Erwin didn't dare to remain in her embrace any longer, and he stood up from the bed before making his way over to the window so he could stand in the cold wind. "I have to admit that Sanfesa has some nasty tricks up her sleeve. How did she know that you were definitely going to choose the swan mask?"

"I could ask you the same. How did she know that you would pause in front of that painting with me?" Onean asked.

"Indeed. How was she able to predict everything so perfectly?" Erwin mused as his brows furrowed slightly in contemplation, and half of his face was cast into shadow from the dim light in the room.

"That Emma was also quite interesting," Onean remarked as her eyes narrowed slightly. "Is she really the daughter of Prime Minister Henry?"

"That should be the case, given the eye color of everyone in their family," Erwin replied. "Those eyes make them extremely distinctive."

"So you're saying Aglea is also a member of Prime Minister Henry's family?" Onean asked.

"I'm sure of it," Erwin replied with a nod. "When it comes to an eye for people, no one in this world will have me beat."

"Is that right? If you have such a keen eye for people, then why don't you tell me if Emma had been hiding nearby the entire time and was only going to reveal herself after Lucidy had his way with me, or if she really did just arrive late?" Onean asked, and a cold look flashed through her eyes as she spoke.

"Sanfesa's objective was for me to kill Lucidy in a fit of rage in order to spark conflict between Mackney and me," Erwin said. "If we look at it from that perspective, we are at a disadvantage when it comes to our tussle with the Delair Dukedom, and that is not something that Prime Minister Henry would want to see, so there's no reason for his daughter to stand by and watch without doing anything as I kill Lucidy. Having said that, the timing of her arrival really was a little suspicious. On top of that, what is she going to do with Lucidy's body? What could a body possibly do?"

"Do you still remember what Aglea said a few days ago?" Onean asked as she turned to Erwin.

"What about?" Erwin asked.

"She said that she was already supposed to be dead," Onean replied.

"You're saying Emma has the ability to resurrect the dead?" Erwin asked as a stunned look appeared on his face. "Is that even possible?"

"I don't know about resurrecting the dead, but is it possible that she can allow the dead to continue living in another way? Haven't you noticed that Aglea gives off an inhuman aura?"

Erwin couldn't help but shudder slightly upon hearing this.

Indeed, he had always felt like there was something off that he couldn't explain about Aglea, but he had never considered the possibility that she was undead.

After a moment of contemplation, he sighed, "Regardless of what's going on, this is an extremely complex situation. Neither Prince Xar nor Prime Minister Henry are trustworthy allies."

"Someone as ambitious as you was bound to get swept up in these power games sooner or later," Onean said, identifying the root cause of all of this. "It was only ever a matter of time."

"If we ignore the possibility that Emma could've arrived early but done nothing as she was envious of your beauty, is it possible that she was waiting for me to kill Lucidy? After all, she did tell us that dead people are easier to control than the living, whatever that means," Erwin speculated. "In that case, it seems like Prime Minister Henry is very invested in the state of the northwest."

"Why are you trying to justify her actions?" Onean asked with an amused expression. "Are you worried that I'll force you to go after her father to avenge me? Am I really that immature in your eyes?"

"I'm not justifying her actions," Erwin said as he shook his head with a wry smile. "I'm just trying to analyze their motives. In any case, it would be best for us to return to the City of Freedom as soon as possible. This place is far too perilous for us."

"You're not going to save your little lover?" Onean asked as she raised an eyebrow.

"Of course we still have to save her," Erwin said.

"Well, the problem is that the magic drugs in my body won't be that easy to clear out, so there's a good chance I won't be able to use any magic power during the finals of the tournament," Onean said with an amused expression.

"If we can't beat them, then we'll just have to think of a way to swindle Aglea to the City of Freedom," Erwin said with a smile.

"Looks like you already had everything figured out," Onean said as she threw a pillow right into Erwin's face.

After emerging from his room, Erwin waited in the hall of the hotel for further news from Tonar.

Only after it was past dinnertime did Tonar rush into the hotel, panting heavily as he did so. At that point, Erwin was half-convinced that Tonar had been discovered while following the suspicious individuals and had been killed by Sanfesa's thugs.

Sure enough, just as Erwin expected, John Farody was involved in this.

...

The day of the finals for the Trapped Phoenix Tournament finally arrived, bringing with it the highly anticipated matchup between the Boll Dukedom and the Fano Dukedom. During the past few days of competition, both teams had steamrolled all of their opponents with ease.

Thus, this was tipped to be a very interesting match, and not only was the young emperor present, so were Prince Xar and Prime Minister Henry.

Erwin was looking at the wildly fluctuating flame over Onean's palm with a resigned expression.

"Are you still unable to control your magic power?" he asked.

Onean nodded in response. "It's still extremely inconsistent. One moment, I feel like I've returned to normal, the next moment, I can't draw upon any magic power at all."

