Relatives.

—

Nodding silently and finally arriving at where Moraine was, Richard breathed out his Sun Breathing onto the ground to melt the ice until the mud could be seen. Placing the injured lady on the warm, comfortable ground like he had with the other survivors, Richard then turned toward Moraine, who was surprised to see another Mythic Path holder with a category similar to theirs, that of a Legend.

"Who is she?" Moraine asked.

With an open palm pointing at the lady on the ground, who regarded them with a constantly cold gaze, Richard echoed the introduction, "Tzarina Jekaterina Bokha. Kislev."

Weaving a healing spell in the air, Moraine continued, "Why do I feel like she is one of us but not quite at the same time?"

Shaking his head, as he didn't know the answer himself except that her ethereal atomic composition was similar to Nenio's but certainly different, Richard finally understood after the lady in question clarified their confusion.

"I am the latest in a long line of Tzarinas descended from the ancient Khan-Queens of the Gospodars. I am the Ice Queen. I am Tzarina of Kislev. My people called me the reincarnation of the great Khan-Queen Miska herself."

Stunned, as this was the first time he had encountered someone able to fully remember their past, Richard paused, realizing her tone sounded like a broken record. He understood that she was merely reciting her past role, not actually recalling it. With nothing he could do for now about the mass amnesia affecting her, Richard focused on the last part of her sentence, where the reincarnation was specifically mentioned.

"So that's the use of having a Mythic Path. I thought it was just a decorative title to signify one's identity when meeting someone powerful," Moraine exclaimed.

Nodding, as this was his first time understanding the meaning of having immortal souls as well, Richard then asked the lady, "Tzarina Jekaterina, would you like to awaken your slumbering Mythic Path? I would like to experiment to see if amnesia can be dealt with by unlocking your memory of past reincarnations. It doesn't need to involve taking oaths or swearing allegiance. I just need your consent, that's all."

"Then I will be very much obliged."

Nodding his head, and after seeing Jekaterina stand up to receive the extra dress that Moraine had summoned from her wizard's grotto, Richard addressed everyone who was already gathered, who were waiting for their next course of action in this frozen wasteland.

"Let's go back to Undvik. There is still an empty area there that these people can claim as their home."

Looking around with his Transparent World and realizing that this planet is probably a temporary base the Aen Elle conquered as a strategic point to protect their homeland from different invaders, Richard continued, "Since there is nothing noteworthy here except frozen ice and an old civilization."

"No. I will not abandon my other subjects who arrived in that world. And as their Queen, I forbid everyone here from escaping to another land without putting up a fight."

Seeing her determination to make the land she first arrived at her home and territory, Richard just acknowledged her stubbornness, which is common among monarchs, especially those who once governed kingdoms but lost their titles and lands. Wanting to turn around and start walking toward the large Bifröst portal that Moraine had created, he paused for a moment, finally noticing her last sentence about putting up a fight.

"Say, did I understand this correctly? The Aen Elle began their conquest in the province where you arrived?"

"If these daemons that imprisoned me are called Aen Elle, then yes, they are currently killing or enslaving anyone in the area where I arrived."

—

[One hour later. Mayor mansion, Margarita office.]

"Fucking coward."

Seeing Yennefer cursing as she arrived with Keira and many of Geralt's Witcher friends, Richard chuckled, acknowledging her statement about the Aen Elle changing their place of conquest after seeing the North being guarded by the Heralds.

Shaking her head at their actions—especially recalling the spectral army probe they sent to the archipelago to test whether she could defend Skellige without Richard's presence, when they thought he was trapped in that frozen wasteland—Margarita chuckled as well.

Turning to the new addition to Richard's group of female acquaintances, and wondering why he always ends up meeting women as allies and men as enemies, Margarita asked Jekaterina, "So, do you remember anything, dear?"

"No, except for extensive knowledge and abundant inspiration about Ice Magic."

Nodding her head, as it seemed to confirm the theory she proposed five days ago—when she had just kissed Richard and couldn't get his presence out of her head—that amnesia is the manifestation of a powerful fundamental force in this universe that slowly replaces the bonds of someone arriving from their past world, creating a mass phenomenon of forgotten memories, Margarita tapped her translucent watch to tick off the checkbox for her thesis.

Her thesis concerned the fundamental forces of Connection and Bond, suggesting that every sentient being is attached to the place where they are born, and when they arrive in new places with very different atomic compositions, this attachment is replaced by a new set of Connections and Bonds. Additionally, Margarita included a footnote of speculation: when moving to a different cluster of the multiverse, they need to keep in mind their memory and existence if they don't want to lose themselves in the process.

"But can you hold your own? We're about to fight the Aen Elle, who have extensive knowledge of this Ice Magic as well. If you're just going to be a burden, then it's pointless to save your people," Yennefer stated bluntly.

Instantly and without warning, Richard sees Jekaterina wield ice projectile magic to attack Yennefer. Yen defends herself effortlessly with a protective bubble, but it shatters easily—not because of the ice projectile, but because she loses concentration due to the frozen atoms entering her body through the loosely created bubble at the cellular, molecular, and atomic levels. Bang, ice projectile hits Yen's face, instantly causing frostbite, Richard watches as blood begins to seep from her cracked features.

"Girl, I've been battling daemons my entire life with only a pitiful amount of Winds of Magic. A spoiled child like you and those Aen Elle aren't worthy of comparing their knowledge to mine. So don't you dare question whether I can hold my own."

Seeing distant relatives of his who share a similar fate of having meager magical sensitivity, with hers probably numbering in the range of hundreds to thousands, compared to Sorcerers whose sensitivity ranges in the hundreds of millions and billions, Richard suddenly had a glint in his eyes, discovering another untapped gold mine.

—