Ah, this...

After discerning the underlying meaning in the Great Shaman King's words, Leon couldn't help but twitch the corner of his mouth, momentarily at a loss for words.

No matter whom I marry, I will definitely have a child with Veronica? So... should I be called faithful, or should I be called a jerk?

"You should be called a lustful jerk."

"..."

Looking at the cat who lifted its head from the Great Shaman King's arms and gazed at him with disdain, Leon, feeling wrongly accused, couldn't help but glare back with irritation.

"You still have the nerve to criticize me? If I'm a jerk, then you're a devoted daughter!"

"Haha, I was influenced and had no choice, but surely you weren't forced, right?"

"..."

It feels hard to refute... Am I really a lustful jerk?

"Sir Leon."

As Leon was being grilled by the cat princess to the point of rolling his eyes and beginning to doubt his own ethics, the Great Shaman King quietly pinched the princess's plump kitty behind, halting her assault, and then gently said:

"The questions you wanted to ask should all be answered by now, so next, may I ask you a question?"

Ask me?

Leon was a bit taken aback at the notion that the future-seeing Great Shaman King would have a question for him, and replied with slightly flickering eyes:

"Please go ahead, as long as it's a question I can answer, I will do my best to respond."

"Alright."

The aged Great Shaman King, facing Leon's cautious response of limiting his answers to what he "can" and "will try to" answer, merely nodded with a smile and calmly asked:

"What do you think of this world?"

"?"

Isn't it... quite a philosophical question? Starting right off with a worldview inquiry?

Leon hadn't expected the Great Shaman King to ask such a deep question, and after a moment's consideration, hesitated on whether to hold back in his response. But given that the Great Shaman King could see what he'd do in the future, he eventually decided against disguising his thoughts, responding concisely with the truth:

"There are many dangers, many problems, and even more areas in need of correction or transformation."

Indeed...

Although he had already foreseen Leon's answer in the future, watching him speak those words without a hint of hesitation still made the Great Shaman King inwardly sigh, and he asked with a somewhat complex expression:

"Sir Leon, do you and Lady Veronica truly have no blood relation?"

"Huh?"

"I mean, compared to Her Majesty Veronica, who possesses the [Arrogance] bloodline, you seem more like the one who inherited the [Arrogance] power."

Faced with Leon's puzzled gaze, the Great Shaman King stroked the cat princess's back, explaining with a regretful look:

"Many dangers, many problems, needing correction and transformation... In other words, you are confident in eliminating dangers; you believe you can solve problems; and you even think your corrections and transformations of the world will certainly be right.

Sir Leon, I don't wish to describe your thoughts as arrogance, but your confidence is so overwhelming that I can't find another word to describe it outside of arrogance."

"..."

After hearing the Great Shaman King's words, Leon was silent for a moment before he seemingly realized something and asked in return:

"Because of those wedding Crystal Balls?"

"And all the different futures that were drastically corrected due to those Crystal Balls."

Answering Leon's question, the Great Shaman King watched him closely while gently stroking the astonished cat princess and continued:

"In those different futures, although you marry various wives, encounter many different people, and walk entirely different paths, there is one thing you always do...

Once you possess sufficient power, you begin to 'reshape' the world according to your ideas, without exception."

"..."

Headache... Dealing with someone who can see the future, and not just one possible future, makes it impossible to keep any secrets, let alone deny or play dumb...

Exchanging a glance with the insightful Great Shaman King, Leon couldn't help but nod helplessly, admitting that he indeed harbored such intentions, before asking in return:

"So, what do you think about what I want to do?"

"I can't make it out."

The Great Shaman King shook his head at Leon's words:

"My life is nearing its end, so while I can see those futures, they no longer include me. Those fragmented and blurry futures merely represent possibilities and do not prove whether what you wish to do is right or wrong."

After giving a response that said nearly nothing, the Great Shaman King, petting the now drowsing cat princess, calmly continued:

"Sir Leon, the reason I brought this up isn't to oppose or support you, but to remind you... You still have many things you wish to do that you haven't had the chance to. The prerequisite for achieving them is surviving and escaping from the [Bedtime Story] of the Narration of Nonexistence."

"I'm well aware of that."

Faced with the increasingly vague statements of the Great Shaman King, Leon couldn't help but frown and ask:

"So what exactly are you trying to say?"

"What I'm saying is, I actually have a way for you and Catherine to immediately escape from the [Bedtime Story]."

"?!!!"

Amid Leon's surprised gaze, a strange pulsation suddenly emerged from the courtyard they were in.

With the sound, more muffled than thunder in the winter and longer than the breath of a giant whale, the entire inner courtyard "came alive," starting to contract and expand in sync with the slow, heavy thunder-like sound, almost as if...

It was an impossibly enormous heart!!!

"This is the [heart] of the Great Court, our greatest secret."

After lovingly stroking the sleeping cat princess in his arms, the Great Shaman King, whose body kept cycling between youth and old age in rhythm with the heavy heartbeat, gently explained:

"After the ten branches of the Great Court were defeated by us humans, the most important Great Court was divided into ten parts, which were preserved separately by the ten branches.

The three earth tribes you have already defeated held the Thick Blood, Breeding Flesh, and Bone of Flourishing, that is, the [bone], [flesh], and [blood] of the Great Court; the three sea tribes and three feathered tribes held the [hair], [skin], [organs] and [eyes], [ears], [tongue], respectively.

As for the most precious [heart] of the Great Court, it was preserved by us, the descendants of the Shaman King, with each generation's Great Shaman King serving as the custodian of the [heart]. The so-called ceremony of inheriting the throne of the Shaman King is actually the ritual of passing the [heart] to the next generation."