Chapter 412 - Confrontation
"…" Agata stared at Alea with hostility. "Have you had your fun, eh? Princess?"
Alea's body shook as she turned around and asked, "What is it again?"
"Well, that's not important. You can say I'm petty, but I want to tell you one thing." Agata shook her head helplessly, not wanting to beat around the bush. "You should leave Theo to me. At the very least, I won't hurt him unnecessarily like you."
"Huh? I don't understand what you are talking about."
"That's the problem. Your naivety goes through the roof. How many times have you almost killed him?" Agata asked, looking down on her. "Take a look at this incident alone. By moving your Eilric Family, you made the assassins move and kill him right away.
"It's different from the military because they could simply state they are investigating the anomaly. But your Eilric Family didn't have a place in this scenario… You thought you could solve his problem? No, you just made it worse.
"I'm sure that your Eilric Family is more aware of your naivety than me. Instead of focusing on that talent of yours and that little cage you made for yourself, you should learn how the real world works." She shook her head in disappointment. "Either way, I am going to take Theo away from you.
"You have no right to stop what I'm doing. He is not yours anyway. And do you think your Eilric Family is qualified to stand against his background alone? Maybe, if we are talking about the main Eilric Family… As for your little branch, I don't think so. Since you can't even be honest about your feelings, just let him go. I am envious. Unlike you, I can't express my feelings right now because it will just annoy him."
"My main family?" Alea widened her eyes in confusion.
Seeing her expression, Agata snorted. "See… Have you ever thought about anyone other than yourself? You are too self-centered. Have you ever considered what it feels like to be him? No, right?
"I admit Theo is selfish, but in his selfishness, there is a principle… reward and punishment. Despite taking everything and using all of you, he still gives you all the chance to be in the limelight…
"Every single one of you. I still remember Sihan in his last fight, Ellen with her natural dual wielding skills, Phyrill with his natural transformation, Laust with his new blessing, and you… with multiple fights. How about you?
"In our fight, you must be thinking about your pride or something instead of the team and the plan he had made. Am I wrong?" Agata shook her head helplessly and started moving away. "If you don't want him, give him to me. I won't treat him like you do."
"…" Alea was completely speechless. Her body was shaken and her heart felt empty. She was asking herself whether what she said was true or not.
It might be because of her upbringing. She didn't realize it until now as if it was the natural thing for her to do. Now that Agata told her straight on the face, all the past scenes with Theo flashed in her mind.
Not knowing where it came from, the realization struck Alea's heart as she muttered inwardly, "Wait… The reason he hated me… Was it because of… He is the joker, the masked man I saw back then. Because of my blunder, he almost died.
"No, I remember that joker sold the Pure Stone to grandfather. Doesn't this mean there were already two monsters that almost killed him? And all of it was because of… me."
It felt like someone gripped her neck and heart at the same time to the point she felt dying. And all those feelings started haunting her heart in this expedition.
She couldn't move even if she wanted to. The only thing she did was sit on the ground while gasping for air.
There was only one question that kept repeating in her mind. "Why did I never realize it until now?"
All the information was already there and the question had been answered the moment she realized Joker was Theo all along. In fact, if she and Theo exchanged places, he would have found it in the school competition.
And she even needed Agata to tell her straight on her face before she realized it.
Her stomach felt awful. She wanted to vomit but didn't have the energy to do so.
Alea could only sit there with energy leaving her body.
Suddenly, the middle-aged man found Alea in the forest in this kind of position, wondering if something had gone wrong.
"Young Miss." He looked worried, especially when he saw her body convulsing. Alea's face was covered by her knees and arms, so he couldn't see her expression. "Young Miss, did something happen to you? Who is the enemy? I shall kill him."
The scene where he told her she was naive replayed in Alea's mind as she grabbed his hand while keeping her head low.
"Am I really that naive?" Alea asked with a hoarse voice as if she just cried. "Please tell me the truth."
The middle-aged man scratched the back of his head. With his position, he shouldn't tell something too brutal, yet, Alea only wanted the truth. After a moment, he decided to make a roundabout answer. "Everyone is naive at the start. It's their experience that erases their naivety.
"For example, Theodore Griffith has a rough life during his childhood, forcing him to grow from his naive self so early on. In your life, you will find a certain setback where you realize it and start growing up. All I believe is that if you can overcome it, you will become stronger, more mature, and kinder than your current self.
"Only you can choose whether you confront this problem head-on or run away from it. And I believe that young miss is strong."
There was no reaction from Alea for a few minutes and the middle-aged man didn't know what to do anymore.
Suddenly, he heard her saying, "Can you tell the rest to dismantle the dragon? I need time to be alone."
"Ehm… Okay…" The middle-aged man nodded and started thinking about how to report this incident to her father, the current family head.
