Chapter 1935: Bro Is Trying His Best Not to Raise an FBI Flag: Part 1

’Guardians of Ether?’

Aether repeated those words inwardly, his expression turning stern as he stared at Grace.

’Who are they?’ he asked, his gaze narrowing slightly.

However, Grace offered no answer. She merely remained silent, as if the very subject were something she was forbidden to discuss.

He could tell that the situation was far more complicated than he had anticipated. Whatever these Guardians were, they seemed to pose a threat serious enough to make even Grace hesitate.

’So, when you say she must be killed, you mean...?’

’She must die along with her soul!’ Grace declared firmly.

"..."

Aether lowered his gaze towards the girl on his lap.

Her delicate figure felt almost unbearably light against him.

Because of his mistake, he had put her in danger. And now, whatever this Guardians of Ether business was, she had somehow become entangled in it.

He already had his hands full, and now this?

Just why the fucking world wanted to mess with him this much was beyond his understanding. Then again, he couldn’t exactly blame the world when he was the one who had dragged an innocent girl into this situation in the first place.

’Things have gotten so fucked up...’ he groaned inwardly, suppressing the urge to rub his temples.

"Aether?"

Lily’s gentle voice interrupted his thoughts. She tilted her head slightly, looking at him with an unusual expression, as though she had been trying to gather the courage to ask him something.

"Yes?" Aether responded, pushing his troubling thoughts aside as he turned towards her.

"How did you know me?" she asked curiously.

She already understood that she had returned to the past, but one question had been bothering her ever since she had met him.

What about Aether?

How could he possibly know her?

"And Penelope too..." she added, glancing towards the woman lying unconscious on the bed.

"You knew about her as well, didn’t you?"

As the thought crossed her mind, Lily’s eyes gradually widened.

"Don’t tell me..." She paused, "Aether, did you regress too?"

If she had been given another chance to return to the past, then perhaps he had received the same opportunity.

The possibility made her heart flutter.

If she could regress, then what were the chances of him regressing as well?

Very highly likely, right?

Aether fell silent.

He couldn’t exactly tell her the truth.

Besides, he couldn’t bear the thought of watching her happiness crumble.

So, after a brief pause, he offered her a small smile.

"Yeah..."

He didn’t reject her assumption.

Perhaps it was a selfish decision, but he wanted her to believe that she wasn’t alone in this timeline.

That was the least he could do after putting her through something he had never intended to happen.

The moment Lily heard his answer, her expression changed. Her eyes shimmered, and a thin layer of tears gathered along their edges as a relieved smile slowly spread across her face.

"S-So... I’m not the only one who remembers you." Her voice trembled slightly. "Thank God..."

She lowered her head for a moment, trying to compose herself, but the emotions she had been holding back were already spilling over.

"I-I thought I would be the only one who remembered everything. Everything we went through... all those memories... I thought I would have to carry them all by myself." She swallowed, her fingers curling slightly against her clothes.

Aether smiled softly as he listened to her.

He understood her fear better than she might have realised.

Living in a world where everyone continued with their lives while she alone remembered a completely different past must have been terrifying.

The faces were familiar, the places were unchanged, and yet everything felt strangely foreign because the people around her no longer shared the memories she held dear.

It was a cruel kind of loneliness, one that couldn’t be explained simply by saying that she had returned to the past.

Imagine looking into the eyes of someone who had once loved you, only to realise that they no longer remembered the moments that had brought you together.

And no matter how desperately you wished to share those memories, the other person would never understand.

Eventually, those memories would become your most precious possessions, treasures that nobody else could recognise or understand.

But now...

There was someone else who knew what she had gone through.

And that person was Aether.

The very person who had once tried to protect her.

The situation almost reminded her of a fantasy story about two people bound together by fate.

Two souls who had crossed through the same impossible tragedy and found themselves standing together in a world that had forgotten their shared past.

It was a rather romantic thought, wasn’t it?

Of course, she wasn’t about to say that aloud.

Lily sniffled softly and wiped the corner of her eye before looking back at him. This time, her smile was brighter, carrying a warmth that had been absent from her.

Slowly, she raised her hand and reached towards his cheek.

Her fingertips brushed against his skin, and she paused as though she needed to reassure herself that he was truly there.

"I’m really glad you’re here with me. You have no idea how much that means to me."

