Date- 7 April 2321
Time- 04:45
Location- Southern Region, Southern Capital, Southern Royal Palace, Guest Palace
“How did you do it, how did you deceive the curse card? Why did it show that you were in sky blossom city when you never left the stone coffin?” Not Colleen, not Ann, or Lorenzo it was Aria who had questioned me.
Aria could not wrap her head around the idea that the boy somehow managed to escape the high-level array formation covering the palace ground and use teleportation not once but twice. First, when he teleported out of the palace, and now, when he teleported into the palace. Aria did not understand how the boy was doing it, so instead she jumped to the conclusion that the boy never left the palace grounds and used a trick to fake his location. As it was easier for her to believe the latter over the former.
ραпdα nᴏνa| сom
Explaining that a person interprets the reality they see based on what they can believe as what they understood and not as what it was.
“Believe what you want to,” I did not bother to correct Aria nor did I add to her misunderstanding because she would not believe the explanation I gave her unless it involved the secret to the pseudo-calamity soul gem.
Feeling my gaze on them, with exception of Ann, Colleen and Lorenzo did not shy away from it instead their eyes turned serious as Colleen asked, “Boy, how long have you been in there?”
Unlike Aria, the trio of Ann, Colleen, and Lorenzo believed that the boy had indeed used teleportation to move to the sky-blossom city and returned to the palace because they were tracking the movements of his grimoire. Which according to the Southern grimoire and grimoire network division was no small feat because the boy’s grimoire seemed to have a strong firewall protecting its information. All they managed to get was that the boy’s grimoire was used in sky blossom city sometime before and after he walked out of the stone coffin.
This was the reason why Ann, Colleen, and Lorenzo were not clear when the boy returned to the palace in his stone coffin.
“Your Highness, it doesn’t feel good to be eavesdropped on, does it?” I commented reminding Colleen that she was the first to eavesdrop on him, during his private call with Jill.
“Boy, assuming you have heard it all, what do you think? Was I wrong to forcefully bring you to the palace without your consent?” Instead of giving the boy a silly explanation as to why she bought him to the southern palace without his consent, Colleen decided to let the boy decide for himself if what she did was right or wrong.
“Nope, don’t use that trick on me. The question here is not whether what you did was right or wrong but why you did it?” Colleen wanted to use the phrase ‘the end justifies the means’ to defend her actions and avoid giving me an explanation for them. However, I did not plan to let her off that easily. Yes, I had chosen to endure her expectations of me but that did not mean that I would docilely do everything she asks of me.
“…” Listening to the boy rudely confront Colleen, Ann, and Lorenzo, Aria’s brows frowned. The rage she felt for the boy and his actions was unexplainable. She wanted to grab the boy by his hair and smash his head on the floor while asking him to atone for his sins. However, Aria controlled herself and endure the boy’s rude behavior as she had gathered from the conversation between Colleen, Ann, and Lorenzo that this boy was important for the future development of the Southern region.
“Fine, I did that because you asked me to?” Seeing that acting as if she did all for the boy’s good would not be enough to keep the boy from complaining about it she decided to be shameless.
“When exactly did I do that? I don’t remember asking you to put me in a cryo-sleep and take me to the southern capital,” I asked.
“Well, you didn’t exactly use those words but were you, not the one who said that you will prove that you are capable of delivering on what you promised if you had the appropriate tools? Well, the tools you needed were of sensitive nature, you should know that better than me, so I cannot bring them to you instead I chose to bring you to them. As it happens that the tools you ask for are being produced and assembled until then the Royal family is happy to have you as our guest,” Colleen explained in coded words such that she would not end up revealing a single hint of the top-secret information to Aria who was also in the room but did not have the clearance for it.
“…” listening to Colleen’s smartass argument I frowned as it was not what I was expecting her to say. What was I expecting her to say? I was expecting her to apologize for her actions. An apology, that was all I was asking of her. However, what I got was far from an apology but a smart-ass counter.
Yes, I did say that if I had the dungeon relocation apparatus I would prove to her that I could create conditions to summon a dungeon similar to silver beach dungeon, this by no means meant that I gave her permission to freeze me in an ice block and abduct me. I don’t care for her argument that due to the sensitive nature of the dungeon relocation apparatus, making it impossible for her to bring it to me so instead she chose to freeze me in an ice block and bring me to it. That doesn’t cut it.
