"You have to be careful. We still have no idea what that person is thinking or what her goal is. And you haven't fully recovered yet. If anything happens, call me right away—my room is next door."
Even as he was leaving, Adrian still didn't feel at ease. But by now I was basically fine. Aside from no longer being able to use the Water Angel's power as recklessly as before, I actually felt pretty alert after resting.
"Alright—there's nobody else here now. You can come out, can't you?"
Once Adrian finally left, I thought for a moment, then shouted into the empty room.
But things didn't go as I hoped. No. 18 Cyra (Jasperly) didn't seem to be hiding nearby. I waited and waited, yet no one appeared.
Seriously? Was I just supposed to keep waiting like this?
Normally, if she refused to show up, I could always just go back to bed and sleep. But I had only just woken up from that overuse backlash, and I wasn't sleepy at all.
"Ugh… I think I'm hungry…"
I stayed alone in that empty room for dozens more minutes—still nothing. Finally, bored out of my mind, I sighed and rubbed my flat stomach.
Maybe tonight simply wasn't the time she intended to tell me the truth. So I decided to give up and go find something to eat first.
It was already very late, and I didn't see anyone else in the hallway outside my room. In that case, I could only try my luck at the dining hall.
I'd heard that the royal castle had so many servants that the entire first-floor area was set aside for centralized dining and ran around the clock. But when I took the magic lift down to the ground level, I saw several palace guards stationed at the dining hall entrance. It didn't look open at all.
"Your Excellency Angel, you're still awake this late—thank you for your hard work!"
In the locals' eyes, it was only thanks to the angels that Michelle had been driven off, so the guards didn't dare be careless around me. They respectfully explained:
"Because of the earlier invasion, parts of the dining hall suffered severe damage. It can't be used until repairs are completed."
Of course—that was all from Michelle's indiscriminate fireballs. She'd even blown up the kitchen.
In other words, for a while, the palace could only rely on temporary food purchases from the markets outside. After learning what I needed, two guards enthusiastically offered to run out and bring back a "takeout" meal from the city.
"Uh… no, that's okay."
At this hour, even in Norvale's busiest districts, there probably weren't many restaurants still open all night—and after a battle, the number of businesses brave enough to stay open would be even smaller.
I finally abandoned the idea. I thanked them and turned, intending to ride the magic lift back to my quarters—when I happened to glimpse a figure entering through the palace gate, finishing a security check, and striding toward me.
"Feliciana? You woke up that fast! But why are you down here? Were you going out to find something to eat too?"
It was obvious she recognized me immediately. From far away, she waved for me to wait and ride the magic lift together. In her other hand, she seemed to be carrying a bag of something.
"You are…?"
At first I thought she was some angel I already knew—just with her wings hidden. But when she came closer and I saw her face under the glow of the magical lamps, I froze.
It was someone who shouldn't exist in this world—someone I'd known back on Earth.
"Cylaren!"
Yes. After confirming again and again, I was sure: that face was exactly the same as the Cylaren I remembered.
But how was she here? Hadn't she stayed on Earth?
"You still remember!" "Cylaren" laughed. "But I'm not Cylaren. I'm a new temporary clone the original made—just to go buy food for her. I ran through several blocks before I finally found a place that was still selling—"
Inside the magic lift, "Cylaren" raised the takeout box in her hand and explained her true identity.
After Michelle retreated, the kingdom's top brass hadn't truly stood down. This incident wasn't just about the so-called God of Flame invading—the newly revealed robot legion was an even bigger threat, on a completely different scale from the monsters they'd dealt with before.
So while Elara was tied up, she strongly recommended that Cyrae attend the strategic meeting in her place—discussing contingency plans in case the enemy returned. And naturally, she hadn't eaten much during all that.
"So you used this ability… to order takeout?" I couldn't help complaining. "And why did you have to use Cylaren's face? Couldn't you have used someone else's appearance?"
Now I finally understood, but it still felt like an outrageous waste of power. Still, the clone had only just split off from Cyrae, and her memories and awareness matched the original—so complaining to her was basically the same as complaining to Cyrae herself.
"There was no time to sculpt a new one!" "Cylaren" said, totally unconcerned. "My body is still essentially a light automaton. Making a new tall-and-handsome look takes real effort, and this was only for temporary use anyway…"
By then, the magic lift had reached the top floor of the palace. Under her lead, we headed into the royal garden up there.
The garden wasn't very large due to limited space. We hadn't gone far before we spotted Cyrae ahead of us with her back turned, seemingly talking nonstop with someone.
"The meeting's over. My original should be waiting up there to eat," "Cylaren" said. "As for what happens next—this one's on you."
And with that, she shoved the takeout box into my hands without ceremony. Her body turned faintly transparent, and like a ghost she drifted swiftly toward the original.
The moment the two merged, Cyrae likely synchronized all the memories the clone had gathered. She abruptly turned to look at me, then waved me over.
"You're here? Perfect—come take a look. Is the 'No. 18 Cyra' you mentioned her?"
"Huh?"
I still had a huge grilled Wind-Dancing Bird leg in my mouth, planning to sneak a few bites—only to get caught immediately.
But following Cyrae's gesture, I saw the face of the person standing in front of her, and I became even more unsettled.
Because the two of them looked almost identical. And the Water-element aura coming off that person was unmistakable.
It was No. 18 Cyra—exactly the one I'd been waiting for.
"What's going on?" I swallowed the food hard, suddenly finding it hard to accept. "Why is she here with you?"
Wasn't she supposed to appear only in front of me?
So what is this—did I get abandoned? And what about her promise to tell me the answer? What kind of development is this supposed to be now?
"Just a few minutes ago, when I came here alone, she suddenly appeared in front of me without warning," Cyrae said, spreading her hands helplessly. "She kept asking me the same question: whether I'm the person she knows. But I have no idea what that even means. When I asked her back, she barely responded, so I didn't know how to communicate at all."
"Before this, you two had never met, right?"
There was no way No. 18 Cyra had any connection to Cyrae—that much I could be sure of. But I also couldn't imagine what she was trying to do. This was the first time she'd shown herself in front of my friends.
"Uh… we're all basically old acquaintances," I said.
The chance was too rare to waste. And since there were no unrelated people around, and No. 18 Cyra didn't seem to be in a hurry to leave, I hesitated for two seconds, rapidly running through possible approaches.
Then I decided to make use of what I already had. I held out the takeout box, pointed to the nearby seats, and tried coaxing her:
"Want to sit down and eat something first?"
It worked immediately.
Faced with grilled takeout right in front of her, No. 18 Cyra's eyes snapped to it. Without hesitation she grabbed a bird leg and stuffed it into her mouth—though her table manners were, unfortunately, not exactly elegant.
"Hey—save some for me!" Cyrae whispered from behind, sounding a little greedy. "I worked hard to buy that!"
Luckily, No. 18 Cyra didn't seem to have a big appetite. After chewing through two bird legs, she appeared satisfied. Seizing the moment, I asked the key question I'd been holding back:
"Now can you tell us who you really are?"
I remembered asking the same thing back in the imperial capital Kyndrill. Back then, her reaction had been intense—as if she'd been triggered into some amnesia-like state.
But this time her attitude was completely different. She stared at me for a long time, then finally spoke, slowly, clearly:
"I am you."