"You, Selena, Nova, even his own mother…Who is brilliant in her own category" Nerissa let each name fall like a stone, slow and deliberate. "All of you have been played. He wrapped you in his web of sentiment without you realizing it."

But Nerissa, Still seeing the storm of confusion flickering in her daughter's golden eyes, did not stop. Her voice was calm, yet edged with that dangerous amusement of hers

"You've become blinded by your own cleverness," she said slowly. "Cleverness he knew how to cultivate in you. So blinded that you ignored the small, obvious things the very details that cost you your judgment. That blindness… was your critical blunder."

Her words were not shouted. They didn't need to be. Each syllable struck Celestia harder than a lash.

Nerissa tilted her head, her gaze sharp and unyielding. "Tell me would the Virelan family have allowed you to send Razeal into the Eternal Hold, even if he had begged for it himself?"

Celestia blinked, taken aback. She had never considered that question. She opened her mouth to reply, then paused. Her mind worked rapidly, calculating, reassessing. "They… could indeed have interfered. Perhaps even Selena would have intervened," she admitted at last.

And then, suddenly, the realization dawned on her like a knife slashing through fog. Her eyes widened, her body stiffening in her seat.

Wait.

Her thoughts connected one after another, chains of logic snapping into place.

They weren't there because… because they left to take revenge.

The weight of it struck her all at once. She saw again the scars on Razeal's body ..the scars he had deliberately revealed in middle of the duel. He had displayed them not out of accident, not because of not able to dodge but maybe because he wanted them to see. He had shown them his suffering so that his family's rage would boil over. So that they would abandon the idea of staying close to him in search of vengeance, leaving him conveniently unguarded.

Celestia's mouth moved, whispering as if to herself. "He intentionally revealed those scars… to drive them away."

Her thoughts raced faster. And the Ghost Clan's attack…

Her head snapped up, eyes going wide. "Wait. Was that attack by the Ghost Clan also staged by him? Just so his mother would leave the Empire? Just so she'd be drawn away at that precise time?"

She leaned back in her chair, shock spreading across her usually composed face.

Nerissa's smile curved, pleased. She gave a soft laugh. "Not bad. Not bad at all. You managed to reach the truth. And here I thought I'd have to tell you the whole story piece by piece. But it seems all you needed was a small nudge."

Celestia's chest rose and fell rapidly as she tried to calm herself. Feeling shame

Her mother's voice cut through her thoughts. "Still… you must learn to control your emotions. That boy is clever far more clever than his years should allow. From the very beginning, he has been twisting your perspective, guiding your thoughts. Every move you believed to be arrogance was manipulation."

Celestia lowered her gaze. The realization that she, the heir to the Empire, had been maneuvered like a child which was even weaker then her.. on a board game… it was almost unbearable.

She drew in a sharp breath, then exhaled slowly. Composure returned bit by bit, though shame still burned beneath her skin. At last, she looked back into her mother's eyes, forcing her voice to steady.

"I am sorry, Mother. I disappointed you. Tell me where I went wrong. Mistakes like these will never be repeated. I want to learn. I must learn where I blundered." She admitted

Nerissa's eyes gleamed. She reclined back slightly, resting her chin on one hand, savoring the rare sight of her daughter humbleness. This was the first time she had seen Celestia so openly admit defeat, so plainly confess error. The mighty heir, outsmarted. And Nerissa found herself… amused.

"I won't give you direct answers," she said at last. "That would be too easy. Instead, I'll ask questions. You will answer them, and in your own answers, you'll find your mistakes. That way, the lesson will last."

Celestia bowed her head slightly. "Yes, Mother."

"Good," Nerissa murmured. A sly smile tugged at her lips. "Then let us begin. Tell me, Celestia when did it all start? When did his manipulation begin?"

Celestia closed her eyes, her mind diving back through every moment she had interacted with Razeal. She sifted through the events, the choices, the small peculiarities. She replayed them one by one until finally her thoughts snagged on a moment that had long baffled her.

Her eyes opened, and she spoke. "The duel," she said firmly. "The moment he chose to fight, even though he had already won. It was the stupidest decision. That must have been the start."

Nerissa chuckled softly, shaking her head. "Not stupid at all, my dear. Think carefully. Yes, he had won the duel. But if he had not chosen to fight, would he have been able to display those scars carved by foreverine metal? Could he have ensured that everyone saw them? And Ghost Clan attack in front of everyone? Would his mother and sister have been drawn away?"

Celestia's breath caught. Her mind reeled. It all connected. The duel had been no reckless act. It had been calculated theater.

Nerissa leaned forward, her voice dropping, deliberate. "And tell me was it not strange that the Ghost Clan dared to strike at him in the very heart of the Empire? With all the Dukes present? With the knowledge that he was the son of a Duke himself? Who would take such a reckless gamble… unless it wasbefore or.. such a coincidence helping that kid up?"

Celestia's lips parted, but no sound came out.

"I can… I can see it, Mother," she admitted at last. "But still… why take such a risk? Even if it was a plan, it was foolish. He could have died. Fighting Sylva alone nearly killed him, if not for his unnatural regeneration. And giving his own assassination to the Ghost Clan?" Her voice grew sharper, almost incredulous. "That was insanity. The Ghost Clan are beings without presence and precenceless. Even Dukes, even me and you, cannot sense them without specialized methods. And he.. he has no mana at all. None. That was suicide. Why would he deliberately put himself at the mercy of an assassin by ordering if he could not detect, knowing full well he had no means of defense?"

Her platinum eyes burned with genuine confusion now. For all her calculations, for all her newfound understanding, this still made no sense to her. It was too dangerous, too self-destructive.

