Chapter 291: Date

A day later, after the grand meeting in the Realm of Astraya, the World had already begun learning about what had been discussed during the meeting. The rulers slowly passed down the most important information to their people while deliberately leaving out the smallest details, since explaining every reason behind Eliomor’s decisions would only make the situation more complicated and time-consuming.

They focused on making sure that everyone understood the most important facts: The Veil would disappear in two months, something existed beyond their World, and everyone would eventually need to prepare for the arrival of those Outsiders.

At the same time, the rulers had begun assigning acting Kings and Queens who would temporarily take their positions while they went "Outside" the World to begin their preparations. However, the moment ordinary people heard about their rulers leaving the World, many of them became worried and skeptical.

Some wondered whether the rulers were planning to abandon them entirely, while others feared that the moment the rulers disappeared, those Outsiders would descend upon the World and kill everyone without giving the commoners or Explorers even a chance to resist.

Those concerns gradually disappeared once it became clear that Eliomor itself was involved in the preparations and that the rulers had no intention of abandoning the World. Even if they wanted to leave, they would eventually become targets of those Outsiders as well.

Once the people understood that, their fear slowly turned into relief. Many began praising their Kings and Queens for protecting them even from threats that existed beyond their World, and some commoners almost began viewing their rulers as beings who stood on the same level as Gods because of the amount of responsibility they were carrying.

This reaction was especially noticeable in the Human Continent, where Velmira personally visited several commoner villages and spoke with the people directly. Her actions made the people revere their new Queen even more, especially because she had barely taken the throne before being forced to deal with a threat capable of affecting the entire World.

Velmira herself had remained almost completely silent during the entire meeting for one simple reason. She had no real reason to question the preparations Eliomor had presented because, from her perspective, protecting only the Human Continent would accomplish nothing if the entire World was eventually attacked.

’If the whole World is at risk, saving only the Human Continent won’t do any good at all. Those Outsiders will likely come here and kill all of us without even distinguishing between the different races.’ She understood that there was no point in thinking only about her own Continent anymore.

For now, the only thing she could do was cooperate with Eliomor and prepare the Human Continent for what was coming.

However, there was another matter that Eliomor had clarified for her shortly after the meeting. "I was not the one you met that day in that ’Dark Dimension.’ It was Veyron who was controlling my consciousness. He had been living inside this World since Orivian began his plan, meaning he had existed here for almost a million years while constantly changing his body to continue surviving."

The revelation had shocked Velmira and finally given her the answer she had been searching for. It also explained why Veyron had once insisted that Eliomor was not the one who had formed the contract with her. Velmira immediately asked, "Does that mean Veyron was also involved in making me contract with you?"

The answer that followed shook her to the core.

"Yes, he was. I had been unable to do anything against him because he somehow bypassed the restrictions placed upon him when he entered my ’Core.’"

Velmira remained silent for several moments after hearing that. Eliomor then added, "But all in all, it was my fault, so do not let him make you believe that you have forgiven me." With those words, Eliomor ended the conversation and left Velmira alone with her thoughts.

’So, most of the damage wasn’t directly caused by Orivian. It was Veyron...’

Velmira’s eyes narrowed as she looked outside the massive window of the Palace, the red crown resting upon her head. The more she thought about it, the more unsettling the revelation became. ’To think he was living like a snake among Humans for almost a million years, constantly changing his body and hiding his existence from everyone...’

Another thought suddenly entered her mind.

’He was also the one who insisted on Atlas’s entry into the Eternal-class Ruin. But why did he personally choose Atlas?’

There had been countless other people who could have been used as bait, so Veyron’s insistence on sending Atlas into that Ruin couldn’t have been completely meaningless. Velmira’s expression became colder as she considered the possibility that something about Atlas had caught Veyron’s attention long before anyone else understood what was happening.

’I need to investigate the past a little more.’

Velmira finally turned away from the window and looked toward the newly appointed minister standing beside the throne. Her expression remained calm as she spoke, "Telon, order your men to bring me all the research projects and everything that was inside Veyron’s research laboratory."

The minister immediately nodded and turned toward the exit without asking any questions. He had only recently been appointed, yet he understood that questioning the Queen when she had given a direct order would only waste time. A moment later, he left the room to carry out Velmira’s command.

- - -

On the other hand, Atlas was in a completely different place.

He could be seen walking through a city called Moltren in Celestara, with Seraphiel walking beside him while both of their hands remained interlocked between them.

Atlas was completely indifferent to the physical contact, but Seraphiel was blushing so intensely that she could feel her cheeks burning. She had been the one who insisted on holding his hand, yet somehow she was the one struggling to deal with the embarrassment.

’I-I was the one who insisted on holding hands! So why am I the one who is blushing?!’ Her embarrassment only increased as she noticed several people looking in their direction and whispering about how good they looked together.

Seraphiel tried her best to ignore them and was almost ready to close her eyes tightly just to escape the embarrassment when Atlas suddenly spoke, "I don’t know how this ’Date’ works or even what it is, but... I think it’s supposed to be about enjoying our time together, isn’t it?"

Seraphiel immediately lifted her head toward him. The two of them stopped walking for a moment as she looked at Atlas before giving a small nod. "Yes, it is exactly for that. But how did you guess it?"

Atlas smiled slightly before answering, "I heard many Noble women in the Human Continent talking about it with their partners when I was a child. At that time, I could only wonder what they were talking about, but now..." His expression remained calm as he looked at Seraphiel. "...I understand what it was."

Seraphiel stared at his indifferent yet faintly smiling expression. His words had reminded her once again that there were still countless things about Atlas’s past that she didn’t know. She knew he had told her that he came from the slums, but that only made her more curious about what his childhood had actually been like.

’I want to know more about him, but this isn’t the right time or place for that.’ Before she could think about it any further, Atlas spoke again, "How about we eat something somewhere good? We haven’t eaten anything today, right?"

Seraphiel’s expression immediately lit up at the suggestion, and she nodded without hesitation. "Alright, I know a good place. Come, follow me."

She quickly tightened her grip around his hand and pulled him toward the direction she wanted to go. A bright smile appeared on her face as she walked ahead, and the embarrassment she had felt only moments ago was gradually replaced by genuine happiness.

Atlas followed without resisting, and as he looked at her smiling face, he once again felt that familiar warmth filling his heart.