised her thumb towards her, grinning.

  "Hehe, let us start." She licked her lips as an answer, just as excited as the kids, "Sys, try touching the middle of it."

  "Where her boobs should be! Owie!" Valen tried to help him out when a smack nded on the back of his head again.

  "Elyse," Ren said, with a ft tone, not even looking at her brother.

  "Yes?" the little girl saluted at her commanding voice.

  "Pick out some clothes you no longer want. After this, I am gonna dress this little punk up in it and drag him around the marketpce. At noon!"

  "Yes!" She grinned evilly, ready to fulfill her new mission.

  "Wah?! Nooooooooo! Big siiiiiiiiis, please! It was a joke! A joke! Really! Noooooo!" Valen cried out loudly while Sys just trembled, trying not to touch the 'boobies' of the consteltion and get swept up in the mess like Valen.

  At first, nothing happened, and they almost thought this was a wrong assumption, but after a few seconds, a click resounded under Sys's hands, and the marble tiles lit up in a golden hue. It was followed by the same colored light that flew from his fingers, illuminating the consteltion's image on the ground and revealing a naked young dy, her arms outstretched, happily dancing under the night sky in a field of flowers.

  "I… I told you…" Valen murmured, "It wasn't my fault… You can't punish me for this!"

  "Perverts!" Elyse gritted her teeth, turning completely red while Sys covered his eyes, yet watched through the giant gaps he left between them.

  "Haaah… okay, okay! None of you is to bme for this. It was my Master's doing..." Ren gave up as she held her head, sighing loudly as the ground below them slowly started to fold itself together, and another spiral staircase appeared, leading downwards.

  "Nice~!" Sys grinned immediately, ready to go down, but waited for Ren's instructions first, instead of rushing in.

  "Master said there are no traps or anything like it here." She chuckled, "Go, I won't take the honor away from you guys." She added, letting the kids rush down first.

  It wasn't a long climb, and when they arrived at the bottom, it was a regur, simple oval room. The ground was soft, covered in lush, green grass, and bioluminescent flowers were blooming all around them. The walls were coated with an illusion, giving the illusion of a night sky with twinkling stars, and above them, a fake pair of moons cast their silvery light on the surreal ndscape.

  "Whoa…" The trio of little adventurers looked around, mesmerized, careful not to step on the beautiful flowers, unable to believe what they were seeing.

  That was when they noticed that, in the middle, what they had thought was an altar at first was, in fact, a gss coffin. Looking at it more, inside was a perfectly preserved woman 'sleeping,' wearing a soft, white silk nightgown. It was the realization that it was a coffin that prompted all three of them to scream out, hugging each other.

  "What is it?" Ren arrived quickly, and upon seeing the picture, she had a realization, her gaze softening at once... Carefully, she stepped behind the kids and gently hugged them all. "Rex, there are no ghosts or anything badhere~!"

  “T-t-t-thats… a… um…” Valen tried to say something.

  "Mmm. She is no longer alive, but don't worry, even if she comes back to life, she wouldn't hurt you." She rubbed their small heads, whispering.

  "Y-y-you… sure?" Elyse asked with a weak voice.

  "A 100%. Try to feel it. With your hearts..." She whispered.

  "I don't feel anything," Valen murmured, not really getting everything.

  "Of course." Ren giggled, sticking her tongue out. "Because you are not reted to her."

  "You mean…" Sys and Elyse looked at each other.

  "She must be my Master's wife." Ren walked closer, stopping a respectful step away from the coffin. "Your Foremother, if you will."

  Hearing and seeing her, the kids were now much braver, slowly walking closer, but not a step farther than Ren. The woman inside the gss coffin looked to be in her twenties only... Her body was preserved in perfect condition, her chestnut, straight hair was brimming with a soft hue of starlight, reaching down to her ankles. Her face still wore a warm, motherly smile, her hands csped between her soft, tear-shaped breasts, exuding her maternal aura even in death, still going strong with every fiber of her being.

  "What a beautiful dy…" Elyse whispered, unable to hold back her surprise.

  "Um…" Sys nodded, just as mesmerized.

  "Aunt Isha's are bigger…" Valen added, receiving another sp at the back of his head, but he kept silent for now, fearing Ren really was going to dress him up as punishment if he kept this up.

  "The coffin and this whole room are brimming with my Master's affinity." Ren looked around as she spoke up. "No wonder that even flowers bloom here!" She sighed in a sentimental voice, and as the kids followed her gaze, they also saw a dozen or more headstones circling the room, each with a little box id out before them.

