Alistair never knew that he would feel such happiness just by being with Melina again. Of course, he was eager to return to Melina, and he knew he would be happy to be reunited with her. But when he saw her, looking at him with such joy in her eyes, he felt like the happiest man in the world. Best of all, he managed to rub Heiliger the wrong way and secure Melina's newest creation for himself and his soldiers.

  "How can you keep making things this good?" He gushed when the two of them were back at home, Melina having made a heap of food for him. It was a celebration night for them with Sienna and Mango joining the party.

  "I had to keep myself busy somehow," she said somewhat somberly, then flushed. "It was lonely at home without you…"

  His heart melted at that proclamation. Melina was getting increasingly more open and affectionate, and Alistair loved it. He knew that she was a very loving person, even when she was the tough, unbeatable Archmage. But ever since coming to Sunglow, she had stopped being afraid to show her gentle side.

  Alistair went over to her and pulled Melina into a hug. "I missed you so much."

  She returned the gesture, and for a long while, they just stood there together, wrapped in each other's warmth. Until Mango began to yip by their feet, demanding attention.

  "And I missed you, too, Mango. And you, Sienna," Alistair said, patting both of them.

  A sputter came from outside, and Knight stuck his head in through the open window.

  "And you too, of course," Alistair said, walking over and patting the nightmare.

  "Shouldn't you be going home to Grandfather?" Melina glared at Knight.

  The nightmare shook his head in disapproval, and Melina sighed.

  "Tell me what happened while I was gone? How long has the Church been here?" He asked, sitting back down at the dinner table.

  "Not long, but enough to cause a stir. Everyone's on edge, especially the adventurers. Apparently, Heiliger is trying to get something specific in the Monster Realm, and she wants me to help," Melina said.

  "What? Your help? But why? Does she remember everything?"

  Melina then told him about her conversation with Heiliger, about her plan to go along with the bishop while the elves silently followed her into the Monster Realm. She wanted to prevent Heiliger from obtaining whatever it was that she wanted to obtain.

  "I don't get. Why would she want your help? You've clearly established that you don't want anything to do with the Church. We've taken Adrien under our wing, captured their spy, gone into the Monster Realm behind their backs, and are actively working together with elves and monsters. I don't believe that she would just allow you to do that," Alistair said with a frown.

  Even if Heiliger believed that she could somehow control Melina, she wouldn't let such deeds go unpunished. In the previous timeline, anyone who strayed from the Church's orders even a little bit was severely punished. He didn't believe for a second that Heiliger would let it go, just because Melina could be useful.

  "I've been wondering about that too. Trying to understand what she is thinking, but I'm coming up short," Melina said.

  Alistair scratched his chin in thought. "It must be a trap. Either that or she believes that she needs you to get whatever it is she wants to get."

  "Supposedly, it's something that would keep the Human Realm alive and well after the Realms are split, but does such a thing even exist?" Melina pondered.

  "I don't know. She might just be lying and luring you into a trap."

  "But what kind of trap can she lay in the Monster Realm for us? We are far more familiar with it," she argued.

  "She might just try to overwhelm you with force. I saw quite a few System users today," Alistair noted bitterly.

  Melina nodded. "At least forty, likely much more. The Guildmaster should have a precise approximation after today."

  "I've brought around fifty Sinclair soldiers with me, so we might be on equal footing now," he said.

  "You're bringing them along in the Monster Realm, yes?"

  "Absolutely. No way I'm letting you go there alone. Heiliger doesn't have the right to reject my help either."

  Melina smiled. "Thank you."

  "What are you thanking me for? There is no way I would let you face that witch alone," Alistair said, reaching his hand over the table and gently holding Melina's hand.

  "It must have been difficult to convince the Duke to send help," Melina asked, prompting him to continue eating.

  He took a bite of the beef stew she had prepared for dinner, enjoying the rich flavors before answering. "When it came to matters of the Church, it was actually rather easy. He's always been teetering on the edge when it came to the Church. My punishment only put him in a foul mood, although he would never admit it. Mom told me that."

  "Really? I was worried he didn't want to openly oppose the Church."

  "I suspect he wouldn't if it weren't for you."

  "Me?" She blinked in surprise. So cute, Alistair wanted to kiss her right there, but held back. There'd be time for that later.