Nerissa smiled thinly, a predator's smile. She did not answer. She let the silence settle, let her daughter sit with the impossible question.

Because that was the true heart of the lesson sometimes the cleverest ploys were the ones that made no sense until the trap had already sprung.

"Well, that's true… he is reckless." Nerissa's tone was quiet, but her words carried weight. Then her lips curved into a faint smile, the kind of smile that concealed layers of sharp amusement. "No, that's not quite it. He made all of you believe the wrong thing. He deliberately crafted the perception that he was an arrogant fool, someone so blinded by pride he couldn't calculate his own risks. And all of you accepted that image. That was what he wanted."

Celestia's brows furrowed. She hated admitting it, but her mother's words slid into place too neatly. Yes she and the others had treated him exactly that way: as a reckless, arrogant boy... Like he literally slapped Areon in front of whole empire and even showed fighting for sylva for nothing.

"But yes," Nerissa continued, "he was reckless. I won't deny it. But the point is… his recklessness worked for him. Maybe he wasn't gambling blindly, as you thought. Maybe he already knew which reactions would unfold, what actions those around him would take. Perhaps he trusted that flow enough to risk it all."

Her gaze sharpened as she leaned closer. "Tell me, Celestia why do you think Nova was standing so close to him that time, the very moment the Ghost appeared to strike? He was saved instantly, wasn't he?"

Celestia opened her mouth, then hesitated. Her mind flickered back to that moment. Yes. Nova had been right there. Too close for coincidence.

"And after that," Nerissa pressed on, "Merisa stopped the other Ghost from completing the kill. He lived because both intervened. He knew he wouldn't die, because he believed Nova and Merisa would save him."

Her words were simple, almost casual, but they struck Celestia like thunder.

"That…" Celestia's voice faltered. her platinum eyes clouding with conflict. "But that..mother ..that relationship is complicated. Doesn't he hate them? He's never hidden that. What if they hadn't acted? Or if they hesitated? What if they had been even a heartbeat too late? He…"

She trailed off, her thoughts colliding into a storm.

Nerissa cut across her softly, but firmly. "He was sure. And they did save him. That's the beauty of confidence he has in his moves."

Celestia's jaw tightened, her frustration bubbling. "That was madness! He could have died! To stake everything on a mere assumption of their actions? That's like throwing a dagger into pitch-black darkness and hoping it lands in the exact spot you want." She shook her head, eyes flashing. "Too risky. Too stupid. No wonder I didn't reach the conclusion before.. because it doesn't make sense. Who would take such a gamble with their own life?"

"That is the thing." Nerissa tilted her head, her purple eyes gleaming with quiet admiration. "He is reckless. But it worked. He acted as if he already knew what kind of actions and reactions all of you would have. And in the end, his gamble was rewarded."

Celestia let out a sharp breath, her brows drawing closer. "But it still doesn't make sense, Mother. As you said, he risked everything. But for what? Even if I admit he manipulated us he gained nothing from it. No profit. No advantage. What was the point of risking his life for theatrics?"

Her voice rose, her frustration spilling over. "In the beginning, I thought maybe… maybe all he wanted was the Holy Promise, a way to rewrite everything, to protect himself, to live freely. But no. He had the chance to use it and didn't use for anything good. He gained nothing from it. Then again that joining the academy, fought battles, risked death and what did he achieve? Nothing. And now, after all that effort, he ran. Escaped. Left everything behind. Why? What sense is there in that?"

Her words tumbled out like waves breaking against a cliff, raw and unfiltered. "Lets say for example If he came here for revenge, shouldn't he have stayed in the Empire, where the power and enemies he needed were? If he wanted safety, why provoke so much attention? None of this adds up! All that planning, all that danger, all that hard work? and for what? To run away?"

Her hands trembled slightly in her lap, a rare crack in her composure. "I don't understand. I thought he had deeper motives, a greater design. But if his only choice now was to run… then what was the point of everything? Was it all just meaningless chaos?"

Nerissa studied her daughter in silence for a moment. Celestia's frustration, her confusion they weren't baseless. They were valid, logical questions. Questions any strategist would ask after reviewing such a seemingly irrational pattern. And that was precisely why so many had underestimated him.

At last, Nerissa nodded slowly, acknowledging the weight of her daughter's reasoning. "Yes. You're right. On the surface, it does seem as if his actions were senseless. Too risky, too wasteful, too reckless. It is confusing."

Celestia looked at her mother, her breath caught in her throat.

Nerissa smiled faintly, that dangerous little curve of her lips that always carried certainty. "But the answer is simple, my dear. He came to the Empire for one thing only. One purpose."

Her voice dropped, soft yet absolute.

"He came for the Gate of Honour."

Celestia blinked, startled.

"That was his sole objective," Nerissa continued smoothly. "The only reason he endured everything.. the duels, the Ghost Clan, the Eternal Hold, the academy. He wanted the Gate. He needed it. And once he achieved that, everything else became irrelevant. The rest.. the fights, the Holy Promise, the trials were simply distractions, steps in the path he had already chosen to escape."

Her daughter opened her mouth to protest, but Nerissa raised a hand.

"He went into the Gate of Honour. He got what he wanted. That was all. Everything else.. the manipulation of your judgment was a smokescreen to cover his true aim. Once he had it, his only task left was to leave. To escape and all that Chaos he did for escaping."

Her voice hardened now, the sharp edge of truth slicing through the air. "Do you really think his family, who have been searching for him for years, would have simply let him walk away once they had him back coming out from gate of honour? No. They would have caged him again, atleast let him stay with them...They do regret that decision. They would never have let him go. And he knew it."

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