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His gaze was sharp.

Nellak was responding first to the question.

“Nellak, Your Majesty, is it just my imagination that it sounds like you’re interrogating my daughter?”

“I’d appreciate it if you could unify your words, Duke Heron.”

Nellak referred to Heron as ‘Duke Heron’. That word made this a formal occasion.

“Is it my imagination?”

“It’s not an illusion. Young Noblewoman Viola was aware of the Heat Wind’s terror from the very start. She knew exactly how they would attack and what they would chant. What was it again?”

Viola answered, “The hot wind will blow from the desert.”

“Yes, that’s it. Young Noblewoman Viola remembers it precisely.”

Nellak’s eyes turned to Heron.

“Duke Heron is acting quite out of character. Normally, wouldn’t you let her answer on her own? It seems suspicious that a duke defends someone.”

It looked just like when he was with Rael.

“Brings back old memories.”

Heron’s appearance then was quite different from now. It overlapped with his current self.

“I believe Young Noblewoman Viola wants that too.”

This time, Heron’s gaze turned to Viola. Viola nodded her head.

“When I heard that His Majesty the Emperor visited Winter Castle, I knew this situation would arise. My father must have known when I arrived here as well.”

“Dad.”

“…… Yes?”

“No need to call me father.”

Nellak chuckled softly.

Heron had also told Rael something similar.

“Heron. Just Heron is fine. No need to call me Prince Heron.”

Viola felt an inexplicable sense of embarrassment. Calling Dad in a formal setting felt somehow un-Bellatu-like.

However, she didn’t dislike the way she was coaxing ‘Dad’ instead of ‘Father’. This awkward feeling wasn’t bad.

“I want to speak directly.”

“……….”

“Please trust your daughter.”

Nellak let out a chuckle.

“It seems Young Noblewoman Viola is also wanting a private audience with me.”

“I really dislike the idea of a private audience.”

Heron stood up. He was worried about his daughter.

However, since she insisted she would speak for herself, he had to listen to her. He thought it was the right thing to do as a father, no, as a dad.

“I’ll grant your request since my daughter asked.”

“Not because of my command? Isn’t it an imperial decree?”

“An imperial decree is something to be refused, as someone I know once said.”

That was said almost 30 years ago by Nellak, who had run away as a prince.

Nellak chuckled and continued.

“Humanity’s strongest shield. Winter Castle’s military is in shambles.”

“If you wish, I can show you real chaos.”

“I’ll pass. I find it hard to handle when someone I know stirs up trouble.”

Heron stepped aside.

The private meeting between Viola and Nellak began.

*

Nellak spoke.

“Now that the distractions are gone, shall we have a more in-depth conversation?”

“You seem to be in a good mood.”

“Does it look that way to you, Young Noblewoman?”

“Yes.”

“I see someone I know in you.”

“My father’s brighter side?”

“If you call him ‘father’, he’ll be disappointed. Just call him dad.”

“There’s no way I can use such personal titles in front of His Majesty.”

Nellak chuckled again.

“Let’s be honest. Are you really thirteen years old?”

“Yes.”

At that moment, the surrounding mana froze.

“At the Forget-Me-Not Ball, you had no connection with Gaia and had not contacted any relevant information organization outside Winter Castle. The only deep connection you had was with the Terra Guild, run by Princess Hela.”

From the Emperor’s perspective, it was quite strange.

Viola had thought something like this would eventually happen.

“That’s because I possess the power to read God’s Will.”

“Are you claiming to be a cleric?”

Nellak burst into a big laugh. “Young Noblewoman with the Killing Star?”

“You brought the relic of Sun King Khan, didn’t you?”

Nellak’s laughter stopped.

“Khan’s relic?”

“A gemstone that can discern lies. The original source of the ‘Truth Stone’ passed down through the Bellatu bloodline. I’m sure you brought the Truth Stone.”

A brief awkward silence ensued.

“It is a well-known fact that my ancestor, the Sun King, left behind relics. However, the specific items remain unknown.” Even Gaia, the leader of the Night Cat, didn’t know this information.

This was knowledge passed only to direct heirs of the imperial family.

“More accurately, it would be fragments of the Truth Stone. Sun King Khan shared the power of the Truth with the Bellatu, so the Truth Stone shattered into several pieces.”

Nellak fell silent in disbelief.

“Did you discover it by reading God’s Will?”

“Yes.”

Nellak opened a pocket dimension and pulled out a ruby-sized red stone.

It radiated a brilliant red light.

“That is the Truth Stone.”

“Can you swear to tell the truth in front of the Truth Stone?”

