"There are too many strange things. But there's something even stranger, about that girl Lellia...."
"Why?"
"She said she's Princess Iris's daughter, right? But according to the records, on that day, the late empress who died also gave birth."
Inside Romeo's room, where soundproofing magic had been cast.
At Griffith's words, Romeo tilted his head in confusion.
"That is strange... What about Leo?"
"That's also... something that doesn't seem to add up."
Griffith's expression as he answered was not good.
This morning, Griffith had visited a secret room inside the imperial castle's chapel.
There, records written by priests dispatched from the Temple to the five empires' imperial families were kept.
The very existence of these records was something even the emperors did not know.
Under the pretext of maintaining peace among the five empires, the Temple was recording secret information through the priests they had dispatched.
These records encompassed everything from trivial matters to the most confidential—the royal families' weaknesses, ugly secrets, rumors, and more.
However, since the priests only recorded what they personally heard and saw, they couldn't necessarily be considered completely accurate.
Griffith, who knew about these records, had secretly sneaked a look at them this morning.
He had gone secretly, for if the Temple found out about this, there might be an uproar.
Anyway, accessing the records required priest-level divine power, so it wasn't difficult for him.
Griffith asked.
"Did you find out anything else?"
"No. But what Lellia said back then is true."
Indeed, coming to the Auraria Empire, he was able to learn much more than what he had investigated on the distant battlefields.
So Romeo had looked into various things, and the result was that what Lellia had said was true.
Most people who knew about Emperor Raideus were dead, and the criminal who killed 'Leo' had also been executed at that time.
Romeo and Griffith looked beyond each other's eyes as if gauging the other's intentions.
Romeo broke the silence and asked.
"Tell me more about what you mentioned earlier. What exactly was written in the records about Leo?"
"...."
Griffith didn't answer, pressing his fingers firmly against his temples as he gazed at Romeo.
Honestly, he didn't really want to say.
Because Romeo clearly also knew something more and wasn't saying it.
Wasn't looking into 'Leo' meaningless now anyway?
Leo is alive, so what's the problem?
However, Griffith hid his inner thoughts and answered casually.
"Just that his reputation wasn't particularly good. It seems the priest disliked Leo."
"...."
At those words, Romeo had an expression that said he expected as much.
Griffith vaguely guessed.
'Romeo, you knew from the start, didn't you?'
It was absurd.
Even though he knew, he hadn't said anything....
In truth, Griffith had been puzzled the whole time he left Auraria and went to the Temple.
About 'Lellia's' existence.
With those doubts in mind, when he returned to Auraria and saw Lellia dressed as a man, he felt faintly but with certainty.
That 'Lellia' was the 'Leo' he knew.
But there were many strange points.
How exactly could such a thing happen, and whether it was even possible.
'Lellia's' very identity was suspicious, and looking at the priest's records, it was even stranger.
The priest had recorded this about 'Leo':
His conduct was extremely violent, he was neurotic about everything, and he tormented his subordinates.
This was a completely different person from the Leo he knew.
Griffith, who had been uncertain, was able to confirm it this morning when he saw that record.
That the Leo who had come to the Temple was Lellia.
He didn't know which of the two was the real Leo, but anyway, the Leo he knew was certainly alive and living as Lellia.
Griffith leisurely lifted the teacup on the table.
He didn't know why Leo was hiding that fact, but he intended to pretend not to know until the end.
Until Leo told him directly. Given the various circumstances, there must certainly have been a reason. The Leo he knew wasn't someone who would do such things without reason. Of course, he was angry about being deceived, but the fact that Leo was alive made everything alright. Romeo seemed to be of the same mind.
"...."
As Griffith had expected, Romeo was also certain that Lellia was Leo.
However, right now it was uncomfortable to the point where he couldn't properly think about that.
Because of the unidentified vision that had appeared before his eyes earlier.
Inside a square frame, unidentified characters had been floating. They disappeared in an instant and hadn't appeared since....
'Did someone use magic on me?'
At first, he suspected Griffith right in front of him. Even though Griffith had no mana, he possessed pure and powerful divine power.
With that level of power, creating a vision before Romeo's eyes wouldn't be difficult.
But Griffith didn't seem to know that anything had happened at all.
That vision had only been visible to him.
Moreover, recently he had felt like someone was peeking into his mind for some reason, and he thought this might be the doing of the same person.
"By the way, what did you mean about alchemy back then?"
"Ah, that."
At Griffith's words, Romeo's expression darkened.
Actually, not long ago, because of the unidentified alchemical potions Lellia carried, he had written to Griffith to ask.
Whether he had heard any stories recently about an alchemist with impossibly exceptional skills appearing.
"The alchemical potions Lellia uses are a bit... strange."
"Why?"
"She had all kinds of medicines I've never seen before. If someone made medicines of that caliber, they'd be quite a famous skilled alchemist. It doesn't make sense that I wouldn't know about them."
"Hmm...."
Griffith tilted his head. This story was also unexpected.
Was Leo an alchemist? He couldn't feel any mana or anything similar from him at all....
The two sighed at the unsolved problems.
Griffith wanted to run to the room right across and grab Leo by the collar and demand answers.
'Leo, what exactly are you thinking?'