  "Those have to be old friends..." Ren looked at the trio, who gently walked forward as they read the writings. "Ortez. My brave general and good friend." She read the first one's description, before walking to another "Cevix... Master for a day, Master for life." Then another, "Martuk. My most loyal guard in life and death."

  She slowly read out every name here, and it was clear they were pced here to commemorate the most important persons in Aerthus's life. It was evident from the start that they stood guard over the coffin in the middle, forming a crude formation that would activate if anyone tried to destroy the gss. In the small boxes before them, there were small, old artifacts, all of them twinkling when Ren opened one to take a look. They were clearly the possessions of those whose names were etched on the headstones.

  "..." Ren didn't say anything and just gently closed all the boxes back, stepping backward. "No wonder Master was so shaken up…" she told herself, remembering how Aerthus looked when she said the room was robbed clean.

  "What should we do?" Valen asked, nervous, looking at the twins and then back to his sister.

  "You decide," his sister replied, folding her arms, curious at the kids' decision.

  "I think we… shouldn't take anything," Sys murmured, prompting Elyse to nod in agreement with her brother.

  "It would be rude!" Valen agreed, making Ren smile as she looked at the trio.

  "You sure? You may never come back here; who knows what the artifacts could do!" Ren said with a smile, pying the devil's advocate, testing them.

  "I can get anything from you." Valen grinned happily.

  "I'll grow strong without external help!" Elyse put down her feet with a determined look, unwilling to even take a flower.

  "I was more interested in the hunt for the treasures itself anyway!" Sys grinned pyfully.

  "Ahaha, good, good, I am proud of you all! Now bow towards your Foremother, Lily."

  "Lily?" They tilted their heads at the same time.

  "Look at the bottom of the altar. There is a quote there."

  When they followed her pointing finger, they saw a handwritten line that gently sparkled like moonlight on a ke's surface.

  "Where the Night Lilies grow, where we first met, where you taught me to dance, where you taught me to halt my steps and look up, to see a different world and just rex… Where you held me and where I embraced you, here you may sleep for all eternity, my only Lily."

  When Elyse finished reading it, her eyes were filled with tears. She tried to hold them back, without much success, bowing to the woman lying in the middle of the room with a gentle smile on her face. Sys and Valen quickly followed suit, staying that way for a long time before straightening up their backs.

  "Go back up. It's te!" Ren patted their little heads after they all straightened their backs.

  "You… are not… coming?" Elyse sniffled, wiping her eyes.

  "I still have something to do. You three go up, wash yourselves, and go to sleep."

  "Mm… okay…" the trio agreed, and when they left, Ren just sighed softly.

  "You really loved her..."

  "I still do," came the answer as Aerthus slowly appeared beside her, looking at the coffin but staying a step away from it, holding his hands behind his back. "She was the only woman I ever truly loved and ever will. I couldn't accompany her in her mortal life, but we spent beautiful centuries together, and she blessed me with my children. I had company in my ter years… After she was gone. Living for so long can become lonely… but... I never had a wife. And I won't. Ever again."

  "Is she…"

  "No. She asked me to let go. She didn't want to hold me back. It was the most painful day of my life..." He whispered as a pair of tears rolled down his cheeks, evaporating before they could fall onto the green grass below his feet. "It was also the day I ascended to the Outer Harmony realm and decided to leave. To see what's behind the endless dunes of sand or... To reunite with her."

  Ren quietly listened to him, looking at the coffin and then slowly closing her eyes.

  "She loved you more than herself," she whispered, her voice soft with respect and awe. She couldn't imagine what she would do if anything happened to Leinor. The fact that he was strong, and potentially even stronger than her, filled her with happiness... that she wouldn't have to make a decision like Lily did.

  "She said to me on our st night, out in the field of lilies..." Aerthus murmured with a heavy voice while he looked up at the fake night sky above them, "That… she became my only obstacle to advance forward. I told her I don't mind that at all."

  "..." Ren just waited patiently for her Master to continue, watching the gss coffin.

  "Yet she said to me her only wish was... for me to walk my own path and reach towards the sky so one day I can dance where she always wanted to do so… Amongst the stars. Then, even in death, she would be the proudest and happiest woman this realm has ever seen," he chuckled, but behind his small ugh, only pain could be heard.

  "I wish I could've met her." Ren bowed before looking up at Aerthus, bowing towards him, too. "Please, take your time, Master." She said, with a respectful tone, as she left, leaving behind the lovers, separated by a chasm that nobody could ever bridge between them again.

  Corty