Of course, if Liyami were only being interrogated by an ordinary Holy Knight using “Veritas”, she wouldn’t be all that worried.
After all, “Veritas” isn’t all that useful in real situations—not just because its activation conditions are strict, but also because there’s an easy way to get around it.
That is: tell the truth, but not the whole truth!
As long as you speak part of the truth, the effect of “Veritas” won’t trigger. That’s why “Veritas” is rarely used by those who can wield divine arts—this kind of spell only has some deterrent effect when used on criminals about whom the caster knows absolutely nothing, otherwise it’s not much use at all.
So, Liyami wasn’t afraid of the “Veritas” used by an ordinary Holy Knight. But that’s only if it’s being used by an ordinary Holy Knight!
And was Colin an ordinary Holy Knight?! He’s the one praised as the strongest Holy Knight of the age!
Not to mention, with Colin’s understanding of her and his own experience, he could easily tell whether she was telling the whole truth or not!
Besides, could the “Veritas” Colin used really be just an ordinary “Veritas”? He’s the strongest Holy Knight of the era! How could he possibly be using such a basic divine art? The “Veritas” he used definitely had a similar effect but was a much higher-level divine art!
Liyami’s guess was spot-on. The divine art Colin used wasn’t the “Veritas” known to the masses, but its advanced form—”Veritas: Reality”!
Although the name was simple, just adding one word to “Veritas”, the effect was much stronger than the ordinary version.
Not only could it, like “Veritas”, detect whether the target was telling the truth, it could also judge from the target’s subtle reactions whether the whole truth had been spoken.
Moreover, “Veritas: Reality” was different from the ordinary “Veritas”—it couldn’t be blocked by higher-level magic or divine arts. Once it was cast, unless the target was a Holy Knight or Priest even stronger than Colin, there was no way to nullify its effect.
Therefore, with Colin using “Veritas: Reality” to confirm whether Liyami was telling the truth—and whether she had told the whole truth—Liyami had no means of resistance, and could only be at Colin’s mercy.
Of course, although “Veritas: Reality” was an advanced version of “Veritas”, it wasn’t the highest tier. The reason Colin used this divine art wasn’t because he thought it was enough, but because it was the only one he could cast.
The divine arts above “Veritas: Reality” didn’t just detect whether the target was telling the truth—they could directly peer into a person’s heart.
Unfortunately for Colin, he wasn’t a specialist in that area, so he couldn’t use them. After all, the divine arts required by a Holy Knight were usually balanced between offense and defense—rarely purely supportive like this. And Colin certainly couldn’t have foreseen such a situation and learned them ahead of time.
If he truly knew a higher-tier divine art than “Veritas: Reality”, he would have used it directly. He wouldn’t still be clueless about what was in Liyami’s heart now!
So, Colin could only use “Veritas: Reality” to confirm Liyami’s words. But, just as things stood now, even a single “Veritas: Reality” was enough for Colin to get some of the answers he wanted from Liyami.
Looking at Liyami’s bloodless face, Colin knew his intimidation had worked. Next, even if Liyami didn’t want to, she’d have no choice but to tell the whole truth.
Seeing this, Colin didn’t hesitate and directly continued asking: “So… brother, what else are you still hiding from me?”
When she heard Colin use that address—a term she hadn’t heard in so long—Liyami understood. Colin was serious! He really intended to get to the bottom of everything today!
Liyami was finally clear now—no matter how many lies or stalling tactics or vague answers she used today, it would be meaningless. Because now that Colin had made up his mind, he wouldn’t give up until he achieved his goal!
Liyami felt a bit hopeless about the situation. She had no idea what else she could do. All she could do was let Colin fire off question after question that she herself didn’t know how to answer.
“Why won’t you speak? About all the reasons you don’t want to change back, you should at least explain them to me, brother. Or do you not even trust me anymore?”
On the other side, seeing that Liyami still didn’t speak, Colin frowned slightly and began to speak out possible answers himself.
“Is it because you feel there’s too little hope of changing back? Even Sifni hasn’t been found, so you’ve given up? If that’s the case, you don’t need to worry. I’ll do everything in my power to help you find a way to return! You don’t need to bear this alone. If you have any troubles, just tell me!”
Sadly, this guess didn’t provoke any reaction from Liyami. Seeing this, Colin realized he’d probably guessed wrong. So, he tried a different possibility.
“Or is there something that only a woman can do that’s troubling you? For example, a mission from that secret society you belong to? Did they give you some long-term, impossible task, so you didn’t want to tell me?”
Although Colin came up with another possibility, Liyami still didn’t respond. Seeing this, Colin knew he was wrong again.
But it didn’t matter—he still had plenty of time. Before Elinor returned, he was sure he could finish going through all his guesses! During all the time he hadn’t been in contact with Liyami, he’d thought of countless possibilities! There had to be one among them that would come close to Liyami’s real thoughts!
So, seeing that Liyami still didn’t react, Colin didn’t get discouraged at all and kept suggesting one possibility after another.
And just like that, time slipped by silently. Colin had been listing possibilities for half an hour now, until his mouth was dry, but Liyami still showed no reaction.
At this point, Colin began to wonder if he’d really missed something. Was it possible that, among all the possibilities he’d just rattled off, not a single one was correct?
Colin didn’t know if any of his ideas had been close to the truth—after all, he couldn’t read Liyami’s heart. So he could only keep talking, until he hit upon one that finally got a response.
But this time, as soon as Colin opened his mouth and hadn’t even said a word, he heard Liyami, who’d been silent for so long, finally speak.
This should have been something to be happy about—Liyami had finally responded to him!
But when Colin heard clearly what Liyami said, he was completely stunned.
Because what Liyami spoke—the true reason she didn’t want to turn back—was something Colin had never even considered.
Liyami’s lips, cracked from not drinking water for so long, slowly moved and spoke a sentence that struck Colin’s heart like a bolt of lightning, leaving him utterly shocked and rooted to the spot.
“…………I… like you.”