Ten minutes remained before the doors were supposed to open, and Azriel could already hear voices on the other side. At least there were some people here who knew how to be on time.

Azriel and the others inside weren't sitting anymore. Nobody was really in the mood to continue talking—except Lioren and the nervous Count. The Count was doing an impressive job of appearing calm as he sat at the table speaking to Lioren, who remained as unbothered as ever, even after banishing his little brothers to their rooms.

On one side of the room, Azriel leaned against the wall, watching Jasmine and Celestina.

"What would you have done if Lioren hadn't blocked that knife?" Celestina asked.

Jasmine shrugged.

"Then it would have been one of the many nuisances in our lives gone."

Celestina couldn't help but look at her skeptically.

"So you would have just killed him? Just because he insulted Azriel? Really?"

"It's not like Azriel would have done anything. That bug should have known his place from the very beginning."

Listening to them, Azriel couldn't help but feel a little wronged.

"How do you know I wouldn't have done anything?" he asked.

"Because I know you. It's not as if you've ever done anything to retaliate against these bugs for so long."

"But things are different now... Maybe if it wasn't for you, I might have retaliated this time."

Jasmine should know that... As much as she called him her little brother, Azriel wasn't the same as before. At least, that's what Azriel believed.

"If we're talking about whether you were finally going to do something, then as long as they were 'just' bullying you, I doubt much has changed in that regard."

Jasmine clearly didn't share his view. She narrowed her eyes slightly before speaking more softly.

"Besides, you get angry to the point of wanting to kill anyone who insults me. As your big sister, shouldn't I have the same right—if not more—to get angry when someone insults you?"

Azriel averted his gaze at that.

"...Well, if you put it like that... it's not like I minded you doing what you did anyway..."

Even if she had killed one of them or both and Lioren wanted revenge, Azriel would've done everything in his power to help Jasmine and, if necessary, kill Lioren. If there was a chance, at least.

"I wonder if I'll ever get this close in the future with my little brother or little sister..."

Celestina's quiet murmur reached both their ears. She was looking down, pinching her chin between her fingers.

The natural risk of having siblings—in their world—was death. It was common when the throne was involved. Hearing the faint anxiety in her voice, neither Azriel nor Jasmine said anything.

Would that child go after the throne? What would Celestina want?

Even Azriel didn't have an answer to that.

"We're not that close," Jasmine said suddenly, looking at Azriel with a bitter expression.

He found that offensive and narrowed his eyes.

"Should I break rule number three?"

For a brief moment, Azriel could see the despair in Jasmine's eyes, as if she were silently screaming at him. His lips naturally curved up.

"Kidding."

Jasmine clicked her tongue. Celestina rolled her eyes.

"Yeah... definitely not," she said, this time with clear sarcasm.

The two princesses drifted into a topic Azriel didn't care about, so their words went in one ear and out the other as he watched them instead.

His gaze shifted from them to Lioren, who was still conversing with the Count, then to Caleus, who sat with a gentle smile as he said something to the quiet Veronica.

He knew them all.

The book had known them, so Azriel knew them.

He knew their personalities.

Celestina, for example—someone considered the most "normal" of them all. A princess who was fair to all humans, regardless of status. Kind to anyone she didn't consider an enemy. Yet she was afraid to use her [Unique Skill], afraid humanity would shun her for it. She was also someone who wouldn't hesitate to kill if she had to.

She loved puzzles, mysteries, anything interesting. If someone or something caught her attention, she became obsessed with solving it; her curiosity knew no bounds.

And yet she also...

hated void creatures.

Her hatred ran so deep it took everything in her to stop herself from leaping at them on sight. Her thirst to kill void creatures was one of the greatest there was.

Then there was Lioren—currently the strongest of the four heirs. Someone who had carved his way forward through the blood of his own siblings and void creatures, who had risen to the top on sheer merit and become the heir of the Dusk Clan.

Yet... the prince was cursed by his own [Unique Skill].

A skill that was perhaps one of the most ridiculous—and fitting—for an heir like him: [Sanguine Ascension].

An ability that made having [Soul Echoes] almost pointless, because whoever Lioren killed, no matter who it was, he could turn their last drop of life into his own soldiers.

Of course there were limits. It wasn't as if he had infinite soldiers; there were slots. But his skill was a textbook example of an evolutionary type—one that gained more slots, more perks, and became stronger as he ranked up.

So overpowered... and yet it had cursed him.

Lioren suffered from a dissociative state, constantly feeling disconnected from his own body and his own emotions. It wasn't that he had no feelings; he simply couldn't reach them. They were there, but distant, like a sound heard underwater. Just as he felt trapped in his own body, he was cut off from what he felt.

