Chapter 167: Something Is Afoot
Amelia's body froze right where she sat. Her eyes remained fixed on the mysterious screen floating directly before her, oblivious to everything unfolding around her for a few fleeting moments, as if the world had dissolved into nothingness.
Nothing else was worthy of her attention save for those words and that screen—one she had never anticipated seeing again.
Her aunt, Roselina, immediately picked up on this sudden shift in Amelia's demeanor, as well as the exact vector of her gaze. Yet when she directed her own sight toward the same spot, she uncovered nothing at all—there was only empty air before her.
"Is something wrong, Amelia?"
Simultaneously, Albert had also picked up on the anomaly with his sharp eyes. He clearly registered that bizarre, intense look Amelia was directing into the void, as though she were beholding something invisible to everyone else.
In a single instant, Albert vanished from his spot utilizing his magical speed, reappearing directly beside Amelia. He leaned forward slightly, observing her with intense scrutiny.
"Lady Amelia, do you require anything?"
Amelia turned toward him, taking in his crimson eyes with their narrow vertical slit pupils resembling those of a apex predator, before shifting her gaze back for a moment to the screen floating directly before her.
At that precise second, she began to confirm something crucial.
No one had noticed the screen.
Neither her aunt nor Albert.
Nor could either of them hear that strange, bizarre voice that had resonated from it moments ago.
This screen existed for her eyes alone—she was the sole person capable of seeing it.
Not wanting to alarm them or cause them to suspect something was wrong with her, her usual bright smile swiftly bloomed across her small, beautiful face. It was a smile that possessed a strange ability to instill warmth and cheer in anyone who beheld it, even if they had no idea what inspired it.
"It's nothing... Well, a certain idea just popped into my head."
Albert and Roselina exchanged a swift glance.
What kind of idea could suddenly pop into Amelia's mind while staring blankly into space like that?
Both of them clearly sensed she was concealing something—that her words were hardly the genuine explanation for what had just transpired. Yet as they looked upon her radiant smile, which seemed to pour pure joy directly into their hearts, they lacked the desire to press her any further.
Amelia slipped off her small chair, making her way toward the suite's door. Meanwhile, Albert reverted his state back to his standard human form, his features once again morphing into those of the young boy Amelia and his companions were accustomed to seeing.
The two departed the suite together, descending the wide palace staircases until they reached the ground floor, where the rest of their companions were already waiting for them.
Cathy, Scott, Brandon, and Hein were gathered around one of the tables, sampling the delicacies served by the attendants while chatting among themselves. Yet the moment they raised their heads and spotted Amelia and Albert descending the stairs, the atmosphere shifted instantly.
The moment Cathy caught sight of Amelia, she bolted toward her at full speed. Standing at her short height, she didn't even wait for Amelia to fully reach the bottom of the stairs; she reached her before her feet could settle onto the floor, throwing her arms around her in a fierce hug and burying her head against her, as if she hadn't seen her in years.
"I missed you so much, Amelia! I'm sorry I couldn't come visit you sooner—I was a bit tied up with my father."
Amelia felt a surge of happiness as Cathy welcomed her so warmly, returning the embrace for a few moments before noticing another detail.
Amelia picked up on the glasses Cathy was now wearing.
Naturally, these were no ordinary specs meant for those with poor eyesight; they were imbued with specialized magical enchantments engineered to multiply focus and sharpen mental clarity—cutting-edge technology crafted specifically for the empire's scientific research division.
Realizing this, Amelia felt genuinely happy for her friend. It was clear Cathy was delving deeper and deeper into the realm of research and academia that she had always adored.
Amelia spoke with a gentle smile:
"It's alright, it's alright... How is everyone doing?"
The rest of the companions lost no time in greeting her as well. Stepping forward, they exchanged warm words following her absence over the recent period, before collectively deciding to depart from the palace.
Their destination had been set from the start.
The ice cream shop located near the palace.
It wasn't situated on a distant street, so reaching it took little time. Along the way, Albert and his new friends began chatting and fooling around, diving into various topics that smoothly transitioned from one subject to another without them even registering the flow of time.
Yet the topic that dominated their conversation was, naturally, complex academic queries.
And for Cathy, who stood as the premier scientific genius among them, there was no real definition for the word "difficult."
Her friends deliberately posed immensely intricate questions to her—some extracted from major academic manuscripts where they hadn't even grasped half of the contents, fully expecting her to be stumped or at least require time to ponder them.
Yet she answered most of them with absolute ease, leaving them feeling after every single answer like complete fools simply for entertaining the thought of asking her in the first place.
Despite the lively atmosphere around her—despite her friends' banter, laughter, and the steady stream of questions exchanged as they walked—Amelia's mind remained completely anchored elsewhere.
That screen.
She couldn't flush it out of her head.
It was no mere interface that had materialized by coincidence; it was the exact same screen that had appeared before her back when she was with Roger. And now, it had resurfaced after the System informed her that its reinitialization and repair were complete.
She didn't know what any of it meant... what this entity calling itself a System truly was.
Nor did she know why the System chose to return at this exact moment.
Yet she was certain of one thing...
Something was unfolding... something she had yet to understand...
Most of her friends noticed that Amelia wasn't entirely present mentally. She drifted off from time to time, looking as though her thoughts were anchored far beyond their conversation. Yet none of them knew the root cause of their friend's distraction, and Amelia had yet to decide whether to reveal what she had seen.