[Medea's World]

Standing now alone in her garden, Medea was sipping on one of her best tea as she gazed absent-mindedly at the horizon. She was currently wearing her usual black robe that tightly hugged her body.

"Heh~! Already missing your lover?"

"*Pfft* *Cough* *Cough* What are you talking ab-about!? I am just thinking!"

Freya gave a simple smile that showed that she wouldn't argue. Even though she didn't believe it.

"So, how was it?"

Medea blushed before lowering her head. "It was–it was beautiful."

"Is that so?"

Freya eyed the current Medea enviously. Even though she had few experiences, in reality, she had never really enjoyed sex. For her, it was just a way to gather data to alleviate the curse.

Sadly, she had given up hope and her last relationship was more than two hundred years ago.

That was until Sol showed up.

He was a new hope for their entire race. No, perhaps for the entire human race itself.

Humans could only use mana once they reached 15 years old. Even then, they could only use magic if they had the capacity and the relationships to form a contract.

This made it so that even though there were few individuals really incredible, humans as a whole were the weakest races.

Witches on the other hand could use magic. Even though they couldn't use it in the same way as magical beings, they didn't need a contract either.

So what would happen if a normal human and witch had a child?

Freya didn't know. After all, witches were unable to give birth.

Still,

'The children of a witch should also be able to use magic from birth.'

If her theory was right, in the best case, not only could the child be able to use magic from birth, but they would also even be able to contract.

It was, without a doubt, an ideal. Something unthinkable.

But,

'Sol could become the creator of a new type of humans.'

Just imagining it brought her a great feeling of anticipation.

She wished to see it. She wished to observe it. She wished to be at the first stand.

She wasn't like Medea or Kali. She didn't become a witch because of despair or persecution.

All she wanted was to obtain knowledge.

She wanted to know more.

".. Ya...Eya."

She wanted to know so much more.

"Freya!!"

"Ah," She jumped a little bit when she heard her name being screamed like that. "Sorry, I was lost in thought."

She calmed herself down before taking out a pen and a book note.

"So, I respected your opinion and didn't spy on your first time. Now, please describe to me everything that happened."

Medea covered her face in shame.

"Just why do you always do that!?"

Medea couldn't understand. One of Freya's greatest hobbies was recording the sexual experience of every witch she knew and writing them into books before publishing them. Under the pseudonym of <Pink Mist>.

The worst was that from what she knew, Freya was also very popular. Even during her date with Sol, she saw some of the books she wrote on display.

"Hey, Romance is very lucrative you know? What's more, my adult series, <<Master's orders>>, sell extremely well. Who knew so many women were interested in soft BDSM."

The next few minutes were the most embarrassing of Medea’s life.

[Tower of Babel]

Sol was currently seated in the office of Lilith and was observing her while she scribbled on some documents.

Even though he stayed for a total of 20 hours in Medea’s world, only two hours passed outside. As such he still had some time before his meeting with the Duke Traver.

The atmosphere between the two was currently rather awkward. Even though Sol had visited her, she hadn't lifted her head even once and acted as if he didn't exist.

But Sol didn't mind. He didn't require some sort of discussion. In fact, he was pretty content about the silence since it allowed him to gather his thoughts and his next plan of action.

'Too many things are happening at the same time. I need to be careful and smart.'

The currents in the capital were deep and muddy. Traitors abounded and a purge was necessary.

Perhaps in the future, he would be remembered in the same vein as his ancestor, bloodthirsty Queen.

He lowered his head and looked at his dainty white hands that had never mortally hurt another human.

"What are you thinking about?"

Without raising his head, Sol murmured

"I simply wonder what it feels like to kill someone."

The sound of the pen stopped. It took him a while to understand that he had just expressed his thoughts out loud, and once he did, he couldn't help but wonder why all his conversations with Lilith always had to contain some sweetness and some darkness.

"... What are you worried about?"

Sol debated for a short while before shaking his head, "Forget it."

It wasn't that he didn't want to discuss with Lilith. Her advice would without a doubt be very useful. It was just that he was tired of how each time they met they always ended up talking about depressing matters.

Lilith opened her mouth as if she wanted to say something, before finally closing it and simply sighing.

She had some mixed feelings at the moment. On one side, Sol not asking her for advice meant that he was slowly becoming more independent from her as she wished–But at the same time, she felt a certain sadness at him doing so.

Deciding to change the subject, she asked,

"So, how was your meeting with Tyr?"

Sol remarked what she was doing but did not mention it as it suited his intentions.

"Duke Tyr was… Should I say that he was stubborn?"

"Stubborn?"

"Indeed. Even though he did not express it, I could feel that despite the current position of their house, if he had found me wanting, he would have kept the neutrality of his house."

Lilith gave a cold smile, "I am glad you were able to see that."

She stopped there and didn't continue. One of the people she despised the most wasn't the Gorfard for their actions but rather the Highland for their inactions.

At the end of the day, the Gorfard were ambitious people who strived for power. There was nothing she expected from them.

But, when the royal family was at its lowest, the so-called Shield and spear of the kingdom did nothing but stand and watch while acting like saints as they screamed their neutrality.

The only reason she didn't really hate them was because of how useful they were and the fact that they indeed never hesitated to sacrifice themselves for the kingdom.

"What do you think of this stubbornness?"

