Unobservable

"La—la la—la la—"

The three of them played and frolicked, lingering in the city center for too long. It wasn't until Seele couldn't walk anymore that Mikael activated his authority to return to the Golden Courtyard. By this time, it was already the dead of night.

After sending Seele back to her room, Mikael hummed an unknown tune, and strolled around the corridor with Ellie for two laps.

Neither of them rashly spoke. In their kind of relationship, language was no longer a necessary means of communication.

Many times, they could roughly guess each other's thoughts just by the other's expression, actions, or even the temperature of their palms and the beat of their pulse.

"Mikael… wants me to help? Judging by his heartbeat, could it be that he wants me to introduce him to other girls? Let me think, among the girls I know, and who he's unfamiliar with… Aiya! Could it be her? But what does Mikael want from her?"

Ellie understood in her heart, but didn't ask.

First, it was better for Mikael to ask some questions himself. This way, it could reflect a sense of "distance" and "privacy," which was very necessary in intimate interactions between two people!

Second… it was rare to have such a quiet and ordinary night, and she didn't want to break this tranquility for a while.

Let this ordinary night, ordinary to the point it couldn't be more ordinary, just pass by in the chirping of cicadas and croaking of frogs.

Mikael obviously also read this inner voice, so the moonlit stroll that should have been romantic ended hastily in a form that outsiders couldn't understand—Mikael silently sent Ellie back to her room, and then stood alone in front of the door under the moonlight for a long time.

Then his footsteps drew a quarter-circle arc in the corridor, arriving at his own door.

Without hesitation, he pushed open the door.

A faint fragrance flowed out along with the small gap opened by the door. Mikael was first stunned, and then couldn't help but reveal a strange expression.

Pushing the door open completely, moonlight followed in, illuminating the black and white nun's dress on the sofa.

"Aponia… why are you here?"

Was it a coincidence?

Mikael was just preparing to find a suitable time to contact her, but she had already appeared here in advance.

No, it must not be a coincidence. From an ordinary person's perspective, she had no reason to do so. Therefore, there was only one possibility—she saw a possible intersection in those complicated threads of fate.

That's why she appeared here.

"Oh? The reason why I'm here, you should already know it in your heart, shouldn't you?"

Sure enough, Aponia asked back as expected.

Saying it was a rhetorical question, in reality her tone was too flat. If it weren't for the entire sentence being in an interrogative form, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that she was stating a fact… no, wasn't she stating a fact?

Thinking of his purpose in seeking out Aponia, Mikael felt guilty and didn't know how to respond or what kind of response to make for a moment. He could only chuckle twice, adjust the lights in the room to the brightest, and close the door.

He fumbled to pour a glass of water, preparing to hand it to Aponia, but after pouring it, he hurriedly drank it all himself.

"..."

"Hehe—"

Aponia watched his embarrassed appearance and couldn't help but chuckle softly.

"Just like Elysia said, you really are a cute boy."

Mikael pinched his thigh hard. He didn't understand how he could still be like a child in front of her after experiencing so many life-or-death battles—could this be Mom Aponia's aura?

Or rather, did Aponia's identity and behavior successfully awaken the subconscious feelings for the nuns in the orphanage in this body's subconscious?

"Hehe, you're still a bit embarrassed. But it's okay, relax, [please] let me straighten your collar for you."

She slowly stood up, walked to the slightly dazed Mikael, and straightened his shirt collar.

It was clearly just a very simple action, but accompanied by that gentle tone, Mikael's heart inexplicably calmed down.

Quiet as the night outside the window.

"Alright, [please] sit down, after all, this is your home."

Mikael sat down as told.

Up to this point, he finally regained a trace of sanity. He pursed his lips, determined to take the lead and steer the topic onto the right track before Aponia.

But the other party preempted his preemptive strike. His throat muscles had just reacted when Aponia once again preemptively asked before him:

"Mr. Mikael, [please] tell me, do you… also have the ability to see the future?"

