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After leaving the institute, Edward returned to the Floating City as Morgana had notified him that the others had woken up and used Merlin's potion to heal themselves.
"Are you guys alright?"
"We're fine," replied Hermione. "*sigh*. This was truly a once in a lifetime experience."
Snape nodded in agreement with her. After all, how many people can brag about fighting the Almighty Christian God, not only surviving, and even injuring him? This was truly a unique experience.
"When is the next voyage?" he asked.
"Depends on the success of Project Akashic Record and after dealing with the Intergalactic Federation. So, it won't be that long."
Snape nodded his head, while Edward looked at Lily.
"Are you sure you're okay? You seem distracted?"
"No, it's just that everything seemed surreal; that's all." She was lying, at least, not telling the full truth. Her return made her realize that she needed to decide on her love life.
To be precise, she had made a decision and needed to have a real conversation with a few people. However, she was not looking forward to dealing with the troubles that will come afterward.
If it was up to her, Lily would prefer to continue her research. But things have to be done.
Edward could guess what she was thinking, and all he could say was that he did everything to be the perfect wingman for Snape. Everything else is out of his control.
So, he looked at Hermione and said: "Let's go home. I have already contacted Rowena and Luna, they should have returned by now. Did you call your parents?"
With a wry smile on her face, she said: "They said that they were busy."
Edward had to smile in embarrassment when thinking about Hermione's parents as they had a complicated relationship. For one, they do not approve of his polygamous lifestyle.
To them, their daughter deserved a man who loved her and only her. However, over the years, they have slowly accepted this fact. Despite this, they also rarely appeared at family dinners or gatherings.
They will have dinner with Edward's parents, but when all the family members gather together, they refused to participate. Oddly though, they do not mind when only Edward and Hermione come to visit and have family time together.
During those times, they are quite nice to him. Of course, they will always try to hint at him to make Hermione the Empress. According to the law, there is no official Empress in the Empire, all of them have the status of Queen or Royal Concubines.
However, unofficially, Rowena is the Empress and usually served as the face of that position. This position was decided not only because she is the oldest, but also because she is the most powerful.
When it was time to decide this thing, Edward was wise enough not to intervene and let them decide for themselves.
After shaking his head, the two teleported to the Imperial Palace. As soon as Edward arrived, his mother Joana jumped in his arm to embrace him.
"It's only been three years," he said as he hugged her back.
"Three years too long."
Meanwhile, his father only tapped him on his shoulder before everyone arrived and had dinner. It was quite lively as Hermione and Edward explained everything that occurred to them from when they first landed and met Frank and Lilith, to the Mummy events, to the travel in parallel dimensions and the final battle with Yahweh.
"It seems that you guys had quite the adventure," commented Amelia.
"That was too dangerous," added Joana. "You should be more careful in the future."
"What I want to know is which woman did you bring back this time?" asked Rowena as she glared at him.
"No one."
"I don't believe you," said Fleur and Bellatrix at the same time.
"I swear. Ask Hermione, I was on my best behavior throughout the entire time."
All his eyes were then laid on her. "Although hard to believe, he's telling the truth this time."
Throughout the entire journey, Edward was only truly attractive to one person: Zi Yuan. Unfortunately, she was dedicated to her husband so he did not even have a single chance.
As for Chloe, they only had a student and teacher relationship. Although Edward is an immoral man who does not care about relationships with unbalanced power dynamic, he still knows when to control himself.
Well, that was a slight lie; they slept together once, but they both agreed that it was purely physical and would only happen once.
"What a great magical miracle," commented Luna.
"You guys need to give me more credit," said Edward, who then looked at his aunt. "You will have to settle all the population I brought. Their memories have already been modified."
"There is no problem. Our population has recently drastically increased, so we are already quite good at allocating large groups of people."
"Oh, did something happen?"
"Yes. It seems that the Milky Way is in turmoil and many places have started to sell slaves in large quantities to lessen their burdens. We have bought a large number of them through Dumbledore."
"Is everything going well?"
"Some council members wanted to give these people a second-class citizen status like the Fer race but I vetoed them. All of them were granted their freedom and full rights.
"However, it is taking them some time to change their previous mindset and ways of thinking to fit better with the Empire. So, they are temporarily in isolation until they finished their education through Skynet."
"You did the right thing," said Edward. The only reason that the Fer race was granted the status of second-class citizen was to wash away their animosity and more important, to make an example out of them.
In the future, only races that have very deep animosity toward the Empire will be treated as such.
"I have a question that I truly want to know," suddenly said Olivier. "You said that you came close to death, how did that make you feel?"
"Why this sudden random question?"
"Just answer it."
Edward paused for a moment. "To be honest, after thinking about it, I realized that I only felt indifference."
"Indifference?"
"Cousin, that's very concerning," said Susan.
"She's right, son," said his father.
"No, it's not like that. I have always thought that I was a person who feared death just like Voldemort, hence the reason I have so many ways to revive myself in case of an accident.
"However, now, I realized that if it is truly impossible to avoid death no matter what, I would be indifferent to the final outcome and just accept it. I would never willingly chase after death, but if it is inevitable, if comes a time where all my effort to avoid became useless then I'll just accept it."
"It's good that you're mentally fine," said Amelia. "Always remember that you have people who love and count on you. And honestly, without you, this Empire would crumble faster than anyone can say 'Oh, Merlin.'."
The people at the table nodded their heads, however, Olivier seemed not satisfied.
"I'm still concerned. Why do you feel like this? Is there a reason?"
"Reason? Probably because I've died before."
"Excuse me?"
"Oh, I did not tell you guys about Primordial Earth? I guess that there is no point in hiding it now since you will be involved in this trouble sooner or later. Better be prepared now."
Then, Edward proceeded to tell them about his death and reincarnation, old man Merlin and Solomon, Primordial Earth, and the possible war.
"This is too much information for a single dinner," said Amelia as she massaged her temples.
"Wait, so what you're saying is that we are nothing but characters from a book?" slightly yelled Susan. "And the writer, that J.K. Rowling is essentially a God who not only created us but also dictate our fate?"
"Don't mind the small detail," replied Edward.
"That's not a small detail. I'm beginning to question my entire existence."
"Things are not as simple as you state," said Edward after seeing that his cousin might have a mental breakdown.
"Many of the stories from Primordial Earth were not created by these authors, but universes that already existed, but some people there can gain access to these stories through dreams or imaginations.
"As for whether our universe is created or an already existing one, I do not know exactly. Plus, even if it was created, the author only has power over the Main Timeline and cannot affect this one."
Susan sighed in relief, however, she was still not happy.
"If you're so worried, then try to reach Tier 12 then I can take you to Primordial Earth. By then, you will not only have control over your fate but you can even meet the author and have a chat with her."
"Is that possible? You're not lying to me, are you?" asked Susan.
"This is what Merlin told me. The minimum requirement to return to Primordial Earth is Tier 12."
"No problem. Isn't it only Tier 12?"
The other people did not say anything despite knowing that things were not as simple as Edward said–especially when it comes to the issue of other variants of themselves when reaching Tier 11.
However, they did not damper the enthusiasm of the little girl; it's always good to be motivated.
"What about your parents back there, are they alright?" asked Joana; she did not care about Edward's reincarnation. From what she knows, if not for him, she, her husband, and their sons were destined to die during the First Wizarding War.
"I've asked Merlin to send a clone of my original body to take care of them. With a little knowledge from the Empire, it should not be a problem to live a healthy life without worry about food or money."
"That's good."
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Next Chapter Title: Seer's Power