I feel like I am the bad person here. 

"You are back." 

Aeliana spoke as Nux walked into her room. 

"I had decided to come to Waranal if you hadn't returned in a day." 

"I can't make my 'dear' master move for something so minor, now can I?" Nux replied with a playful smile on his face. 

"It is good that you know that." Aeliana seemed to be in a playful mood as well. 

Something that Nux noticed very quickly, 

"Did something good happen, Master? You look quite different from your usual self." 

"Nothing." 

Aeliana smiled mysteriously. 

Then, as if to change the topic, she moved on, 

"I thought you would return as a Sage, after all, someone who became Emperor at 22 wouldn't need much time to break through and become a Sage, no?" 

"As I said, I only made a breakthrough because of the Mana Rush in the continent, I wouldn't have been able to do it without it." 

Nux replied. 

"Is that so…"