"I understand Young Master Karvaldr's circumstances. Now then, Mr. Reisir, why did you not report the information that a 'Qualification' is required to kill a Special monster? I reviewed the records from ten years ago, but there was no mention of it anywhere."
The moment the words ten years ago left the princess's lips—
I saw the anger Reisir failed to conceal flash across his face.
The emotion itself vanished almost immediately, as though it had never been there, but the rigid expression and the chill in the air lingered behind like an afterimage.
"Didn't I myself accidentally omit an important report when I was eighteen?"
Before Reisir could lose control of his temper and say something he shouldn't, I hurriedly stepped in.
"If it was ten years ago, he was only eight years old. He had just lost his family and his home. He must have been completely overwhelmed. How could anyone expect a child in that situation to distinguish important information and voluntarily submit a report?"
"Now that you mention it, that does seem reasonable."
Fortunately, the princess shifted her attention away from Reisir and back toward me.
"At the time, the child probably struggled just to answer the questions the adults asked him."
"And the adults questioning him would have known nothing about a 'window visible only to the individual concerned.' Since they didn't know it existed, they couldn't ask about it. Which would explain why the information never made it into the records."
"If one thinks about it normally, isn't that the obvious conclusion to reach? Just as Your Royal Highness has done now."
"Hm..."
Since she had practically reached the answer herself, I expected her to accept it immediately.
Instead, Fjodora hesitated for quite a while with a strange look on her face before suddenly saying something absurd.
"For some reason, I feel as though my thoughts were guided. I suspect you may have deliberately hidden the matter of the 'letters appearing in thin air' even from Duke Hárðr. So that if someone ever questioned your friend, you could use it as an excuse like this."
"That is an outrageous suspicion...! I know the circumstances have coincidentally aligned in a rather strange way, but this is nothing more than a coincidence."
The part about Reisir being my friend.
And the part about me withholding information about the Skill Window for his sake.
Both were nothing more than Fjodora's speculation.
I simply hadn't wanted to explain the Skill Window to the family of the body I'd possessed.
Since it was something unknown, they would naturally have demanded a detailed report of everything written on it.
They might even have ordered me to copy all of its contents onto paper.
My plan was simply to wait until information about the Skill Window became public and then casually mention that I could see it as well.
That was why, during the latter part of the previous chapter, I had been able to smoothly provide a reason for not telling Hárðr about it.
Because I had already prepared an excuse for that day long ago.
"Not only did I have no idea what information had been omitted from the records of the incident ten years ago... this meeting itself was arranged suddenly at Your Royal Highness's request, was it not? How could I possibly have anticipated the current situation and concealed important information from my father in preparation for it?"
"Indeed. That is also true."
Fjodora nodded.
Judging by her expression, it seemed she had withdrawn her suspicions.
Unfortunately, another problem remained.
That idiot Reisir... don't tell me he's actually moved? Is he seriously thinking I stepped in because I wanted to protect him from being cornered?
I had merely wanted to avoid conflict.
A simple act motivated by my love of peace.
I had no idea why he was getting emotional all by himself.
Still, it was fortunate that the protagonist of someone else's novel, who had been radiating all the stability of a ticking bomb, appeared to have regained his composure.
"Come to think of it, Young Master, you said that most people caught up in the anomaly can see 'it,' correct?"
"Yes, that is correct."
"Then was it perhaps pointless for me to summon only the two of you first?"
"If Your Royal Highness is asking whether Ríolíkin, who has not yet arrived, can also see it, then yes. He can."
"Oh dear..."
Fjodora reacted awkwardly for a moment.
Then she quietly muttered, "Perhaps it doesn't matter," and turned toward Reisir.
"Regardless, Mr. Reisir. I will not pursue the matter of your having concealed information about it until now."
"Well, that's... Thank You for Understanding."
Anyone could hear the sarcasm dripping from his voice.
Yet Fjodora chose not to comment and simply continued.
"I have no need for gratitude that is not sincere. More importantly, circumstances have changed. You may not have heard yet, but a similar phenomenon reportedly occurred in a foreign nation two days ago."
"What changes if I know that?"
"Wouldn't understanding the situation give rise to a desire to help? Including anything related to what we can see before our eyes. If there is anything you remember—or anything you have deduced—about the phenomenon you experienced ten years ago, I ask that you tell me everything without withholding anything."
She could have ordered him.
She could have invoked her authority and demanded complete disclosure.
Instead, Fjodora explained the situation and requested cooperation.
Considering that she was a member of the Imperial Family and one of the most promising candidates to become the next Emperor, while Reisir was merely a noble in name—
It was an extraordinary display of consideration.
And yet—
"..."
Reisir did not answer immediately.
An icy expression settled over his face as he stared at her.
Not merely looked.
Stared.
To the point that it bordered on rudeness.
