"Ah, Cassandra. Where's Ezra?"
Astrid, who had remained on standby amidst the crowd this entire time, spoke the moment Cassandra finally found her and moved close enough to avoid being overheard by the surrounding civilians.
Cassandra still appeared slightly out of breath from pushing through the masses gathered.
"This might surprise you," Cassandra began, "but he went to a church."
"Huh?"
Astrid visibly paused at that answer.
Truthfully, Ezra did not strike her as the religious type whatsoever. So hearing that he had willingly gone to a church, of all places, felt strangely out of character.
"A church?" Astrid repeated. "During all of this?"
"Right?" Cassandra nodded in disbelief. "Who even knows what that guy's thinking anymore?"
As the two continued waiting amidst the crowd gathered beneath the Imperial Palace, another familiar figure suddenly approached them from behind.
"So this is where you two were."
Astrid turned her head slightly.
