OLD-WORLD EXTRA

Chapter 272: We Won

Chapter 272: We Won

?

Except for the little one and Evelyn, all in the room now completely understood.

This fog wasn't something that the Order had orchestrated since the beginning.

It was presented first with the Primordials.

They hid Earth from the universe's truth since the dawn of time using the very thing that surrounded those of a higher plane.

The planets shown outside the Local Group were fake.

This fact was true.

Another was that humans weren't supposed to know that.

But they went against 'Their' warning and crossed the barrier around Sol's domain.

Have they awakened the Myths?

A question that remained unanswered to their current day.

Whether or not they awakened mattered little to the Order.

For they were the ones who followed in the Primordials' footsteps.

As they replicated the fog...

And used it on Earth.

It was similar to what was done to most backwater planets.

They needed to have the true universe hidden from the normal populace, and this was but a simple step to ensure that.

That, along with all it further entailed, gave the family a feeling of disgust.

Although some were used to it, being lied to since birth was still...

Painful.

It made them feel stupid.

Lower than human.

'Hm?'

Then all of a sudden, the Aether in the room subtly reacted and pulsed.

It almost went undetected but Emir noticed that change.

What caused that reaction?

To get the answer to that question, he telepathically asked everyone except Faye, of course.

[Tell me exactly what you did in the past five seconds, leave no detail.]

All answered his question without displaying a moment of hesitation.

[Think about you.]

Lyra was the first.

[Worry about you two.]

Then his mother.

[I was thinking about a N-Nettoon since this reminded me of it.]

Then his sister.

[Eat air. I'm hungry bro, my brain wants food, it needs its sustenance!]

Then his brother.

{Worry about things I guess...]

Then his younger brother.

It went on till Emir received all twenty-two confessions.

But during that twenty-two, he caught onto the reason.

Kiera.

She was the cause.

Her thoughts 'angered' Aether.

If she were a Seraphim then the ripple they experienced would've been noticeable by all, not just by Emir.

The reason for that was because a higher ranked Celestial would be more keenly connected to Aether, thoughts and all.

Now... what did she think, that even Aether would be 'angered?'

['Cause of the fog, I thought about the Oracle, wondering if a bastard god like him had a name.]

Most would be able to extract a few things from her confession.

First, they would notice that she began to harbor hatred towards the Primordials for what she went through and continued to go through.

Second, her mention of names.

Third, was the calling of Oracle a bastard.

As family, she knew most of the knowledge Emir had in that brain database of his.

So she knew that all higher beings had titles, but it seemed that she didn't pause to think about why they had them in the first place.

When one simply entertained the thought of a higher being's true name, Aether reacted.

With that in mind, most would understand that Kiera's thoughts bathed in bad light and recklessness were the cause.

A sighing Emir, who had long since reached that conclusion, simply couldn't imagine the thunderous change that would occur if he bypassed the shield called Titles and directly name- dropped the Oracle.

Unbeknownst to him, his questioning actions worried those around him, which caused a

mood of gloom to permeate the room.

...It seemed as if their celebration was a failure.

Emir leaned on his chair's armrest and began thinking of ways to get their spirits up.

But he didn't need to.

Faye existed.

"Pops, pass me those circle sweets! They're so good."

And unlike the rest, she cared for nothing beyond her literal reach.

"Sure, sure."

Longshot was swept up in his daughter's simple wants and thoughts as he gave her everything

she wanted.

With that scene, liveliness slowly returned to the room.

But it wasn't just because of the little one.

Jamal was there, too.

"Bossman!"

Emir's gaze met his.

"What?"

"Speech! Give us a speech, we've heard the one in the Academy, and damn, I got

goosebumps."

"I know, right?! Even me and Morgiana couldn't believe it."

"Yeah, and we've heard it live!"

The prince, who wasn't in the mood, was about to reject them, but the others joined in on the

fun.

"Yeah, bossman. Give us a speech!"

"Speech!"

"Speech!"

"Speech!"

"Speech!"

The chant spread like wildfire.

"Speech!"

From the three musketeers to the old 'married' couple to the children of corrupted feathers,

to his brother, Morgiana, and even Aquila.

"Speech!"

Only a few women, mainly his blood family, Lyra, Mariane, and Evelyn, remained quiet.

"Speech!"

They silently watched with smiling eyes.

"Fine, fine!"

Emir relented, standing up from his seat and stepping behind the three L's.

"Hey, sweetie..."

His mother's smile grew as her eyes reflected his dark ones.

Lyra was the same.

Meanwhile, Lily had her face hidden away as she leaned her head on her right hand.

Emir poked his sister's cheeks.

"Awww... you embarrassed?"

"Humph!"

He gave her a few pats, then looked around the room.

His gaze landed on all twenty-two of them as he spoke:

"Firstly, I thank you all for coming today."

"Of course, brother-"

"Shut up, let me finish."

Emir cut off a now-dejected Ragnar.

"Even Jamal didn't interrupt; you should learn from him."

Leo, one of Kiera's, commented, causing a few chuckles and giggles to escape everyone's lips.

"Not now, man; don't embarrass us in front of the boss."

"Yeah, you idiot, keep quiet."

"You guys are kinda mean."

"No, they're right; this might make Kiera look bad."

Her other four whispered amongst themselves.

Evan, Hiro, Sarah, and Jack, respectively.

They probably thought that their voices were too low to be heard.

But they were up against Seraphims.

It seemed they still hadn't comprehended that.

Kiera facepalmed, and Emir laughed, continuing his speech:

"To keep things short, I'll just say this..."

"We won."

"Me, Ragnar, Morgiana, and Evelyn had won."

"And this today is to celebrate that."