Aether nodded with a small smile... but his expression suddenly froze when he noticed Lily staring at him strangely.

She looked so happy that she seemed to have forgotten how to breathe, as if the two of them were the only people in the world who shared their memories.

And... Why did she keep glancing at his lips?

[Cough, Cough... ?? FBI]

!!!

Aether immediately snapped out of his thoughts.

Wait a damn second.

Why was she looking at him like that?

Was she planning something?

He glanced at her face again, only to find her still looking at him with that suspiciously affectionate expression.

His instincts began screaming at him.

Danger!

"L-Lily!" Aether blurted out, his voice rising a little more than he intended. "Can you tell me what happened? I mean, when did all of this happen, and why did you kidnap her?"

Lily snapped out of her trance, her cheeks turning slightly red. She couldn’t understand why she had suddenly felt such intense emotions.

"W-What?" she stammered.

Only then did she realise something rather important.

She had been sitting on his lap this entire time.

Her eyes widened.

Wait.

How long had she been sitting like this?

And how close were they?

Lily’s face grew even hotter as she hurriedly tried to push herself away from him, suddenly becoming far too conscious of their proximity.

Unfortunately, her foot caught in the cloak, and before she could regain her balance, her body tilted dangerously to one side.

"Kya!"

"Careful!"

Just as she was about to fall, Aether instinctively leaned forward and caught her by the hip.

His hand wrapped around her waist, steadying her before she could hit the floor. For a fleeting moment, the movement brought them closer together, and Lily found herself suspended in an awkward but strangely graceful position.

Everything seemed to freeze.

One of her legs remained lifted in the air while the other touched the ground, and her long hair spilled down her back in a flowing arc. The folds of her cloak settled around her like the trailing fabric of a ballet dancer’s costume.

Yet Lily barely noticed any of it.

Her attention was entirely fixed on Aether.

His hand was warm against her waist, and his face was close enough for her to see the slight concern in his eyes.

That simple fact made her heart flutter all over again.

To Lily, there was something almost unfair about it.

How was she supposed to keep her feelings under control when he continued doing things like this?

She gazed at him, her cheeks burning as an entirely unreasonable thought crossed her mind.

He looked so handsome.

Not merely handsome in the ordinary sense, but handsome in that particular way that made her heart forget its rhythm.

Why was he like this?

He had protected her, suffered for her, and held her gently in his arms. And now... he had even regressed for her.

If this wasn’t fate, then what was?

Seriously, what else could it possibly be?

Somebody tell her!

Ba-dump!

[+5—]

THUD!!

"OUCH!!"

Lily’s romantic thoughts came to an abrupt and rather painful end when Aether suddenly released her with a horrified expression.

Her entire body dropped to the ground, and she landed hard enough to send a jolt of pain through her backside.

"Owww..." she groaned, wincing as she rubbed the spot where she had landed. "A-Aether! Why did you let go of me?!"

Aether’s face was drenched in sweat, and his expression was filled with utter fear as he screamed inwardly,

’I-I swear on my mother and my wives... I wasn’t even trying to seduce her!’

And in fact, he was telling the truth. He hadn’t been trying to do anything, not even a little. No, he wasn’t manipulating anything as he had done with others.

It was purely a coincidence, and even more importantly, Lily saw Aether as someone who was only a few years older than her.

So, from Lily’s perspective, her feelings might have seemed completely natural and reasonable.

Somewhere in her mind, she knew he was older than her, but her heart wasn’t aware of that distinction...

You know... Teenagers!

One couldn’t blame either side for what had happened.

Well... as an adult, he was responsible!

Aether sighed and took a deep breath before motioning for her to sit on the side of the bed.

Lily pouted slightly at his reaction but obediently sat beside him, adjusting her clothes as she settled down.

"So?"

He asked, trying to divert her attention before things could get any more awkward.

Lily sighed and began telling him the truth about what had happened, when she had awakened, and what she had intended to do.

After hearing all the details, Aether almost fainted.

Of all the people she could have approached, she had nearly walked straight into the tiger’s den!

Jonathan?

If he hadn’t encountered her that night, he wouldn’t even have had to imagine all the horrifying things that might have happened to her.

Just thinking about it made him shiver with fear. And, honestly, he was genuinely relieved that he had managed to find her before everything had gotten out of hand.

If he had missed her that night...

Aether’s face turned pale, and his expression became completely blank as he remembered Jonathan.