"You still remember me?" Varian was honestly surprised. "We only spent a short time together."
"Of course I do!" Primula almost yelled, her eyes watering up and face flushed. Clenching her fists tight, she took a strong step forward. "I sti—"
Her words were cut off abruptly as the young lady staggered back and almost crashed to the ground.
Alison caught the girl in her arms and looked at the lass with an apologetic expression. "Girl, you need to take care o—"
"I'm fine." Primula pushed her away and stood up, trying to smile as cheerfully as she can. "I was just too excited after seeing my brother after a long time!"
Desperately signaling to Alison with her fingers, Primula smiled at Varian. "Brother, you're also the same, rig—"
Primula collapsed into Alison's arms.
"What's actually happening?" Varian stepped forward with a stern expression.
"N-Nothing, it's just fatigue, eha, ahahaha," Primula made an awkward expression and tried to wave her hand but it collapsed weakly midway.
Looking at Varian's increasingly concerned face, the girl's expression worsened and a 'Why did it have to happen now of all times' was evident on her.
"Alison." Varian's voice was more stern than he realized.
Alison who was looking at Primula with concern and Primula who was steeped in worry both stiffened at his tone and replied in tandem.
"Yes!"
"Ah, sorry." Varian pursed his lips.
He didn't even exert any power, it was just the heaviness of his soul honed by facing beings like Equilius, Keman and Yami. But what he saw beyond that door changed him even more.
A soul that endured pressure from people at the top of the universe, even if that pressure was fractional, was not something to be trifled with.
Due to the will of that soul, the he two experienced an unspeakable burst of fear in that moment.
'Thankfully they're both rank 9. If it's a rank 1, they might've gone insane.'
Varian adjusted his powers with a bitter smile.
'God Emperor…'
He was trying to forget that silhouttee. That man who was standing at the center of?the universe and single handedly slowing down its destruction.
Aur Deus, the epitome of existence, the man closest to a diety and the being who could hold stand alone between the heaven and earth.
If the painters and scholars of mythology needed to imagine a Primordial God, all they'd need was a small meeting with him. Even a glance would suffice.
Varian couldn't even see his face cleary but what he saw was burned into his memories.
There was something about him, something different from everyone else. It wasn't strength, time or fame, even though he was the strongest, felt the oldest and remained the most famous.
God Emperor evoked something inside people who had that rare opportunity to catch a glimpse of his existence.
Varian experienced that too. It was an unforgettable experience, one that would be etched into soul no matter what despite not fully understanding what it actually was.
And that's why, even though he just troubled Alison and Primula, he stood with a blank face, unable to stop the memory of that day which continued to play.
"B-Brother, don't be angry, okay?"
Primula's voice had grown much meeker as she misunderstood his blank gaze with a silent expression and clenched fists as anger.
"Her curse is not completely lifted yet." Alison rubbed the hair of the girl and nodded slightly.
While she kept looking at Varian with a worried gaze, Primula's body was hit by a current of time.
She shrank from her 16-year teenage self to a 8-year old. She went all the way back to 6-years before regrowing to 9, stumbling to 7 and stabilizing at 8.
"What the…" Varian was dumbfounded.
"The forbidden land of space-time is dangerous but very mysterious. She tried to use it but couldn't really do much about. But her best efforts have allowed her to temporarily lift the curse."
Alison sighed as she rubbed the little girl's long red hair.
"Yes, yes! If only the curse didn't exist, I'd have stopped the wars long back!" Primula jumped out of her arms and wrapped her arms around Varian's waist, looking up at him with a pitiful face.
"Brother, am I dreaming? This must be a dream, right? A dream for sure! Then, I don't want to wake up." She started lightly shaking her head.
"Haa, seriously~" Varian gently rubbed her head and a big smile formed on Primula's face.
And…nothing was said for the next ten minutes.
Only the silent breathing of the little girl was heard until a light snoring ensued.
Varian gently put her on a bed that looked like it was made of fluffy clouds and turned to Alison.
She owed him an explanation at least.
"She really misses you." Grandma Alison showed a mix of sadness and jealousy.
"She's trying her best to remain in her older state but it's always a battle. I can't count the number of times I had to coax a 6-
year old girl to study battle-arrays to kill a million warriors. She suffered a lot and I put her through it."
"You said she succeeded. You lied."
"She didn't want you to know…that was the promise she took from me. In return, she would not risk her life in trying to hasten the war. Still, me lying to you is unforgivable. Can I be fired from my post, Your Highness?"
Varian paused for a moment and took a serious look at Alison. She was looking at him with bright, hopeful eyes.
'She lied to me on purpose to get fired!'
Varian immediately showed a generous smile and patted his chest. "How can the empire afford to lose such a loyalist sla—I mean, secretary?"
Alison's shoulders drooped. "I hate you, Boss."
"You were under a long vacation, involuntarily, but hey! Vacation is vacation!" Varian said with a straight face.
"If only she knew how shameless you are…" Alison turned to the little girl before her eyes widened and shifting her gaze toward him. "Don't you dare teach her your shamelessness! I've raised her well!"
"…But her soul level is still fluctuating and her mind hasn't evolved, did you really raise her well?"
"Excuse me?"
"Dear Grandma, her mental age is 9 after she reverted. But even when she looked 16, her soul wasn't stable."
"It's something only Primula can experience. You know, she has to focus very hard to raise her mental age. And that's not counting the difficulty for lifting curse on the body.
Primula says it's like…doing a pull up while holding a barbell on your neck…with weights."
"First of all, what a weird analogy."
"I know, right. But that's what her 7-year old self said, so that's that."
"What do I do with her?" Varian rubbed her head and used the power of vitality and healed the hidden injuries she accumulated over the years.
A peaceful smile formed on Primula's face as her sleep deepened.
Her condition was better than before.
She could lift the curse and grow her physical body. But that's only a temporary state she should always be work to keep active. The same went for her mental age.
Due to overexertion, sometimes, she would drop to 6-year old or 7-year old and would have to spend some time to recover.
"My best bet is to teach the 9-year old the lessons. Once she can, she'll raise her mental age and her 16-year self will analyze the lessons to come up with strategies and tactics. Then, she'll handle me feedback, specifically for her younger self."
"Sounds like a mess."
Alison rolled her eyes. "You have no idea."