Currently, Young Aether lay on the bed, staring at the ceiling while speaking to his AI Partner.

"Yes, Genome Beta. She has been inside my personal storage space for almost six days, and she has completely stopped moving. Even her suit has lost its previous glow..."

^Hmm... Interesting. A personal storage space? Even my databases insist that shouldn’t exist. Magic really does enjoy violating every known law of reality, doesn’t it?^

RIN’s voice carried genuine fascination, sounding far more impressed than she usually allowed herself to be.

^Based on the available data, a Governor-Level Mech-suit can remain operational for nearly a month if its energy reserves are managed efficiently. Assuming she exhausted most of her power, it’s entirely plausible that the suit has finally reached its limit. Then again... deception is a remarkably common survival strategy. She could simply be conserving energy and waiting for you to make the first mistake.^

Young Aether let out a thoughtful hum, his fingers lightly tapping against the blanket covering his lap.

"So what should we do? Pull her out and kill her..."

^No. That is a complete wa--^

"Waste, I know." Young Aether interrupted with a faint chuckle. "That’s exactly why I’m asking you. Is there any way to control that Governor if she were under our command? Even if we only gain control over her mech-suit, we’d have access to most of the Empire’s systems."

A slow, wicked grin spread across his face.

"Can you invade her suit and take control of it?"

^...^

RIN remained quiet as countless calculations raced through her processors, carefully examining the implications... and the countless possibilities.

^I can infiltrate portions of the suit’s systems. However, she remains inside and is still its authenticated owner. That prevents me from obtaining full administrative authority. Eliminating her would also terminate the biological authentication linking her to the mech-suit.^

"Hmm..." Young Aether narrowed his eyes. "Then what should we do?"

^Calculating... Processing... Recalculating...^

"..."

Minutes quietly slipped away.

Nearly half an hour passed, yet the RIN AI still hadn’t produced an answer.

’Was it really that difficult?’ he wondered.

Just as he began thinking of another approach himself...

"Aether, are you alright?"

Jonathan stepped into the room.

Young Aether instinctively tried to sit up straighter, only for Jonathan to rush over and gently push him back against the bed before he could move any further.

"Just stay put... your leg was broken, idiot."

His voice carried unmistakable worry despite the scolding.

Young Aether could only offer a weak smile.

To think he had nearly witnessed his own wife’s body...

Just remembering that horrifying possibility left a bitter weight pressing against his chest, making him feel even shittier than before.

’Maybe I should come clean?’

The thought surfaced for only a brief moment before he quietly shook it away.

Maiuri would more or less tell Jonathan everything eventually, and perhaps... hearing it from her would be better than hearing it from him.

"How long will it take to heal? You healed me pretty much after a few hours," Jonathan asked curiously as he looked at the bandages wrapped around Aether’s leg.

"I used the healing potion I had on you, and that’s all. Right now, all that’s left is for my body to heal naturally. Don’t worry, though. My recovery is much faster than a normal human’s. By tomorrow morning, I should be completely fine."

He answered with a calm, thoughtful expression.

Jonathan’s eyes trembled ever so slightly after hearing that.

The healing potion... Aether had used it on him without a second thought.

Unable to hold himself back, Jonathan leaned forward and wrapped his friend in a small, grateful hug.

Young Aether’s eyes widened slightly in surprise before a gentle smile naturally appeared across his face.

"Come on..."

He lightly patted Jonathan’s shoulder.

"Let’s eat."

Jonathan spoke, and before Young Aether could even utter a single word, he effortlessly scooped him up in a princess carry.

Crack...

Young Aether’s face cracked... as though something deep inside him had just shattered.

"C-Can you carry me... in a less manly way?"

He asked in an almost disgusted tone.

"Haha..."

Jonathan merely chuckled, clearly amused by Aether’s miserable expression, and continued walking as if nothing was wrong.

When they arrived at the dining table, Sasha and Maiuri were already seated, with dinner neatly arranged before them.

Both women blinked in surprise upon seeing Jonathan carrying Young Aether like a princess...

Yet neither of them said a single word.

Jonathan carefully lowered Young Aether onto his chair before walking around the table and taking his own seat.

"Well then... let’s eat."

With that, everyone quietly began eating together...

Like one big family.

While eating, Young Aether occasionally glanced toward Sasha.

For some reason, her expression remained calm and composed, as though her previous flirtatious behaviour had never happened in the first place.

A small part of him couldn’t help feeling slightly disappointed.

Her cheerful smile and youthful energy had seemingly vanished completely...

But perhaps this was for the best.

For both him...

And her.

As breakfast continued, Young Aether casually broke the silence.

"So, did something happen at the Tower?"

He asked with genuine curiosity, hoping to hear some important news.

More specifically...

He needed to know whether his actions had delayed any potential military movements or the possibility of war against the other empires.

"Well..."

Jonathan let out a long sigh as he absentmindedly stirred the spoon around his bowl.

"We definitely got an earful from our Governor... that’s for sure."

"That’s it?"

Young Aether sounded visibly disappointed.

It wasn’t the answer he had been hoping for.

Jonathan remained silent for a moment, his expression gradually turning serious.

"Also..."

