Maria looked at me.

And the moment our eyes met, I knew something heavy was about to be said.

Her expression wasn't dramatic or exaggerated.

It was quiet sadness, the kind that sat deep behind her eyes.

The kind that didn't need tears to be understood.

Her lips parted slightly as if she hesitated, then she finally spoke.

"My sister's real name isn't Leviathan," she said softly.

"It's Rebecca. And she wasn't always this evil."

Her voice was steady, but I could hear the weight behind it.

It wasn't anger. It wasn't hatred. It was regret mixed with grief.

As if she was mourning someone who still walked this world.

But...no longer existed in the way she remembered.

"She used to laugh," Maria continued, her eyes lowering for a moment.

"She used to argue with me over small things.

like who would take the window seat during lessons.

Or who would finish their training first. She had dreams once. Simple dreams."

She lifted her gaze again, and the sadness deepened.

"But our grandmother changed her," Maria said. "She brainwashed her."

The word hung heavy in the air.

"From the time we were children," Maria explained.

"Kur grandmother drilled one thing into Rebecca's mind.

That her existence was for the kingdom.

That her thoughts, her feelings, her choices didn't matter.

Unless they benefited the throne.

Every lesson, every punishment, every praise was shaped around that idea."

Maria's hands clenched slightly as she spoke.

"Rebecca didn't grow up learning love," she said.

"She grew up learning duty. Obedience. Sacrifice.

She was praised when she followed orders without question.

And punished when she showed hesitation.

Slowly, piece by piece, her own will was carved away."

She took a breath before continuing.

"And one day," Maria said quietly.

"Our grandmother ordered her to use a secret method on me.

A method meant to transform me into a jewel."

The words hit harder than I expected.

Maria nodded faintly, as if acknowledging my silence.

"That method," she continued, "was extremely complicated.

More complicated than any technique recorded in our history.

And that was what made it strange."

She straightened slightly, her voice becoming clearer as she began to explain.

"Our history spans millions of years," Maria said.

"We record everything. Wars, alliances, spells, rituals, failures.

Even techniques that ended civilizations.

Nothing that powerful ever disappears from our records."

She looked at me with a faint frown.

"But this method wasn't there," she said.

"No mention. No reference. No forgotten footnote.

It was as if it never existed at all. That alone should have been impossible."

She paused, then added, "Yet our grandmother knew it."

Maria continued,

"She told us she obtained it from a merchant.

A shady one. In a place called Duskport."

The name carried a strange weight.

"Duskport," Maria said, her tone shifting.

"Is a city on the edge of the Dark Continent."

As she described it, her voice painted a picture slowly and carefully.

"The Dark Continent is a place where the sun feels weaker," she said.

"The land is harsh, the air heavy.

Most kingdoms refuse to acknowledge what happens there....

Because it reflects the worst parts of the world."

She continued seamlessly.

"Duskport sits right at its edge," Maria said.

"A port city where ships come and go without questions being asked.

It's a place built on shadows."

She described the city in detail.

"The streets are crowded and narrow," she said.

"The buildings lean close together like they're whispering secrets.

The air smells of iron, smoke, and desperation.

Deals are made in dark corners, and nothing there is free."

Her voice lowered.

"Slave auctions happen openly," Maria said.

"Men, women, children, creatures… all lined up and priced.

Every kind of sin exists there. Greed, cruelty, betrayal.

If someone wants something forbidden, Duskport will provide it."

She looked away briefly before continuing.

"That merchant stood out even among them," she said.

"He wore round black glasses that hid his eyes completely.

His clothes were neat, clean, untouched by the filth around him."

Maria frowned slightly.

"He called himself the Doctor," she said.

"He spoke calmly, politely. Like he was selling medicine instead of ruin."

As she finished that description, something twisted inside my chest.

I felt my heart grow uneasy.

A strange pressure formed behind my ribs, slow and uncomfortable.

My breathing felt shallow without me realizing when it changed.

My hands felt colder, my fingers stiff.

As if my body was reacting before my mind fully caught up.

A thought surfaced, heavy and unwanted.

Could it be the same technique that Tiamat used?

The idea sent a chill through me.

My stomach tightened.

And my shoulders tensed like I was bracing for something unseen.

I need to ask her when I get back, I thought.

Before the feeling could deepen further.

My eyes snapped back to Maria as she continued speaking.

"So," Maria said, her voice trembling slightly now.

"On our eighteenth birthday.

And while still under our grandmother's control, Rebecca finally broke."

She swallowed.

"She lost her mind," Maria said.

"She fully embraced the 'Leviathan' personality."

Maria's jaw tightened.

"That night," she continued, "she attacked me."

She described it vividly.

"Rebecca burst into my sleeping room," Maria said.

"She didn't knock. She didn't hesitate.

The door shook under her power as she laughed."

Maria closed her eyes briefly.

"She bragged," she said.

"She said she had finally been chosen.

That she was no longer bound by weakness.

And That she finally was superior."

The sound of destruction echoed in her memory.

"She struck the door again and again," Maria said.

"Cracks spread through the walls.

The air felt heavy, crushing, like the room itself was caving in."

Maria opened her eyes.

"I knew I was surrounded," she said. "There was nowhere to run."

Her voice steadied.

"So I did the only thing I could," Maria said.

"I reverse engineered the entire technique in real time."

I stared at her.

"I took it apart in my mind," she continued.

"Every layer. Every sequence. And I changed it."

Her eyes sharpened.

"I turned it into a teleportation method."

She exhaled slowly.

"But," Maria added, "I forgot to calculate one thing."

Her lips curved into a faint, sad smile.

"And instead of escaping… I teleported myself inside it."

She raised her hand slightly.

"But fear not," she said.

"Unlike the original method.

Which traps and consumes the soul.

My version only trapped my physical body.

And My soul remained free."

She looked at me.

"It consumes energy," Maria said. "Like earlier, when I pulled you here."

I sat there, stunned.

I didn't know what to say.

Should I comment on the fact that she she just....did an insane feat.

Reverse engineering a technique that hadn't appeared since creation itself?

Or the fact that after everything, she still didn't hate her sister?

Before I could decide, Maria looked at me again.

"So, Ragnar Karl," she said quietly, "would you help me?"

Her eyes pleaded, filled with helplessness. Not desperation.

Just someone asking because they finally had no other choice.

I smiled.

Slowly, I reached into my bag and took out a jewel.

Her eyes widened instantly.

She gasped. "How is that with you?!"

I smiled quietly and thought internally.

Looks like it worked.

It was a trick using the system inventory.

Something that seemed to overwrite this plane's existence.

I handed her the jewel.

The moment she touched it, her face lit up with a shining smile.

"Thank you," she said softly.

Light flowed around her body. Her form shimmered gently.

Her posture changed. She matured before my eyes.

Finally becoming twenty-five years old.

Her beauty bloomed like a flower finally reaching sunlight.

Her hair turned golden, glowing softly around her shoulders.

She walked toward me, leaned in.

And then kissed my cheek, and whispered.

"I give you my heart now."

The world pulled us out.

Suddenly, we were back in Lucy's living room.

All the girls stared at us.

Maria rested on my lap.

Shock froze the room.

A drop-dead beauty sat calmly on Ragnar Karl's lap.

Then tension snapped.

Seeing her face, Rebecca's twin, they instantly readied their weapons.

Blades gleamed. Magic stirred. Their bodies tensed, eyes sharp and ready.

I raised my hands to explain.

But Maria stood up and looked at them.

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