She was really curious. Back then, Mars simply laughed and said that he loved such stubborn people because they were very loyal once they sided with you.

Sol, hearing this question, stayed quiet before smiling,

"I find it very admirable but also very pitiful. But more than anything, I find it very frightening."

"...Oh?" This piqued her interest as she motioned him to continue.

Sol, leaned in his chair, "I find it very admirable because they are the representative of perfect knights. Loyal to a fault. Unafraid of death, willing to make any sacrifice… Yeah, very admirable. Very admirable cannon fodder I mean. That's why they are stupid. That's why they are pitiful."

For Sol, the Highland family was without a doubt à family worthy of respect. But they were also a very pitiful family.

The Highland duchy was neighbors to the Milaris and shared borders not only with Wratharis but also with Envilya. As if it wasn't enough, the members of the family were always conscripted to the army and always fought on the front line.

Sol, while studying the situation of the Highland family, always wondered about something very weird.

Over the centuries, many ducal families came and went.

Some were even more powerful than Highland. But they still vanished in the river of history.

What's more, the Highland family always followed a trend of rising then waning.

So, why did the Highland never fall?

What made them stand for so many years?

It wasn't because they were strong.

It wasn't because they had enough influence.

There was a very simple and very laughable reason.

They were the <<Sword and the shield>>

Or more crudely, they were the <<The hunting dogs and the Canon fodder>> of the kingdom.

The only reason they still exist until now is that they were simply too useful to discard.

Every time, they would be given power, and when they reached a certain level they would be brought down.

They were just tools. A tool to be used when needed and put aside to gather rust when useless. But never discarded.

The worst?

They understood that very well. There was simply no way an old fox like the Duke Tyr would not understand this.

Despite this, they were still loyal. It was,

"It's very frightening."

Sol could understand one individual holding such loyalty. He had many people who were very loyal to him.

But what after one generation? Two? Three?

No matter how you looked at it, something was weird. Something wasn't adding up.

Lilith was looking at Sol with renewed eyes. She always knew that he was rather smart. But she didn't think that he could grasp this situation so fast.

Once again, she was reminded that Sol wasn't a child anymore. At the same time, the image of her brother that always overlapped with that of Sol seemed to further separate.

She didn't know if it was a good thing or not.

"Your thought process is very admirable. There's a deep secret that ties the Highland family to the royal family. Sadly, only the king can know the truth."

For once she wasn't holding a secret. She really didn't know why. Only the king, after entering the mausoleum of the departed kings could be privy to some important secrets of the kingdom.

This was also one of the reasons she didn't hold absolute control over the crown's shadow. Nor could she wield the royal sword.

At the end of the day, no matter how much authority she was given, she wasn't the true queen of Lustburg.

Sol on the other hand could only sigh at how many secrets he still had to discover.

"I am sorry." She grimaced a little at his disappointed expression.

"Why are you suddenly apologizing?"

"If my brother was still alive, I am sure he would have explained all those secrets to you." She gave a bitter smile at that.

Sol was surprised for a short while before chuckling.

"I do not care."

"What?"

"You always talk about how amazing my father was and how everything would be different if he was still alive. But the reality is there. He is dead.

"From the tale I heard, he was without a doubt someone incredible. Perhaps I would have really been happier if he was alive. Perhaps my childhood would have been more interesting. But once again, he is dead.

"The one who raised me wasn't him but you. The one who cared for me wasn't him but you. The one I see as my family isn't him but–you."

Sol did not doubt that his life would have been very different in other circumstances. But,

"All those IF, are useless for a simple reason… He is dead."

Lilith stayed silent. Her heart, mourning once again.

She knew he was dead. She knew that she would never see him again. She didn't need anyone to say that to her.

She wanted to lash out. To scream. To wail. But at the end, closing her eyes, she spoke feebly.

"It's time for you to meet the Traver family."

He could hear the silent dismissing in her voice.

Seeing her like that, Sol, for the first time, understood something.

In the eyes of the world, Lilith Luxuria was strong.

At a young age, during which most people still had the innocence of their youth, she stepped on the battlefield to prove her worth.

Later, as a single mother, she not only had to support the sadness of losing all her family, she also had to raise her daughter as well as her nephew and take control of a kingdom that did not want her.

The weight of responsibility on her back was so heavy that anyone in her place would have been crushed without any hope.

But she didn't bow down to adversity.

Even though she should have been sadder than anyone.

Even though she had no one to rely on.

She still walked steadfastly with her back straight, never bowing down.

But Sol now understood.

Lilith's mind was strong, but her heart was weak.

Very weak.

And was only growing weaker as time passed.

In his eyes, she went from a large mountain to a curled up and crying, little girl.

He began to think about every moment they passed together and gradually an idea formed in his head.

It wasn't perfect. It was mostly a gut feeling. But, there was no harm in trying.

'I will wait for a little. If I began now, I wouldn't seem sincere.'

He couldn't risk failure because of too much hurry.

Standing up, he gave her one last look and walked away.

No matter what, he would save her.

Though, just to avoid any oversight, he ordered the maids to stand in front of the door and used the code Medea gave him to ask her to observe Lilith.

'Well, I guess now it's time to see the Traver. I really wonder how it will go.'

No matter what, he was sure that it wouldn't be easy.

After all, the Traver family weren't warriors like the Highland. Why would they accept so easily?