It was early morning, but the loud noise of rushing soldiers and carriages could still be heard from here.

There were still many injured soldiers coming in. From the number of dead bodies Leon saw outside, it looked like only a handful had died last night. For a horde of three thousand lesser demons and a few abyssal class and higher ranked demons, this much loss was very little.

Noticing Leon's thoughts drifting toward the noise outside, Veronica reported quietly, "We have fewer casualties because your father and I were present at the site."

Leon nodded slowly. "I see."

'Veronica must have dealt with the high ranking demons easily. With her there, there shouldn't have been any casualties. For her, three thousand demons are nothing. It would take her some time, but she could wipe them out alone if she wanted. Still it took them that long to deal with them.'

So then…

'So what stopped her?'

"There were hostages." She said, reading him.

"Huh?" Leon blinked at her words. "Hostages?"

Veronica nodded. "They took more than three hundred citizens from a nearby village. We learned this midway, so I did not go all out."

Leon listened silently.

'Even then, with her strength, she could have saved them easily. She definitely has the power to. She has full control over her Calamity Skill by now. So what else happened?'

Leon thought back to several events that had already occurred.

He connected the king's involvement and reached a possible conclusion.

"Sister. About those lesser demons. Was there something unusual about them?"

She stared at him for a moment. "How did you guess?"

Leon remained quiet.

"Yes," Veronica continued calmly. "Many of them were hybrid humans."

"Tsk. I knew it." Leon clicked his tongue.

There was no way Veronica would hold back unless something serious was mixed in. Hybrid humans were the one thing that would restrain her.

House Vallahail had performed these experiments when creating the demon god's vessel.

"So he is trying to blame it on Sebastian," Leon muttered.

The king must have used the hybrid humans developed by House Vallahail to strengthen his lesser demon army. Many soldiers, and maybe even his own father, would hesitate to kill a demon with a human face who cried and begged for their life in their own language.

"Did you kill them?" Leon asked quietly.

Veronica shook her head. "No. Out of three thousand lesser demons, there were eight hundred humans of various ages mixed among them. We did not kill them. I issued an order to capture those eight hundred alive and eliminate the rest."

This naturally took them time.

They had to rescue hostages, distinguish hybrids from actual demons, and prevent the hybrids from harming other soldiers.

'The king played dirty here.'

The royal army was supposed to arrive as support, but they came near the end of everything. It was a well constructed plan to buy time.

Leon's hands tightened on the cushion.

He asked her, "From those eight hundred, I think we can save a few if we just externally shatter their corrupt mana core."

"That is what I am planning to do," Veronica replied. "We have already identified who can be saved and who cannot. My men from the Blood Tower are working on it."

As expected, she had already thought ahead.

Leon did not relax and added another request. "And from those hybrids who cannot be saved, can you perform an autopsy on them and send me the report of their mana cores? I have some theories, but I need the data and the corruption patterns."

Veronica looked slightly confused, but she still nodded. "I will deliver it through Myra."

"Thanks."

If Leon's speculation was correct, then he knew which demon was helping the king.

And that knowledge might be the key for him and Eula to counter the king in the future.

Leon leaned back for a moment, his thoughts still wrapped around the connections forming in his head.

Veronica watched him quietly before speaking again.

"Eula told you everything, I assume?"

Leon did not react with surprise. Instead, he answered in his usual calm tone.

"Unfortunately yes."

Veronica gave a small nod. "Hmm. You won her trust. I truly never expected that."

Leon did not reply to her.

She already knew his involvement with Eula and the Twilight Order. And the fact she was not scolding him meant she had chosen not to interfere with his choice.

It was good for him. At least it bought him time.

Recalling his conversation with Eula, a sudden question surfaced in his mind.

"Sister," Leon asked, "how could she be the only witness whose memory remained intact?"

"Think about it. You must already know the answer," Veronica said.

She was not telling him directly. From the start she had been throwing hints, guiding him to crack the truth by himself.

'I already know?' Leon frowned slightly.

Eula had no power to resist a memory wipe. So it had to be something external. What was he missing?

It could not be an artifact. Eula did not have anything back then.

So it could never be a physical thing.

Leon tapped his finger slowly.

'Alright. If it's not physical, then…'

He recalled Eula telling him that something cold had pressed against her mind that night.

'Mind…?'

His thoughts circled around the word.

'Consciousness… memory… mind…'

And then it clicked.

"Ah. Princess Charlotte."

His eyes widened.

'How did I miss this variable?'

Veronica's expression softened slightly. "Yes. You are getting closer. Think more. You are right at the edge of it."

Leon exhaled. "She saved her, I know. But… using what though?"

He knew Charlotte had no skill or artifact capable of nullifying a memory manipulation skill. So what did she use?

Seeing Leon struggle, Veronica asked, "Do you want a hint?"

Leon hesitated, then nodded. "Please."

Veronica reached out, took Leon's left hand, and raised it between them at eye level.

Leon blinked in confusion.

"…?"

Why his hand?

He looked down at his fingers.

Then his eyes froze on the spirit ring resting there.

"No way!"

His hand trembled as his mind raced at unimaginable speed.

The pieces locked together one after another. And when he realized, his breath caught.

"Fate sure is scary." He can't help but to mutter at the possibility.

Charlotte Lunovar had a humanoid spirit bonded to her since childhood. It was what supported her strength all this time. Even though it was humanoid in form and a higher ranking spirit being, it was weaker than normal because it fed on its master's mana.

That night, when Charlotte was killed, she must have released her spirit bond in her final moments when she saw Eula at the door, she sent it to her.

To protect her. To stay with her for a lifetime.

It was supposed to be with Eula. But…

When the king used his mind manipulation skill, the humanoid spirit, whose brain was like a supercomputer, calculated the optimal survival route.

The only path that ensured Eula survived the memory wipe was to wrap itself around Eula's consciousness.

So when the king's memory alteration skill struck Eula, it actually struck the spirit instead.

Its memories were erased or maybe twisted.

And the king believed the manipulation had succeeded perfectly.

And hence, Eula was left unharmed.

But because the spirit's memory was damaged, it reset itself to its initial state.

It forgot about Charlotte. It forgot about Eula.

And eventually the spirit had wandered off her consciousness, searching for someone, somewhere else.

Leon's eyes lowered to his Ice Spirit Ring again.

He whispered, almost laughing at the absurdity of it, "What are the odds?"

Veronica proved his deduction. "Charlotte had an Ice Spirit bond."

Leon froze.

That made everything clear.

A humanoid higher ranking Ice Spirit, weakened and uncontracted, drifting through the world… eventually entering Eclipse Institute. Not far from the Royal Palace.

And not far from Leon either.

And now the same spirit bond which once belonged to the first princess, now resting inside his ring.

'It must have rested in a weakened state without purpose until it was drawn to me during weapon selection.'

Leon muttered quietly, "It is all connected now."

Veronica nodded once.

"That is her spirit bond."

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