After a week in the hospital, Evadne was finally discharged.
But instead of feeling free, she felt like she was going insane.
Her parents watched her every day and only stepped out when absolutely necessary. And even during her hospital stay, with Casadin and Hades admitted in the room next to hers, Evadne had almost lost her mind from boredom... especially with the food.
The Falcons and several close family friends wanted to throw a "welcome home" party to celebrate her discharge, but this time her parents refused. They were terrified of overwhelming her again. They didn't want anything remotely close to what happened at her birthday to ever repeat itself.
They wanted her to rest longer at the Monteverde mansion.
So Romos and Cielo forbade her from leaving the house for now.
"Daddy… I'm so bored already," Evadne complained with a dramatic pout on the second morning after her discharge, while they were having breakfast.
"I know, hon," Romos said gently, stroking her long black hair with the kind of tenderness that only came from a father who had almost lost another child. "But please endure it a little longer, okay? It's for your own good. Just one more week of rest at home, and I promise... if everything stays stable... you can go out as much as you want."
"But while I'm resting and doing nothing, it feels like time is moving so slowly," Evadne whined.
Cielo smiled at her daughter's complaint, though her eyes still carried the lingering fear of that night.
"We're sorry, hon," Cielo said as she placed fresh fruit neatly onto Evadne's plate. "But this is for your own good, okay? And besides, Hades and Casadin always come to see you."
"But it's not the same," Evadne protested. "Hades is back to his CEO training, Casadin is back managing his bar during the day, and all I do is stare at the ceiling of my room."
"Before, you didn't mind staying home," Cielo pointed out gently. "Most of the time you'd soak in the pool, read books, or listen to music."
"Mommy, that was before," Evadne said, her voice turning serious. "I was fine doing almost nothing because I didn't have friends here in New York, and Casadin was in Dubai then. Now it's different. I have friends. I have a boyfriend who's out there having fun… and I'm stuck here."
Romos chuckled. "I don't think Hades is having fun in his training, though."
"You know what I mean, Daddy," Evadne said, pouting again. "And for your information, that is Hades' definition of having fun."
"Okay, okay," Romos said, smiling the way he always did when she pulled that face. "Let's compromise. If you want to go out, I'll allow it... but only if someone is with you. I will not allow you to go out alone for now. We still can't be sure what happened won't happen again. You understand we only want the best for you and we want you safe, right?"
"Thank you, Daddy!" Evadne jumped from her seat and hugged him tightly, kissing his cheek. Then she went to Cielo and did the same. "Thank you, Mommy. I promise I won't make you worry."
Cielo shook her head, smiling despite herself, and hugged her back.
"You really know how to break your daddy's resolve," Cielo muttered, earning a playful wink from Evadne before she returned to her chair and ate breakfast with far more enthusiasm now that she'd won.
"Anyway," Cielo continued, "the Ceres and Zeus Foundation will be holding its month-long annual outreach starting next week. Do you want to go with us? Visit the orphanage, the animal shelter, and the women's shelter? The last time you attended was before we left for France... when you were six."
Evadne nodded immediately.
"Yes. I want to go, Mommy," she said sincerely.
Those places... the animal shelter, the orphanage, and the women's shelters... had once been personally sponsored by her older sister, Ceres. After Ceres died, Zeus built a foundation to ensure the three establishments would never be abandoned, that they would always receive care and funding.
And for twenty years, the Ceres and Zeus Foundation had expanded... supporting more orphanages, animal shelters, and women's shelters not only in New York but across almost the entire United States.
A foundation that kept Ceres and Zeus alive in the mouths, minds, and hearts of everyone they had helped.
"Can I bring my friends along?" Evadne asked.
"Of course, hon," Cielo replied warmly... then her expression turned cautious. "But you may have to check with Hades. He's always visited the animal and women's shelters, but ever since he was ten… Angelina told me he has never stepped foot in the orphanage."
Evadne's expression softened with immediate understanding.
"Okay, Mommy," she said. "I'll tell him."
"And don't force him to go to the orphanage," Romos added firmly.
Evadne nodded.
"I won't, Daddy."
After breakfast, Romos and Cielo said goodbye to Evadne and left for the office. Evadne stayed behind in her room, alone with her thoughts and the heavy quiet of the mansion.
She took out the diamond ring Noctarelle had made for her in the Noir Village.
Back then, she had been able to use it as a conduit for mana. In the village, the ring had responded to her... an anchor, a tool, a doorway. But ever since they left the village and returned to New York… and especially after her discharge from the hospital… it no longer worked.