An inexplicable impulse came, and the negative answer almost blurted out, but was forcibly stopped.

Mikael looked at Aponia suspiciously a few times. Could it be…

"Yes, Mr. Mikael, I had already foreseen what you wanted to talk to me about, so while you were out, I already went to Dr. Mobius's operating table."

"As expected…"

Mikael silently checked his condition, feeling no different from usual. It seemed that Aponia…

No, if she really had obtained the power of Discipline as before, then even he might not be able to detect when she had imposed the Discipline.

Although he knew she was an ally, Mikael still couldn't suppress a thin layer of cold sweat from forming on his back.

"So, I'm sorry, I had to use my ability on you. But Mr. Mikael, that question, I still must know—you also know what will happen in the future, don't you?"

A wonderful feeling surged into his heart again, so fast that before Mikael could react, he had already answered.

Perhaps it was the different way of asking the question. This time, the answer Mikael gave was:

"Yes, I know."

Mikael blankly stroked his lips, as if for a moment, they didn't belong to him.

"Aponia, you—"

It was impossible to say that he wasn't angry at all.

But suddenly, another thought spread in Mikael's mind—why did she ask this?

As someone who could see through the threads of fate, she should be able to directly read the answer she wanted from the future. Why ask… to test him?

As this thought arose, Mikael became alert again, because he couldn't judge whether this thought was guided by mental power.

Aponia once again saw through his thoughts. She smiled and shook her head, indicating that she had done nothing.

"Mr. Mikael, please don't be angry. I did use this ability on you out of necessity—please forgive me for having to constantly test you in this way in order to glimpse the real you, so that I can make a certain decision in my own heart. Of course, I also know your doubts, so I'll just say it straight: Mr. Mikael, you are a very special person."

The range of Aponia's words was too broad, and Mikael gradually felt unable to keep up with her train of thought, and could only passively wait for her to speak again.

"Mr. Mikael, it seems that you really can see some kind of future, otherwise you wouldn't have been unresponsive to the word 'also' in my previous question, right? But your way of seeing the future seems to be different from mine, otherwise, you should have expected tonight's conversation long ago, shouldn't you?"

"Yes."

"Then, I roughly understand… Can you describe the future you see to me?"

"Wait a minute!" Mikael suddenly shouted loudly, "Aponia, I've been answering questions all along. So according to the principle of equivalent exchange, can you let me ask two questions too?"

"Ah—of course, that's possible. Please feel free to ask."

"...Aponia, why did you rush to find Mobius for hyper-evolution before I even asked?"

Mobius must have resisted. Mikael believed she had a sense of proportion, but she still did it, meaning Aponia must have given a reason sufficient to convince her.

Mikael wanted to know what that reason was.

"It's actually very simple—when my gaze followed the threads of fate and continued to extend, I found that my own thread would inevitably intertwine and entangle with Ellie's, Eden's, Mobius's, Su's, and Kalpas's in the near future, and I would also become something no different from them—a [non-human thing]. I even know what I have to do: [Discipline], isn't it? If so, then this is the shackle fate has given me."

"So the reason why I chose to take this step myself is also very simple—I just wanted to resist fate as much as I could, that's all."

Mikael breathed out a sigh of relief, his breath trembling. It was indeed a good answer, but Mikael didn't believe it was the one Mobius received.

As if seeing through Mikael's heart once again, Aponia suddenly said, "Ah, you want to ask what I said to Mobius, right?"

"Actually, it's very simple. She asked me to tell her the fate of the person named [Mobius]."

"And how did you answer?"

Alarm bells rang loudly in Mikael's heart, but for some reason, in the boundless fear, there was also a hint of expectation.

He knew the weight of the prophecy Aponia gave. He was afraid that Mobius would get an ending similar to that of the original timeline. This was what he feared.

But what if that ending was good? That would be what he expected.

"You must be very excited now, right? Mr. Mikael."

"..."

"I did answer her, but it might not be what you imagined—I only answered her with one word, a word I truly obtained as the answer:

"Unobservable."