There were still a few staff here, so maybe driving Vernon off would be useless. But not completely, the staff here can’t touch and hinder me. But Vernon could. I wanted him out of here for a while to make things go my way smoothly.

I made my way to the room where my mother was working. When I arrived at the door, turning the knob, I discovered it was locked as expected. No problem.

Casting the barrier spell, I shaped it akin to a pair of thin slips of metal, to be specific, lock picks. One on each of my hands, I began picking the lock. It didn’t take long before I heard a faint click. The repelling function of the barrier spell helped a little, but I needed to make the pick thinner than normal. But everything went well, and the picks vanished after I was done.

But before I could turn the knob to enter, there were sounds of footsteps coming towards me. It was to be expected that someone would come to me. Turning my head to the side, there I saw a familiar girl, still wearing thick clothes and barely any skin exposed, as though she was feeling cold in this decently warm time..

The same woman who helped me with the history book.

“Princess, may I ask what you are doing?”

She asked blankly, perhaps doing her best to be impartial with this.

“Some important matter, everything is fine so there is no need to worry.”

“Her Majesty the Queen wanted that room to be strictly private and not allow anyone inside.”

“Does that include me?”

“Yes, so please retract. I believe it is best to ask her majesty first.”

Hm, she seemed to have not noticed I had unlocked the door already. I am not particularly fond of outright lying here, and directly involved mother, somehow I am reluctant about lying here. I… don’t want her to have the impression that I learned how to lie to her…

How contradictory…

“Miss, I intend to enter here, I’ll consult Mother later. I ask that you allow me entrance without any trouble.”

“I’m afraid I cannot do that, your highness. It is her majesty’s order.”

She takes her job very seriously.

Still, even I am not allowed to enter. There’s something very important here. I want to know.

“How unfortunate, I hope you forgive me for inconveniencing you on your duty, Miss. Rogan, hold the door.”

He immediately appeared in front of me. As I thought, he was listening. If things went smoothly I would have no need for him, but that didn’t happen. I imagine this would have been more troublesome if Vernon was here. Now then, time is ticking.

“Hold it right there, Lady.”

Rogan held out his hand.

“Sir Knight, it is ordered by the Queen that this room is off-limits.”

“I know. Buuuut, my princess gave me the order to hold this door right here, so I’m sorry.”

The woman glared at him.

With no hesitation, I opened the door, prompting a surprised gasp from the woman.

“How? It should be locked.”

I closed and locked the door, and silence immediately settled. In the middle of the room, there was a long table and laid above it was several objects, seemingly ancient they might as well be called as artifacts.

There were worn out and tattered scrolls kept inside opened cases. Touching them carelessly could tear a part off very easily. I tried reading the contents without touching, but I couldn’t understand a sentence.

Some letters and words were familiar to me, but mostly they were foreign to my knowledge. Not only that, even though I recognized a few words, I couldn’t completely comprehend the grammar. This felt almost akin to reading old English. Damn, the ever-changing language.

There were single-paged sheets, but I too cannot understand them. Furthermore, there were a couple of stone tablets — clay tablets? There were writings, and little illustrations, simple ones.

A crowd facing a pair of figures hovering in the air. And the crowd seemed to be worshiping the same two figures.

Then on one corner by the table, there were sheets of paper there, next to an inkwell. Mother must have written what she had learned. I scanned them for a moment.

Summarization of her discovery…

I’m surprised she was able to understand the old writings. She had to be smarter than I knew her to be.

I sat down on the chair and read her work.

The story began when two deities, husband and wife, fought for the freedom of the Wisterian people, along with their servants. The slavers of humanity were both monstrous and beautiful, bearing forms different to humans, and perceived humanity itself as inferior beings.

These two deities happened to be the two gods we worship. The Goddess of Serenity who brought peace to the hearts of the people, and the God of Compassion who showed great kindness. There were also accounts of another who seemed to always be with the two, that my mother hypothesized to be a close confidant. But there was also a mention in the ancient documents that this other man may be a deity the same as the two.

However, nothing was for certain, and not much information has been discovered yet about him. The servants were also written as peculiar beings, marked with fearsome might.

The battle for freedom was hard-fought, but with the aid of the gods, the slavers of humanity were driven away, never to be seen again.

Then came the lost and never mentioned history. The gods themselves were the firsts to establish the kingdom and not the ones who were hailed as the founders. Well, they were supposed to be.

The two gods had a child as they were establishing the foundations of the kingdom. It was a beautiful baby girl who greatly resembled her mother, skin pale as snow, hair as white as platinum, and eyes as red as blood.

Wait... That’s….

What’s this?