“Of course. If I don’t tell the truth, the Truth Stone will turn blue.”

Nellak found himself unable to say anything.

Facts unknown to the outside world flowed freely from Viola’s mouth.

“I’m curious about what this so-called ‘God’s Will’ is specifically.”

“I’ve been reading God’s Will since long ago. At first, I didn’t know that it was God’s Will.”

The author’s narration. That narration was ‘God’s Will’ in this world, or in other words, a ‘novel’.

At first, she only read it as a story.

Nellak’s eyes turned to the Truth Stone.

The Truth Stone remained unchanged.

“It came to me in the form of ‘words’. I could read things I hadn’t experienced and see things I hadn’t imagined. As I read ‘God’s Will’, I sometimes empathized and sometimes got angry.”

“You empathized and got angry?”

“There was a narrative in God’s Will. It was like a story with a plot.”

The Truth Stone was still red.

“One day, I suddenly realized that those words were not just simple text.”

On a rainy night, Viola Bellatu was discovered by Duke Heron while burdened by slave traders.

She still vividly remembered the blood seeping between her toes.

“At first, it was hard to accept. I was confused if this was truly God’s Will. However, over time, I became convinced that these were God’s Will and revelations.”

“Why?”

“I knew people I didn’t recognize and could foresee some of the future events, including the Heat Wind rampaging.”

“Did you know I would be here today?”

Viola shook her head.

“I didn’t. I can’t read all futures.”

“Everything you say is hard to believe.”

“I know that. That’s why I’ve never told anyone, even my father. If I casually reveal this, I might be put on trial as a witch.”

“That’s certainly true.”

“So this is the first time I’m confessing in front of His Majesty. You’re the sun of this empire, and if you recognize it, I can gain my freedom.”

Nellak nodded.

He understood her reason for hiding the truth until now.

“And I’m not a cleric. A cleric follows God’s Will, but I have defied it.”

“You’ve defied it?”

“In the God’s Will I saw, Bichen died.”

“Bichen is alive and well.”

“I saved him by defying God’s Will.”

“Does that mean Young Noblewoman Viola is someone capable of defying God’s Will?”

“It means God’s Will can change.”

She decided to create a world that wasn’t authored but did exist.

She had enough experience to know it was possible.

“Because we are all living, breathing people.”

“That’s a given.”

“It seems like God granted us the right to live, even if it means defying God’s Will.”

The Truth Stone remained red.

Viola looked at Nellak.

Nellak felt that Viola’s gaze was truly firm.

Viola continued.

“It seems the Sun King Khan prepared for today.”

“What does that mean?”

“He bestowed the Truth on the Bellatu, strong bodies to Brandia, and the Sun Sword to the royal family.”

This too was a secret known only to the emperor.

“The King of Evil Spirits, Bahakarun, was sealed by the Sun King, who shared his powers with his friends. That Truth Stone is one proof, and he left a will to the royal family: ‘One day, the time will come.’ It was such an abstract statement that the royal family probably didn’t take it too seriously.”

Nellak couldn’t help but acknowledge it.

Viola was indeed a child capable of reading God’s Will.

“The will of Khan that one day, the time will come was correct. It is a will passed down only to the royal family’s direct descendants.”

“But that’s strange.”

“Yes, it is.”

Nellak had something he had been wondering about for a while.

The Sun King Khan, who sealed Bahakarun, had three companions.

Winter Sword Master Hazen Bellatu.

Lava Giant Brickta Brandia.

And White Dragon Paila.

“The White Dragon Paila married a human, leading to the flourishing family of Mariantu.”

The Sun King Khan shared powers with his companions. However, he granted nothing to Paila.

“And she is the only one among Khan’s companions to have survived.”

Except for Paila, everyone sacrificed their lives to seal Bahakarun.

“Was she just lucky, or was there something about her….”

“Enough.”

Nellak spoke.

“That’s too sensitive a topic. Let’s leave it at today.”

If they kept talking, it could turn into slander against the ‘Mariantu’ duke family, one of the three great dukes.

“Can I ask one more thing?”

“What is it?”

“Are you aware that Princess Sena was kidnapped and has disappeared?”

“Yes. I hear Mariantu sent a pursuit team, and Winter Castle is actively searching as well.”

“The person leading that search was our eldest sister. A knight with a bestowed star. A mere 1st-class knight led the search but found not a single trace. She vanished like a mirage. It was strange.”

Medea’s was almost the only mission where she had failed. They truly evaporated.

Viola made a significant comment.

“Could it have been possible by human power?”

Then, there came a loud knock! Knock!

It sounded as if the door would break.