Chapter 364: The secret of the Grandia Kingdom

When Idan swore, Essora, though not completely, decided to believe his words.

She felt that her strength was running out and that she didn’t have much time left before time returned to its normal course.

"Our world, Chronomaria, has been invaded by the inhabitants of this world," Essora wasted no time in sharing with Idan the information Idan wanted to know. "And Erza was the one who destroyed our Grandia kingdom..."

From Essora’s story, Idan learned that Chronomaria was a world comparable in development to this inferior world of Darkness and Light. The most powerful creatures in their world were also sixth-rank creatures, but unlike the world of Darkness, where there were several such creatures, there were only two of them in Chronomaria.

With the support of other sixth-rank beings from other Territories of Darkness, the Womskinner race easily conquered the world of Chronomaria.

The Grandia Kingdom was not the only kingdom in the world of Chronomania, nor was it the strongest. Erza, being a fifth-rank being, personally eliminated all the powerful inhabitants of Grandia, completely subjugating this kingdom.

"Our Grandia kingdom, although it wasn’t the strongest in our world, it had its own secrets that few people knew about except the royal family," Essora continued.

Idan was intrigued to hear this.

"After Erza conquered and subjugated us, she somehow found out about this secret. But, to her great disappointment, by that time, only me and my younger brother were left alive from the royal family," Esora said, and there was sadness in her words.

"My younger brother was too young, and unlike him, I was the daughter of the king’s mistress and didn’t know this secret, which, of course, angered Erza even more. She was ready to kill us both, but for some reason unknown to me, she let us live."

After that, Essora took a short pause.

"Subsequently, after a mysterious race change ritual, I became one of Erza’s subordinates. And she imprisoned my brother under her mansion as a hostage," Essora finished her story.

There were many understatements and simplifications in Essora’s story.

Idan immediately realized that she was deliberately telling about everything in such a condensed form. However, her words made it clear that she was not serving Erza of her own free will.

That was enough for Idan.

But then, when he thought about the situation carefully, he found it strange that Essora mentioned a secret that the Grandia royal family possessed. The secret that interested Erza so much.

"Essora didn’t need to mention the secret to let me know that she wasn’t voluntarily serving Erza,

— Idan mused. "

Unless she mentioned it specifically to interest me. And that she has a reason for it."

"Wait a minute, didn’t she say that she doesn’t know what the secret is, being the daughter of a mistress? Why would she mention it then?"

Idan’s gaze immediately fell on the black and white frozen surroundings.

"She knows! She knows what the secret is!"

Idan’s attention shifted to Essora, who fell silent after the story and seemed to be expecting something. No, she was expecting his reaction.

Idan decided to play along and find out what she was up to.

"Tell me, Essora, what would you have done if I hadn’t guessed?" He asked.

"What are you talking about?" asked Essora, as if she didn’t understand what he was talking about.

"The secret of the Grandia Kingdom is related to time manipulation, isn’t it?" Instead of answering, Idan continued to ask questions. "I don’t understand how you managed to deceive Erza if you know that? I’m pretty sure they must have read your memories."

When Idan asked the question, he assumed that the secret of the Grandia royal family was related to time manipulation. Essora stopped pretending and answered bluntly: "Because I didn’t lie to Erza. They actually read my memories, but they didn’t find anything they were looking for."

Hearing this answer, Idan frowned.

"Have I made a mistake?"

he thought.

But then he shook his head. He was sure that Essora knew the truth.

"But you guessed correctly that the secret of the Grandia royal family is related to time manipulation," fortunately for Idan, Essora confirmed his guess.

"If you hadn’t guessed, I would have just told you straight out. Although in my eyes, your score would have dropped a bit."

Idan was sure he detected a slight chuckle in her words.

"So why did you tell me this?" he asked. "Aren’t you afraid that I’ll reveal this to Erza?"

"Because I’m pretty sure you won’t do that, — Essora said with confidence.

"Okay, what do you want?" Idan asked bluntly.

"Straight to the point, right? I like it!" exclaimed Essora, after which she voiced her request. "I have a request for you. Since you’ve already met my brother, you have the ability to sneak in where I can’t by myself."

Idan was already beginning to guess what she was getting at.

"I want you to help my little brother escape," Essora said. "To be more precise, I want you to take him with you to your world."

Idan immediately understood what was being said, and when he heard this, he couldn’t help but laugh inwardly. Her younger brother was already inside their spatial storage.

"In return, I will tell you the secret of the Grandia Royal Family," Essora continued.

"The secret of the Royal Family?" asked Idan, remembering that this secret had something to do with time manipulation. He was intrigued.

"Yes, I will share this secret with you," Essora confirmed.

Idan did not immediately respond.

Essora noticed that the guy was silent and worried that he wasn’t interested in her proposal. So she decided to add:

"You already possess the Realm of Secret Concealment, so it’s in your best interest to help my brother escape and take him with you."

"Huh? What does the Sphere of Secret Concealment have to do with it?" asked Idan.

"The fact is that the secret of the Royal Family is directly related to this artifact," Essora revealed.

"What?" — Idan was surprised to hear such a revelation.

"Yes, the Sphere of Secret Concealment is closely related to the secret of the Grandia Royal Family," Essora confirmed. "When you connected with her, did you ever wonder why the artifact needed the fourth ability to detect those with the blood of the Grandia Royal Family in their veins?"

Hearing Essora’s question, Idan fell into deep thought.

"Really, why would an artifact do that?"

"This ability doesn’t just allow you to find someone with a certain blood in their veins. It also indicates the one in whose hands the artifact can unleash its full power," said Essora.

"Don’t tell me..." Idan was already beginning to guess what Essora meant, but he couldn’t quite believe it.

"Heh, — Essora grinned, seeing that the guy had already taken her hint.

"If someone who has the blood of the Grandia Royal Family in his veins establishes a connection with the artifact, then the artifact will have a fifth unique ability," she said after taking a short pause. "The ability to manipulate time."