System's POV

Thirteen finally understood what had happened, and it seemed like the spoiled lady had come to complain to her mother about what had happened in the library earlier.

"Carina, sweetheart, I want to talk with Zion in private," Rana said with a smile. "Can you leave us alone for a while? If you do, I promise to listen to the request you asked me earlier."

"Really?" Carina asked, half doubting her mother's words.

"Really." Rana nodded.

Carina pondered for a moment before nodding for a moment. She then walked toward Zion, looking so smug as if she had won against him in some kind of game.

When she was about to walk past him, Carina stuck out her tongue and made faces at the teenage boy, who found her antics quite amusing.

"Please sit," Rana said as she gestured for her guest to sit on the chair in front of her table. "Carina told me something interesting earlier. She said that you have five fiancees. Is that true?"

"It's true," Thirteen answered.

"Well, this is a surprise." Rana arched an eyebrow. "It seems like you're telling the truth. I have underestimated your… charisma when it comes to the ladies."

Although she was smiling, she was starting to think that letting Zion stay inside the palace was a bad thing.

She had the ability to tell lies from the truth, and she was worried that her innocent daughter would fall for the teenage boy, whom she had picked up from the streets out of whim.

"Then tell me—who are you, really?" Rana asked. "Be careful with your answers. If you lie, I might suddenly throw you in the prison under the castle."

"I don't mind answering truthfully, but I don't like one-sided interrogations," Thirteen replied. "I want my questions to be answered as well."

"Hoh… boy, do you know who you are dealing with?" Rana asked in a teasing tone. "Are you sure you want to use that tone on me?"

Thirteen smiled faintly. "You are a Celestial, one of the most powerful people in Artem. You can pinch me to oblivion, and I will not be able to do anything about it. But just because you are stronger than me doesn't mean I will let myself be bullied."

Rana sneered. It had been a while since someone had openly challenged her like this. After all, just as Zion had said, she could easily kill him if she wanted to.

Yet even though he knew she could do that, the teenage boy still held his ground.

Rana had to admit, the other party's backbone sure was admirable.

"Very well. But there are questions I will not answer." Rana leaned back on her chair. "If you are fine with that, then we can have this heart-to-heart talk without lies."

Thirteen nodded. "Good. Now, I will answer your previous question. You asked who I am, didn't you? The answer is simple. I'm the person who thwarted King Astrion's invasion of Pangea."

Rana's eyes widened in shock after hearing the young man's declaration. Since she could perceive truth from lies, she understood that Zion was telling the truth.

"You…" Rana's voice turned cold, and a form of invisible tension descended inside the room.

"I'll ask the next question," Thirteen answered. "Are you in favor of conquering other worlds just like your King?"

"And if I am?" Rana asked back.

"We both agreed to be honest, so please don't answer my question with another question," Thirteen stated. "I want to know if you will support any further excursions to conquer other worlds."

Rana rested her chin on the back of her intertwined hands as she gazed at Zion calmly.

"No," Rana answered. "I was one of those who opposed his decision to conquer other worlds. My next question is this—what are you doing here?"

Thirteen smiled faintly. "I'm here to prevent another round of our world's invasion. And to achieve that, I need to understand who King Astrion's supporters are, as well as those who might use this opportunity to usurp his position as king."

"That's two questions hidden in one statement," Rana countered.

"I don't mind," Thirteen replied. "You can ask me two questions later."

Rana narrowed her eyes before giving her answer. "Half of the High Archons have supported his decision to invade another world. As for the Celestials, the other two supported him as well.

"But between you and me, I'm pretty sure they were hoping that King Astrion would fail and die in another world. That way, they would be able to seize the throne legitimately."

"Is this confirmed, or just pure speculation on your part?" Thirteen inquired, not minding the fact that he was asking another question. "Since this is related to the question, this is not out of bounds, right?"

"It is purely my speculation, but I believe it is the truth," Rana answered without batting an eye. "Now here are my questions. The first one is, how did you cross over to our world, and the second one is, where is your confidence coming from? You know I can easily kill you, and yet here you are, trying to get answers from me as if we are equals."

Thirteen placed his hands behind his back before giving his answer. "The answer to your first question is that I crossed over to your world using the same method that King Astrion used to cross over to our world.

"The answer to your second question is because I have brought a Celestial with me. That's where my confidence is coming from."

"You brought a Celestial here? Wait… is that the person who shares the same inn as you? The one in the report given to me by Zen?"

Thirteen nodded. "Yes. That's him."

He allowed Rana to digest everything they talked about for a minute before he once again asked a question.

"If ever Castor Deneb or Regulus Serpens were to instigate a rebellion to take over the throne, will you support them?" Thirteen inquired.

"Never," Rana answered without hesitation. "I will never support those two snakes."

"Then would you like to form an alliance with me?" Thirteen gazed at Rana calmly. "My goal is to prevent anyone from invading our world a second time. In order to do that, those who plan to launch another expedition must be eliminated at all costs."

Rana sneered. "You want me to betray my countrymen? You have guts."

"Well, sooner or later, you will find yourself making a hard choice," Thirteen stated. "I have been gathering information, and from what I can tell, the military is very disappointed with King Astrion's loss. A lot of them are thinking that maybe it's time for a new king to sit on the throne."

"You're just making things up," Rana said in annoyance.

"You doubt my words?" Thirteen arched an eyebrow. "Didn't you say your ability allows you to tell truth from lies?"

"I can only tell whether a person believes that they are telling the truth," Rana replied. "Unfortunately, my power doesn't work well on delusional people."

"You just low-key called me delusional."

"It's because I don't believe what you're saying about the military."

"I'm not forcing you to believe me," Thirteen shrugged. "I'm sure you have some spies here and there. You should get in touch with them and ask them to update you on the current affairs in the places you can't see."

Rana didn't make any more comments about the military and once again asked Zion a question.

"Tell me, do you think you will be able to escape from here?" Rana snapped her fingers and summoned her domain, encompassing the entire room.

"Why would I escape?" Thirteen asked, looking amused. "I don't see a need for me to escape. If I were so afraid of what you would do to me, I wouldn't have started this conversation. In fact, I feel very flattered. A Celestial used a domain because she was afraid that I might be able to escape under her nose."

The atmosphere inside the room became more intense as Rana finally unleashed a bit of her power to force Zion to kneel.

But to her surprise, the teenage boy remained standing, looking unfazed by what she was doing.

Thinking that she might be holding back because she was afraid that the boy would die after unleashing her pressure, she slowly increased it to see his limit.

Five minutes later, Thirteen was still calmly standing in his spot and even playfully gave Rana a wink as if mocking her for her attempt to bully him.