‘What kind of person was my mother?’
Victoria seemed perfect in everything, but she also had imperfections.
It's just curiosity about mother,
Victoria missed her mother, who had passed away a year after giving birth to her.
‘I can’t ask my father.’
Naturally, the person who can best answer that question is her father, Constantin von Bayern.
But Victoria could not satisfy her longing for her mother through her father.
Because I felt how deeply bruised and wounded my father was while wandering with him as a child.
In other words, just like Eugene Schneider, Victoria had chosen to suppress her curiosity so as not to touch her father's aching heart.
“Do I really resemble my mother so much?”
Then, unexpectedly, someone appeared who answered her questions.
“Sometimes it makes me cringe because you look so much alike, Saber Victoria.”
It was none other than her superior, Kaiser Antoine de Sel Obléan, the pinnacle of the Imperial Knights.
During the year or so that Victoria was an apprentice in the Imperial Knights, there was little interaction between the two.
We only met a few times for official greetings.
After Victoria was appointed as Saber, Antoine took full charge of her care.
So naturally, private conversations also began to take place.
And most of those private conversations were with Victoria's mother, Adrian von Bayern.
“Hmm... Looking at the remaining portraits, they seem to be filled with a warm and affectionate feeling, unlike me...”
Although her expressions were awkward due to her poker face, it was a truly meaningful and significant conversation for Victoria.
That's because the image of Adrian that Antoine conveyed was different from what she had imagined in her head.
The only trace of Adrian left in the Bavarian family was that of the benevolent mistress of an extremely powerful noble family.
"Of course, Adrian, who strived to be a good wife and mother after marrying your father, was also beautiful. But what I remember most is the young swordswoman Adrian, who trained with me, taught me the art of swordsmanship, and even aspired to become a Sword Master."
And only Antoine de Sel Oblain could convey to Victoria the image of Adrian with such a unique difference.
Now, the only image of Adrian von Bayern that remains in the world is that of the wife of Constantine von Bayern, the head crusader of the Holy Knights.
“I guess you were really close to your mother.”
Antoine's eyes and voice as he spoke about Adrian were truly affectionate and hazy.
Still, I guess that could be the case since he is a cousin and blood relative, but it was refreshing to see him in the image of Kaiser Antoine that I encountered after joining the Imperial Knights.
So Victoria reacted curiously.
"Didn't I tell you? Your mother was not only my sister but also my teacher. She was the greatest influence on my rise to become a sword master and the person I am today."
Blink...!
Then Antoine smiled deeply and said as if it were natural.
Even without the detailed explanation, it was clear how much he cherished Victoria's mother, Marianne.
[Antoine seeks to resurrect your mother, Eridrian. To that end, he corrupted and killed Ulysses, entered the Demon God's eclipse zone, awakened the Demon God's Eye, and now seeks to bring the Demon God, who has received the Demon God's grace, to the present world.]
In Victoria's eyes, her smile and heart seemed to possess a certain purity and affection.
However, Laonzena revealed that Antoine's feelings for Adrian were as insane as his own twisted obsession with Ulysses.
“What kind of nonsense is that? Archduke Antoine wants to resurrect our mother!”
The idea that Antoine opened the Eye of the Demon God and attempted to summon the Demon King through it, which had received the Demon God's grace, would have been absurd to Victoria.
But the ultimate goal is to revive his mother Adrian, who left him 20 years ago.
Victoria shouted, her expression more uncontrolled than ever.
[You might not believe it, but I heard it directly from Antoine. One day, when it seemed I was going down the same path as him, he told me about it. At the time, I thought my intentions had paid off, but they didn't. Now, I'm talking to you like this.]
Victoria's demeanor was such that she seemed ready to point a knife at his neck at any moment.
Laonzena didn't care at all.
[Now that I think about it, he knew this would eventually happen. He wanted me to relay what he'd heard to you. Antoine, that guy was using me as a pawn until the very end.]
Antoine de Sel Oblain, the meticulous and meticulous
Laonjena feels shuddering at his meticulousness at this very moment.
As Antoine intended, Laonzena's role was to eventually tell Victoria the truth about what Antoine had done.
I've been playing a game of wits with Antoine, but this is Laonzena.
The reality was that it was unilaterally swayed.
"I vaguely assumed it was the result of Kaiser's thorough preparations as a close friend of Sword Saint Ulysses. But since he was the main character in the situation and we had constant exchanges, was it because of this that he provided me with such a detailed quest roadmap...?"
The puzzle quickly came together in Victoria's head.
