Therius saw there was no use to hide the truth and better to just get it over with. So, he slowly recounted the events, from the moment Emma was detained by the king's guard until Arreya's death.

As Therius talked, Emma listened with tears streaming down her face non-stop. It was a heartbreaking sight, seeing Emma again experiencing the suffering when she lost the people she loved. Xion felt his chest tighten and he had difficulty breathing.

He had never felt this sad for anyone else before. Unfortunately, there was nothing he could do. As he said before, not even a Time Master could go back to the past to change the future.

Even though he really wanted to prevent Arreya's death, there was nothing he could do. This really made him feel useless.

"I ... just wanted to meet my parents ..." Emma cry finally broke after Therius finished his story. She covered her face with both hands and sobbed uncontrollably. "I really miss my father ... I really miss my mother ... For over a dozen years, I always think about them. Why .. why am I so unlucky in this life? My father was killed before I arrived ... and my mother died to save me..."

"Emma ..." Xion finally spoke up. "Your mother told us to ask you, not to be sad. For your father and mother, you are the best thing that has ever happened to their lives. They are very, very happy to meet you. Do her words mean anything to you?"

Emma lifted her teary face and stared at Xion closely. "Mother always said the same thing ... she would ask me not to be sad. I don't understand what it means."

Xion paused when he heard Emma's answer. He began to understand what was really going on and his mind went into a mess.

"Xion ..." Therius took a deep breath. He then turned to his friend and said in a low voice. "I think ... you already know what happened?"

Xion finally nodded.

For months he was confused by Emma's ring that hung around Therius's neck since over a dozen years ago. He thought there was a Time Master besides himself in this world, who intervened and made Therius find the ring in the past.

While maybe actually .. what happened was much simpler than that.

"Emma ... you still have a request you want to redeem from me, don't you?" Xion asked Emma. "You won our race and got two wishes from Therius and I. Would you like to redeem your request to me now?"

The girl stopped her crying and bit her lip. She really didn't understand why Xion had to bring that up when she was grieving like this. "Xion ... there's nothing you can give me. I just want to meet my parents ..."

"I ... will grant it," Xion said firmly. "Is that what you want?"

Emma frowned. "My wish ... would never come true. Nobody can grant it, unless—" The?girl's pair of eyes suddenly went round as their surroundings slowly changed. She was so shocked that she unconsciously grabbed Xion's hand to lean on.

Therius disappeared from her side and the scene around them changed rapidly as if they were in a time-lapse video moving backward at high speed.

"Xi — Xion ... wh-what's going on?" asked Emma frantically. She didn't understand what was happening. The scenery around them changed so rapidly and it made her head dizzy.

Xion firmly held Emma's hand. "Hang on, Emma. It's only a moment."

Emma got up from her seat because the chair she was sitting on suddenly disappeared. Her body staggered and almost fell if Xion didn't quickly catch her.

"Xi .. Xion, what's going on?" whispered Emma hoarsely.

Everything that happened was very confusing. Xion didn't answer. He tightened his grip on Emma's hand. Better to wait for Emma to see for herself, he thought, then he would tell her what happened.

"Close your eyes," Xion whispered when he saw Emma grip her forehead as she became dizzier and dizzier. The man gently put his hand before her eyes to cover them. "It will be finished soon."

Unconsciously, Emma closed her eyes and complied with Xion's request. Her chest was pounding as she recalled Xion's words before her surroundings turned like this.

What was he saying? Xion could help Emma meet her parents? How? Would he take Emma to the land of the dead? Was it even possible?

Or....?

Emma's brain worked fast as she remembered how their surroundings changed after Xion said that he would grant Emma's wish.

Was... Xion....? A Time Master?

Finally the time-lapse-like changes occurring around them gradually slowed down, and eventually came to a complete stop.

Xion removed his hand from Emma's eyes and whispered softly. "We're here. I hope you can stay calm."

Emma opened her eyes slowly to look around them. As soon as her gaze caught all that was around her ... the girl immediately pressed her lips.

"Where ... where are we?" whispered Emma in a trembling voice. Her mind already thought of a possibility, but she didn't dare to think about it any further. She looked at Xion with a questioning look.

"We are at the crown prince's palace," Xion said calmly. "I'll take you to meet your parents, but you can't say anything to them. We must not change the past."

"The past?" Emma swallowed hard. "Xion ... Who are you really?"

Xion smiled slightly and shrugged. "I am the Time Master, I can control time. I can go to the past or the future, but I never and must not interfere and change history. I've never done this before. You are the first person I take with me."

"Xion ..." Emma stared at Xion with big round eyes. It was so hard to believe the man's words, yet she knew he wasn't lying. "You're ... not joking?"

Xion turned his gaze around them and reached out his hands towards Emma ??as if to invite the girl to check for herself whether he was lying or not.

Emma held her breath and walked around the room they were in. This room was similar to her bedroom in the future, but the furnishings and designs were somewhat different. She then walked to the window and tried to look outside to make sure the view was different.

Of course! Outside the window, she found the setting of the garden and the trees there were different from the one she had seen from the window of her bedroom.

"You're amazing!" said Emma, ??with tears in her eyes. "Thank you ... Are you taking me to meet my parents in the past?"

"That's right. Since they already passed away, I can only take you to meet them in the past. I guess it's okay if you see them from afar. As long as you keep your distance and don't talk to them or raise suspicion, we can do this. We must not change history."

Xion was terrified if they accidentally changed history, Emma would not be born and he wouldn't be able to meet her in the future.

Therefore they must be very careful.

"I understand. I'm not going to go near them. I will only see them from afar," said Emma. Her face, which was initially filled with grief, was gradually filled with happiness. Her sad expression gave way to a smile. She felt her heart pounding.

Oh, soon, she would meet her parents.

She couldn't wait!

What did they look like before? was it the same as she remembered? Oh ... she missed them so much.

"Good," said Xion. "Soon the party will start. We can go to the palace to attend."

"What party?" asked Emma in surprise. "Oh .. did you mean—?"

Emma immediately remembered that Kaoshin and Arreya suddenly decided to run away the night before Arreya's wedding to Prince Darius. Their sudden decision always left Emma wondering. Why did they delay until the last moment to decide that they wanted to elope ...

From what Emma had heard so far, her mother was ready to marry Prince Darius because they had been engaged for a long time and she didn't want to anger the royal family. Her father, Kaoshin, also knew that he should not take the crown prince's fiancée, so he chose to join the military to protect Arreya when she became the queen of Akkadia.

But the two of them suddenly decided to throw it all away and run away together at the last moment. What made them change their minds? Did something happen on the night of the party? Emma was eager to know what really happened.

"Thank you for doing this, Xion.." she whispered. "This means the world to me...."