The murky-black shadow gate appeared on the wall of the headmaster’s office in the Aspakeony Academy and a black-haired boy escorted by two androgynous youths stepped in.

His complexion was sickly pale and judging by the worried look of the other two, his condition couldn’t be any good.

“Hmm…? I am pretty sure I asked you to take me back to the Banemor mansion – grandpa is probably very worried… Unless he is still in the Academy?”

Zoemi looked around and said in a hesitant voice, furrowing his brows.

“You did say that, dad – and grandpa did return home…”

“But you also said that you are really worried about Miss Miriette and the others…”

The two corpse puppet sentinels confirmed – the second one was more energetic while the first one was hesitant.

“We are just passing through here, so you wouldn’t worry.”

“You need to have a proper rest.”

The two continued their explanation, making some fairly reasonable points.

*thunk*

“Took you long enough. Where have you been? Why do you look so wasted, and where did you lose the little first prince?”

As the trio was talking, the drawer under the large closet opened, and a rather angry-looking necromancer poked her head from between the pillows and various plushies.

She was very much annoyed, but it seemed like it was more so because Zoemi kept showing up in her office which was supposed to be her private sanctuary.

It wouldn’t be so bad if the black-haired boy was just visiting her, but he constantly was bringing someone over.

“Aspie, Horeo isn’t a prince anymore – he’s a king. And you should have seen how he kicked Bellcephora’s ass. He thoroughly overwhelmed her. It was amazing.”

“Wh-what…?”

Zoemi’s face brightened up with a cheery smile as he recalled the exact screen in his mind, to which the gray-haired necromancer managed to only gasp in shock, getting wide-eyed.

“Unfortunately, that showcase had stirred up so much mana that I couldn’t handle it anymore, so the young king had sent me away to recover while he handles the changing of power. Oh, and while I’m at it, could you maybe delegate some of your corpse puppets to search for the runaway former king and queen? Bellcephora shielded them from the initial strike and then they managed to flee somewhere while Horeo was slapping Bellcephora around.”

The black-haired boy added, and the two corpse puppet sentinels on his sides nodded their heads vigorously confirming his words to the speechless Aspakeony.

“Did… did you just say that the young Horeo not only attacked his parents but also Bellcephora herself…?”

The gray-haired necromancer asked, falling back into her plushies with the softest sound. As she was on her back, she kept staring at the ceiling not even daring to look at the black-haired boy and his corpse puppet sentinels.

“Yeah, I did. But, as I said, things didn’t go exactly as intended, so we need your help with finding and either detaining or killing the former royal couple.”

Zoemi rolled his eyes, feeling rejuvenated by the small talk with the millennia-old necromancer.

There was something pleasantly refreshing about her utter shock and confusion.

“Bellcephora will not allow for any of that to happen.”

Aspakeony declared in a stern voice, gulping her saliva in a hurry.

“She doesn’t really get a say in it though? Horeo literally knocked her out in three hits and she didn’t even wake up when we were leaving the royal castle. It’s safe to assume that the new king is perfectly capable of holding her back.”

“He is!”

“Dad’s friend is really strong!”

Zoemi raised his brow and shrugged his shoulder, before looking between his two corpse puppet sentinels who smiled back at him in innocent joy.

“…”

The gray-haired necromancer plopped on her side and stared straight at the black-haired boy without blinking or saying anything.

It really seemed like she can’t process the information at all, just as if one of the unbreakable principles of the world had suddenly shattered right in front of her.

“Is Miri and Burushi safe? I also hope that you didn’t make Mirienne, Roiso, or Metavicero uncomfortable, did you?”

Zoemi breathed out and decided it was better to change the subject so that the gray-haired girl would be able to adjust to and confirm the news through her corpse puppets.

“I… of course they are safe! All of them!”

That strategy certainly did work out well, as Aspakeony got back up and scoffed at him with a frown.

“The two variant magicians you brought with you did say some rather worrisome things about little Ikarveth, which prompted me to begin a little investigation for his recent frequent reques

t for paid leaves… But I must find him first as he wasn’t in the place he let as the spot to contact him in case of emergency.”

The girl added, shaking her head and getting up from her drawer, straightening her nightgown, and walking towards the desk, where she sat on the chair and pulled some documents closer.