His hand stopped moving.

"Those monsters that came out of the portal weren’t just dangerous. They were capable of turning ordinary people into monsters similar to themselves..."

His eyes unconsciously drifted downward as memories of the horrifying incident resurfaced.

The entire faculty had nearly descended into a zombie-like situation, with infected people attacking anyone around them without reason.

Thankfully, the authorities had isolated the affected area before the infection could spread beyond control.

Young Aether blinked in apparent shock before quickly asking, "What happened next?"

He spoke as though he had absolutely no knowledge of the situation, flawlessly concealing the fact that he already knew the horrifying truth and... fucking wanted this to happen in the first place!

The asshole had experienced it firsthand.

He had watched Leon transform into that wicked, cursed beast with his own eyes.

"We didn’t have any choice other than locking down the entire area and isolating everyone before the infection could spread any further, and thank godess, we stopped it from spreading," Jonathan answered with a heavy sigh, his voice carrying the lingering exhaustion from everything that had happened.

"Tsk."

Young Aether clicked his tongue in annoyance before his expression gradually softened into a gentle smile.

"That’s good."

He quietly nodded several times, genuinely relieved that the authorities had reacted before the situation spiralled completely out of control.

Jonathan remained silent for a while, his lips parted several times as if he wanted to say something important, but each attempt ended with nothing more than another quiet sigh before he slowly shook his head.

"You told me that you will prove that your world is innocent, right?"

"Yes."

"Then you should do it faster."

Young Aether slightly furrowed his brows before looking at Jonathan with visible confusion.

"...Why?"

"I’m just saying that time is very precious, my friend."

Young Aether didn’t respond immediately.

Instead, he quietly lowered his gaze toward his breakfast and continued eating.

____

[This section is repeated, and sorry I couldn’t remove it due to the limit]

"Say... what exactly is this Hell’s Gate? I mean... why did it only appear here? I haven’t seen anything like it in Beta during my stay," Young Aether asked, his curiosity sounding completely genuine.

He had been genuinely confused by the strange phenomenon. In the span of just two days, he had already encountered two Hell’s Gates, yet during the four days he spent in Beta, not a single portal had appeared before him.

"We don’t know that," Jonathan replied, slowly shaking his head as he continued eating. "Hell’s Gates appear randomly throughout the Empire. Sometimes several portals will appear within a single day, while other times they won’t appear at all for an entire week. It’s almost as if they’re giving us time to breathe before the next wave begins."

"I see..." Young Aether nodded thoughtfully before asking another question. "Does that mean the mech-suits assigned to each division are responsible for defending the Hell’s Gate until the portal eventually closes?"

"I see..." Young Aether nodded thoughtfully before asking another question.

______

"Say... what exactly is this Hell’s Gate? I mean... why did it only appear here? I haven’t seen anything like it in Beta during my stay," Young Aether asked, his curiosity sounding completely genuine.

He had been genuinely confused by the strange phenomenon. In the span of just two days, he had already encountered two Hell’s Gates, yet during the four days he spent in Beta, not a single portal had appeared before him.

"We don’t know that," Jonathan replied, slowly shaking his head as he continued eating. "Hell’s Gates appear randomly throughout the Empire. Sometimes several portals will appear within a single day, while other times they won’t appear at all for an entire week. It’s almost as if they’re giving us time to breathe before the next wave begins."

"I see..." Young Aether nodded thoughtfully before asking another question. "Does that mean the mech-suits assigned to each division are responsible for defending the Hell’s Gate until the portal eventually closes?"

"Yes. Most of the time, the division responsible for that region handles the situation themselves," Jonathan explained while setting his spoon down on the table. "However, if the Hell’s Gate is considered too dangerous, they’ll immediately request support from Delta Division. That rarely happens, though, because involving Delta usually creates political complications between the divisions."

He paused for a brief moment before continuing.

"But regardless of that, Hell’s Gates appear throughout the entire Empire. You should actually be grateful that one didn’t appear while you were staying in Beta. Otherwise... there’s a good chance we might never have seen each other again."

"Hmm..." Young Aether quietly hummed, carefully storing every piece of information in his mind while calmly continuing his meal.

After everyone finished eating, Jonathan pushed his chair back and stood up before casually stretching his arms above his head.

"Alright then. I’ll take Sasha’s room."

Young Aether looked up with slight hesitation before speaking.

"Wait... I can just sleep on the couch."

Considering everything that had happened today, he honestly had no desire to share a room with anyone.

"Bro, your leg is still wounded, and I’m definitely not letting you sleep on that tiny couch," Jonathan replied in a firm tone before his expression suddenly froze, as though he had remembered something important.

His eyes slowly shifted toward Maiuri.

Yesterday morning’s conversation unexpectedly resurfaced inside his mind.

"Maiuri."

He calmly called her name.

Maiuri looked at him with her usual gentle smile before tilting her head slightly, silently asking what he wanted.

Without saying another word, Jonathan stepped forward and swung his hand.

SLAP!

!!!

Young Aether’s eyes widened dramatically as complete disbelief flashed across his face.

His body instinctively jerked backwards, while Sasha also stared at Jonathan in stunned silence, unable to comprehend what had just happened.