Emrys was actually mentally prepared for the answer to this question; he knew it wouldn't be easy to find out.
Otherwise, he would have just asked Morgana.
Despite a slight disappointment, he quickly composed himself and asked the second question.
"When you heard my age just now, what was the reason you decided to take over my body?" Emrys' gaze was sharp, like a knife piercing directly into Ederas.
However, Ederas' next action made Emrys frown, revealing a puzzled expression.
He actually turned his gaze to Winnie, who was standing beside him, and asked indifferently, "Can I say it?"
Ederas was asking for Winnie's opinion?
Emrys paused for a few seconds, then turned to look at Winnie, only to find a fleeting complexity in her eyes; if he hadn't observed carefully, he probably wouldn't have noticed it.
That complex look lasted only a moment.
Soon, Winnie returned to her usual self, stating expressionlessly, "This is your choice; it has nothing to do with me."
"Understood."
Ederas nodded slightly, seemingly understanding her meaning, then turned back to Emrys.
"I can tell you the answer to this, but are you sure you want to know? Perhaps this answer will shatter the beliefs you've always held."
It was getting more and more bizarre!
Emrys' brows furrowed almost into a 'river' shape, his eyes dark and veiled, shifting between Winnie and Ederas, finally settling on the person beside him.
He took a deep breath and slowly said, "Do you think I should know this?"
Complexity resurfaced in Winnie's eyes.
After a long silence, she softly said, "If I told you not to seek this answer, would you listen to me?"
"No."
Emrys' answer was crisp and decisive.
"I knew it—" Winnie sighed helplessly, giving him an annoyed look, "From the moment we met until now, you've never listened to me, and this time is no exception.
Since you won't listen, why ask for my opinion?"
"I just wanted to gauge the scope of this answer based on your reply." Emrys pinched the bridge of his nose, a habitual stress-relieving gesture.
"Unfortunately, from your answer, it seems this matter is… quite significant."
Even Winnie was advising him against it, which showed just how profound and secretive his 'age' problem was.
"If I insist on knowing, will you stop me?" Emrys asked again.
If Winnie wanted to prevent him from knowing the truth of this matter, then it would be absolutely impossible for him to learn the truth from Ederas.
Looking at Emrys' serious eyes, Winnie hesitated for half a second, then finally, as if resigned, shook her head.
"Even if I stop you today, you won't give up seeking the truth of this matter, and—in the journey ahead, you'll always have a chance to know it.
It's just a matter of time."
Her words were tantamount to acquiescence.
Emrys also breathed a sigh of relief.
If Winnie had been firm, he really wouldn't have known what to do, but thankfully, 'his own people' were considerate.
"Now you can speak." After dealing with the most obstructive person, he looked directly at Ederas, "Your age is wrong."
Ederas looked at him, a hint of coldness in his tone.
"Counting from when I left Roselle, my heir should be 19 years old this year, not—twenty.
You are one year older than my heir!"
Boom!
This news directly shocked Emrys' brain, making his thoughts turn into ran, like a blank rock-grinder!
What did he mean?!
The real 'Emrys' is 19 this year!
This is impossible—Emrys was stunned, not because he lacked a father and felt sad.
If he wasn't the real Emrys, then who was 'he'?!
Seeing Emrys' shocked, bewildered, and constantly changing expression, standing dumbfounded, Ederas sneered.
His polygonal android eye glowed with an eerie red light, and his voice was low, like a ghost realm.
"I am certain that my heir should be 19 this year, but you—although you possess direct bloodline, your age is one year older."
"In my experience, there are only two possibilities for such a situation—"
At this point, Ederas paused for a few seconds, staring sinisterly at Emrys, as if wanting to strip him bare from the inside out.
"First, you are not human at all, but a chess piece specially arranged by one of the Four Chaos Gods, whose memory has been erased, and you are essentially a Warp daemon."
"That's impossible!"
Emrys immediately denied it.
Nonsense, if he really were a Warp daemon, he would have been crushed by the Emperor long ago.
How could he still be alive and kicking now?
Not to mention anything else, just Winnie and Morgana—one is the Emperor's Living Saint, the other a War Apostle—crushing him would be as easy as crushing an ant!
"Indeed, this possibility is very small." Ederas nodded, appearing very calm, and continued.
"If you were a creation of the 'Four Gods,' this 'God-Emperor's' apostle beside you would not tolerate you living until now."
"So, after being stopped by this messenger, I realized this point." He continued.
"There is another possibility, which is that after your birth, you entered the Warp, so the time on you, my memory, and reality all diverged.
Your true age is 19."
The concept of 'time' does not exist in the Warp, which means—before he transmigrated, the original body had entered the Warp and spent a year there, but lost his memory, which led to the discrepancy between Emrys' memory and his body!
This news made Emrys' mood inexplicably heavy.
The secret hidden by the original body now seemed even greater than he had imagined!
Not only the 'Traveler System,' but even his age deviated from reality!
"Do you know something?" Emrys thought for a moment, placing his hope on Winnie.
Unexpectedly, Winnie shook her head.
"No, I only know that when you were very young, you mysteriously disappeared for a period of time, but I don't know what exactly happened."
"Is it related to the God-Emperor?"
Emrys asked.
"I don't know." Winnie continued to shake her head, speaking sincerely and truthfully.
"Not only I, but even Morgana doesn't know about this, or rather, even that person doesn't know."
Things were getting more and more complicated—Emrys closed his eyes, feeling as if he had fallen into a huge vortex, surrounded by a vast conspiracy, yet he alone knew nothing.
This feeling was terrible.
"You all go out and let me be alone for a while."
Emrys sat on the Iron Throne, exhaled heavily, and closed his eyes as if falling into a doze.