I! Cleaner!

So that's how it is...

Looking at Atifie00, who had taken over the Queen's body, Leon couldn't help but flash a look of understanding in his eyes.

No wonder I've been so lucky; as soon as I entered the hall of preservation, I stumbled upon this little drama revealing the truth from those years. It was specifically arranged for me to see.

"Well, let's make do."

After nodding noncommittally, Leon stared at the gentle-smiling 'Queen,' and asked:

"These things you just showed me, does Andre know about them?"

"Of course not."

The Queen... or rather Atifie00, smiled and replied:

"Feiliya's computing power is indeed much stronger than mine, but when it comes to the soul and memory, it's not something that can be easily sorted out just with computational power. As the creator of the Soul Encoding Technology, I thought hiding a little something in my 'creations' shouldn't be too difficult."

"I see... It seems the relationship between you and Prince Andre is even worse than I had imagined."

Narrowing his eyes slightly, Leon spoke:

"Did you hide these past events just to use them against him when the time came?"

"Don't put it so harshly."

Atifie00 replied with a smile:

"After all, I'm still Andre's aunt. Maybe I just didn't want to tell him the truth because I was worried that it would devastate him?"

"..."

Yeah, right...

Glancing at her speechlessly, Leon did not continue the conversation but pondered over the backstory of these past events.

After all, if what Atifie00 showed him was true and Prince Andre also wasn't aware, the tragedy that befell the Crolock royal family was caused by a misunderstanding.

Out of not wanting to see his two children die in despair amid sickness, the old King decided to sacrifice one to save the other. Not wanting Andre to bear the guilt of "surviving because his sister was sacrificed," the truth was hidden from him.

But in Andre's eyes, it was as if the entire Crolock royal family had gone mad; to solve the Kingdom's crisis, they pressured the old King to sacrifice his twelve-year-old sister.

Not only did his parents fail to protect Feiliya, but one gave the order, and the other tacitly approved. On his sister's birthday, they had her brain removed while she was alive and turned into a cold machine.

Honestly, if it were me, I'd have gone insane in such a situation.

Standing from the perspective of a fellow sister-protector, Leon couldn't help but shake his head slightly as he thought about Andre's experiences and somewhat understood the reason behind all his actions.

King Fein and his wife didn't want Andre to live bearing guilt, but as it turned out, they took even more from him by doing so.

In Andre's perspective, if his father could sacrifice his sister for the Kingdom, he could naturally be sacrificed too. Thus, everything from the past became a web of lies, and the happier his life originally was, the deeper the pain.

Honestly, if Prince Andre's last name were Uchiha, this event would probably have been enough to awaken his powers, and at least it'd be a three-tomoe Sharingan. Being stuck with such a disastrous affair, who wouldn't flip out?

But understanding aside, given the current situation, if I can use this information against Andre, I should absolutely use it without hesitation.

Sympathy and understanding are matters for after the fact—after dragging him out of Research Area No.1 and stripping him of all resistance, there will be plenty of time to sympathize with him.

As for whether this information can actually be used against Prince Andre...

It can.

If Prince Andre truly knows nothing about this, then exposing this "truth from back then" could indeed cause him significant psychological harm, but the outcome might not necessarily be in our favor.

Considering that the ancestors of Crolock's royal family were very strong Cleaners, it's not unlikely that Prince Andre, after suffering a "mental blow," could create an abnormal object like Joshua did in the future.

If he doesn't mentally collapse and surrender, but instead, starts to go insane upon insane, erupting into a frenzy, then I would only be hitting myself. Rashly exposing the truth to Prince Andre might not be a good thing, and this information isn't as valuable as it seems. However, it might not be entirely valueless either.

At this thought, Leon glanced at the "Queen" in front of him, and then took the initiative to ask:

"Atifie... I'll just call you Atifie. There's something I'm very curious about, and I wonder if you can answer me."

"Go ahead, but whether I can answer depends on what you're asking. If you're asking about Andre's trump card, I definitely can't tell you."

"Don't worry, I'm not asking about his trump card. What I want to know is about what happened back then."

Staring into the Queen's emerald green eyes, just like Feiliya's, Leon spoke each word clearly:

"Did Andre and Feiliya really 'fall ill' back then?"

"..."

"What do you mean?"

After a brief moment of silence, the smile on the "Queen's" lips faintly disappeared, and she frowned:

"I've just shown you what happened back then; apart from the fact that Fein's actions were simulated by me because his brain was removed, all memories related to these events are from their own minds. I don't have the capability to falsify in that aspect."

"I'm not doubting your fabrications."

Leon shook his head upon hearing this, pressing on:

"I'm questioning whether the message King Fein received back then was true or not.

Can you please tell me, were Andre and Feiliya really sick back then, with no choice but to sacrifice one to save the other, or did someone secretly manipulate things to create a mind machina ten times smarter than themselves?"

"You're suspecting that I fabricated their illness?"

Upon hearing Leon's words, the "Queen's" expression turned slightly cold, and she replied with hostility:

"Stop with the wild imagination. Our Crolock Kingdom has deep research into the brain, with over three hundred scholars having made contributions. If I had tampered with something, wouldn't Fein have sought others for confirmation?"

"There are many scholars who understand the brain, but you were the only mind machina at that time, and given that the brains of your royal family differ greatly from ordinary people, those scholars might not have seen through any deception."

Looking at the "Queen" who was glaring daggers at him, with implicit anger in her expression, Leon concluded:

"So in this matter, the possibility that you tampered isn't zero, am I right?"

"..."

"Of course, maybe I could put it more bluntly."

Leon slowed his speech, looking at her as he continued:

"The important thing isn't what the truth is, but what Prince Andre is more willing to believe.

One side is that he, due to a misunderstanding, slaughtered his family and kin with his own hands, making himself the greatest mistake, not knowing who to seek revenge on;

And the other side is someone manipulating from the shadows, deliberately using him to create this tragedy, with a mastermind to target for revenge. Which do you think he's more willing to believe?"

"..."

It would surely be the second one... and if Andre learned of this "truth," he might immediately destroy me!

Looking at the aggressive Leon in front of her, the "Queen's" previous jesting and ease had completely vanished. Regretting the initiative to contact Leon, she couldn't help but frown and ask:

"What exactly do you want by saying all this?"

"Of course, I want to cooperate with you in a deeper way."

Leon replied without changing his expression:

"What I want isn't a fence-sitter but your more thorough and unreserved support... Atifie, you wouldn't want your good nephew to learn the truth about that matter back then, right?"