Audrey immediately turned her gaze toward Edward's seat—but it was still empty.
Where was Edward?
Wasn't he missing together with Lilith? Why hadn't he come back with her?
Having attended several Tarot Gatherings by now, "Moon" Emlyn had more or less grown familiar with the "usual process." It always began with Miss Justice's round of cheerful greetings to everyone, one after another. So he sat obediently in his seat, patiently waiting for his turn.
But when Miss Justice finished greeting everyone else…she somehow skipped him entirely.
Emlyn blinked in surprise and glanced toward her, only to find that her gaze had already moved elsewhere, not even pausing on him for a second.
He immediately felt a pang of frustration.
Why?! Why am I the only one left out?!
It's not like I, Emlyn, desperately need your 'good afternoon,' but—why treat me differently from everyone else?!
Did I offend you somehow? Or do you just look down on the noble blood of us Sanguines?!
This…this is emotional cold violence!
While he sat there mentally sulking—almost crouching down in a corner, drawing circles and muttering curses under his breath—Miss Justice suddenly exclaimed in an excited tone:
"Li—Miss Empress! Y-you're back!"
Empress?
Emlyn blinked again, finally realising that everyone in the ancient hall—including Mr. Fool Himself—had turned their eyes toward a petite figure.
It was the seat that had been empty ever since he'd joined the Tarot Club, one that belonged to one of the long-missing senior members often mentioned in passing.
Huh?
Another little girl?
Wait…why did I say 'another'?
Klein's mind was far from calm, though the persona of "The World" required him to remain composed, while Mr. Fool's presence demanded inscrutable serenity. So, he maintained a faint, knowing smile.
"Welcome back, Miss Empress."
"Good afternoon, Mr. Fool."
Lilith rose gracefully to her feet, her sweet voice tinged with laughter.
"My dear friends, old and new—I'm back~"
"Wow!"
Death—Priscilla—was the most delighted of all, nearly leaping forward to hug Lilith.
"What about Mr. Tower? Why didn't he come back with you?"
Audrey forced herself to remain calm, though her voice still trembled slightly.
"Oh, him?" Lilith smiled and glanced past Bernadette toward Audrey. "He'll probably need a little more time before he can return. Don't worry—he's fine."
Audrey quickly pressed, "Tell me, where is he now?"
"In a very, very safe place."
To make her words sound more convincing, Lilith even drew a big circle in the air with both hands, emphasising the point.
"Don't worry, lil Au—Miss Justice. When the time is right, he'll naturally show up again."
At the sound of that familiar, almost casual "lil—," Bernadette's expression shifted ever so slightly. Emotion flickered across her normally calm face—an unmistakable trace of surprise and suspicion.
Sensing the change, Lilith turned her gaze toward her. Though separated by the layer of white-grey fog that veiled the Fool's domain, Bernadette felt as if Lilith's eyes had met hers directly—
That feeling…
Bernadette couldn't even remember the last time she'd felt this nervous. Her throat tightened instinctively; she swallowed, hesitated for a few seconds, and managed to restrain herself from speaking.
Meanwhile, Audrey hurriedly asked again, "But what exactly do you mean by 'a little more time before he can return'?"
Lilith shook her head lightly, her tone playful. "I don't know either~ You'll have to ask Mr. Fool about that."
Klein froze for half a second.
Why does this have to involve me now?!
And why does her tone sound so familiar…?
Well, come to think of it, I am quite familiar with her. Guess that explains it.
As expected, Miss Justice immediately turned toward him. Klein could only keep up the act—maintaining an air of mystery and authority befitting the Fool.
He gave a calm, knowing smile. "Mm. Don't worry. When the time comes, you'll naturally understand."
But the moment he finished speaking, Klein caught Lilith looking at him again—her expression faintly amused. Even though a veil of mist separated them, he could clearly feel the smile on her face.
A strange, unexplainable tension rose in his chest.
Still, outwardly, he remained as composed as ever.
"Let's continue," he said evenly.
After a brief moment of silence, The Hanged Man Alger was the first to break it. "Mr. Fool, I found one page of Emperor Roselle's diary this week."
Though The Magician Fors was full of curiosity about Lilith's sudden return, she quickly followed suit. "Mr. Fool, I've acquired three pages."
Those were sent to her by her teacher, Dorian Gray.
Klein withdrew his thoughts from Lilith and Edward, waiting patiently for a while longer. Seeing that Lady Strength had no intention of contributing any pages this week, he felt a faint sense of disappointment. And since Mr. Sun had been exploring a temple lately, he hadn't been able to copy any ancient god-related records either.
Sigh, what a pity.
He lifted the four pages of diary that had materialised before him and began reading quietly.
---
"April 9th.
Just returned from Countess Valin Amber's masquerade ball. For some reason, I suddenly feel an emptiness within. One woman, another woman, yet another woman…What joy is there in such a life? Is this really the meaning of living each day? I can't go on like this. I must free myself from this degenerate state!"
"April 11th.
Countess Valin Amber invited me to a private salon. She told me Lady Julia would also attend… I can hardly wait! I've been imagining what she'd look like in bed for quite some time now…"
---
Klein's mouth twitched involuntarily.
Your Majesty…your past life really was as "simple and unpretentious" as it gets, huh? At this rate, how's your kidney still functioning?
