Nora slowly rose from her chair.
The dinner had ended.
The servants quietly began clearing the dishes while Rylan remained seated, speaking with one of the attendants about government matters on Planet Asterion.
Nora quietly walked toward the balcony.
The night sky stretched endlessly above her.
Countless stars shimmered across the heavens.
Yet none of them could calm the storm forming inside her mind.
She had only taken a few steps before soft footsteps echoed behind her.
"Nora."
She turned.
Seraphine stood there.
The gentle smile on her mother's face hadn't changed.
She slowly walked beside Nora and rested one hand on the balcony railing.
"You've been quiet."
Nora forced a smile.
"I'm fine."
Seraphine laughed softly.
"No."
"You've been lost in your thoughts for several minutes."
"I've called your name three times."
"You didn't even hear me."
Nora blinked.
Had she really been thinking for that long?
Seraphine turned toward her daughter.
"Tell me."
"What is going on inside that head of yours?"
Nora hesitated.
Then she decided to ask the question that had been bothering her ever since she returned from Planet Diamond.
"Mom..."
"Do you really believe..."
"...that there were only Eight Gods?"
Silence.
For the briefest moment—
Something changed in Seraphine's expression.
It happened so quickly that an ordinary person would never have noticed.
Her pupils narrowed slightly.
The smile on her lips stiffened.
Then...
She smiled again.
A perfect smile.
Too perfect.
The kind of smile Nora immediately recognized.
It was the smile someone wore when they intended to hide the truth.
"No, sweetie."
"What made you think that?"
Nora quietly stared into her mother's eyes.
She didn't activate her Third Eye.
She didn't need to.
Her instincts already told her enough.
Her mother was lying.
Not maliciously.
Not because she wanted to deceive her.
But because she believed Nora shouldn't know.
Nora lowered her gaze.
"It's nothing."
"I was only wondering..."
She paused before continuing.
"Uncle Vaelith disappeared after surpassing the Transcendent Realm."
"Nobody found his body."
"Nobody found any clues."
"Now Grandpa wants to become a god."
She slowly looked back toward Seraphine.
"Don't you think..."
"...the same thing might happen to him?"
The smile disappeared from Seraphine's face.
For several seconds she remained completely silent.
Even the night breeze seemed to stop.
Finally...
She sighed.
"Nora."
"There are truths..."
"...that even Sovereigns avoid speaking about."
She looked toward the endless stars.
"Sometimes..."
"Simply knowing the truth is enough to destroy a person's life."
Her voice became quieter.
"And there are truths..."
"...that are capable of destroying far more than a single life."
Nora frowned.
"What do you mean?"
Seraphine slowly turned toward her.
"What if..."
"...learning one certain truth..."
"...could erase an entire universe?"
Nora's heart skipped a beat.
She searched her mother's face.
There wasn't the slightest trace of a joke.
Seraphine was completely serious.
The realization sent chills through Nora's body.
Could knowledge itself...
...really be that dangerous?
Seraphine gently placed a hand on Nora's head.
"As for your grandfather..."
"He isn't becoming a god for power."
"He already possesses enough power."
"He's searching for an answer."
Nora listened silently.
"He believes Vaelith didn't die."
"He believes..."
"...your uncle was taken somewhere."
"Somewhere beyond our understanding."
Nora's breathing slowed.
"Taken..."
Seraphine nodded.
"Your grandfather has a theory."
"He believes there may be another reality."
"Another existence."
"Perhaps another universe."
"Perhaps countless universes."
"Or perhaps..."
"...something even greater than a multiverse."
She shook her head.
"We don't know."
"It's only a hypothesis."
"Nothing has been proven."
"But if there is even the slightest chance that Vaelith still exists..."
"...your grandfather intends to find him."
Nora lowered her head.
Suddenly...
Everything began connecting together.
Vaelith's disappearance.
The mysterious references to forgotten gods.
The strange records inside the ancient books.
Fate God.
Destiny god
Fate.
Names that shouldn't have existed if history were correct.
Her curiosity only grew stronger.
If there truly were only Eight Gods...
Then where had those names come from?
And if there were more than Eight...
Who erased them from history?
Seraphine gently squeezed Nora's shoulder.
"I know that look."
Nora smiled weakly.
"What look?"
"The look you get whenever you discover another mystery."
Nora couldn't deny it.
Her mother smiled warmly.
"I won't stop you from searching."
"But promise me something."
Nora nodded.
"What is it?"
Seraphine looked directly into her eyes.
"If one day..."
"...your instincts tell you to stop."
"Then stop."
"Curiosity is a beautiful thing."
"But even curiosity has limits."
Nora remained silent.
She wasn't sure she could make that promise.
Because the deeper she looked...
The more she realized how little humanity actually knew.
Misty Mountain.
The forgotten ruins.
The ancient language.
The missing pages of history.
Everything seemed connected.
She suddenly remembered the upcoming expedition with Awakened Rose.
There was nearly a fifty-percent chance that the ancient ruins hidden within Misty Mountain contained records older than modern civilization itself.
Perhaps...
The answers she sought had been waiting there all along.
Nora slowly clenched her fist.
"I'll find the truth."
She didn't say it aloud.
She whispered it only to herself.
Far above the stars...
Beyond human sight...
Something ancient stirred.
As though the universe itself had heard her vow.
The mystery of the gods...
Had only just begun.