Three Divine Wishes: Yes, I'm OP!

Liliana fixed her gaze on Marcus.

One elegant brow rose as the temperature in the chamber seemed to drop several degrees.

The soft purple-and-gold light from the tactical projections cast long shadows across her pale face and the deep crimson-black of her robes.

"So, the little power you’ve gained has made you this bold, Marcus?" she asked.

Her voice remained calm, yet the quiet cold in it was enough to make the Thunder Wolf hybrid’s shoulders tighten almost imperceptibly.

A faint, controlled smile touched her lips as she let her red eyes move across the other Peak Masters.

"At least the rest of you seem to have turned into something useful."

Harlan’s eyes narrowed slightly. The polished stone table between them reflected the shifting markers of the ongoing conquest, the low hum of the map the only sound for a moment.

"Where have you been, Liliana?"

She gave a light, dismissive shrug. The motion made the dark fabric of her robes whisper against itself.

"Seclusion."

The single word was offered without further explanation. After a short pause, her attention shifted fully to the tactical projection. Crimson eyes scanned the moving markers with focused intensity, searching.

"Where is Amber? I do not see her among the active forces."

Harlan answered without hesitation, his voice steady in the quiet chamber.

"She is outside the lands currently under Lord Dream’s direct authority. She has been waiting for the past few months."

Hearing this, Liliana turned from the tactical projection without another word and left the chamber as swiftly as she had entered.

The dark robes whispered against the polished stone floor while her mind drifted toward the task she had once passed to Amber.

’My lovely daughter... I truly hope you’ve gained enough intel about Husband.’ She thought to herself as she knew she had been too busy herself to even figure out what he liked and disliked.

Behind her, Marcus watched the doors close and gave a short, incredulous shake of his head.

"This is crazy... How is she still even a Peak Master after vanishing for four years?" he muttered under his breath.

Harlan stayed silent, his focus already drifting toward the eastern markers glowing softly on the living map.

After a pause, he spoke in a calm yet commanding tone.

"Marcus, Serena—you’re heading to the Eastern Continent for reconnaissance. I expect us to have full control over the region well before we hit the fourteen-year mark."

----

Far from the Academy, at the precise edge of the purple-and-white barrier that marked the Divine Domain, Amber sat alone amid quiet, beautiful land.

She rested with her back pressed against the unseen barrier, one knee drawn up, brown hair tousled by the wind, brown eyes fixed on the empty air in front of her as though waiting for a signal that still refused to arrive.

Liliana descended from the sky in a smooth arc of crimson-black robes.

The moment her boots touched the ground, she closed the remaining distance and pulled Amber into a tight, loving embrace before the younger woman could even rise or speak.

Amber stiffened in pure shock for a full heartbeat.

"..Mother?"

Four years of absence crashed over her at once.

Her hands came up almost clumsily, gripping the dark fabric of her mother’s robes as if to confirm she was real.

A small, shaky breath left her before she finally relaxed into the familiar hold, pressing her face against Liliana’s shoulder for a long moment.

When Liliana finally leaned back, a playful light already danced in her crimson eyes, though she did not miss the lingering emotion in Amber’s expression.

"Fufufu~ Why are you sitting here like a statue instead of running off to explore the way you usually do?" she teased softly.

"What happened to my adventurous daughter?"

Amber’s smile was faint but sincere, still carrying the lingering weight of the unexpected reunion.

Her gaze flicked briefly toward the space where the invisible barrier stood before returning to her mother.

"Ugh, Mother... there’s hardly anything left in this world for me to discover anymore. With the Academy caught up in a full-scale conquest, everything feels so heavy and overly serious."

She let out a small pout; the expression tinged with a childlike frustration that contrasted with the composed maturity she usually displayed to everyone else.

Liliana’s laugh was quiet and warm.

"Well... Would you like to come with me into a new world, then?"

At the mention of venturing to a new world... Amber’s entire face brightened.

"Hmm... that pretty boy did mention something about other worlds once." She paused, expression growing more thoughtful.

"Though I get the feeling this entire Star System is wrapped up in something far more serious than I care for."

Liliana’s brow arched. "Pretty boy?"

A visible blush rose across Amber’s cheeks. She tried and failed to hide it.

"Hehe, the one they call ’Lord Dream’," she admitted, then immediately launched into a rapid, half-joking rant.

"Mother... Have you seen him? Like really seen him?" She questioned.

"The way he looks, the power he carries like it’s nothing, that entire mysterious aura he never bothers to explain—it’s ridiculous."

Liliana listened with a loving, almost indulgent motherly smile that cooled at the edges the longer Amber spoke.

Then... words slipped out before she could stop them.

"Amber, have you fallen for my husba—"

She caught herself at once, crimson eyes sharpening as she recovered with a light but pointed tone.

"My daughter... Didn’t I tell you not to fall for him?"

Amber stared at her for a full second, clearly catching the near slip.

Then she burst into bright, mischievous laughter, brown eyes gleaming with the same restless energy she had always carried.

"Who fell for him? I’m just stating facts, Mother. Have you looked at the man? That face, that power, the way he walks around like the rest of us are background scenery—it’s unfair."

Liliana rolled her eyes, though the warmth never fully left her expression.

The obsessive undercurrent in her chest stirred at the casual way Amber spoke of him, but she kept her voice steady.

"What have you actually managed to learn about him?"

Amber’s laughter faded into something more serious. She shrugged, one shoulder brushing against the invisible wall at her back.

"Nothing useful. He’s truly mysterious."

"Even with the time I’ve spent inside the Domain, I only saw him two... maybe three times, and never alone. All I can say is that when his mind locks onto a goal, that goal is the only thing that seems to matter."

Liliana went silent, letting the weight of the new revelation sink in alongside everything she’d already learned—his deep tie to Kalpa, the way he’d brought the Underside to heel, the decisive conclusion he’d imposed on a war that had dragged on for countless ages.

Slowly, an unsettling thought began to take shape in the back of her mind.

’What if what he wants reaches far beyond this single world?’

After a moment, she asked, voice softer, "Then why are you waiting here?"

Amber glanced at the empty air of the invisible barrier again, a faint pout touching her lips.

"I’m just waiting for that guy to let me in."

Liliana’s laugh returned, quieter and edged with the knowledge that Akasha was most likely still occupied far below in the Underside.

Even so, she drew Amber gently against her side, crimson eyes resting on the unseen wall of the Domain while the obsessive warmth in her chest settled into patient resolve.

"Then we will wait for him together."