The next day, Mandine wandered through the city, immersed in its splendor. She sailed on the Nile, reflecting on how the river seemed to absorb the weight of the world, pulling away all the burdens of life and leaving its passengers lighter. Then, she visited the museums, mesmerized by the gold-encrusted crowns once worn by Egypt's ruling families. She stood in awe before a real mummy, wrapped in ancient cloth, a reminder of a long-past civilization. The entire day passed in wonder, but when the evening came, she found herself reluctant to return home.
At first, she attributed this reluctance to the charm of the city, which seemed unwilling to let go of its visitors. But as she spent more time contemplating, Mandine realized that the real reason was her longing to sit in her room, pick up the book once more, and finish its final pages. The thought of closing it, saying goodbye forever to the story, felt difficult. Books, like people, can become hard to part with, and her memory of it would linger within her, even if she could never read it again with the same sense of discovery.
When Mandine finally returned home, she found Catherine waiting for her, holding a letter in her hands. It was from the blogger again. She opened it, reading:
"Here you are, finishing the book in your hands. Now, you will either believe everything in Abu Bakr's diary, which he wrote after completing his journey, and share the story of the other land and Sivar, or you will believe only part of it, publishing the tale of the other land that you came for, while forgetting the part about Sivar. But before you make any decision, let me tell you something. In an Arabian land, there is a city said to be older than the age of humans themselves. Some believe it to be the mother city of humanity, located in a barren desert that no one can easily reach, its red color visible from miles away. From the sky, it looks like an empty city, its streets so regular that it seems as though it was built only recently, not thousands of years ago. The high walls of this city carry mysterious drawings that have puzzled those who've seen them. Its description is strikingly similar to that of Sivar—the land where the ships once landed. A group of humans visited this city to confirm the story, then returned to the unknown city, calling it Sivar. Now, this land lies in the Algerian desert. I hope you will visit it before deciding what to write."
Mandine paused, taking in the words. The idea of visiting this mysterious, ancient city filled her with a sense of both excitement and trepidation. She wasn't sure what to believe anymore, but the journey ahead felt as though it would reveal the final pieces of the puzzle.