“Good thinking. On that note – will you try to change the subject if I tell you that I know that the presence’s true identity is the murdered second princess Miriette and that you not only know about it but are actively trying to help her out?”

“…”

Zoemi nodded with a satisfied expression, before launching an unexpected question that made Aspakeony flinch and freeze in place.

The gray-haired girl was sitting so still that she didn’t even seem to be breathing…

“Ah, I see. So in this timeline, you also know about all of that. Good to know.”

Even without her verbally confirming it, it was easy to guess that the black-haired boy’s words had flawlessly struck the bullseye.

“I am not angry or anything – all in all the original Zoemi, the stuffed bear you gave the young second princess, does live within my mind. Or maybe it’s the other way around? Anyway, the two of us had some bonding moments thanks to Bellcephora, you know? I am on board with helping out, as long as it will not involve the deaths of my family and friends.”

“…”

Zoemi declared casually while Aspakeony remained silent, staring at the documents on the desk, but her gray eyes remained still betraying that she wasn’t reading anything at all.

“Just so you know, you are included in the group of people I will not let be sacrificed.”

“…!”

The black-haired boy added, making the gray-haired girl flinch and look up at him with a surprised expression.

“I would love to stay and talk in more detail, but I really do feel horrible. Please, tell Miriette that if the whole copy of presence thing is real in this timeline too, I don’t mind it so she doesn’t have to worry.”

“!!!”

Zoemi’s smile wavered, not because of what he said but rather because of the pain he experienced – while Aspakeony tensed up, basically giving out confirmation to his suggestion.

“…this room is filled with too much mana too – if we drain it, the barrier would stop…”

“…yes, and we don’t want that, do we?”

As the black-haired boy and the gray-haired girl were having a staredown, the corpse puppet sentinels looked at each other and talked in hushed voices, glancing at the back of the black-haired boy with worry.

“Dad will be angry if we will break this safe spot. Let’s forget about seeing others and head straight home.”

“I agree.”

They were having trouble controlling the mana within Zoemi’s body and their objectives changed on the spot as they immediately began prioritizing his health.

“Bye-bye, miss necromancer.”

“You can come to visit dad later or contact him through us. Don’t contact him directly or he will get more sick!”

“Eh…?!”

The sentinels grabbed Zoemi’s arms securely and nodded at the confused Aspakeony.

Before Zoemi could have any say in it, the three of them got swallowed by murky darkness and disappeared from the headmaster’s office, right in front of the necromancer’s eyes.

“…”

For a few seconds, Aspakeony was staring at the spot where Zoemi was standing just a moment ago.

She blinked a few times and shook her head, before leaning back in the chair and letting out a huge sigh.

“(Youngest, we have a certain situation at our hands.)”

The gray-haired girl closed her eyes and used one of her wind attribute corpse puppets to connect herself with Miriette via the message spell.

“…why are you contacting me like that…? Zoemi can be here any moment.”

“(He already was here – and he knows about you, me, and our connection to the second princess.)”

The dark-haired girl scoffed without much interest and was about to cut off the connection but the gray-haired necromancer managed to sneak past a few words that changed that stance with ease.

“What is that supposed to mean? Are you telling me that he contacted you but not me?”

Miriette asked and her indifferent voice was dyed with easily recognizable fury.

“(He wanted to check up on you and the rest, but was really weak and his corpse puppets took him back home – wherever that is. Now listen! He knows that you are the copy of the presence!)”

“…”

Aspakeony scoffed, doing her best to deflect the anger of the much younger girl, and ended up stunning her speechless.

“He… he knows…?! HE KNOWS?! I must go and explain thi

ngs to him! He will end up hating me for sure if I don’t tell him my perspective…!”

The dark-haired girl cried out, and although the message spell wasn’t transmitting vision, the gray-haired necromancer could easily guess that Miriette was running around her room in panic.

“(He said that no matter what or who you are, he is okay with it! Our problem is – how does he even know about it in the first place!?)”

Aspakeony waved her hand in annoyed dismissal, although – or maybe because – Miriette couldn’t see her.

“He… he is okay with everything…? Ohohoho~! Ehem…! I mean, of course, he is okay! He is my beloved Zoemi!”