The thrum of a helicopter resounded throughout the outskirts as Julius stepped into the clearing, his hair unkempt and his clothes caked with grime.

"If I didn't know any better, I would have thought you were a beggar."

"…Father."

Waiting for him in a place where no one would notice his return was Johannes Sievernich Schneider.

"You try so hard to grow up on your own, Julius," Johannes continued. "Yet in the end, you're still a child looking for his father. I'm quite appalled that I'm the one you reached out to."

Julius said nothing. He nodded, stepped past him, and climbed into the helicopter.

Johannes followed without another word.

Seated across from Julius, his posture as authoritative as ever, Johannes finally spoke.

"Do you have anything to show for this? Papers, documents, any results? Did I assist you only for you to return empty-handed?"

"Relax, Father. I'll have everything prepared soon."

Johannes nodded once, then turned his gaze toward the window, watching the landscape below the helicopter.

"I assumed you would have stories to tell. Save them for later."

After a pause, Johannes continued.

"For now, answer me this. With whatever you uncovered, can we topple the USSR?"

"I believe it's sufficient for us to ignore them entirely," Julius replied. "Our focus should shift to China, should they ever decide to expand."

Johannes's eyes narrowed ever so slightly. "…That confident, hm."

Julius looked up at him. "Will you be taking your seat soon, Father?"

Johannes regarded his son in silence.

There was something different in the eyes of the son before him now. Julius had always been a useless boy for most of his life, a failure to live up to the Schneider name.

Yet now, there was no fear in his gaze.

Not even respect.

It was as if Julius had fully resigned himself that Johannes was his father. That relationship could not be escaped or rewritten. It could only be acknowledged and endured through words alone.

"...."

Johannes found himself oddly satisfied.

That, he thought, was how someone bearing the Schneider name should look when facing authority.

"Next year, the Prime Minister will be resigning," Johannes said. "I'm expected to replace him soon enough."

"So it's finally happening," Julius said. "I wondered how long you'd keep circling the seat."

Johannes leaned back and folded his hands together. "Once I take office, Germany will enter a new phase. And… I want you to assist me, Julius."

Julius's brows raised. "Me? Not Jeremy?"

"Jeremy will inherit the Schneider Corporation."

"I see," Julius said. "So the eldest continues capitalism, while the youngest enters politics."

Johannes allowed himself a faint smile. "Quite the dynasty, wouldn't you say?"

Julius looked away as the city lights drifted past the helicopter's window.

"And what of SIBYL?" he asked.

"Your little project is progressing well," he said at last. "That woman you're working with, Doctor Isolde. A competent woman. I will admit my first impression of her was incorrect."

"Is that so?"

That was how Johannes Sievernich Schneider had always been.

A man who did not compromise, yet he never stuck to pride for its own sake. When he made an error, he acknowledged it plainly.

Reflection, to him, was not an act of humility, nor was it an apology. It was simply correction. He did not lower his head, because he believed authority lost meaning the moment it bowed unnecessarily.

Johannes believed that being a leader was about making adjustments. Power did not come from never being wrong. It came from recognizing mistakes before they became weaknesses, and correcting them before others could exploit them.

Blind morality created stagnation. The world moved forward only when someone was willing to stand between the two and decide where the line was drawn.

Johannes understood this. And as he glanced at Julius, he recognized the same understanding taking root in his son.

As the helicopter landed on the helipad of Dream Industries, Julius stepped out first. The wind tugged at his coat. Johannes followed shortly after.

"Take a break," his father said. "Prepare your report for the Directorate. Adjustments have already been made. They will not dismiss you, so long as your results are sufficient."

Julius nodded.

He had already turned to descend the steel stairs when he paused.

"Does Jeremy know?"

Johannes did not stop walking. "He would be a fool not to. On that matter, visit him when you can. Meet your new nephew."

"I see."

Julius resumed his descent.

Two steps later, the words finally caught up to him. And the realization slowly sank in.

"Wait."

Nephew?

His grip tightened on the railing. Slowly, he turned.

"...."

Johannes was already gone.

For a moment, Julius remained there. Then he forced himself to continue down. At the bottom, the driver was already waiting with the door open.

"My brother's home," Julius said as he stepped inside. "Make it quick."

The car pulled away.

Throughout the ride, Julius felt his pulse rise. Slowly at first, until the sense of unease lodged itself in his chest.

"I must've heard it wrong…"

Yet the thought brought him no comfort. The words had come from Johannes himself. And that was what made it scary.

After all, Johannes Sievernich Schneider rarely made a mistake.

When the car finally came to a stop, Julius stepped out and broke into a run the instant his feet touched the ground. He ran full speed past the guards who had begun to greet him.

He pushed through the mansion doors without slowing.

——I just didn't want to be a burden… when Uncle is already taking care of me…

——Lara. Listen to me. You are not a burden. You have never been a burden.

That little girl's face surfaced vividly in his mind. It was so clear that it made his skin prickle.

Cold sweat crept down his back as Julius remembered her expression, her voice, the way she had tried so hard to make herself small just so she would never be a burden to him.

——You're my family. Taking care of you isn't some obligation I'm forced into. It's… the one part of my life I don't regret.

Everything he had done in the USSR, every compromise, and the year he had given up had been for her sake. A regret that had followed him even after regression. A personal matter he had sworn to resolve with his own hands before it could fully take shape.

And yet, doubt clawed at his heart.

What if it had all been for nothing?

What if…

"Lara…"

…What if the child Sabine had given birth to wasn't Lara Margarethe Schneider at all?

"Where's Sabine?" Julius grabbed a passing maid by the shoulder.

"W-Who—" The maid flinched. Her eyes widened when she realized he looked almost identical to his brother. "B-By the pool…"

Julius released her at once and moved.

His steps echoed through the mansion's corridors as his thoughts spiraled. The sound of water reached him before the light did.

By the pool, Sabine was standing with a baby cradled carefully in her arms.

Julius stopped.

"...."

His gaze swept past her without conscious thought, over the loungers and the attendants nearby, before settling on the small figure she held wrapped in white.

Sabine tried to say something, but her words went from one ear to another as Julius stepped closer, his attention fixed entirely on the baby in her arms.

"W-What's the child's name?"

Sabine frowned. "Is that all you have to say after everything, Juli?"

"Sabine."

Regression was a cruel fate.

"Jeez, fine." Her expression softened, a smile forming on her lips. She angled the baby toward Julius. "This is your new nephew. Say hello to Uncle Julius, Lorenz."

Julius could only feel perplexed by it all.

If this were a second run through life, then it was only natural that things would not align perfectly with the first.

"…Lorenz?"

And if that were the case, then who was to say that those born in his previous life were ever guaranteed to be born in this one?

"…N-Not Lara?"

For a brief second, Sabine stared at him.

Then she burst out laughing.

"Why on earth would I name a baby boy Lara?" she said. "Did you hit your head somewhere in the USSR, Juli?"

But Julius didn't humor her, staring intently at the child, on the small rise and fall of Lorenz's chest.

Sabine's laughter faded when she noticed his expression.

"…Juli?"

Lara Margarethe Schneider did not exist here.

And that realization cut deeper than any wound he had taken in Zima-12.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.