“Since you, Father, promised to tell us the truth, please start first. Seven years ago, at my birthday banquet, what exactly did you and the previous Elven King discuss?”
Isabella asked first, and Victor, having long expected this question, replied without any surprise.
“Not much, just a transaction.”
“He wanted Winnidith to go to the City of Emerald Shadows at the last moment to help him deal with the Sacred Tree, and in return, I asked him for a Sacred Fruit.”
“For me?”
Faced with Isabella’s blunt question, Victor paused for a moment, then shifted his gaze to a painting on the desk.
The woman in the painting had long black hair and a pair of crimson eyes.
Her features were extremely similar to Isabella’s, but more mature.
“Yes and no. More so, it was because of your mother Marina’s request from long ago.”
“My mother?”
Isabella couldn’t control her expression of surprise.
Winnidith also cast a curious glance at this moment.
She knew that Isabella’s mother had died from complications during childbirth.
To avoid upsetting Isabella, she had never actively asked about Isabella’s mother.
“Speaking of your mother, I have to mention the deity worshipped by the Empire—Xinliezhi. Since you were bound to ask about it anyway, I might as well cover it all now.”
Victor poured himself a cup of black tea.
Beside it were a few macarons and a cake with pink petal decorations that didn’t seem intended for him.
“Xinliezhi was the last deity to appear before the eyes of the world. After the other three gods were severely wounded by the Emperor of Saint Wayne and forced into deep slumber to recover, He became the only god in the world.”
‘Doesn’t that sentence contain some earth-shattering information?’
After hearing the first sentence, Winnidith’s mind was full of questions.
But seeing that this was clearly not the time for answers, she had to suppress those questions.
“He is a chaotic and capricious deity. Many times, even He Himself probably doesn’t know what He wants to do. Thanks to Him, the Empire was exceptionally chaotic in the first few decades after its founding. Not only did it fail to reclaim the territories of the other three kingdoms, but internal rebellions erupted repeatedly, allowing those three kingdoms to gain considerable prestige within their own lands, splitting humanity into four parts.”
“If it remained under His rule, the Empire would eventually collapse. Fortunately, He is also the God of Trickery, with many avatars in the world. The most famous among them is named Moledi.”
Moledi?
The legend in magic history?
The founder of the magic system?
The staff Winnidith currently used was even left behind by him.
She never imagined he would be Xinliezhi’s avatar.
Winnidith had already started seriously considering whether to switch weapons.
The reason was simple—it just felt a bit unlucky.
“In the 23rd year of the New Century, Robert’s ancestor and Trenton’s ancestor somehow seduced Moledi into betraying his original body. Then, at the cost of their own lives, the three of them sealed Xinliezhi in the deepest part of The Sanctuary, while also destroying all His avatars.”
“But the seal has a flaw: it continuously leaks Xinliezhi’s Divine Power, and this Divine Power can only be absorbed by someone with a Spirit-Absorbing Body.”
Winnidith’s heart skipped a beat.
She already knew what Victor would say next.
“So, the Empire searched for all residents with a Spirit-Absorbing Body within its borders, granted them treatment equal to that of a viscount, and when the Divine Power leakage became severe, sent them to absorb it.”
“And then? What happened to the Spirit-Absorbing Body owners who absorbed the Divine Power?”
Isabella seemed to have become dull, asking a question whose answer even Winnidith had already guessed.
“To prevent the deity’s will from awakening through their bodies, naturally, they had to be disposed of harmlessly.”
True to their father-daughter relationship, Victor stated the truth quite naturally.
Among the three, only Winnidith awkwardly curled her toes against the floor.
Victor took a sip of black tea.
Seeing that Isabella’s expression hadn’t changed at all, he continued.
“As the other three gods gradually recovered over the years, Xinliezhi, sealed at the bottom of The Sanctuary, seemed to be affected as well. The Divine Power leak became more frequent, which meant Spirit-Absorbing Bodies were consumed faster. Your mother was the last Spirit-Absorbing Body owner the Empire had at that time.”
“At the moment Marina was about to give birth, The Sanctuary experienced another large-scale Divine Power leak. For the sake of the Empire, she had to go deep into The Sanctuary, but if she did, you absolutely could not be born.”
“At that time, I was ready to give up on you, but Marina insisted on having you.”
“So, she asked the priests of The Sanctuary to cut open her belly and take you out. After a simple treatment, she was sent to the deepest part of The Sanctuary.”
“I witnessed this whole process. At the last moment of absorbing the Divine Power, she made a final request to me.”
“She said she wanted you to grow up healthy.”
