[Tower of Babel]

“Yahallo! My cute Lilin, you have grown so much since the last time I saw you. How have you been!? What about you, Nuwa?”

In the hanging garden, a rather humorous scene was happening.

Nuwa and Lilin could be seen seated with a rather strange expression while a hyper-excited young girl was greeting them.

For Lilin who was used to her mother's sternness, it was a weird feeling to see someone like Theresa. She really wondered how someone like her and someone like her mother could be friends.

Since she was born while Mars and blaze were still alive, she had some memories of them. Even though said memories were really blurry.

Nuwa meanwhile still kept her usual expressionless face, but if anyone paid attention, they would remark that her lips slightly curled up.

After all, while she was rather cynical, she understood that she was really lucky to have fallen in hands of someone like Theresa. Her future could have been far more different.

Of course, in a way, Theresa could be said to have kidnapped her. But since Theresa had never hidden the truth from her and always treated her well, it was hard to be angry.

Theresa on the other hand was focused on Lilin, as she thought, ‘They really do look like each other. Too much like each other.’

Lilith’s marriage and subsequent pregnancy was something Theresa never understood, for it was simply too fishy.

Most people might not know it, but all the members of their old team aside from Mars knew that she had an extreme dislike toward members of the opposite sex. A sort of androphobia, only without the fear. This was most likely one of the reasons why, aside from Sol, there were no men allowed in the upper part of the tower.

The reason for such a dislike was unknown, at least to Theresa, but she knew that it was to level that aside from Mars and now Sol, or during combat, she never let any men so much as touch her. Even her sword style was devised in such a way that she could avoid direct contact as much as possible.

How could such a woman accept marrying, less so have a sexual relationship with a man she didn’t even like? What’s more, it wasn’t as if Lilith was a defenseless woman back then.

She might not have her current fame and power, but she was still someone feared on the battlefield.

If you added Lilith’s networks with people such as her, one of the richest women in the world, the holy daughter of Industria, the holy daughter of Castitas, a dragon, one of the four directions, the princess of Envilya, suffice to say that absolutely no one should have been able to force her to marry if she didn’t want to.

Despite this, not only did she marry, but she was suddenly pregnant and her husband died soon after her pregnancy was announced.

All her life, Theresa had to swim in a sea of plots and deadly strategies where even one mistake would mean death, and she knew to sniff a big plot when she saw one.

The only reason she never investigated too much was that this was Lilith's right to keep her secret.

‘As for her daughter.’

She walked closer to Lilin and tiptoed to touch the face of the surprised girl.

She hadn’t been able to remark it because Lilin was too young back then, but as of now, the more she looked at her, the more she felt like that, aside from some minor difference, she was seeing a mirror of a younger Lilith.

“Let me guess. You also love Sol, right?”

Lilin was a little startled at the sudden accurate question. She wasn’t able to voice her answer though because,

“Stop bothering my daughter.”

Lilith's voice sounded from afar as she entered the garden, making Theresa stop her probing.

Once Lilith reached them, she gave an indifferent glance to Nuwa, causing her to stiffen up.

Under her gaze, Nuwa felt as if she was being stared at by a predator about to swallow her up.

“Hah! No bullying.”

Theresa punched Lilith on her hips, though the only reason she was able to do so was that she was so weak Lilith didn’t even bother dodging.

Still, it did stop her from continuing. She held no love towards the chimera, and could even be said to hate them.

If she didn’t know that this girl could perhaps become Sol’s partner, and was in a way the surrogate daughter of Theresa, she would have already cut her.

Taking Theresa by the scruff, she put her away and boldly sat down.

Theresa, who had been thrown like a ragdoll did a somersault and landed quite gracefully. After all, even though she was weak, she wasn’t helpless either.

Trotting back, she sat next to Lilith and hummed without any intention to begin the conversation.

Lilith, seeing her silence could only release a sigh, and ask, “So, did you complete it?”

“Ah! I thought you never ask.”

Laughing out loud, Theresa fished out a golden silver pearl and caressed it with a tender gesture.

Lilith’s expression, on the other hand, became solemn as she asked with a trembling voice. “Did you succeed…?”

“Indeed. I finally completed it.”