Throughout the previous day, Onean had done everything in her power to remove the magic drugs from her systems, but unfortunately, the drugs were very stubborn and couldn't be expelled in such a short time.

Thankfully, she had managed to cure herself from the effects of the Desert Oasis. Otherwise, she wouldn't even have had the energy to come to the imperial palace.

"It's all my fault for being so stupid," Turan said with a shameful expression as he stood beside the two of them.

As soon as he learned that the rendezvous had been a trap for Erwin and Onean, he had blamed himself for what had happened. Erwin consoled him repeatedly, telling him that there was no way that he could've seen through a ploy that Sanfesa had been setting up for so long. In addition to that, Erwin was the main party at fault due to his love for the limelight. However, no matter what Erwin said, Turan refused to blame anyone other than himself, and those feelings of guilt were compounded even further at the sight of Onean's current condition.

Erwin didn't even want to take Turan to the imperial palace with him on this day, but Turan insisted on coming so that he could see Sanfesa. He said that just a glance at her from afar would suffice. At the very least, he had to know what the vile woman looked like. Erwin was unable to convince him to stay behind, so he had no choice but to bring Turan with him.

Due to the special circumstances surrounding Onean, Erwin had to speak with Aglea and the others prior to the match in case they thought that Onean was fighting at full power.

"What?! Is that really true?" Aglea was very surprised after hearing Erwin's recount of events.

Of course, there were some details that Erwin had intentionally omitted.

"That's why I have to ask you to hold back against her, Senior Aglea," Erwin said with a smile.

"You shouldn't be coming to me, you should be asking her if she's willing to hold back against Onean," Aglea said as she took an amused glance at Lana.

"What do you mean by that?" Erwin asked with a perplexed expression.

"Prior to coming here, I already made a plan. We're going to face each other in the first round, right? Once I beat you, I'll forfeit my right to continue and let her take my place," Aglea said as she gestured toward Lana. "Surely you didn't think I was just going to beat your entire team on my own? Where's the fun in that? Even the three of you and Lana combined may not be able to beat me, so what's the point if I just wipe out all of you without giving you any chance at victory? Having said that, it's quite a pity that I won't get to see your little lover at full strength today."

"Are you going to come beg me for her sake?" Lana finally broke her silence as she turned to Erwin with a cold expression. She had been elated to see Erwin making his way toward her, but that elation immediately turned into displeasure upon hearing about the purpose of Erwin's visit.

An awkward look appeared on Erwin's face, and he didn't know how to reply.

Erwin didn't dare to reply to Lana, so he could only turn to Aglea to ease the tension in the air. "Didn't you take away her memories? Why does she still feel so much resentment for Onean?"

Aglea couldn't help but burst into laughter upon hearing this. "You're not thinking I returned her memories to her, are you? Let me tell you this: there's always inexplicable envy and jealousy between women, regardless of their history. Surely you're well aware of this. You're the one who insists on having multiple women in your life, so this is your problem to deal with. I can't help you."

It was clear from Aglea's expression that even if she had the ability to help, she wouldn't have been willing to step in anyway.

"What's happened between me and her in the past?" Lana asked as she scrutinized Erwin with an intense gaze. "Did you abandon me in the south for her?"

With that, Erwin found himself in a rather difficult predicament, unsure of whether to tell Lana the truth or not. It seemed that forgetting wasn't always a bad thing.

"We came to the north as we were fleeing from a crisis," Erwin said after taking a moment to consider his words.

"Then why didn't you take me with you?" Lana clearly wasn't going to accept such an ambiguous answer.

"Given your affiliations at the time, I couldn't bring you with me to the north," Erwin replied with a wry smile.

"Give me the details?"

"Do you really want to know?" Erwin asked with a hesitant expression.

Lana nodded in response with a determined expression.

"Alright, then here's the story. Onean is the daughter of King Cameron, who was the ruler of the now-defunct Effer Kingdom. He was killed by your father, Prince Lazaar in a sinister plot, so she had no choice but to flee to the north."

"Then why did you have to come with her?"

"My father was a loyal subordinate to King Cameron, and he was killed by your family as well, so I had no choice but to also flee to the north," Erwin replied in a calm manner, as if he were telling a story that was completely unrelated to him.

Lana was immediately rooted to the spot upon hearing this.

It was very difficult for her to muster up any sympathy for Onean, but she had no idea what to say to the man standing in front of her.

"Don't think too much about it, I've never seen you as my enemy," Erwin said with a smile. "Of course, I'm not here to beg you to go easy on her. She's an extremely proud person, and she wants to fight you at your best, but if she runs out of steam mid-battle, I hope you can spare her from excessive injury."

For some reason, Lana's heart throbbed with pain upon hearing this. Erwin's words were like a sharp knife that had plunged viciously into her heart.

Only now did she come to understand that she was the antagonist in all of this.