Diana was dead, reduced to nothing but sand.
This was the news Beckett learned from Gates early the next morning.
After preparing breakfast, the Butler Mech Cat Gates, wearing a yellow polka-dot apron around its waist, recounted everything that had happened outside the base the previous night to Beckett. It even played the footage of Diana turning into sand for him.
The projection looped across the light screen in the dining hall.
When Astra followed the scent over while yawning, what he saw was Diana repeatedly turning into sand on the screen.
Astra's eyes widened, and his lingering drowsiness vanished in an instant.
Watching Diana turn to sand over and over before his eyes, watching himself in the footage repeatedly bend down to pick up the wine bottle buried beneath the fine sand, the sorrow clogging Astra's heart the previous night disappeared without a trace.
???
"Good morning, Lord Astra."
The Butler Mech Cat raised a hand in greeting, tilted its head up, bared its teeth, and smiled.
"Good morning, kitty." Stroking his messy beard, Astra glanced at the table piled high with food, then turned, bent down, and replied with a smile.
After greeting Gates, Astra sat down with great gusto. His gaze returned to the dining table just as he was about to dig in, only to suddenly discover that the dishes were disappearing at an astonishing speed!
???
Under Astra's horrified gaze, Beckett was calmly but swiftly sweeping through every dish on the table.
"This..."
"My apologies, Lord Astra. Gates did not prepare breakfast for you. All of this belongs to His Highness Beckett. If you need to eat, you may take a flyer to the neighboring planet where the warships are stationed. There is a cafeteria there specifically for the military."
"Or you may choose Nutrient