He turned to the next page.
---
"April 14th.
I've been attending too many social events lately. My body's starting to give out…"
---
Heh, serves you right.
The following entries were all either about more parties or the Emperor worrying about how to "recover his strength." In short, they were just more of those decadent anecdotes from his early days—utterly meaningless beyond being a bit of black humour.
Then came a line that made Klein's eyes narrow sharply.
---
"May 15th.
I've decided. I'll follow that one's instructions and infiltrate the Church to steal a certain item—it's a notebook from the Fourth Epoch Antigonus family, a Sealed Artifact of Grade 1!"
---
Klein's pupils contracted violently.
That must be the notebook the Secret Order eventually lost—the very same one whose theft led to the death of Klein Moretti, allowing me to awaken in this world through his body!
This…this is the origin of everything!
But why did Emperor Roselle want to steal that notebook?
And who exactly was the "one" he mentioned?
A storm of thoughts flashed through Klein's mind, leaving his heart feeling unusually heavy.
Recalling the last set of diary pages he'd read, that "one" likely referred to the previous master of the grey fog.
But what would such an existence want with the Antigonus family's notebook?
Could it be connected to the higher-level secrets of the Seer Pathway?
Klein's peripheral vision swept across the endless expanse of grey mist—an unfathomable ocean concealing who knows how many secrets.
And what made it all the more unnerving was that, just recently, from the Snake of Mercury, he had learned that one of the methods to obtain the Sequence 4 Bizarro Sorcerer formula was to steal that same Antigonus notebook from the Church.
Isn't that far too much of a coincidence?!
His coincidence PTSD flared immediately.
After a while, he lowered his head again and read the final lines.
---
"Of course, this is just a trial. If things prove impossible, I'll have to abandon it. No matter how valuable that information is, it's not worth my life."
"Tch, how frustrating! Sooner or later, I'll advance to higher Sequences and trample those bastards beneath my feet!"
---
Klein flipped to the next page, only to find the date jumping ahead with no mention of the Antigonus notebook's aftermath—no details of whether the Emperor succeeded or gave up. Judging from Roselle's later relationship with the Church, it was likely that either he had abandoned the attempt…or he had succeeded and covered his tracks perfectly.
Finishing the remaining page about the Emperor's early impressions after taking the Savant potion, Klein dispersed the diaries into grey mist and looked around the table.
"You may begin."
But the others remained silent. Almost in unison, their gazes drifted toward Miss Empress, clearly hoping she would share what had happened during her disappearance.
Lilith, however, merely smiled.
"Why are you all staring at me like that?"
The Hanged Man Alger spoke first. "Miss Empress, could you tell us where you—and Mr. Tower—have been these past few weeks?"
He'd originally wanted to add, "Even Mr. Fool couldn't contact you," but that phrasing struck him as dangerously close to mocking the Fool, so he wisely swallowed the words.
Lilith tilted her head slightly, pressing a finger to her chin as if thinking.
"Hmm…let me think. As for me, I went on a little trip to the Astral Plane. As for Mr. Tower…honestly, I don't know."
Astral Plane?
Alger froze, momentarily unable to process what he'd just heard.
It was The Magician Fors who reacted first, exclaiming in awe, "Do you mean the Astral Plane where the gods dwell?"
Her teacher had once briefly mentioned that after reaching Sequence 3, one could freely travel through the Astral Plane where deities resided. Back then, she'd thought she would never reach that level in her lifetime.
Lilith nodded cheerfully. "That's right."
A wave of shock rippled through the room. Everyone began speculating about how she had managed to reach the Astral Plane—and what she had gone there to do.
Audrey quickly asked, "Why did you go there? And why didn't Mr. Tower return with you?"
Lilith rested her chin on her palm again, smiling.
"He had more important things to do. As for me…well, I originally went to get revenge, but…" She pouted playfully. "Instead, I got beaten up pretty badly. It's so embarrassing, I'd rather not talk about it."
Huh?!
Went to the Astral Plane for revenge—on whom?!
And got beaten up—by who?!
Everyone exchanged bewildered glances, unsure whether the young-looking Empress was joking or being serious. After all, most of them didn't actually know her well—she'd only attended one meeting before vanishing.
Lilith waved a hand dismissively. "Alright, alright, let's not waste any more time on me. Let's move on to the trades and exchanges."
After holding back for a while, Emlyn finally spoke up. "Mr. Hanged Man, I've prepared the payment. Once the gathering ends, we can complete the transaction. Any issues on your end?"
Alger nodded. "No problem."
Emlyn exhaled in relief.
Good, I'll finally be able to advance to Baron soon. Even though it's just a mid-sequence promotion, it'll at least make me a bit safer.
But honestly—why did Ancestor assign me a mission that's literally impossible for me to complete?! I feel like I could die at any moment!
Watching him closely, Alger couldn't help but frown slightly. Mr. Moon's reaction seems a little…too intense.
Before he could think further, Emlyn spoke again, sounding conflicted. "Um…may I ask—hypothetically—if one wanted to organise and lead a group of people to rebel against a colonial oppressor's tyranny…how should one go about it?"
He hesitated, then hurriedly added, "Er, I'm just curious! It's purely a theoretical question!"
———
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