But the joy of the couple didn’t last long. For when the child was still a baby, she was mysteriously killed. Cause of death unknown… as they were not revealed by the deities.

Wait. What… What does this mean…?

Distraught by the loss of her child, the goddess proclaimed that her child was to be reborn.

This…

My mind raced trying to process this information. Amidst that, a memory came to mind.

“That…”

The vision, the faint vision that happened last time. There was a woman there. A woman who looked almost completely like me. Crimson eyes, white hair, white skin.

“The goddess?”

Then, couldn’t this mean I’m…

But there was another part of the vision. A blade descending towards me.

If that was me… someone wanted me dead and succeeded?

I continued reading.

The goddess didn’t give a time when the daughter would be reborn. But, now, there was a girl who fit the description of the goddess. Mother wrote:

“We believe that the child reborn, the child of the goddess, is my daughter, Estelia.”

I almost crumpled the paper within my grasp.

They hid such information from me?

Furthermore, the two gods had another child who almost resembled the father, another girl. Dark hair and violet eyes. She who we would come to know as the founder. Sometime later, the gods disappeared, no information could be found as to why. The direct servants of the deities were also never mentioned again.

Thus, after their disappearance, during the time of the second daughter was when the Wisterian Kingdom officially came into existence.

“Second daughter?”

If she’s a child of the gods, then, isn’t she supposed to be immortal or something? Gods are supposed to be immortal, right?

In the last entry, the founder was mentioned to have left the kingdom, but the reason was unknown. The ancient documents given were still insufficient to give a full picture of the far history.

I placed the papers back on the table.

They hid this from me…? Why?

I didn’t know what I should feel. Should I feel betrayed? Upset? Sad? Surprise? Intrigued? Angry?

This information would have been useful to me. And…

To think they would hide my true nature from me.

That explained a lot. My colossal amount of mana, my beautiful appearance that was so unique.

Why did they hide? Since when did they know? Who else knew? Was I the only one kept in the dark?

I gently slammed my fist on the table. I guess I am feeling a bit angry.

People seemed to always want to go after me… What did the goddess even do to warrant such dreadful attention?

How many times do I have to die in history…? I have been killed in like, a total of three times now, counting my former life, the stairs, and the one from the vision. And now, there are even others trying to kill me. But who the fuck are they?

This information didn’t give me the specific reason, but if I were to guess, it had something to do with me being related to the gods— even though my family line should have the blood of the gods, but I guess I’m different. I can already tell from my power and appearance alone.

This would have been a bit step closer to finding out the truth, or what the hell was going on. I might have gotten a little peace of mind way earlier!

And to hide my true nature?

Why?!

What was the point?

At that moment, I heard the lock click and the door opened, and the one who came in was my mother. She was earlier than expected, maybe because I took too long in going for lunch, or Vernon. The former was the more likely.

Her eyes were wide with shock and worry. Her eyes went to mine, then to the documents. I could see a faint expression of pain within her eyes as she pursed her lips for a moment before calling to me with hesitation.

“Estelia…”

“Hello, mother. I had been sort of waiting for you.”

I tried my best to smile, but the corners of my lips felt heavy, so in the end, they drooped down. Deep inside, this was not a moment to smile, nor did I even feel like it.

“Did you read?”

I stood up from the seat with agitation after hearing her question.

“I did, I most definitely did. Quite the intelligence I discovered. Not one I would ever hope to expect, nor imagine.”

I caught a glimpse of Rogan and Vernon from behind her.

“Estelia, daughter, let me explain—”

“What sort of explanation would you have for me, hm?”

I realized my little facade was breaking.

I took in a deep breath and calmly spoke as best as I could.

“It’s unbelievable you would keep such a thing from me, Mother…”

I had hoped I could believe in her with all my heart… No, this was wrong to feel. I shouldn’t be feeling this way. This was a wrong feeling coming from me.

“Estelia… I’m sorry.” She walked towards me with rushed steps but I instinctively stepped back, and yet she forcibly grabbed my hands. “I’m sorry. We wanted to protect you.”

I pulled my hands away.

“Protect me? Protect me from the truth?”

That was an absurd reason.

She reached out for my hand again and stroked my cheek.

“We… We only wanted for you to have a normal life…away from these… Normal, just normal. We didn’t want you to be concerned about something beyond our understanding.”

“So Father also knew it from the beginning? You… You kept everything from me.”

My mother was shaking. I didn’t imagine she would be this shaken… Ah, I have never been this mad in front of them before. I was always the calm and gentle one.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, Estelia. Please understand, what we did was for you.”

She looked so pitiful that my anger was starting to dissipate. I didn’t want to see her like this.

Just a normal person, huh. Thinking from their perspective, I understand them. Knowing that their innocent daughter was involved with the gods might have been frightening. And there was a chance something different from their expectations or imaginations might happen to me.