Even when she submerged herself in water, even when she tried to focus the way Nebyros had taught her, nothing happened.
She had no problem commanding water... if anything, her control had become even sharper than before. The water obeyed her with more ease now than before, almost instinctively. But teleportation?
Nothing.
She had been able to do it before, though only over short distances, exactly as Nebyros instructed... safe, visible distances. He had warned her not to attempt long teleportations until she no longer needed to concentrate so hard on the mana ring, until it came as naturally as breathing. Until it was as effortless as the way she commanded water.
But now, it was gone.
A locked door.
With nothing else to do... and with the boredom gnawing at her... Evadne went into her en suite bathroom and filled her bathtub to the brim.
She stripped completely, stepped in, and slowly lowered herself into the water.
She couldn't do this in the pool downstairs. The household staffs would panic... especially Horace. He would probably faint, call an ambulance, and alert both her parents and half the city.
So she did it here, in private.
Evadne slid beneath the surface and closed her eyes.
Underwater, she breathed as easily as she did above it.
No struggle.
No fear.
Just calm.
And in that calmness, Calvareth's words from the Veil returned to her.
Embrace the other side of you.
But what other side?
She had already embraced being a Narf… if that was what Calvareth meant. She had already embraced her identity as the First Princess of Vaelundis in Solmara too. Even after everything she suffered there, she had accepted it as her past. As her choice. As her truth.
So what else was Calvareth talking about?
Beneath the soothing silence of water, her thoughts began to blur.
And without realizing it...
Evadne fell asleep.
"Take this, sister," Seraphadneel said softly to Remiel.
Remiel's eyes widened as she stared at what Seraphadneel held out.
"Why are you giving me this?" Remiel asked. "This is the shaft of your Calvareth. Without it, she will not be whole."
Her voice tightened.
"And if she is not whole… neither are you. You won't be able to escape the Veil without your full power."
Seraphadneel smiled... sweet, almost serene.
"I will leave the Veil," she said gently, "but not without Father's approval."
She stepped closer, her expression turning softer, almost intimate with trust.
"Among our siblings, you are the one who understands me the most, Remiel. So I will tell you a secret I have never told anyone. Not even Samael and Mikael…"
Remiel did not interrupt. She only listened.
"Father always has a reason for everything," Seraphadneel continued. "There is a reason He created me together with Samael and Mikael as His first Archangels. In one, there is absolute power. With two, there is division. But with three… there is balance."
Her voice grew quieter, deeper.
"We all have a part to play in Father's grand design, Remiel. And I am simply fulfilling mine." Seraphadneel held the shaft forward again. "This shaft must go to a human."
Remiel swallowed. "Who?"
Seraphadneel's smile returned... but this time it carried pain.
"That…" she whispered, "that is for you to decide. That is your part to play."
Her breathing trembled... just once.
She could feel it.
She was about to disappear.
Not just her form… but her memory. The memory of her would vanish from her siblings as well. From this moment, Seraphadneel would be forgotten... temporarily.
For how long, she did not know.
Only time… and Father… could decide.
"I bid you farewell, sister," Seraphadneel said, voice warm despite the grief in it. "Remiel... Archangel of Hope. The one light when humanity falls to darkness. We shall meet again."
And then she disappeared.
Not in a sudden burst of light.
Slowly.
Her figure fading into invisibility, like mist dissolving into air... until nothing remained.
"Haaaah...!"
Evadne gasped as she jolted awake, rising from beneath the water as if pulled by an invisible hand.
Her lungs filled instantly, heart pounding.
"What the hell was that?" she whispered to no one, water sliding down her face and shoulders.
But when she tried to remember the dream...
it slipped away like water through her fingers.
The details dissolved the moment she grasped for them.
The only thing left in her mind was a name.
Remiel.
Evadne climbed out of the bathtub, shivering slightly. She could have dried herself with magic, but she didn't. She didn't want the staffs questioning why her towels remained untouched... or why her hair dried too quickly.
And besides… there was still something strangely comforting about ordinary rituals.
She wrapped a towel around her body, then another around her hair, and stepped out of the bathroom into her room. She walked to her vanity and sat down.
In the mirror, she studied herself closely... searching for anything strange, anything different, any sign that something had changed inside her.
But she looked the same.
Her skin.
Her eyes.
Her face.
No marks. No glow. Nothing.
"What was that dream about?" she asked her reflection, brow furrowing.
She took a slow breath, then let it go.
Like Calvareth said… the answers would come when the time was right.
And Evadne had a feeling...
that time had already begun.
Not all at once.
But gradually.