Walking out of the inn with Ivier wrapped around her neck, Michelle scanned the people around, guessing who it was that made the innkeeper kick her out.

She didn’t remember offending anyone in the city, so it was either an acquaintance from way earlier, or someone who just straight up didn’t like her because of something.

Or... did someone hear her talk at the disciple post about wanting to meet Philip Grace, which made them antagonistic toward her?

Whichever was the case, Michelle couldn’t wait to find out.

But even as she walked through the lobby, she didn’t see anyone special.

Most people were ignoring her, thinking she was just leaving the inn.

And those who were paying attention to her were solely doing it because of her appearance.

Michelle was beautiful, with unusual silver hair and purple eyes that seemed to have been dipped in void.

And along with Ivier around her neck, holding up a piece of raw meat for him, she did draw some attention.

Yet, it wasn’t anything unheard of, so the attention wasn’t too much.

In a crowd like that, someone with antagonistic intentions toward her wouldn’t be able to conceal themselves.

That could only mean the person wasn’t in the lobby.

They either already left or hid in one of the rooms so Michelle wouldn’t discover who it was.

There was another absurd theory that spurred in her mind, but she brushed it off immediately.

It was nearly impossible.

The moment Michelle stepped out of the inn, she scanned her surroundings again.

And a moment later, she broke out into a smile.

"Did the three of you have fun messing with me?" she walked over to a group of three people standing under a tree.

Even if on their own they weren’t all that eye‑catching, when together, the three attracted more attention than Michelle did.

"Come on. It’s not like you never messed with us," Anastasia retorted with a smile.

As she spoke, she tapped the side of her head, reminding Michelle of the fact that Michelle had once completely wiped Anastasia’s memories.

Michelle didn’t argue about that.

"I must say, I was expecting you to take longer to get to the upper realm."

So, Michelle, Anastasia, Ivona, and Kieran all hugged, having not seen each other for quite some time.

Michelle left the middle realm more than half a year ago, and they had been cultivating and training ever since to catch up to her.

"How did you track me down?" Michelle finally asked, joining the three on a walk.

They said they wanted to show her something they found in the city, so she just went along with them.

"We guessed you would eventually appear here, so we came here once we reached the upper realm," Kieran explained.

While Michelle wasn’t with the trio, Kieran and Anastasia had grown even closer than before.

At the moment, they were walking side by side, with Anastasia having her arm looped around Kieran’s arm.

"That means you are here already for a while?" Michelle arched a brow.

"When did you come here?" She was curious about how long it took her friends to get to the upper realm.

If they told her when they got to the City of Knowledge, she could guess when they crossed the barrier of the Heavenly Law.

"About a week ago," Ivona shrugged, finding that piece of information quite irrelevant.

"And you’ve been waiting for me the whole time? Not once did you suspect that I would use a different way to get to my father?" Michelle questioned them.

"Well, that’s where your assumption is wrong. We weren’t waiting specifically for you. We were waiting for the information that you were looking for your father," Ivona corrected, a sly grin on her face.

Michelle frowned.

"And how were you planning to get that information?" she asked.

While she was away, so it seemed her friends had cooked up an excellent plan to sneak up on her.

But the three refused to explain things to Michelle.

Instead, they led her into a restaurant in the middle of the city.

They did that even though Michelle told them she had already eaten; they didn’t come to eat.

Once stepping into the restaurant, a waiter came over, bowing his head subtly to greet the three.

It was very subtle, but it didn’t escape Michelle’s eyes.

Suddenly, she felt like using her Eye of Nihil on her friends.

Just what were they hiding from her?

Why was the waiter so respectful to them?

The waiter didn’t really say much except that he would lead the group to their "usual" private room.

Michelle once again quirked her brow.

They said they came to the city only about a week ago, so how come they already had a private room deemed "usual" in a high‑end restaurant, and even the waiter remembered?

But Michelle didn’t point anything out, letting the three lead her deeper into the restaurant until they stopped in front of a sliding door.

"You can open it yourself!" Ivona didn’t even conceal her grin.

Michelle gave her a sideways glance before she put her hand on the door and pushed it to slide to the side.

Inside, she expected some kind of surprise or a prank, but instead, her eyes widened.

"Well, I have to admit, I wasn’t expecting this..." she stepped in.

"Long time no see, father!" she smiled, sliding into a seat next to Philip Grace.

"Welcome to the upper realm," Philip pulled his daughter into a hug.

Unlike Ivona and the rest who had last seen Michelle something over half a year ago, for Philip, it had been long over a year since he had seen her.

"How have you been, father?" Michelle asked.

From one side, it was something she just asked because she didn’t see her father for a while, but at the same time, she did notice that he seemed more weary than when he was in the Land of Exile, concerning her quite a bit.

Her father was a competent man, so for something to be able to make him visibly weary, it had to be serious.

"Ah... you know it all already," Philip brushed it off, not even wanting to think about all that had been going on lately.

"Just the typical chaos you must have seen in all of the upper realm."

After talking with her father for a while, Michelle finally turned to the second man in the private room.

She had seen him just a few days ago, something over a week, but seeing him again made her eyes glint.

"Father, why are you with Alexander?" she addressed Philip instead of Alexander.

The whole time she had been talking with Philip, Alexander remained silent, sipping on whatever he had in his cup.

It seemed like he was being polite, not wanting to disturb the father‑daughter reunion, but Michelle knew that was just an act he was putting up.

There had to be a different reason why he was acting like that.

And she got that answer from Philip.

Philip leaned down to whisper into Michelle’s ear:

"Michelle, my daughter, tell me truthfully, what do you think about that man?"

Michelle was surprised by the question.

Just what did Alexander do for Philip to suddenly be so wary?

She was sure that her father knew Alexander Terce was the Dark Lord — even in the Land of Exile, she had seen them interact a few times.

And Philip had also seen her interact with Alexander.

So why the sudden question?

"He’s obviously a dangerous man... but why do you ask?" she whispered back to her father.

Philip glanced at Alexander for a moment before whispering into Michelle’s ear again.

"That I know, but personally? Do you like him?"

Michelle frowned a bit.

"Father, why do you ask that? What did he do?" she hushed.

Philip sighed a bit, finally coming clean.

"I don’t know if he was being serious, but he asked what I would think if he became my son‑in‑law. Michelle, my daughter, tell me honestly, what do you think about the Dark Lord?"

When Philip’s words fell, Michelle was thoroughly shocked.

Alexander basically asked her father if he wouldn’t mind if Alexander took her as his wife.

And, on purpose, he asked it when she wasn’t around — but so it seemed, he didn’t tell Philip that they were already lovers.

It took Michelle a moment to respond.

"Father, instead of that, what did you answer him?" she asked.

Philip was confused by that question.

"Well, I never really liked the Dark Lord, but the decision about your future husband is up to you..."

Michelle smiled a bit.

"Then don’t worry about it, father," she finally said.

Philip was satisfied with that answer.

With the way Michelle was reacting, it wasn’t hard to tell that something was going on between her and Alexander.

If it wasn’t, she would have been clearly against having anything to do with the Dark Lord.

A while later (since no one was hungry), the group left the restaurant and Philip led everyone to his flying beast.

It was a huge vulture, much bigger than any form Michelle had Tenether transform into.

Those big vultures weren’t all that fast, but they were efficient for transporting smaller groups of people.