  "Yes. As you suggested, I told him about the alternate timeline. He didn't believe it at first, calling it nonsense. But then I named some things that were about to happen and some things that only the head of the Sinclair house would know. It convinced him. Once he heard about the world's end, he was more than eager to lend me his soldiers."

  "So we have his full support?"

  "Absolutely," Alistair confirmed proudly.

  "That's wonderful! We might have an actual chance then," she cheered.

  "There was one matter he didn't want to budge on. We'll have to work on it to fully make him accept it," Alistair said with a click of annoyance.

  "What thing?" Melina asked nervously.

  "That will come after we've gotten rid of Church pests," Alistair said.

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  He was, in fact, thinking about their marriage. The Duke was adamant that Alistair couldn't marry a commoner, no matter how talented and powerful she was. Even Mom supporting Alistair hadn't fully convinced the man, and in the end, the Duke agreed to consider it if Melina could present herself as a proper member of noble society.

  Another burden on her shoulders. Alistair would be more than happy to live in Sunglow as a commoner, together with Melina. But the Duke wouldn't let him do that. He insisted that after the current crisis with the Church was settled, Melina, Alistair, and the Duke would all sit down for a long talk and figure out how to move forward and make things work.

  Why does it all have to be so difficult? I just want to marry Melina and live here peacefully.

  "Whatever it is, we'll manage it together," Melina said, rubbing her finger over his hand.

  He smiled. "Of course, love. Nothing can stop us when we're together."

  The rest of the evening passed with catching up on everything the other had been doing while sharing much-needed snuggles, which they both seemed to crave. Once both Mango and Sienna were asleep, Alistair wasn't shy in showing exactly how much he had missed her.

  It was the day of the expedition. Melina woke up early in the morning, feeling like she was going to war. She suspected that if it hadn't been for Alistair, she wouldn't have slept at all. But his warm and calming presence quickly lulled her to sleep, giving her a chance to get much-needed rest. She was ready to face whatever it was that Heiliger had in store.

  Yesterday, she and Alistair had spent secretly preparing everyone. The Guildmaster and adventurers were all to remain in town and keep it safe while the expedition headed into the Monster Realm. The exception was the group of the strongest elves who would secretly follow the expedition and scout their movements.

  If a fight broke out, they'd join in to help, but mostly they were there as support. The leader of this group was Elowen, and he would also keep an eye on the Monster Lord's movements. But Elowen wouldn't join the battle.

  Guildmaster, Melina, Alistair and Elowen all had a lengthy discussion and decided that since they were the only ones who remembered the past timeline aside from Heiliger, they couldn't fight together. One of them had to survive.

  Naturally, nobody wanted to think about the worst case scenario, but precautions had to be made. If worst came to worst, Elowen would return to Euroa and consult with his elf elders on how to best deal with the problem that was the Church.

  Mango obviously wouldn't be going anywhere near the fight, instead remaining with Leliana. Sienna would hide under Alistair's armor, while Knight would serve as Alistair’s mount. Melina had wanted the nightmare to remain with Gilbert, but the old baker would have none of it and basically forced the nightmare to go along.

  During all these preparations, Aeriganta had somehow slipped away and disappeared. Melina suspected that the siren rushed into the Monster Realm the moment she found out that Alistair was back. Not without snatching a few shimmertarts first. Thieving siren!

  But the siren was the least of Melina's concerns this morning. In fact, it was better that she was gone, and nobody had to keep an eye on her anymore. Melina just hoped that she wouldn't cause any harm to the people of Sunglow. Alistair was sure that she wouldn't, but Melina didn't trust her.

  "Are you ready?" Alistair asked after Melina had spent a good portion of the morning dressing.

  She had a hard time deciding what to wear. The Archmage in her wanted full battle gear—magic magic-enhanced jacket at the very least. Perhaps even light leather armor, the archers used. But that would be like announcing that she was preparing for a fight. The best she could do was put on clothes that were easy to move in and set up some protective wards on them.

  "I think…" she said, looking over herself. "You think this is alright?"

  "Don't worry, you look good in anything," Alistair said with a cheeky grin.

  She elbowed him gently. "You know that's not what I meant!"

  "I need to make up for the time I was away, and tell you how beautiful you are. You did know you are beautiful, right?" He pulled her closer by her waist and planted a kiss on her cheek.

  She rolled her eyes at his antics, but knew that this was his way of making her relax. It was actually working, and her mind wasn't racing as much, thinking of all the scenarios that could go wrong.

