"Huh? You want Ellie to acknowledge me as her godfather?"

Faced with the strange proposal from the Red-haired Director, Leon, who was called back after Emma left, couldn't help but ask in confusion:

"Why?"

"For... never mind, I was just suggesting."

After hesitating slightly, the Red-haired Director waved her hand, indicating that Leon need not concern himself with her previous words, and then she asked expectantly:

"Little Leon~ Emma will have to go on another mission in a while, so Ellie will probably need to stay at your place a bit longer... that shouldn't be a problem, right?"

"Of course, it's no problem."

Leon nodded slightly, furrowed his brows in thought for a moment, and then vaguely guessed the reason for becoming the "godfather."

Emma probably thought it was a bit inappropriate for little Ellie to stay at his house since he was already married, so she wanted to ask the Director to take care of her.

However, given the Director's lack of self-care ability, she probably couldn't even keep a turtle alive, let alone take care of a child. So this absurd idea of becoming a godfather was likely just something she came up with on a whim.

"I knew I couldn't hide it from you..."

Seeing Leon's expression, understanding that he had probably guessed the reason, the Red-haired Director helplessly blinked and then reluctantly handed him a bottle of Polar Bear Lager from the table.

"Do me another favor, drink all the beer on the table."

"?"

Looking at the beer handed to him, Leon was slightly taken aback and then somewhat puzzled as he asked:

"Didn't you specially ask me to bring this beer back? Why do you want me to drink it? What about you?"

"I don't have the face to drink."

Looking heartbroken, she picked up the Snow Linden Wine from the table, popped the cork with some force, sniffed the unique honey-like sweet fragrance, and sighed:

"Even though it wasn't my doing, I indeed condoned the Pisces Branch's plan after watching the wedding crystal ball. I... In short, regarding your wedding, I truly owe Emma an apology, and you as well."

"???"

What kind of nonsense is this? What did you even do?

"I... you better see for yourself."

Reaching over to lightly tap Leon's cufflink, she handed all the beers on the table to the protruding young husky. The Red-haired Director opened her large drawer, took out a stack of emerald-green leaves, laid them out on the table, and spoke with a hint of apology:

"If you touch these replicated crystal balls, you'll understand what I meant just now."

"?"

Faced with the Red-haired Director's seemingly nonsensical request, Leon furrowed his brow. Then, following her instruction, reached out to touch the leaves on the table.

"Sizzle~"

[Name: Memory Residual Leaf (Memory, Destruction)]

[Appearance: A translucent deep green leaf. If you actively touch it, you will access the memories stored inside]

[Ability: Memory Engraving, Self-destruction]

[Cost: Consumes a small amount of physical and mental energy, depending on the length and complexity of stored memories]

[File: The current Director of the Pisces Branch, after witnessing the prophecy made by the current Grand Shaman, engraved part of her memory and infused it into seven different Memory Residual Leaves recording seven different futures she saw. This is the first one.

When the human male named Leon Laine "reads" the memories within the leaf, the corresponding Memory Residual Leaf will wither on its own, reverting from an abnormal object to a withered, ordinary leaf, and the stored memory will instantly dissipate]

[Evaluation: Read and burn after reading]

[Contamination Value: 0.1]

...

A segment of memory?

In Leon's slightly astonished expression, the emerald-green leaf curled, enveloping his fingers, while its finely varied leaf veins adhered to his skin like tiny deep brown tendrils.

Soon after, a bizarre memory with a quite odd perspective yet not too different from reality surged into his mind through those tiny veins…

The Duke of Lionheart's succession ceremony, the Central Cross Theatre and Master Wilde, the Iron Princess and the rebel attack, secret night meetings and mutual promises… although there were many discrepancies in specific details, it surprisingly matched his experiences fairly closely.

But as time extended into the future, the initially somewhat clear memory began to become increasingly blurry, especially after reaching the "future" part; it was as if someone had poured ten pounds of rapeseed oil into his eyes, barely able to tell if what he saw was human or canine.

Even though the image resolution was terrible—worse than a 360p video—the subsequent memories, in reality, displayed parts of potential future scenes.

A vague silhouette, likely human, was holding another figure aloft, molding mountains and rivers as if kneading clay, drastically altering the barren landscape around them.

As the "camera" drew closer, the blurred figure even paused for a bit, then seemingly turned back, nodding slightly towards the "camera" before reaching out to block the view lightly… memory ends.

"This is..."

"This is one possible future after you marry the Princess Veronica."

Facing Leon's astonished inquiry, the Red-haired Director, turning her head aside, gulped down a sip of tea, then gestured to the other not-yet-withered [Memory Residual Leaves] on the table, without turning her head:

"As for the others, they show the future after you married someone else."

"?!!!"

What is this?

At these words, Leon's pupils contracted slightly, and he hurriedly reached out again, touching the second leaf.

This particular leaf's "main character" wasn't Princess Veronica but Emma, and its contents vastly differed from his actual experiences.

In the memory shown by this leaf, Senior Emma seemed to undertake far fewer missions after meeting him, and then asked for his "help," utilizing his soul vision to shoot an "ex-husband," the Marquis, from two kilometers away.

Later, when the Clean-up Bureau's investigators arrived, at first he tried to conceal things but was exposed by Camus, who was one-half of the Aquarius Director, leading to Emma being taken by the Bureau. Fortunately, Aquarius, in turn, was exposed by him, so Emma didn't face execution for protocol breaches.

Though this memory differed greatly from known reality, some aspects remained the same, like him devouring the Three-Headed Canine Deity and uncovering that Emma's tragedy was indeed orchestrated by the Slaughter King Association's vested hind deer.

However, subsequent memories again veered off, showing how little Ellie was influenced by the vested hind deer, developing small antlers. He had to reveal the truth and then pursued the angry Emma into the Realm of the Dead...

"You get it now, don't you?"

After glancing at the rapidly withering leaves on the table, then at Leon's somewhat bewildered expression, the Red-haired Director sighed and said:

"What I've done wrong to Emma is shown in that future you just saw. After discovering the unusual actions of the Pisces Branch, I confronted their Director, beat her half to death, and extracted this information forcefully.

Afterwards, she convinced me to a degree, leading me to condone some of her actions, causing Emma, who might have ended up with you, to leave the Royal Capital for extended periods due to missions, ultimately... In short, I truly wronged both of you."

"..."

So... was it really possible for me to marry Senior Emma?

Staring dazedly at the two withered leaves on the table, recalling the future he saw where he ended up with Senior Emma, Leon, immersed in turbulent emotions, fell silent.

After a while, as his Heart Lake calmed slightly, his gaze shifted to the other leaves on the table, he murmured:

"And the rest of these..."

"They are about that female officer, Amien from the Bureau, that merchant's daughter, and your sister Anna."

"Ah?!!!"

щ(ﾟДﾟщ)?!!!