FTA Ch 15
by winter<Chapter 15>
Interrogation
It was something Gloria hadn’t initially considered.
Now that she thought about it, she had occasionally witnessed priests interrogating spies sent by the Imperial family while residing at the temple.
Back then, it hadn’t affected her deeply.
It wasn’t her concern.
But the people before her now were different.
As Leonard said, they were assassins sent to take his life.
Whether the Emperor had sent them unaware of her presence or there was another enemy at play.
It was critical to uncover who was behind them.
“Hmm, it’d be nice if I could help…” Gloria’s murmuring caught Leonard’s attention.
His gaze lifting slowly to meet hers.
“I’ve never interrogated anyone before, so… hmm, I suppose it’s best if I head back to the bedroom.”
Leonard’s tension melted away at Gloria’s unexpectedly casual response.
“Well, I’ll be waiting in the bedroom, so make sure you find out who sent them!”
Gloria even encouraged him, something Leonard hadn’t anticipated.
Leonard unusually taken aback, blinked at Gloria with a dazed expression.
Gloria offering him a bright smile, turned and left the room without hesitation.
* * *
“You took longer than I thought.” As expected, Gloria was still awake.
Before entering the bedroom, Leonard had cleaned himself up in a bathroom attached to another room and decision he now appreciated.
Perhaps it was the act of interrogation or the sight of blood after so long, but an exhilarating thrill coursed through Leonard’s body.
Though the blood on his body had been washed away, the lingering heat within him was harder to dispel.
Yet he knew better than to show this side of himself to Gloria.
Entering the room with his usual cool demeanor, Leonard shut the door firmly behind him.
“You didn’t push yourself too hard, did you? You’ve only just recovered; if you overdo it…” Gloria said.
“I didn’t overdo it, so don’t worry.”
Even if he had, his body wouldn’t regress.
As a Swordmaster, his extraordinary resilience was more than sufficient.
“So, did you uncover the mastermind? Was it the Emperor who sent the assassins?”
Leading him to the sofa, Gloria’s question was direct.
Leonard hesitated, contemplating whether to tell her the truth or conceal it.
The decision didn’t take long.
“No, it wasn’t the Emperor.” Leonard said.
“Huh? Then who?”
“The Crown Prince.”
Gloria froze halfway to sitting down, her body stiffening.
“…The Crown Prince?”
‘The Crown Prince?’ Gloria bit her lower lip hard.
“The Crown Prince tried to kill you?”
Crown Prince. Alexion Meredith.
He was the one who had made it painfully clear to Gloria that she was nothing more than a hunting dog.
“Once the hunt is over, you kill the dog. Wouldn’t want to leave it alive to bite anyone’s neck.”
The unpleasant words he’d once whispered in her ear resurfaced in her mind.
‘So, that’s why the assassins didn’t know I was here.’
Gloria clenched her fists, only to force herself to relax as she sat down and regained her composure.
“Yes, the Crown Prince.” Leonard chuckled darkly.
he murmuring that he’d almost forgotten the Crown Prince’s desire to eliminate him.
“Like the Emperor, the Crown Prince was born without the emerald gaze.” He explained.
Emerald green eyes a sign of possessing a unique power.
Neither the Emperor nor the Crown Prince had inherited them.
It was no surprise that both harbored intense inferiority and dread toward Leonard.
“…Does the emerald gaze have any significance beyond proving descent from the first Emperor?” Gloria asked.
Gloria felt an odd discomfort at Leonard’s words.
It sounded as if those with emerald eyes were destined to be extraordinary.
She recalled the saying comparing envy to a ‘green eyed monster’.
She though this likely wasn’t the meaning Leonard intended.
Curious, she tilted her head and waited as Leonard hesitated before speaking carefully.
“I reached the level of a Swordmaster the moment I first held a sword as a child.” Leonard said.
An impossibility for ordinary humans.
“That was only possible because I’m a descendant of dragons.” Leonard explained.
The first Emperor who founded the Immotus Empire, he was said Leonard to be a dragon.
Among his descendants, a rare few inherited some of the dragon’s power.
This truth was known only to legitimate members of the Imperial family.
“You’re a descendant of dragons?” Gloria asked.
“Yes.” Leonard nodded solemnly.
“I’ve said it countless times, I’m no ordinary human.” Leonard said.
“So, dragons really did exist…”
Tales from childhood flooded back to her: a dragon coming to the human world for amusement.
The dragon accidentally founding an empire.
The dragon saving a princess from a demon king, and crafting magical artifacts to halt her aging.
‘Could those old stories hold some truth?’
‘Well, if gods exist, why not dragons?’
As someone who bore a divine stigmata on her forehead, Gloria easily accepted the reality of dragons.
“Come to think of it, doesn’t the princess also have green eyes? Maybe she inherited some special power too.” Gloria said.
Gloria tried to recall the princess she had encountered at banquets.
But nothing came to mind that seemed exceptional.
She merely appeared as an ordinary, carefree child of her age.
“Will she awaken as a Swordmaster too, like you?” Gloria asked.
“Who knows? The dragon’s power manifests differently in each descendant.” Leonard explained.
Gloria and Leonard delved into a lively discussion about how a dragon’s power could manifest.
Before long, Alexion’s existence faded from their minds despite him being the one who had just sent assassins to kill Leonard.
The earlier attack seemed almost forgotten as their conversation turned into a heated debate.
* * *
“Glorious Gloria, fear is not an enemy you need to eliminate.”
The space was shrouded in pitch black darkness.
“Appropriate fear aids survival. You must always bear this in mind. Understood?”
Gloria felt a hand firmly gripping her shoulder, a touch both gentle and resolute.
It refused to let her escape.
“Now, move forward with every emotion you harbor, fear included.”
The hand shoved her forward with a roughness that left no room for resistance.
Step by step, Gloria advanced and raising her head to look ahead.
Inside a massive iron cage loomed a large monster.
Gloria had studied the appearances and traits of monsters at the temple
Yet this one was unfamiliar a species she had never encountered in her books.
It’s crimson eyes glimmered, focused solely on her, waiting for her to approach.
Gloria had undergone extensive training to face creatures like this.
But for a child of only ten, what could she possibly do?
“I… I’m scared…”
Naturally, Gloria was gripped by instinctive terror.
No one comforted her.
Her repeated whispers of fear echoed meaninglessly in the oppressive space.
A loud metallic clang came from behind as the door slammed shut.
Startled, Gloria turned around.
The priests who had led her here were gone.
Feeling an eerie gaze upon her, Gloria slowly turned back.
Reflecting in the monstrous crimson eyes was the frightened face of a young girl.