Chapter 548

He actually wants to kill me?! “Looks like you’ve thought it through.”

After casting a glance at the Jade-eyed Maiden’s ghastly expression, Leon continued:

“Of course, if I must explain, you could forcibly assume that he has ways to detect whether you’re within the target range and only ordered fire after confirming there’d be no collateral damage to you.

But as I mentioned earlier, he’s had at least two opportunities to eliminate you.

Aside from this ambush on the Chief of the Scorpio Division, he also issued orders to Apheta 00, demanding constant surveillance of the Crocodile Kingdom’s exterior. If anyone resembling me or other members of the Clearing Bureau tried to leave, immediate heavy bombardment was to commence until total annihilation.”

After recounting the information he heard from Apheta 00, Leon summarized while looking at Phelia, whose face had turned deathly pale: “I don’t deny that he values you as his younger sister, but you need to understand one thing—your safety isn’t as important to him as it seems.

While he would spare no effort to save you, if there were any chance you might leave the Crocodile Kingdom and fall under the protection of the Clearing Bureau, he wouldn’t hesitate to kill you… Do you agree with my judgment?”

“…”

“If you don’t say anything, I’ll take it as your tacit agreement.”

Glancing at the silent Phelia, Leon calmly asked:

“So, now that you understand your actual standing in Prince Andre’s heart, would you consider cooperating with me?”

“?!”

Upon hearing Leon’s offer, Princess Phelia couldn’t hold back anymore. She strained her emerald eyes wide and shouted in frustration:

“Are you insane?

If you hadn’t kidnapped me, things wouldn’t have escalated this far! And here you are shamelessly asking if I want to cooperate with you?”

“What’s the problem?”

Leon raised an eyebrow and counter-questioned:

“He wants to kill me, I want to kill him, so we’re enemies. He also wants to kill you now, so why can’t you turn around and cooperate with me to take him down?”

“You… That’s not how it works!”

Confused by Leon’s overly simplistic logic, the Jade-eyed Maiden took a moment to process before stomping her foot angrily: “If it weren’t for you, he wouldn’t even think about killing me! If I could be rescued, he wouldn’t harm me either. So, once you’re defeated by him, I’ll be saved. Why should I cooperate with you?”

“Hmm… That makes sense.”

After carefully listening to the Jade-eyed Maiden’s words, Leon nodded in agreement. Then he pulled out the Silver Knife and pressed it against her chest, suggesting seriously: “Here’s an idea—I can leave some contingency measures on you beforehand. For example, using this knife to slice open your heart without repairing it. If I destroy this knife before dying, the ability left in your wound will become ineffective, ensuring that when I die, you die too.

So now, you can either choose to cooperate with me to defeat Andre, and both you and he might live, or refuse cooperation and watch me lose, then die alongside me while Andre, who attempted to kill you twice, lives on… Which result do you prefer?”

This guy… he’s truly a devil! Watching Leon’s calm tone and every word cutting deep into her darkest thoughts, the Jade-eyed Maiden felt a chill run up her spine.

Instinctively stepping back half a step to escape the blade tip touching her skin, Phelia covered the torn fabric over her chest and gritted her teeth:

“I… I choose the second option!”

A hardship? After exchanging a glance with the sheep head in the Jade-eyed Maiden’s arms, and receiving confirmation from Black Goat through its expressive eyes that “this is true,” Leon nodded slightly and asked again:

“So, you and Prince Andre are both members of the organization targeting the royal family?”

“?!!!!”

Realizing Leon had uncovered her biggest secret she’d been hiding all along, the Jade-eyed Maiden couldn’t help but tremble all over, her eyes filled with horror:

“How did you… uh…”

“Relax, I’m not trying to trick you; I genuinely guessed this.”

Looking at Phelia who quickly covered her mouth upon realizing her slip-up, her delicate face full of regret, Leon shook his head slightly: “Earlier, you said Prince Andre has ‘hardships.’ By hardships, I roughly interpret that—if there’s any possibility you might end up in the hands of the Clearing Bureau, he has no choice but to kill you.

This proves there must be some kind of ‘constraint’ on him, and the content of this ‘constraint’ is likely ensuring the royal bloodline will surely be extinguished. Who else but that organization could impose such a constraint on him?

By the way, based on my observations of Prince Andre, this person appears fearless and even somewhat self-destructive. Threatening him with force probably won’t work.

So, for him to join that organization and agree to such strict constraints, they must have offered him something irresistible… Would you care to tell me about it?”

No part of the content in this chapter is missing!

“…”

Not… I just said he has hardships, and you figured out all this?!

Baffled by Leon’s sharpness, fearing she might accidentally reveal more critical information, the Jade-eyed Maiden firmly clamped her mouth shut, determined not to utter another word. But…

“If you don’t want to talk, that’s fine.”

Seeing Phelia clutching her mouth tightly, guarding against him like a thief, Leon couldn’t help but shake his head slightly and sighed:

“You two are siblings after all. Blood is thicker than water, so it’s normal you don’t want to betray him. I understand.”

“…”

Sensing there was something underlying in Leon’s words, the Jade-eyed Maiden couldn’t suppress her curiosity after holding it in for a while and muffledly asked behind her hand: “What do you mean?”

“My point is, despite the decade gap and the loss of your original brain, your soul and body are indeed the real Filia Princess.”

In the shocked expression of the Jade-eyed Maiden, Leon slowly revealed:

“I suspected it before. If you were merely a core program derived from mechanical intelligence, you wouldn’t possess a real soul, nor could you deceive my eyes.

After consulting Apheta 00, who claims to be your aunt, I confirmed that although your soul is a bit unusual, it is undoubtedly a human soul.

You are the result of Filia’s soul adjusted by soul encoding technology combined with a man-made Filia body, recreating the Filia Princess. So, you aren’t some core of mechanical intelligence; you’re yourself, a living human being.”

(End of Chapter)