Chapter 161: It Began with Alia, and Ends with Livia

"I'm not sure," Emma said, her brows slightly furrowed. A shadow of memory passed through her eyes as she slowly shook her head. Her voice was low, but firm. "I first started having doubts after you were kidnapped."

Livia froze, then turned slightly toward Emma with a puzzled look. "Kidnapped? Why? Weren't those people… with Eryx?"

Her voice was tinged with confusion and a trace of instinctive denial—she remembered those people clearly wearing the uniforms of Eryx's covert forces. If she hadn't seen them before, she wouldn't have been able to recognize them.

Emma nodded, her voice calm but laced with a chilling edge. "Yes, on the surface they were. So when I got the message that you'd been kidnapped—and almost… killed," she paused, her tone dropping lower, as if even the air grew heavy under the weight of those words, "I pointed a gun at him the moment I saw him."

She remembered that day clearly—inside a cabin only she and Eryx knew about. Her killing intent had been real. If Eryx hadn't given a convincing explanation, she would've pulled the trigger. But Eryx had denied ordering her execution.

"He said it wasn't his command to silence you. He only wanted to use you as leverage to force Marcellus into submission. I don't know him well, but I believe he was telling the truth that time."

Emma's tone softened slightly, though her eyes never left Livia's face. "He knew that if anything truly happened to you, I wouldn't let him live. I'd risk everything to take him down. And more importantly—killing you wouldn't benefit him at all. He'd lose the only leverage he had over Marcellus."

Livia opened her mouth but couldn't speak. Her mind was a whirlwind, and memories of her captivity surged back like a crashing tide. She remembered the cold voices, the emotionless execution of orders, and their plan to burn everything to the ground.

"So I guessed," Emma continued, her voice low and full of insight, "there must be a third party at play, hidden among us. They're using Eryx's name to stir chaos in the shadows—intentionally driving all the factions into conflict and waiting to reap the benefits."

Her tone turned more grounded as she spoke, as if placing puzzle pieces into their rightful places. Livia, still in shock, looked at her silently, her face written with disbelief and unease.

"There are other forces hiding where we can't see…" she murmured, as if trying to comprehend a much larger, more complicated picture.

Emma pressed her lips together and walked over to the window, pulling aside the heavy curtains. A slant of golden sunlight fell across her resolute face. "This game is deeper than we imagined."

She turned back, picking up the map and a few classified documents on the table. Her voice turned sharp, each word deliberate. "But one thing is crystal clear now—our top priority is to protect the expansion plan."

Her gaze cut like a blade. "No matter what, we can't let any files or information about the plan fall into the hands of Eryx or any other third party."

Livia nodded, her eyes growing more determined.

Then Emma's tone shifted. She softened the strategic edge of her voice, replacing it with something warmer and more sincere. "I know you trust me, Livia. And because you trust me, I don't want to make you overthink—or give others a reason to suspect. I don't need to know what's in the documents. I shouldn't know. Just tell me what to do."

Her voice held a clear, conscious restraint—not of distance, but of a soldier's respect for trust and duty.

Livia frowned slightly, hesitating. Just as she was about to speak, Emma interrupted her gently.

"Remember," Emma said, locking eyes with her. Every word was solemn and steady. "Don't trust anyone. Not even me. If what you're saying is true—if the 'Holy Grail' really has that kind of power—then how can you be sure I won't be affected someday? Or accidentally leak your plan at a crucial moment?"

She paused, voice quieter but weightier, like a bell toll in the silence. "The best way to keep the truth safe… is to make sure only you know it. You must be the only one who knows where the Grail truly is—what it truly means. Maybe you're also the only one who can find it… and control it."

Livia flinched slightly. Her fingers twisted lightly in her lap, her heart caught in a tangle of emotions. She didn't want to doubt Emma—but Emma's logic was sound.

She bit her lip and asked softly, "Then… what if, in the end, it affects me too? What if I change… into someone I don't even recognize?"

Her voice trembled with quiet fear, as if she was afraid of being swallowed up by a power too great to resist, of losing herself completely.

Emma let out a small sigh, her lips curving into a bittersweet but unwavering smile. "Then only heaven will know."

She didn't offer any comforting lies. She simply reached out and gently placed her hand on Livia's head—like a silent armor, like a mother's quiet reassurance.

"But I believe in you, daughter of Celesta," Emma said softly. Her voice was as light as the wind, but it sank deep into the soul. "The heavens didn't show you all this to punish you. They showed it to you because you're meant to end it. Maybe this was always meant to begin with you… and end with you."

Livia stared at Emma, her heart swelling with something warm. It was a long-lost feeling—that of being truly trusted and understood.

She nodded slowly, no longer hesitant.

She was Celesta's daughter—and she had once been revived by the Holy Grail. If all of this began with her… then she would be the one to bring it to an end.