Dyon unclenched his jaw. An eerie calm overtook every fiber of his body.
Isla who was hidden within Ri's robes trembled, pulling on Centauress' arm. The three small fairies looked toward each other but didn't say anything. They simply didn't trust their voices.
'Evangeline.'
Dyon attempted to communicate with the Life Saving Jade hidden deep within his mind's eye. It was a difficult task considering he hadn't even noticed it was there before, but now that he knew there was something to look for, it was marginally easier.
'Little Dyon? It's not good for you to contact me like this.'
Evangeline had planned on ignoring Dyon's voice. She had her own troubles. If she didn't, why wouldn't she stay by Dyon's side and ensure that no harm ever came to him? If Dyon had a Higher Existence in his inner world, he could walk through the mortal plane practically unimpeded. But, in the end, she didn't have the heart to.
'If you can, could you possibly stop Amphorae, Zaire and Little Lyla from continuing on their course? It's too dangerous to continue with the first plan. I have no way to contact them quickly.'
'This…'
'If it's too inconvenient for you, forget about it. I don't want to harm you either.'
Evangeline trembled. The calmness in Dyon's voice made her feel incredibly uncomfortable. This disposition… It wasn't something youthful Dyon should have. Her Dyon, her real husband from the future, was like this. But, it took him several hundreds of thousands of years of tempering himself repeatedly to reach this level of calm. Just what happened to make Dyon like this? Had she changed too much?
'No, I can do it.' Evangeline said firmly.
Dyon shook his head. 'Forget it. I will be honest with you Evangeline. I don't have the same feelings for you that I do for Madeleine, Ri, Clara and Amphorae. I'm also not sure what it is that my future self owes you. But, I accept that it's me all the same. No matter what, from this day forth, you are my wife. You are under my protection, not the other way around!'
'Little Dyon you…!'
It was too early. The seal she placed on Dyon's mind should have stopped him from deducing her origins no matter how obvious the evidence made it seem. But, somehow, maybe only just recently, Dyon broke whatever barrier was remaining. This only meant one thing: Dyon had stabilized enough that Evangeline's seal recognized that the truth would no longer harm him.
'How much time do you have left…?' Dyon suddenly asked.
Evangeline was panicking. Dyon was too intelligent. The moment the seal disappeared, he deduced too many things at once. It left her, a mighty Higher Existence, completely fl.u.s.tered.
Biting her lip, Evangeline hesitated. 'I… I have a few more years. I have just enough time to pass on what remains of my legacy to Rose and leave behind a few protective measures for you.
'After that, my time here will come to an end. The more I interfere with this timeline, the shorter my time becomes. Before long, my being will fuse with the fabric of reality and help stabilize this mortal plane.'
Rose was the very same little girl that followed Evangeline to Soul Rending Peak and also acted as a maid for Dyon for a small time. Last time Dyon saw her, she was only 12 years old. By now, she had likely grown into a beautiful, elegant young lady.
Dyon listened to these words, not missing a single one as her streaked across the skies of the Water Mist Sect.
'My future self… He's a real bastard, isn't he…' Dyon looked up into the skies.
He didn't know the full story, but he didn't need to. His future self allowed his own wife to travel back to the past to save his own a.s.s. Why? Likely because that version of Dyon failed in his task, so he could only leave such a heavy burden for his wife to carry alone. If that kind of man wasn't a bastard, then what was he?
'No… It isn't like that…' Evangeline bit her lip, she wanted to explain, but she hesitated. She was scared to tell Dyon the truth.
'You don't need to make any excuses for me.' Dyon said. 'This time… I won't fail. Don't worry about what I asked you to do, I have another way. I won't let you suffer any grievances in this life…'
Dyon cut off his connection to Evangeline. The world seemed intent on playing tricks with him, as though some mighty existence from above was pulling the strings of his life.
… It seemed that his bloody precedent hadn't been set strongly enough.
**
In a distant universe, an absolute beauty with flowing golden hair and eyes swirling with greens, blues and purples sat by the bedside of a slumbering woman. To her side, a delicate and petite young lady stood silently.
The golden-haired beauty stroked the soft cheek of the slumbering woman.
'This is the only way I can make up for our mistakes. Some things cannot be forgiven, no matter what reason underlays them. Don't blame yourself, my Little Husband. Had you known I used the Timeless Library for this purpose, you would have definitely stopped me. But, I didn't allow you to… Let me atone for my sins…'
Who was the golden-haired beauty? It was none other than Evangeline. As for the delicate and petite young lady to her side? This was of course Rose.
However, the main character of this event was slumbering young woman… Jade Eostre.
Evangeline Moon wasn't the golden-haired beauty's name at all. Instead, she was a woman Dyon had known for practically his whole life.