Hovering in front of the gate of Athenaeum, Jaejoong's thoughts kept coming back to the result of the meeting with Junki.

"Maybe, I should postpone my return to Athenaeum..." he mused as he glanced again at Dara who was flying on her own beside him.

"Isn't it important that you bring Soo-hyun there? And you don't have to worry about anything. I wouldn't have asked Junki for that favor if I couldn't go through with it. Don't you trust me? I faced the whole Dark Council before, and I was able to make them bend to my will. What I am going to do isn't even as hard as that. I would only be facing one pesky councilwoman."

Jaejoong hugged his wife tightly. He didn't want to worry, he did believe in her skills and abilities, but still, he couldn't help himself after almost losing her.

"The flow of time in Athenaeum is different from the three worlds. Even if I try to hurry back, several days would have passed before we could see each other again."

"And I will be waiting for you to come home."

He stared at his wife. He couldn't forever protect her from everything. Being too protective would stifle her wild nature. He must trust her, believe in her skills and capabilities. She was after all a survivor even before they met. And this was something she needed to do.

And it was really important that he returned to Athenaeum as soon as possible.

He gave Dara a deep and passionate kiss before he let himself fall through the swirling chaos inside the gate of Athenaeum.

Upon entering Athenaeum which the denizens had now begun calling Jaejoong Realm, the dim light that greeted him before was gone. He was greeted by the light of a half- moon that burned like an incandescent lamp. It was bright but didn't hurt the eyes.

The landscape was now full of hills and valleys. Several small ponds and streams dotted the land. Jaejoong had based his redecoration of Athenaeum from golf courses. But unlike those golf courses where the color green was dominant, the landscape was splashed with all kinds of color depending on the whim of the denizen who lived on that part of the realm.

The inhabitants of Jaejoong Realm had taken advantage of their new found ability to use color. That served Jaejoong quite well, since he could now remember and identify who lived in what part of the land as well as what kind of research and theories they specialized in. A good example would be Doc Song Il-gook who had this fascination with chickens. The doctor had splashed the color white in most of his territory in honor of the numerous white chickens that sacrificed their lives in the creation of the famous fried chicken.

As expected, Doc Song Il-gook was the first one to greet Jaejoong. Despite the redecorations Jaejoong did to Athenaeum, he made sure that the size of the property or private space of each of the denizens didn't change.

"Congratulations in winning against Kim Soo-hyun!" greeted Doc Song Il-gook.

Jaejoong reached down to his pocket and brought up the crystal containing Soo-hyun's essence. He threw it to the doctor who automatically caught it in panic.

"Just as I promised, you guys can study him to your heart's content. But before I left here, I also gave an assignment to your theoretical scientists, Galahad and Terese. Have they found the answer to my problem?"

Doc Song Il-gook sighed.

"Truth is, they have found several answers to your theoretical question. I think they have even compiled it in an encyclopedia. You better decide which among the answers they found is to your liking." Doc Song Il-gook pointed a finger to a blue green-colored hill.

Galahad and Terese were partners as well as husband and wife when they were still living in the world of humans. When they both came to Athenaeum, their partnership and their marriage continued. The two had a lot of things in common, and they tend to agree in almost everything except with their favorite color. Galahad liked green, and Terese preferred blue. To prevent any argument, both had decided to have their hill colored blue green.

When Jaejoong reached the couple's territory, he discovered that Doc Song Il-gook was right.

The husband and wife team had indeed found too many answers to his simple question.

"Don't you guys have one definite answer to my question?" he asked, exasperated, as book after book versions of the compilations and reasons of the couple's research regarding the answers to his query continued coming out of the tablet being held by Terese.

"We could only be sure of one thing," Galahad said, "your wife, Dara, would definitely give birth. Nothing could stop that. It is already set in stone, and neither she nor you could change that event."

"I don't want her to die after giving birth! I want her to see our child grow up," Jaejoong insisted.

