[Vol. 9] Chapter 13: This Is Called One Thing Overcomes Another
When Violet finally realized something was wrong and started blaming them, the two ancestors of the Human United Kingdom looked at each other and only smiled knowingly. Edith shook her head, sat back down, lazily swinging her smooth, fair legs under the golden robe, and spoke in a slightly innocent tone.
“Miss Violet, you’re really blaming me unfairly. It’s true that I’ve kept in touch with Young and learned many secrets from him, even knowing more or less what he’s been doing. But whether it’s this Sky Prison or the tree seed, I only recently found out that a god’s shadow was hiding behind these things.”
The golden-robed girl pointed her chin toward the magician and rolled her eyes.
“If I were really a servant of the God of Paradox, why would I have revealed information about the council in the first place? He is him, I am me. You can’t just assume everything he does includes me. As for secretly messing around inside the capital’s Sky Prison, I was just about to hold him accountable for that.”
“Ahahaha…”
Hearing Edith suddenly accuse him, Young Melchior awkwardly wiped the sweat from his forehead, looking unusually embarrassed.
It seemed that this so-called Immortal Magician, who normally feared nothing, not even gods, and could talk and laugh with a calm face in any situation, somehow couldn’t act so freely in front of this golden-robed girl. Truly, one thing always restrains another.
“This… this was also for your safety, Edith. Can’t you at least save me some face in front of our guests…”
Seeing the way the two of them went back and forth, Violet couldn’t help but secretly find it amusing.
In fact, she didn’t really mind whether Edith had hidden things before. To be fair, given their positions and identities back then, keeping some secrets was only natural. Violet herself would never reveal all her secrets right away either, so how could she expect others to do what she couldn’t?
Although the priestess was familiar with Lilya and even trusted her deeply as a close friend, in Edith’s eyes Violet was just an outsider of unknown origin. Lilya Melchior might have been one of the twenty-something kings of the Human United Kingdom, and while her status seemed high, to Edith it wasn’t anything too special. There was no reason for her to suddenly change her attitude because of that.
The priestess had helped the kingdom end its civil war and restore order, which was a good connection for Edith. That allowed them to get along and cooperate. But if Edith had immediately revealed all her secrets from the start, Violet would actually be more suspicious, thinking Edith had some strange ulterior motive.
So as long as Edith wasn’t deliberately tricking her with hidden knowledge or plotting against her, Violet didn’t think it was a big deal even if Edith really was, like Young, a hidden council member serving the God of Paradox.
Violet believed in judging people by what they did, not what they thought. She had dealt with the God of Paradox many times, even fought against Him directly. But compared to some truly hateful beings, Violet didn’t hold too much prejudice against this mysterious god who was neither entirely good nor entirely evil. At the very least, she couldn’t say she disliked Him. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have accepted His invitation to come meet Him in person.
But seeing the scene before her, the priestess suddenly thought of another question.
“By the way, what exactly is your relationship? You both share the Melchior surname, but as far as I know, the Human United Kingdom’s ancestors didn’t really have blood ties. They were just an adventurer team who once led people to open up land. Later, through intermarriage between members, their descendants formed a clan, which became the Melchior family, right?”
Seeing someone kindly change the topic for him, the magician looked as if he had been pardoned. He coughed lightly in embarrassment, nodding his head again and again.
“Cough… Miss Violet really does know a lot about our Kingdom’s lineage. You are correct, the royal family’s origin is indeed like that. When we first established this surname and all changed it together, it was to show our determination to unite and move forward.”
“Actually, Edith and I did not originally have the surname Melchior. Our family name was Trollope. Among all the first-generation Melchiors, only the two of us came from the same family. That family still has descendants in the kingdom today, especially—ow!”
Before he could finish, Miss Edith kicked the magician under the table, cutting him off with an annoyed look.
“Why are you rambling so much? She just asked about our relationship, not for a full family history. Don’t you know how to… uh, what was it… oh right, keep it short?”
With that, the golden-robed girl ignored the magician’s pitiful but silent face and turned toward the priestess, who was holding back laughter.
“There’s nothing special about it. Young and I are real siblings, born of the same father and mother. You can probably tell just by looking. Sorry for the little scene.”
“You two really have a good relationship~”
The priestess nodded lightly.
Yes, from one era to another, walking side by side, supporting each other and quietly guarding the kingdom for more than eight hundred years. Even strangers could become life-and-death companions after so long, let alone siblings bound by blood.
Both Young and Edith, like Lilya, had sky-blue hair and eyes. It seemed that the current Melchior bloodline mainly came from their family.
Secrets of the royal family like this felt endless, so Violet wisely cut off the small talk at the right moment and shifted to the main topic.
“Young, earlier you said the God of Paradox wanted to meet me here. Now that we’re here, shouldn’t He show Himself?”
Asked about business, the Immortal Magician only smiled and shook his head.
“Miss Violet, don’t be impatient. Even I don’t know the exact reason why He wants to meet you in private. But it’s clear He doesn’t want too many beings to know about it. So a special method is needed.”
“Special method?”
The girl raised her eyebrows in doubt.
“That sounds like it could be misunderstood… Is this method going to be troublesome?”
“Hehe, don’t worry. For some people it may be complicated, but for someone like you, it’s just a small effort.”
Saying this, Young quickly took out a simple gray ring, made of some unknown material, from his storage item and placed it lightly on the table.
Then, he suddenly changed the topic to something that seemed unrelated.
“Miss Violet, do you know why the three underground levels of the Sky Prison actually exist?”
Hearing the meaning behind Young’s words, the priestess glanced at Edith, whose face had suddenly grown complicated. She already understood in her heart.
“Because of her?”
“Exactly.”