After breakfast, Rhea was going through her mail when a messenger came to her office. "Lady Rhea! Lord and Lady Ordelia have arrived!"

"Then I should go to greet them," Rhea said. "Has Lysithea been informed?"

"Yes, Your Excellency," the messenger said. "Also, six other people have arrived. One of them appears to be Constance von Nuvelle."

That would be the Wolves, Linkle, and Shez. "Yes, I've been expecting them as well."

She went to meet up with Lysithea and greet the Ordelias.

It might have been a good thing that Lysithea's appearance hadn't changed much.

"Lysithea? I could swear you've gotten a bit taller," Lord Ordelia commented, once the hugging and relieved crying had stopped.

"I guess I have," Lysithea said.

"Are you all right? You aren't hurt, are you?" Lady Ordelia asked.

"Yes, I'm all right," Lysithea assured her. "In fact, I'm more all right than I have been in a long time. I'm...not sick anymore."

"Really?" Lady Ordelia asked.

Lysithea nodded, and the three Ordelias embraced each other.

Rhea looked and saw the six previously absent members of the Rising Sun Company had also arrived. The Ashen Wolves looked a bit older than she remembered, naturally, and Linkle resembled her great-uncle enough to be recognizable.

Shez was the interesting one, though. He had some of the features that had been associated with his transformation. His hair was red with only a touch of purple, his eyes were a soft yellow, and his face had markings on it. But his eyes were not glowing, nor did he have the glowing aura his transformation had been described as having.

"Heartwarming sight, isn't it?" Hapi commented to Rhea.

"Yes, it is," Rhea agreed.

"Let's leave them to it," Yuri suggested.

"How is your mother?" Rhea asked Yuri.

"She's doing well enough," Yuri said. "She didn't even know I had gone missing, not that she would have been worried if she did. I do disappear sometimes when I need to lie low."

"I'm glad," Rhea said. "I truly do appreciate the aid you gave to the Rising Sun Company. Is there anything I can do for the six of you?"

"There is one thing..." Yuri said.

"So you want me to find a way to remove your Crest?" Professor Hanneman asked Yuri.

"If you can," Yuri said. "Believe it or not, it was actually given to me via blood transfusion by the original Aubin. But the thing is, it's a Crest from a first-generation bearer, meaning that as long as I have it, I won't be able to grow old. And I know some people think never growing old would be a sweet deal, but...I don't think I want that. I think I'd rather live a normal human lifespan."

"Fascinating," Hanneman said. "I knew Crests could lengthen a person's life, but to think that a first-generation Crest would have such a pronounced effect...it's astonishing!"

Rhea realized Hanneman could very well make mistakes if she continued keeping him in the dark about everything she knew about Crests. "Professor Hanneman, can I trust you to keep my secrets?" she asked.

"Secrets?" Hanneman asked. "What kind of secrets?"

"I have been keeping a great deal of knowledge about Crests secret," Rhea admitted. "Knowledge that has already resulted in the deaths of a great many innocents, and would result in the deaths of even more innocents should it become public. But it's knowledge that you may need in order to remove Yuri's Crest."

Hanneman hesitated. "I think in order for me to promise you that I won't share your knowledge, I need to understand why it's so dangerous."

Rhea didn't want to tell him anything. Especially with that non-guarantee.

But if she didn't, Yuri would be forced to live his life the way she had. Constantly alone. He might not even have the ability to share his longevity with someone the way she had.

"I'm going to have to trust that I was right when I judged you to be a good man, then," Rhea said. "I promise you this. Breathe a word of this to anyone without my permission, and I will kill you myself.

"It's time I told you about the true nature of Crests."

"I see," Hanneman said somberly. "I understand why you don't want this knowledge becoming public. As a scientist, the idea of forbidding knowledge rankles with me, but...I can see that this knowledge will only bring bloodshed. I promise, I will take everything you have told me to my grave."

"Thank you," Rhea said.

"But in return, I will need your help with my research," Hanneman said. "If you want mister LeClerc to have his Crest removed in a prompt manner, I will need your help."

"Very well," Rhea agreed.

"I do have one more question," Hanneman asked. "If the Crest system is built on such a horrible secret, built on the literal blood of your kin...why allow it to persist?"

"Initially, what else could I have done?" Rhea asked. "How could I have put a stop to it without revealing the truth? By the time Nemesis was killed, the Crest system had been firmly established. My heart aches for those hurt by the Crest system, but I needed to prioritize the well-being of my kin, as few as there are left.

"But I do admit, perhaps there was more I could have done to undermine the Crest system gradually. I was pursuing a solution, but progress has been...slower than I hoped. And I should have had alternate plans, rather than simply trusting in a single plan with no concrete knowledge of when it would succeed," she admitted. "Truth be told...I had all but given up on my main plan when I hired you. I had hoped to eventually use your research to undermine the Crest system."

"My research?" Hanneman asked. "I see."

"Perhaps I should have told you," Rhea admitted. "I gave you little reason to trust me with your findings."

"That is true," Hanneman agreed. "I never shared my findings with you because I thought you would disapprove."

"I am starting to think I keep too many secrets," Rhea confessed.

Hanneman opened a notebook. "Shall we get started?"

The two of them spent hours working on the solution for how to safely remove a Crest from a human. By nightfall, they weren't close to a way, but they thought they were on the right track.