Lilith's hand unconsciously reached toward the pearl before she stopped and made it back down. Calming her wildly beating heart, she asked, “How is it compared to the holy sword?”

Theresa made an expression of disgust, “That shit is anything but holy.” Then her expression became a little thoughtful, “As is it now, my creation is still a little weaker, but... This won’t last!”

Saying so, she immediately began to show a fervent expression, “Once Sol fuse with it, we will witness...The birth of the 8th holy weapon! Hahaha! My name will surely go in history!”

Lilith began to shiver, she had no reason to doubt Theresa’s words, the dwarf wasn’t someone who likes to brag. This meant that once Sol obtained this weapon. Then, she would really have nothing to worry about.

Meanwhile, Nuwa and Lilin, who were seemingly forgotten, had an expression full of suspicion.

They did not understand what they meant exactly, but they could understand that this shining pearl in Theresa was something important and should really be helpful to Sol.

[Gorfard’s Mansion; private room]

While Lilith and Theresa discussed in the hanging garden, Sol, who was about to drink the liquor suddenly stopped,

“Is something the matter?”

Ares, who was initially still bathing in the aftertaste, asked with a confused expression.

After all, they had just decided to drink to their friendship.

Sol on the other hand didn't pay attention to Ares as he looked at the glass in his hand with an extremely heavy expression.

Just as he was about to drink, he suddenly began to hesitate, after all, just because Ares could drink it didn't mean it wasn't poisoned.

What's more, something was screaming at him, an instinct deep down was telling him, that he absolutely couldn't drink this liquor, that something really bad would happen if he did.

But Ares was obviously fine.

The world seemed to slow down around him as thousands of thoughts swirled in his mind.

'There are three possibilities. One, he already took an antidote. Two, the poison isn't fast-acting and he can take the antidote later. Three, the poison is only for targets fulfilling a specific condition.'

Of course, it was also possible that he was worrying for nothing. Perhaps it wasn't really his intention to talk but just his delusion.

But… What if he was right?

'Then, is he the one behind it? Or does he not know?'

Sol's eyes became cold for a split of second before calming down, as he twirled his glass,

"Your highness?"

This time, Ares really began to frown.

"Who does this bottle belong to?"

Ares tilted his head at the sudden question, "What's the matter?"

"Hahha~Nothing. I was just lost in thoughts. So, who is the original owner of this liquor?"

If after all this, Ares didn't begin to discern that something was seriously wrong, then he would have wasted all those years of training.

His eyes widened a little before he began to break out in cold sweats.

Still, he answered the question without hesitation, "Your highness shouldn't worry. This belongs to my grand uncle. It’s a very important memento that he used on important occasions, such as the birth of my cousin.”

If Sol still had any naive notion that Gerald wasn’t really a traitor, buried deep in his heart, then all of them were dispelled at this moment.

Weirdly though, he felt nothing but cold mockery,

‘He used one of those bottles for the birth of his granddaughter and now he used another one to facilitate saving her. What a dedicated grandfather.’

“I see, Gerald is really someone thoughtful.”

They said that there were five stages to grief. Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, and finally Acceptance. Since the first mention of Gerald's possible betrayal to today, he had already gone through all the four steps, and now with this fact in front of him, he finally accepted the cold hard truth.

Sol of course couldn’t analyze his current mental state as he was wondering what the effects of the poison were.

He doubted that it was something deadly. After all, they needed to retrieve his core, and killing him here wouldn't work.

'So, something to weaken me? No matter, the most important thing right now is…'

He focused on Ares.

'... To find if this guy was in the know.'

"Hey, Ar.. "

Forgetting his polite speech, Sol was about to address him when…

"Good evening, your highness."

He was suddenly interrupted when a man entered the room.

Turning toward the newcomer, Sol who was currently mildly irate, asked bluntly,

"Who are you?"

The young man seemed surprised before an expression of rage flickered in his eyes then vanished, replaced by a smile, "Seems like your highness didn't do his homework before visiting. My name is Leonard...Leonard Gorfard. The heir of the Gorfard family, at your service."

(AN: And here is the first meeting with that guy. Currently all pieces are basically set. Soon the last step towards the end will begin. I hope I won't fuck it up.)