Looking at the young man standing in front of him, Gerald couldn’t help but feel his vision blur a little.
How long has it been?
From Neptune to Mars, and now Sol.
He was already looking at the third-generation King of Lustburg.
Time went by so fast.
“I thought you would never visit me, your highness.”
His tone and gaze were full of emotions as he slowly spoke.
After all, this was the truth. The relationship between the two of them had been irredeemably broken. Nothing could change that.
Sol on the other hand also had mixed feelings.
In this world, Gerald had been one of the greatest mental support he could ever have.
Their relationship had long gone past the level of a retainer and its lord and was more akin to that of family.
Still, such a relationship was beyond repair now.
“Your punishment has been decided.”
“I see.”
“You will be exiled to the battlefield and will be forbidden from either putting foot, alive, in the capital or the surroundings ever again.”
“I see.”
“You will only be allowed as a corpse.”
“I see.”
“...”
“...”
Silence fell between them.
“You seem quite nonchalant about the situation.”
“From the moment I made my choice, I was already ready for any outcome.”
Gerald replied calmly. He did not beg for leniency nor crumbled because of his punishment.
He knew very well that no matter how many achievements he had, the sole reason he wasn’t executed was because of his relationship with the prince.
What really interested him though, was something else.
“My granddaughter….”
Everything he had done was for her. He betrayed the kingdom for her and then betrayed the Wings of Freedom for her.
It didn’t matter how foolish his actions were. It didn’t matter if he lost everything he worked so hard to obtain.
As long as he succeeded, as long as she was alright, then it was more than enough.
Looking at him like this, Sol had the urge to tell him that his granddaughter would be executed or was not cured.
But he changed his mind just as he had the words on the tip of his tongue.
He wasn’t playing around.
“She will be alright. Camelia will keep her promise with you.”
“Thankfully...”
Tears gathered at the corner of his eyes as he murmured,
“...I am so relieved.”
Sol was surprised to find that he felt neither compassion nor sadness currently at this sight.
Here, in front of him, stood a man who sacrificed everything to assure the well-being of his loved one.
It was without a doubt something worthy of respect.
But this wasn’t why he was here.
“I want to know more about Neptune.”
Sol's expression deepened as he uttered those words.
He wasn’t here to meet Gerald for old-times sake but rather, for a precise problem.
This time it was Gerald’s turn to be surprised. He widened his eyes before letting out a bitter laugh,
“And here I thought you would ask me about what really happened with my betrayal.”
“Why should I? The sequence of events is clear and I have more pressing matters. Dwelling on the past is just a waste of time.”
Gerald let out a soundless chuckle as bitterness arose in his heart.
What’s more, as Sol said, the situation was simple in hindsight.
Initially, Gerald did indeed betray the kingdom and was ready to kill Sol if necessary.
But after they had their suspicions on Gerald, Camelia managed to convince him by assuring the recovery of his granddaughter.
Of course, Sol knew that Gerald didn’t believe her at first.
After all, back then, before he fell into despair, he had asked for help from Camelia.
Sadly, she had been unable to resolve the problem.
This was because his greatest hope had been dashed that he decided to join hands with the wings, even though he was unwilling.
But, with the help of Medea and Persephone, Camelia had assured him that she was hundred percent sure to succeed.
Thanks to that, Gerald once again switched sides.
“After that, you simply continued to play a role. Even with the poisoned bottle, thanks to Milia’s research, I know that the dose of poison was far higher than necessary. You basically made the poison more potent and easy to distinguish.”
This poison was one usually used to deal with powerful magical beings and was called Embrace.
Because of its composition, a small dose would have been enough to hammer down on his consciousness and make him unable to think properly, thereby making him an easy target.
It was also odorless and tasteless.
But, that only held true for the normal dose.
The way Gerald increased it was enough for Sol to feel the danger of the poison. What’s more, even without it, after knowing from whom the bottle came from, Sol would have never drank it.
The only victim was Ares since because of it, he completely slept through the entire fight.