Thus, they only wanted me to be normal, letting me think everything was normal. That way, I was away from anything beyond understanding, and away from danger and restlessness.

But still…

“Estelia…”

I still didn’t feel any better, but I’ll take advantage of this.

“Mother… I… I understand… But, please, let me speak with Father, with the rest of the family present.”

She looked puzzled for a moment but instantly realized why I would make such a request.

“...Okay.”

“Then, let’s meet later before sunset. I want to be alone for a while…”

I stepped away from her, pulling my hand away. Seeing me distance myself, my mother appeared sad, no, perhaps heartbroken…

“Excuse me…”

I walked past her and exited the room.

***

Vernon watched the princess rush out of the library with a tiny gap between his lips. He only brought paper sheets as the princess requested, but never did he expect it would end up this way.

Mera chased after the princess while Rogan turned to Vernon.

“Don’t wait for me, go.”

Rogan nodded his head and went after the princess.

When Vernon returned while bringing the papers with him, he found that one of the staff was arguing with Rogan. Something about the princess not allowed inside the private quarter where the Queen has been going. But Rogan would keep her away from the door.

Vernon had no clue what was going on and he asked the knight, learning the gist of the situation. He never expected that Princess Estelia would force herself inside, going against the order given by her own mother which prohibits entry.

How was the door opened?

He knew that the Queen would never forget to lock something important. Now that he thought about it, the exact time Vernon went out to procure papers as ordered by the princess, she went on to intrude the room.

It was then he realized that she was intending to drive him away so he wouldn’t interfere. Vernon would ideally be adamant to interfere with her, however, he was now uncertain whether he would truly do it or not.

Shortly after his arrival though, the Queen suddenly arrived looking for Estelia who apparently had yet to take her lunch. Thus, she intended to call her, only to discover that she had intruded the quarters she used. Using the key, she unlocked the door to find a very displeased princess.

Vernon himself was feeling a little anxious, it was the first time he had seen her truly displeased, and angry. It felt like the innocent princess that everyone had seen her as had evaporated — perhaps that would be expected if she was angry. It was weird for him to suggest otherwise.

As the door was opened, of course he couldn’t help but take a glance inside. There seemed to be only old objects there, but he had no idea what those were for. Even so, he had no intention of prying.

Vernon watched the sad Queen, whose eyes were moist at the corners, slowly exit the room with lowered eyes as she closed the door.

“My q-queen, my sincerest apology! It was my fault, I failed to stop her.”

The woman, a staff of the library, frantically said to the queen. However, the queen slightly raised her hand before speaking in a weak tone.

“I don’t blame you, Soliya…”

“But…”

The woman, Soliya, seemed to try to refute, but the queen shook her head. The Queen turned to look at Vernon.

“My Queen, will you be alright? Shall I escort you to your room?”

“Vernon… No, it’s alright… It’s just… Estelia… this is the first time she felt angry at me… No, not just me, but I imagine to all of us…”

Princess Estelia was always the behaved and quiet child, rarely angry, but not deeply angry, but rather it would be more appropriate to say she had only been irritated, annoyed, or bothered. Still, those were mild.

Now however, it was different. Her gaze was stern.

“I surmise she has learned something big… Give her a bit of time to process everything, I’m sure she will organize her thoughts sooner or later.”

The queen nodded her head.

“Okay… For now, I’ll go to my husband.”

“Shall I escort you?”

“No need,” she faintly smiled. “Please tend to my daughter.”

“I understand.”

Before leaving, the Queen locked the door to the room once again.

After exiting the library, the two of them separated and Vernon made his way to what he anticipated where the princess would run to. This side of her was more predictable… the vulnerable side.

He found relief that there was a part of her that he was able to make a prediction of.

His prediction was proven right when he saw Rogan and Mera standing outside the princess’s room.

“So she locked herself in, again…” Vernon said.

“It’s almost funny that it happened twice already,” Rogan scratched his head.

“That’s because they always mistreated milady.”

“Mera… the two situations were not a mistreatment though.”

Mera furrowed her brows at Vernon’s words before lowering her head. It was strange for her to think it was that way. But Vernon understood what she meant, the princess had been feeling agitated lately, her emotions going places.

Add to that the threat to her life. It must have been hard.

“Sorry…” Mera quietly muttered.

Vernon walked towards the door before gently knocking.

“Princess? Are you alright?”

He beckoned, but even after several seconds later, there was no response. It was a little worrying.

“Are you sure she entered?”

“Of course.”

Vernon was content with Rogan’s answer, in that case, there was nothing to worry about. The princess needed a quiet and alone time.