  "Let's get going. Shouldn't keep Heiliger waiting," Melina said.

  Alistair nodded. “I'll get the soldiers ready, and we'll get going."

  "We have to give them the pastries first, and the healing waffles," Melina said. She had spent the better part of last evening preparing all sorts of pastries that would boost their resistance to fire and lightning, as well as every type of healing waffle. One for maximum healing, one for each of the ailments she could manage—poison, paralysis, and burns, and a cloud muffin with emphasis on energy recovery.

  An hour later, Melina and Alistair were riding towards the gate, both on Knight's back, while the fifty Sinclair soldiers followed them in perfectly synchronized rows. The townspeople greeted them with smiles and cheers, and some even threw flowers at them.

  "Good luck, Melina!" Many called as they passed by.

  "Keep our beloved baker safe, Lord Sinclair," Erina said as they passed by her inn.

  "You can count on me," he said, while Barrett saluted from behind Erina. Interesting how these two have always been together these days. Melina wondered whether something had happened between them. She would have to ask once this was over.

  Before long, they had reached the gate where about ten priests, including Heiliger, were gathered with around sixty System users standing behind them in a rather lazy, unorganized fashion. They appeared casual at first glance, at least when compared to Sinclair soldiers, but Melina knew how well-trained they actually were. One word from Heiliger and they would spring into action.

  "Melina, Lord Sinclair. I'm so glad that you've made it," Heiliger greeted them with a smile, as if they were some old friends who had reunited.

  "Of course. We would do anything to help better our world," Melina said, dismounting Knight and reaching into the bag strapped to the saddle.

  She and Alistair pulled out several boxes containing macarons and presented them to Heiliger.

  "These are for you and everyone else from the Church. I feel bad that you didn't get any macarons before, so I prepared a separate batch for everyone. Free of charge," Melina said with a smile.

  "My, how generous of you. We'll be sure to enjoy these along the way. Add these to our rations. It'll be a wonderful pick-me-up," the Bishop ordered one of the priests, who hurriedly grabbed the macarons and stashed them into the cargo cart.

  Melina wondered whether they'd even try them. Heiliger might be too cautious for that. Maybe Melina would try to push for it once they stopped for a break. So at least some of the System users would.

  These, in fact, were not luminfruit macarons. They were regular macarons with dreamplum gelee. She hadn't put in enough to cause hallucinations—that would be dangerous for everyone involved. But she applied enough to give the macarons an effect of making the eaters sleepy and sluggish. It would actually be great for people struggling to sleep, so the effect wasn't even listed as negative.

  But who knew if the poor macarons would even get eaten? They were still quite tasty. Melina hoped that they wouldn't be just forgotten among the cargo.

  "Do we have everyone?" Heiliger asked, looking over her group of System users.

  "Everyone is here," one of them replied.

  "Then let's get going. According to the scouts, it is currently daytime in the Monster Realm. We need to take advantage of that," Heiliger said. "Let's get moving."

  Melina and Alistair shared a look and got back on the Knight's back.

  "Your group will take the lead, while our forces will serve as rear guard. Priests will remain in the safest place in the middle," Heiliger explained, completely taking charge.

  Melina suppressed a frown. In a setting like this, Alistair should be the one to take charge. He was a nobleman, and while he didn't have direct command over the Church members, his social standing was higher than that of a Church bishop. Heiliger was deliberately placing herself on top. Not to mention that she was forcing them to take the front—a more vulnerable position.

  Nonetheless, Alistair didn't object and nodded. "Of course. My soldiers are trained just for these kinds of occasions."

  All of the Sinclair soldiers saluted as one, their discipline immaculate. Melina noticed an irritated sneer or two among the System users who, by comparison, looked completely disorganized. But Melina held no doubt as to their abilities. Most of them were older than Melina and Alistair, meaning that they had way more time to accumulate skills and stats.

  While Melina and Alistair had their memories to supplement for the missing experience, this didn't place them above the System users. Merely gave them an equal footing. Melina shuddered to think what she would have done alone without the Sinclair soldiers to back her up.

  "Let's get going, men!" Alistair announced and took the front, leading the soldiers behind him.

  Melina could feel Heiliger's gaze on the back of her skull. But she wasn't afraid to face her this time. Whatever she was planning to achieve in the Monster Realm, Melina and Alistair would foil her plans.