Nooooo, how could you leave me in suspense like this? I want to be in on the secret too :(

That would be Ansel's undercover persona he used in the black market.

Ahh yes, and the tragedy begins. Man do I feel bad for Ravenna though. Regardless of how weak her motives are, she deserves at least some credit for genuinely working to make life better for the average person.

Why thank you! I'm really glad to hear that :D

Hmmm, I suppose the trauma of that could certainly explain the memory loss. You might be on to something there.

It really feels as if Ravenna is being set up for a great tragedy. Over the past month I've been trying to figure out what Ansel's end game is for Ravenna and with the introduction of her persona as Helen, I feel like I've gotten a hint of what's to come. I'm guessing that the plan is to break down and essentially destroy Ravenna's current persona by tearing apart her ideals (or something similar) after nurturing her persona as Helen to the point where it can become her new identity. The ways things have been going, it feels as if we're approaching the climax of Ravenna's arc and I can't wait to see if my guess is close or not. And as always, thank you for the chapters! :D

:D

Oh? Now this is intriguing. I can't tell whether Ansel is acting for Ravenna's sake or if he's genuinely put off by whatever is behind that door. I have to say, the complexity/depth of this story has certainly increased a bit since Seraphina's introductory arc and I can't fathom how you manage to keep coming up with new "twists" to pique my interest. Thanks again for all your effort. I genuinely appreciate it.

I can't quite get over how well written these characters are. As bizarre as the relationship between Ansel and Ravenna may be, it doesn't feel absurd; it just makes sense, and I'm loving every minute of it.

I think I get what you're saying. I was using unemotional in the literal sense of the word as someone who doesn't have/express strong feelings (which I think is a pretty apt description of her character). What I'd meant to get across was just that as much as I like Ravenna, I'm definitely partial to Seraphina's expressiveness. It warms my heart :D

Lol, the author's note is a nice touch. Though I have to say I'm really enjoying this little interlude with Seraphina, Marlina, and Ansel. As much as I like the characterization of Ravenna, I really enjoy reading about the emotions of our characters and Ravenna is sadly rather unemotional :(

I can appreciate the difficult of crafting a novel as interesting as this one. This story is one that continues to impress me and I appreciate all the effort you've put into getting this far. Thank you again for all these chapters and if you need to take some time to get some energy back, I can totally understand. I've said it before, but I think it's worth saying it again; make sure to take care of yourself.

My word, Seraphina is too precious. What a great character :D

Too excessive? I have no idea what you might be referring to :P

Ahhhh, this was nice to read. I had no clue what direction this story has been headed for the past few dozen chapters and have just been happy to be along for the ride, but this chapter was a very satisfying reveal. I'm eager to see how this ends up affecting Ansel's relationship with Ravenna going forward.

That phrase never fails to make me remember this meme.

I'm glad we got a bit more insight into the history between Ravenna and Ansel. Considering how antagonistic their relationship has been up to this point, I was wondering why Ravenna was even willing to put up with Ansel at all. It makes more sense now that we know she admired his technical knowledge (or at least, that's what I gathered from this flashback).

I must say, the rate at which new characters have been introduced has been really pleasant. It actually feels like everyone important has been given time to develop into an interesting and memorable character. (P.S. I swear I'm starting to feel withdrawal symptoms every time I run out of chapters. With that said, even though I desperately want to beg for more chapters please take your time. I think I'd cry if you got burnt-out and dropped this novel.)

Volume 1 has been an absolute joy to read and I can hardly wait to learn what will happen in Volume 2. Thank you again for writing such an engaging story for us.

[RE: Creator's Thoughts] As of right now, I am beyond satisfied with the writing of this story. There are precious few novels I know of with a plot I find interesting and an author who has the writing skills to pull it off. It has been a long time since I've been this excited so see a new chapter notification from a novel. What I really love is that this is a story that I can take seriously without having a depressingly heavy tone. The interactions between characters have been a joy to read and I greatly look forward to the chapters to come.