Antoine had been telling Victoria to turn off her interest in the Sophists and focus on something more career-focused.
Then, the situation became so urgent that it was difficult for Victoria to disobey Antoine's orders.
Antoine, almost as if he had been waiting for this, created a sophist quest that Victoria was sure to succeed on and entrusted it to her.
It was a process that was so perfectly aligned, but Victoria, who had no particular reason to be suspicious, dismissed it as a result of Antoine's friendship with Ulysses, as she herself had explained to her colleagues.
However, after experiencing Drake in Enclema and hearing Laonzena's words, my perspective on interpretation changed rapidly.
[He didn't even specify his motive for resurrecting Adrian. But I couldn't see it positively. The method was too messy. He had created Ulysses in order to break through the barrier between Sword Seeker and Sword Master and resonate with the Eye of the Demon God.]
Laonzena, now a wreck, mercilessly revealed the fatal facts she knew. Antoine's entire life's direction was tied to his eccentric behavior, including secretly wandering the Demon Realm, diligently practicing martial arts, and studying and encountering various demon poisons.
That is, the evolution into the Sword Master, the core of the core, and the betrayal of Ulysses Schneider.
[And at this point, Victoria, aren't you also sensing something fishy? The twin prosecutors who came with you? You and your colleagues have been trapped here for quite some time, yet you haven't reacted at all.]
Raonzena, who was revealing shocking facts, mentioned the Sword Expert Twins who had split from Victoria and her group and headed in the opposite direction.
[These guys are Antoine's personal bodyguards, trained long ago. They've been with me ever since. Do you understand what I mean? The twins, on Antoine's orders, led you, Victoria, to be isolated here.]
She presented evidence to lend further credence to her words.
When entering the Sophist Secret Headquarters and finding Laonzena, the twin prosecutors naturally chose their paths when a fork in the road appeared.
They were the people Antoine had put in place to manipulate the Victoria Group to his will.
“What on earth is Grand Duke Antoine doing out there right now, Laonzena?”
Victoria was so confused that her poker face collapsed.
Before she knew it, the puzzle was falling into place in her head, and just as Raonzena had said, the twin prosecutors' silence finally gave her confidence.
So Victoria's thoughts are the reason why Antoine isolated himself here,
And then it flowed to what he was going to do after isolating himself.
[He opened the Eye of the Demon God, laying the foundation for the gradual increase of magic energy in Gaia over a long period of time. And he actually provided the conditions for the Demon King's entanglement.]
Laonzena answered Victoria's question right away.
[However, since the end of the ancient era, the human race had also been granted a device by the goddess to prevent the advent of the Demon King. This is a fact known only to a very small number of people, even within the Church of the Goddess of Light.]
In the end, Antoine's actions are all aimed at bringing down the Demon King who has received the grace of the Demon God.
[It is the existence of one who has inherited the goddess's seal. And as the eldest son of the Elysium royal family, its lineage is destined to continue.]
His sword was aimed at the current Emperor Louis XV.
“How can it be that the royal family and my father are in such a tense situation...”
Charlotte's face turned pale.
This is because he heard a letter from his beloved younger brother, Eugene Schneider, stating that the royal family felt threatened by Antoine.
"My mother said it wasn't entirely absurd, but don't worry too much, Sister. Still, it's Archduke Antoine. There must be a reason why he said such things."
Eugene went to where Charlotte was working and spoke to her, and the two then headed back to Marianne's residence.
Because Marianne asked Eugene to bring Charlotte with him.
So Eugene was trying his best to reassure Charlotte.
"Yes, Eugene. But in any case, we need to take action of our own. There's no way to know how the royal family will respond."
Charlotte, who finally began to regain her composure when her beloved younger brother showed his dignified demeanor, nodded slowly.
If Vivian's information is credible at this point, Obliga must take practical action beyond simply knowing the reason.
“I guess we have to return to Pangea, right, Sister?”
If the Imperial Family launches a surprise preemptive strike, they'll likely target the Grand Duke's homeland of Pangea. In other words, the most vulnerable player is undoubtedly Jeanne of Pangea.
However, Marianne's response to calling Eugene and Charlotte at the same time was quite mysterious.
"First, I've sent an urgent letter to Jeanne and Elizabeth separately. Afterwards, we'll meet midway between Pangea and Bahad, and everyone will go into hiding here on Bahad."
Common sense dictated that Heitenberg, where Antoine's Imperial Knights were based, would be safe, but Marianne decided to move to Bahad.