"Everybody and everything dies in the end," said Terese. "It is part of Dara's nature to give birth to a daughter the moment she sees her death coming. And after she has imparted to her daughter all the knowledge she had accumulated from her experiences and the memories handed down to her from her ancestors, she would disappear. Never to be seen again. Only one of her kind could exist at a time. But as long as she couldn't see her death, she would never give birth."

"So my question as to whether Dara could still continue living after giving birth only has one answer? She would still die?" He felt disheartened. The couple didn't find the answer to his problem.

"Dying and living depends on one's perception," explained Terese. "For example, everyone here in Jaejoong Realm is alive, yet all those living in the worlds below us would call us dead people."

"Are you telling me that even if Dara died in the human world-"

"We can't give you a definite answer, Jaejoong. We could only make educated guesses. It is easy to predict future events if it could be calculated like the return of Halley's Comet or the time when the sun will rise and set from one country to another country," said Galahad. "Unfortunately, the future cannot be calculated since so many variables could change it."

"And what is your best educated guess?" Jaejoong pointed at the stacks of books around them. "Based on what I glimpsed from these books of yours, all of your theoretical answers regarding the possibility of Dara living in some form or another had no guarantee of succeeding. There is only a fifty-fifty chance for her to continue living in the human world."

"With the kind of lifestyle that you live, Jaejoong. Her chance of outliving you is very big." Galahad said quietly.

"But if you do die, there is a 99% probability that she wouldn't take another husband, there would never be any other one for her," Terese assured him.

"Wait, a moment ago you just said that nothing I do could prevent her from giving birth to a daughter? How could she have a child if I am dead?" He challenged the two scientists.

The couple exchanged meaningful looks before Galahad cleared his throat and began to explain.

"You do know that we based our theories from what information we had gathered from the past, right?"

Jaejoong nodded.

"Well, when we looked back at the recent past, we discovered that you have split into two beings. And we also saw Dara secretly collecting part of the spirit of your angelic self. So, even if she outlived you, she would still have the means to create a child with your spirit."

Jaejoong was shocked by this revelation!

"She was only being practical," Terese quipped. "Your spirit disappears when your two natures are merged. It would have been impossible for her to get part of your spirit for your child in your current situation. But when you did become a pure angel, she seized the opportunity to take and store part of your spirit."

Jaejoong became worried.

"Is my wife going to have a child?"

"No. But she would definitely choose to have a child the moment you die. Once you die, Jaejoong, you would definitely end up here in our realm. Dara would then have her daughter and then proceed to making herself half-good and half-evil before dying and then follow you up here," said Terese.

"But this is of course just our theory based from Dara's personality," warned Galahad.

Jaejoong had no intention of contradicting this theory. He no longer feared his and Dara's future. Because in the end, the two of them would be together here in Jaejoong Realm. From here, they could watch and guide their daughter in the world of the humans.

A thought occurred in Jaejoong 's mind. If Dara  and he would indeed end up here in Jaejoong Realm, he should then start preparing a place for them to live!

"The Andaryad wants an audience with you, princess," said the secretary of

Princess Hyori.

Princess Hyori was expecting this confrontation ever since she heard Dara had escaped her trap. She could simply ignore the unofficial queen of the Siesmyres and refuse to let her inside her office. No one could force her to have an audience with Dara, not even the whole Dark Council.

But Princess Hyori was curious to know what the woman was planning. And the best way to find out what was in her mind was for them to meet.

"Let her in. And cancel all my other appointments for today." Dara only survived because of luck. But sooner or later, Hyori knew she would be able to finally get rid of her.

Her secretary left her plush office. When the door opened again, it was Dara who entered. The woman had not changed her fashion sense since they last met. She was wasting her beauty and y body by continually wearing simple T-shirts and jeans.

"Did you come here to protest what happened to you in Liang Feng?" Hyori went directly to the point. She also looked over Dara from head to foot. She was trying to discover if Dara had again brought one of those pesky Finders that could hide anywhere. She leaned on her chair before continuing, "I heard that before you came here, you talked first to Junki."

"I simply wanted to be sure that what I am about to do wouldn't break the treaty I signed with the Dark Council."

Princess Hyori grinned. When she tried to kill Dara, sh