“Now then, enough chit-chat. Answer my question.”
Sol wasn’t in the mood to waste any more time. Not killing Gerald was already the greatest mercy he could show.
Right now, what mattered was to gather information.
Gerald nodded and asked, “Do you know what this facility was created for?”
“I am not in the mood for riddles.”
“Haha. So impatient. The answer is simple, the Human Genesis Theory.”
“...”
“From your expression, I guess that your maid told you about it.”
“Her name is Milia.”
“Indeed.”
Silence fell as Sol asked, “So this place was also to create some super-soldier?”
“Not exactly. Don’t you find it weird? Your mai–Milia was, without doubt, the sole and only successful experiment back then. But what is she?”
“What do you mean?”
“She is a cow woman. A were beast, not a human. Then isn’t it weird? The goal was to create a human able to use magic without a contract. But your maid, who wasn’t even a human, was deemed as a successful result.”
Sol frowned.
Gerald continued unhurriedly, “It’s funny, you see. All the people I have met in my life had something in common. Be it alcohol, women, religion, family, power, or even the crown. We all need an obsession to continue advancing. We are all slaves of something and...He wasn’t an exception. Neptune was a pitiful man.”
Gerald closed his eyes as he thought back to his deceased friend, “People always compare you to Mars. But you see, your situation is closer to that of Neptune.“
He sighed a little, “Imagine a young boy whose father was seen as an unparalleled existence. Said father died after a war where he marked his existence in the world by his strength and charisma. Now, whatever the boy did, no matter how hard he tried, everyone kept comparing him to his late father, and he always found himself wanting. This rings a bell, right?”
Sadness was apparent in his eyes as he continued,
“The greatest difference between the two of you was that he didn’t have a group of powerhouses ready to defend him. From the start, he was thrown into a spiral of conspiracy and sadly, he found that even his talent wasn’t high enough. This completely crushed him.”
“The Chimera project only had one goal. To give him the ability to surpass his father. Proving to the world that being born with high capacity wasn’t the most important thing. Showing that all people had the potential to surpass the limits of their races.”
“If he succeeded, even if he never managed to surpass his father’s power, in terms of influence he would be recognized as the second Messiah of Humanity after Jupiter.”
Sol couldn’t help but scoff inwardly at the notion of Jupiter being some sort of Messiah.
“In order to complete his goal, Neptune committed many atrocities and destroyed the lives of many people. But it wasn’t enough. All his experiments always failed. It was then that he had an epiphany.”
“What he was trying to do was without a doubt entering the domain of gods and as such, he decided to use the being closest to the gods.”
Sol opened his eyes wide as he murmured, “The blessed.”
“Indeed. Your great grandfather, Uranus, had once fought against Echidna. Even though he had lost, he had managed to take away many of her scales and kept them as trophies. What’s more, he had also fought many times against the Succubus Queen of that time, who was also known as the Nightmare Queen and had kept a small part of her blood.”
Sol slowly began to understand where Milia got her power from.
Camelia had told him that Milia’s shadow powers weren’t normal and he had seen them for himself.
When she was clad in her shadow, it was as if he was facing a ravenous beast.
If he wasn’t wrong, then her power came from echidna herself.
“Back then, the scales had been put aside for more long-term experiments. But, as for the blood of the Nightmare queen…”
Sol had a bad feeling at this pause.
“Your Grandfather decided to try the greatest experiment possible. Using his sperm and the egg of a noblewoman, he created many embryos and added a little of the blood of the nightmare queen. All of them failed and died before even opening their eyes. All of them except one.”
Sol’s hunch was sadly confirmed.
“That one success was a girl. Her name is...Lilith.”
(AN: Hum, what a reveal. I have been setting this up for so long. I wonder what you guys thought? Perhaps some of you saw this coming? After all, fans of myth should also know that Lilith is the name of the first Succubus. What is interesting is that in some other myth, she was the wife of Adam before Eve and was created by God. In the same way, Neptune was playing god when he created Lilith.)