Victor looked at Isabella, seeing the same crimson eyes that were almost indistinguishable from those in his memory, filled with calmness.
It seemed as if he was not telling the story of her mother, but of some unrelated woman.
Perhaps annoyed by his gaze, Isabella let out a light laugh.
“It seems you don’t intend to fulfill her wish.”
“If I could, of course I would.”
Victor collapsed onto the sofa, seeming to have aged a few more years.
“But your body suffers from congenital defects due to premature birth. Ordinary treasures couldn’t cure it, which is why I demanded Alvain exchange the Sacred Fruit of the Sacred Tree.”
“But the Spirit-Absorbing Body… Bella, the Empire today cannot find a second Spirit-Absorbing Body besides you. Do you know what I mean?”
“Yes. It means I must always be ready to sacrifice myself for the Empire, right?”
Even as the topic turned to her own life, Isabella’s expression remained calm.
It was Winnidith beside her who grew anxious.
“Yes.”
No concealment, no excuses, no changing the subject.
Victor simply laid the bloody truth before her: when the Empire needs you, you must go.
Victor did not argue or console; he just quietly watched her adjust her chaotic emotions.
The atmosphere in the room had dropped to freezing point.
But at that moment, Winnidith finally couldn’t take it anymore.
With a slap, she hit the table.
“There is another solution!”
Winnidith’s chest heaved violently, and even her voice trembled.
“I… I’ll destroy Xinliezhi! Completely eliminate the source of Divine Power!”
“Then…”
Winnidith gritted her teeth.
“Then Bella won’t have to sacrifice herself!”
“That is indeed a solution.”
Victor nodded in acknowledgment, but then laid the harsh reality before Isabella.
“But do you have that kind of strength now? Xinliezhi doesn’t bear wounds like the Sacred Tree did. The Empire cannot provide you direct internal help like the Elven King did. Can you really fight a god all by yourself?”
Will cannot become strength, and hope cannot turn into certainty.
Winnidith was still just a 7th-tier Magic User.
Even with a divine status, she was utterly no match for a god.
“Wendy, thank you. But this matter concerns only me. I’ll handle it myself.”
Isabella grabbed her wrist and pulled her to sit down, smiling to comfort her.
“I still have a very important dream to fulfill. I won’t die that easily.”
‘How could it be that simple!!!’
Winnidith wanted to shout that, but when she looked at Isabella, she saw that her shoulders were trembling uncontrollably.
‘She’s afraid.’
This news had blanked her mind.
She looked at Isabella’s comforting smile, and the scolding words stuck in her throat, unable to come out.
Winnidith sat back down, fixed her gaze on the First Emperor’s Notes, and silently clenched her fists.
“Let’s continue, Father.”
Isabella turned her gaze back to Victor.
“I still have some questions I need answered.”
“For example, how did the Emperor of Saint Wayne severely wound the three gods?”
‘Right!’
Hearing this, Winnidith’s eyes lit up.
The Emperor of Saint Wayne was definitely a local.
Without an external divine status, how did He leave such a huge wound on Slaanesh?
“Because of Saint Wayne’s Secret Art. As their rightful heir, Robert also obtained that secret technique.”
Victor explained.
“By gathering all the power and lives of blood relatives into oneself, the Emperor, who had already been in the Saint Realm for many years, used this Secret Art to sacrifice all the royal family, breaking through to the realm of a god. It’s that simple.”
“Forcibly?”
“It can be forced, but the effect is greatly reduced.”
“I understand.”
Isabella asked her final question.
“Then, roughly how much longer until the Empire needs me?”
“It’s been two years since the last Spirit-Absorbing Body sacrifice. Based on the previous frequency, you have three years.”
Three years…
Winnidith breathed a sigh of relief.
Three years.
If she worked hard, she might be able to reach the Saint Realm.
Isabella nodded, as if it were just a casual question.
“I understand. Then during these three years, I can normally participate as a candidate in the struggle for the throne, right?”
“Yes.”
“I have no more questions.”
After saying this, Isabella calmly picked up her teacup.
Victor then looked at Winnidith and smiled gently.
“Wendy, what about you? Do you have any questions?”
“Me? Um…”
Winnidith thought back and found that she indeed had nothing more to ask, so she shook her head.
“In that case, leave.”
Victor began to usher them out.
But just as the two were leaving, he suddenly remembered something and called out to Winnidith.
“Your elders all know about your situation, so you don’t need to worry about how to interact with them.”
“Just be the same as before.”
Winnidith’s body trembled slightly.
The heavy weight that had been hanging in her heart finally dissipated.