The next morning, Jeanne looked at Talulah's exhausted face and knew the dragon hadn't slept a wink. It seemed the psychological pressure of her heritage was still weighing heavily on her.
"Yo, good morning~"
"You didn't stay up all night again, did you? If you don't rest well, watch out or your scales might start falling off!"
Jeanne's slightly teasing tone lightened Talulah's mood a bit, but that expression of hers—looking like a student about to show a failing test grade to their parents—made it obvious to anyone that she had a lot on her mind.
"So, have you decided? What exactly do you want to do?"
Jeanne asked seriously. She wanted to know if, after a night of internal conflict, Talulah would choose to lay all her cards on the table or continue to hide the truth until the day her origins were forcibly exposed.
"I've decided. I'm going to come clean. Even if they can't accept it right now, it won't necessarily lead to a fight. But if I keep hiding it, I'll inevitably have to weave more lies. If those are exploited by someone with ill intentions later, the final outcome will be unpredictable."
A fire seemed to ignite in Talulah's eyes. She had already envisioned the scenes she might face, yet she still chose the difficult path of speaking the truth.
"Fair enough. I'll go call them. You should wash up before you come; you look like you're lacking confidence like this."
With that, Jeanne stepped out to find Frostnova and Patriot. In truth, Jeanne wasn't overly worried; she had plenty of confidence in Talulah's ability to convince Patriot.
By the time Talulah had finished washing up and made her way to the training grounds, Patriot and Frostnova had arrived. They had heard from Jeanne that Talulah had something important to discuss with them. The two were curious—what could be so significant that it required both of them to attend? Had the nobles already reached the tundra?
"Everyone is here. I have two things to tell you today."
Talulah looked at the two sitting there, her mind already racing with their potential reactions. Taking a deep breath, she said bluntly:
"First, I need to apologize to you both, because I hid the fact that I am of noble birth."
At these words, Frostnova's drooping ears immediately stood straight up. She looked at Talulah with suspicious eyes, not quite understanding what game she was playing. Patriot, however, showed no particular reaction. It seemed that during his time with Talulah, he had already deduced that her identity was certainly not that of a simple peasant.
"I am actually the adopted daughter of Duke Kashchey of the Ursus Empire. At—"
"Kashchey! The Deathless Black Snake?"
For the first time, Patriot showed a very obvious emotional fluctuation. It was usually quite difficult to see such a visible change in the eyes of this masked old man.
"That's right. It is that very Kashchey, known as the Deathless Black Snake. After I killed him, I fled to this tundra."
Hearing Talulah's admission, Patriot's heart was anything but calm. Kashchey—this was a name he had heard from the moment he arrived in Ursus until his break with the empire. In these past few centuries, while no Duke of Ursus shared a blood relation, they were all carved from the same mold.
"You killed him? Over the centuries, countless people have wanted him dead, and many have claimed to have killed him, yet the will of that Black Snake never seems to die... eventually, those very people became Kashchey themselves!"
As he spoke, Patriot's crimson eyes stared deathly at Talulah, as if trying to find any flaw in her gaze.
"Kashchey is not just a person; it is a Will! It hovers over this country like a ghost! I find it hard to believe a child could kill such an existence!"
Talulah and Jeanne weren't surprised that Patriot knew so much about Kashchey. If this veteran knew nothing of such a being, that would be the problem.
"I didn't expect the Hero of Ursus to know so much about a small fry like me. I'm truly honored!"
At this moment, the tone of the words coming from Talulah's mouth changed completely, as if a different person was speaking.
This caused Patriot to stand up and look at Talulah warily. Seeing this, Frostnova also grew alert; if Talulah made any further out-of-line movements, she would immediately use her Originium Arts.
Jeanne, watching this, understood that Talulah had simply called Kashchey out to speak. This was a method they had tried before; Talulah could take back control of her body at any time. This was also why Kashchey's previous plan to "reform" Talulah's wardrobe had ended in failure.
Besides, Jeanne was sitting right there. If Kashchey tried anything nefarious, Jeanne would step in with a "Vibration Punch" followed by a "Holy Light Ripple Overdrive" to physically exorcise him. As God once said, most of the time, fists are more effective than brains. They might not solve the problem, but they can solve the person causing it.
"You... seized her body? Is this the truth of your Originium Arts?"
Seeing Jeanne still sitting there motionless, Patriot was somewhat puzzled. Why was Jeanne just watching? Shouldn't she be shouting "Give Talulah back to me!" and punching her in the face?
"That was the original plan, but right now, this child just called me out to say a few words to you. No matter how much she explains, it wouldn't be as effective as me coming out to prove it myself, would it?"
Kashchey, controlling Talulah's body, looked at his "silly dragon's" military uniform with some disdain. If he had known, he would have taught her more about fashion; how could her taste be this poor?
Looking at the somewhat "off" Kashchey, Patriot was utterly confused. What was the deal with these people?
One was watching like it was a show, one dared to hand over control of her body to a conspirator, and the last one was the most absurd—after seizing a body, instead of doing anything else, he complained about the clothes being ugly...
Patriot felt as if he couldn't keep up with the younger generation; his mind felt a bit sluggish. Looking at his own "white rabbit," he wondered: Did I overtrain this child into a blockhead?
"Don't think too much; I have no conspiracies left. I'm only alive now because I still have value to be exploited. Not to brag, but my centuries of experience are still useful—at least enough to trade for my own life..."
Looking at the self-satisfied fellow before him, Patriot found it hard to associate him with the evil deity hovering over Ursus. The current Kashchey looked more like a retired official chatting about domestic trivia. No matter how he looked at it, something was wrong...