It was an awful curse.

Then there was Jasmine... well.

Jasmine was Jasmine.

In the book, after Azriel's death, she had been described as an extremely cold human. Someone who killed without a second thought. Someone without empathy. A tyrant. A woman easily mistaken for a villain—one nobody could defeat. A cold-hearted princess, through and through.

Until, of course, the ever-goody-two-shoes protagonist, Lumine Versille, arrived and melted the ice queen's heart.

Now? From what Azriel could tell, she still had that same cold personality—though much more mellowed—but it was still there. Only now she was actively trying to fix the severed relationship with their parents. Azriel and Celestina were the only ones blessed to receive her warmth.

Cold to others, but warm to him.

Then there was Caleus...

Honestly, Azriel would rather stay away from that prince.

Funnily enough, people hated Azriel. Rumors painted him as some kind of playboy. But Caleus? Caleus was one. He didn't even bother hiding it.

Meanwhile, Azriel wasn't even a real playboy. But Caleus was an heir—recognized, brilliant, decorated. So no one cared.

Caleus was known to party, drink, and play with women. He had the typical young master mindset: abuse those beneath him, be sadistic toward the siblings beneath him for not being the heir.

...At least, that was what he showed everyone.

The Nebula Prince was, perhaps, the most calculating of all the heirs here. Maybe even, to Azriel, the most dangerous.

He was a grade 2 advanced now—but by choice.

Because he wanted to stay there.

All because of his [Unique Skill], called [Split Thought].

A skill that allowed him to divide his consciousness into multiple independent streams. They were all still him, all still Caleus, but each stream could think or focus on something different—a kind of ultra-multitasking.

And the number of streams depended on his mana core level.

If Caleus was level 1, he had 1 stream. The start of it all.

Level 2? Two streams.

And so on... and so on...

And so these were the four heirs.

Terrifying, each of them, in their own right.

Knowing all of this about them—and about others beyond the heirs—

Azriel...

was very curious to see how this dinner would go.

*****

"Saintess."

As Liliane was getting ready to head toward the dining room, hoping to arrive exactly on time, someone called out to her just as she stepped through her door. She turned her head curiously.

Standing there was a man with pink hair the color of cotton candy, and eyes to match.

He inclined his head slightly in greeting.

"Oh, Heavenly Knight Jegudiel. What brings you here?"

Jegudiel smiled.

"If it is not too late to ask, I wish to accompany you—and join you for the dinner you will have with the Count and the four heirs of Asia."

"You do?"

Jegudiel nodded.

"Hm."

Liliane looked at him, mulling it over.

"Well... you are someone praised for his deductive skills... so having you join me and be of help will be useful. Not to mention you are talented, young... and have... a pre...tty... f... ac... e."

"Sorry, Saintess, I couldn't catch the last part. Could you repeat that?"

Jegudiel looked innocently confused, not understanding what Liliane had mumbled under her breath at the end. She, however, kept a perfectly straight face.

"It is nothing you need to concern yourself with."

"Oh, all right."

Jegudiel gave a relieved smile.

'He is a Heavenly Knight belonging to the Church of Storms... and a grade 3 Master—the strongest human of the Ten Heavenly Churches inside this scenario with me.'

So he was definitely a help.

'The virtues of the God of Storms were... boldness, adaptability, seafaring law.'

She nodded once to herself as she recalled them.

"All right. You may join me."

Jegudiel's face brightened, and he thanked the Saintess.

Just like how, in Asia, the four great clans each had their own knights in their armies—Nebula Knights, Crimson Knights, Dusk Knights, Frost Knights—officially recognized by the four great kings, alongside ordinary soldiers like Crimson soldiers, Nebula soldiers, Dusk soldiers, and Frost soldiers...

It was the same in America for the Ten Heavenly Churches.

They had their own military—not one separate army for each church, but a single collective force under the Ten Heavenly Churches. It didn't matter which church someone chose to devote themselves to; they could belong to several. In the end, they were still believers of all Ten Gods.

Each church had its own particular virtues and practices, of course, but there were Heavenly Soldiers of the Ten Heavenly Churches—those who wished to fight in the name of the Ten Gods.

And then there were the Heavenly Knights, officially recognized by the Pope, just as the Frost, Nebula, Dusk, and Crimson Knights were recognized by their kings.

Jegudiel was definitely not an average believer or soldier.

He was a knight of God.

Having him at the Saintess's side during dinner would surely be a boon...

...Surely.

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