"Most importantly, I was at least able to let her experience a normal school... something I was never able to do myself. So, it was at least enough. If she couldn''t go to university and instead had to attend some academy, even if it could prove a little dangerous, there was nothing that could be done about that."

    "For me, I had already prepared myself for the idea that she would eventually attend university far away from me anyway."

    ''Actually, all these things about your daughter, I don''t care much about.''

    Christian wanted to voice out his thoughts, as he, who already didn''t like Olivia much, found himself strangely disliking her even more now, hearing how she was receiving all this love and concern from Eva.

    Most importantly, she was the daughter of that fucking trash.

    Even though he knew she had no connection to what that man had done, and she might even despise him as well, he still couldn''t shake the feeling.

    And yes, it was wrong, childish even, but he couldn''t help it.

    While Christian wrestled with these conflicting thoughts swirling in his mind, Eva spoke again, pulling his attention back.

    "The problem comes next,when I asked Sophia to get me some information about the current situation, I received news that some kind of changes are happening. The ancient families'' position and power, which were already precarious in the modern world, this time seem to be going down even more."

    ''That''s probably because of the people from outside the world, right?'' Christian thought, forming his own theory about the current situation. Yet, he remained silent, looking at Eva as she continued.

    "And if that happens, what would become of me then?" she asked, her voice growing heavier. "Where so many factors have played a role in my current situation, even if I was restricted in my movements, forced to stay in a small city."

    "My biggest reliance, is still the word of my cousin from the Ashvale family and the existence of my daughter, who is being treasured because of her talent."

    "But with the ancient families weakening, these two would also surely be affected. And in turn, that could extend to my situation. So, I became more aggressive in how I do things, hoping to find a clue, anything, that I could use to escape from all of this."

    She let out a weary sigh. "But I couldn''t find anything. And some time passed before we eventually met."

    ''Why does she think her situation is this dire?'' Christian wondered, his thoughts swirling. From his perspective, her predicament didn''t seem quite so desperate, still far from the stage where everything would crumble. Even escaping, was it truly that hard? Unable to keep his thoughts to himself, he asked directly, "Why do you think your situation is this bad in the first place?"

    "He''s someone who wants others to work for him, not share his authority... not an alliance."

    "So, I''m confident that as soon as he gets the chance, he will drop all pretenses, and there will be no such thing as an alliance remaining."

    Still not convinced by all these reasons, Christian pressed on.

    "What about Olivia? No matter what, she''s his granddaughter. So, if she becomes strong enough, would he really risk her turning against him, just to fulfill the filthy desires of his useless son?"

    Eva, starting to feel odd, still answered.

    "In the grand scheme of things, what could Olivia amount to?"

    "And I don''t want to cling to these uncertainties."

    "Most importantly, it''s just an academy for grouping talented and influential kids, but would they really go all out, giving them their best?"

    "And I heard that those who enter the academy are restricted from going out during the first year."

    Feeling like maybe this was the reason they weren''t on the same page, Christian finally asked.

    "Wait, who do you think is responsible for running this academy?"

    "It''s a collaborative project, with the government, some wealthy people, and the ancient families."

    "Huh?"

    "Who said that?"

    Against Christian''s prompt question, Eva replied succinctly. "That''s the information I got through Sophia."

    Messaging his temple, Christian thought for a moment, finally realizing that the fact the academy was run by people from outside the world... that there''s people coming from outside their world might be a more closely guarded secret than he had initially thought.