Emir took his newly poured glass of whiskey, one prepared by Lyra, and presented it before

all.

Everyone raised their own glass.

A few had alcohol, while others had some variation of rose milk that Laura had made

beforehand.

Even Faye joined in, as she finally stopped stuffing herself and raised a glass with her two

little hands.

Lily was about to pour herself some wine, but Emir took the bottle off her.

And before she could complain, his voice resounded:

"Cheers!"

They all followed.

"Cheers!"

"Cheers!"

"Cheers!"

"That's not fair-"

...

The party began, and those at the table had already formed groups.

Conversations were lively.

Bellies were full.

Dining left and was replaced by entertainment.

"So, how did you guys meet?"

Mariane asked Emir as she leaned back on her chair while taking a few sips of her wine.

"We met-"

Ragnar's words took pause as a grinning Emir nudged him.

"You know the saying that you should never meet your heroes?"

The two sisters nodded.

"Yeah."

"We do."

"Well, he first met me on the transport bus."

A chuckling Ragnar lightly punched Emir in the shoulder.

"You're no hero." "What? I saved you, though."

The girls enjoyed their banter, but their moment was interrupted as Faye ran into Emir's lap.

"Grandpa!"

She climbed onto him, reminiscent of how those students had clambered up the mammoth's

leg and settled on his right shoulder.

"Hehe..."

"Why, hello there."

"Sorry boss!"

Longshot approached the group, seeming to have been chasing Faye around the room for the

past hour. "It's fine..."

Emir nodded towards an empty chair nearby.

"Come sit."

"Sit, pops!"

Logan accepted the invitation with a smile as he sat next to Ragnar.

Their leader was at the head of the table; the two guys, Logan, and Ragnar were on his right,

while the two girls, Mariane and Evelyn were on his left.

"She tiring you?"

Emir picked her up from her armpits and placed her above his lap.

"Are you?"

And a session of tickling began.

"Hehehehe..."

She squirmed like a fish out of water while giggling her lungs out.

"Not really... I mean, besides her always being so energetic, I don't really have any problems."

Mariane, a woman overflowing with motherhood, asked:

"Is it really that easy?"

|| ||

Logan didn't know how to answer.

And she noticed that, so she rephrased her question:

"Aren't kids her age supposed to be more impulsive? You know, like having arguments and

fights before gradually building a strong bond with the parents."

A nodding Longshot seemed to know exactly what she meant.

"I get what you're saying, but to be honest, she's so obedient..."

He chuckled.

"I feel like I'm getting off too easy."

While they had their parent talk, Emir finally stopped torturing the little one, not wanting her

to dye his augmented suit yellow.

"Schtaaap!"

"I did, I did-"

"Emir!"

The prince looked up at who called him.

Evelyn.

He was wondering when she was about to ask for a private talk.

And it seemed like now was the time.

"Faye, Grandpa has to do some business; do you want to come with?"

"Yes, yes!"

"Will you stay quiet?"

"I will!"

"Okay, let's go."

Emir picked her up and sat her on his head as he left his chair.

...

"Why are you ignoring me?" 'Quite straightforward...'

The two stood outside the dining room.

'I like it.'

And Evelyn had her face close to Emir, her eyes demanding an answer.

One that he couldn't give.

But still... he didn't want to lie.

"Do you want me to lie?"

He had enough of lies. "Of course not!"

So instead, he matched her straightforwardness.

"Then I can't say."

Evelyn's already furred brows became even more so.

"Just... tell me anything..."

She clutched his shirt and brought herself closer to him.

"I hate this... You're hiding things from me, and Sis isn't helping either!"

Faye silently pulled on Emir's hair and balanced herself, stopping her fall.

"Ay, don't be pulling me now, you-"

"Be serious!"

Emir chuckled.

"Sure..."

His hands forced hers off him as he stepped back.

"My and everyone's lives-yours included-are at stake."

He then gave Faye a few taps in the back for a job well done.

"And now that you're a professor, you know most things we do..."

Evelyn's brows relaxed, alongside her once scrunched-up face.

"The only difference is in our perspectives."

Her eyes then suddenly widened.

She appeared to have understood his hidden meaning.

Perspective.

His and hers were different.

Why?

Well, that was unknown.

Emir said that he couldn't tell her, so no matter what she did, this equation couldn't be

solved.

Some of the values were missing.

But at least she now knew that the information given to her after becoming a professor was...

Played with.

Changed.

It showcased a different face than what was real.

Maybe it was even propaganda-like.

Simply put, what she knew wasn't the whole truth.

There was a lot more to it.

This caused the difference in their perspectives.

A difference that Emir couldn't align for one reason or another.

There was a high chance that it might be because she was related to something with which he

didn't want to get involved in.

Or at least that's what she managed to come up with.

And surprisingly... Evelyn was right.

However, she was still off the mark.

The degree of shift between their perspectives wasn't just because of the hidden fact that

Magnus, a leader of the Order, wanted to take over the Earth.

But Emir's revenge against him.

The prince cared for Earth, yes, but if its destruction could help him in his journey to cut off

Magnus's head...

Then it could be damned for all eternity, and he would not care.

Not a single bit.

"I understand..."

Evelyn nodded her head after a long moment of silence.

She then stepped back with an unexpectedly happy face, bidding him goodbye as she

reentered the dining room.

"Hoh..."

'She's way smarter than I thought.'

His surprise didn't come from the meaning behind her smile.

Even though it was a factor.

Instead, it stemmed from her realization that he awaited someone.

'She'd be useful if not for those behind her.'

Emir sighed while looking at the gate as it opened and a man approached, walking towards

him with slow steps.

"So? Will you do it?"