Who in the Empire would dare gaze so directly at a member of the Imperial Family?
A crease formed between Fjodora's brows.
Displeasure began to surface.
Then Reisir finally spoke.
"...I'm the one who wants to ask. Didn't the Imperial Family confiscate my family's territory for the sake of investigation? Have you learned anything during all that time?"
"That is... a difficult question to answer."
The long silence beforehand had probably been his attempt to filter out as much resentment as possible.
Fjodora seemed to realize that as well.
Instead of anger, embarrassment appeared on her face.
No—
Even if he had openly vented his resentment, her conscience would likely have suppressed any anger she felt.
After seizing the territory under the pretext of conducting an investigation—
The Imperial Family had never seriously sought the cause of the Demon Realm Transformation.
They had been too busy studying the rare resources that appeared there and exploring how to profit from them.
And afterward, they had simply sold them for gain.
"Don't tell me you found nothing. Not a single thing in ten years?"
Reisir's voice rose.
Not intentionally.
The words seemed to escape him before he realized it.
Because the situation was just that absurd.
Just that unfair.
Unable to meet his gaze, Fjodora lowered her eyes.
"...Even if I had ten mouths, I would have nothing to say."
The Imperial Family as an institution might deserve criticism.
But Fjodora herself probably had countless things she wished she could say.
Ten years ago, she had been young as well.
She was twenty-five now.
Back then, she had only been fifteen.
She had not yet been recognized as a candidate for succession.
Her voice carried no influence.
According to a memory from the original story—
Fjodora had been the only member of the Imperial Family to argue against taking even the hometown of the lone surviving child.
The Imperial Family was meant to be the parent of all its people.
A child who had lost everything in a sudden disaster should have been pitied.
Protected.
Cared for with benevolence and righteousness.
That had been her argument.
But—
She was dismissed as a sentimental young girl spinning fairy tales because she didn't understand reality.
If the issue was that the child was too young to govern the territory—
Then they could simply have left it untouched until Reisir grew old enough.
No one lived there anymore anyway.
If they desired the resources that had appeared there—
Wouldn't the proper course have been to dispatch an Imperial administrator, assist with reconstruction, and share the profits in return?
She had proposed that solution.
And several others.
Yet—
Every one of them had been buried beneath the voices of adults unwilling to surrender even the smallest share to a young orphan.
At the time, the princess had been bewildered.
The throne of a ruler was supposed to belong to the one who pursued ideals before all others.
Then why did the adults of the Imperial Family—including the Emperor himself—pursue only profit?
And why did her younger siblings accept that reality without question?
That incident became the catalyst.
She gathered people who shared her ideals.
Built a faction around them.
And eventually rose to become one of the leading candidates for the imperial succession.
Even so, unless she gains the Emperor's approval, she cannot even dream of becoming Crown Princess. She must continue to present herself as the sort of successor the Emperor desires.
Even if she felt sympathy for Reisir, she could not openly express it.
She certainly could not apologize.
That was also why she wielded her authority in such an ambiguous manner.
To begin with, members of the Imperial Family were not in a position where they could casually offer apologies.
In the original story—
Only at the moment of her death did Fjodora finally manage to speak the apology she had carried in her heart for so many years.
"As for what happened ten years ago... there is nothing more I can tell you. I did omit the part about the window used to check one's abilities, though not intentionally. Other than that, I have already told you everything I know."
Reisir knew nothing of Fjodora's personal circumstances.
Because of that, he looked at her as though she were a shameless fraud.
Yet unlike the hostility in his eyes, the words that followed were surprisingly cooperative.
"Still, there are a few things I can tell you about that window."
"Then tell me at least that much."
"In exchange, I want a promise. Publicly announce, without concealment, that seeing this is effectively the qualification required to kill the Special monsters. Include the information I am about to provide."
"I was already considering doing exactly that after hearing Young Master Karvaldr's explanation."
Only after receiving Fjodora's answer did Reisir continue.
He revealed that he could also see the Skill List.
He explained how to operate the interface.
How to use the Inventory.
And he even disclosed the approximate values of the stats he had possessed when he was eight years old.
Saying that a reference point would be necessary to determine whether values were high or low, he offered them as a benchmark.
"In that case, your current stats are..."
"Does Your Royal Highness intend to publicly disclose them?"
"Of course not."
"The same applies to me."
"I understand. Then I shall refrain from asking."
When that exchange finally concluded, I added a piece of information Reisir himself didn't know.
"I discovered it by accident, but it appears you can also view the stats and skills of your own familiar through the same method."
"Is that true?! ...Oh! I really can see them!"
For an instant, Fjodora cast aside the mask of a princess and revealed genuine delight.
No matter how much dignity a member of the Imperial Family was expected to maintain—
No matter how carefully they guarded their prestige—
At moments like this, they were nothing more than ordinary humans hopelessly devoted to their familiars.
