Dan smiled, then gestured for her to come forward and sit on one of the sofas in front of the table.
"I hope you will enjoy my humble tea. It is not a luxurious kind, but it is made in a special way. I think you will like it."
He said as he poured her a cup, steam rising from it and spreading a warm, fragrant scent throughout the room. His movements were elegant, as if he were performing an ancient ritual.
The Night Empress sat in the place he had indicated and gently held the cup in her hand, her gaze focused on the dark liquid inside. Then she raised it to her lips and took a small sip, closing her eyes for a moment as she tasted the flavor:
"Although it is slightly heavy in taste and bitter at first, after every sip, it leaves a slight sweetness in the mouth."
"I'm glad you like it."
Then he placed the cup on the table and said:
"You can summarize all my experiences and philosophy in this cup of tea. Everything I gained in my life and everything I achieved came after bitterness, continuous effort, and a great deal of pain. But after that comes the moment when I am rewarded with the sweetness of the result, and this is the principle by which I judge everything I do."
The Night Empress looked at him, her expression focused as her extraordinary mind worked rapidly, analyzing every word. She felt that these words held the key to understanding everything she wanted to know.
Then Dan raised his head from his cup and looked directly into her eyes, as if he were reading what was going through her mind, and said:
"And of course, this is also the philosophy I impose on everything I do. In the world I built and in the rules I established, everything is based on this principle. Bitterness first, then sweetness. Effort first, then reward. Pain first, then strength."
The Night Empress fell into deep thought as she reflected on what he had said and tried to connect it with everything she had concluded about her journey and her world, divided into continents and the Tower, and about the Paths. She felt that everything was beginning to fit together, as if the mysteries that had troubled her were beginning to reveal themselves one after another.
Then, after a few moments of silence, she raised her head to look at him, intending to ask a question that had been on her mind for a long time. But she was surprised to see him smiling at her, as if he already knew what she was going to say. Before she could speak, Dan interrupted her:
"Yes, what you concluded is correct. You are right about everything you have thought. There is no need to ask, because you have already reached the answer."
Then he continued after a moment of silence.
"I am the one who built your world, in both of its parts, the outer continents and the Tower, with all its branching Paths and all its rules. I am the one who established all these foundations, and I am the one who moved the strings to begin your journey. Your world is the result of my effort, my philosophy, and my vision."
When Dan finished speaking, the Night Empress breathed a sigh of relief, as if she had been holding her breath throughout these moments. Her expression changed, her muscles relaxed, and a deeply relieved smile appeared on her face, because she had finally found the answer she had been searching for.
She said to herself:
"So this is the truth I was searching for."
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