They had paintings of all the kings throughout history. However, Pheles was not there. The portrait of the first king alone was missing.
At the same time, there was practically no doc.u.ments talking about what kind of person he was.
Aquasteed had a.s.sumed that there was some reason for all of this. But seeing as how the Fairy Kings had helped him build the country, he began to feel that it was very odd.
Even now, this kingdom loved the fairies. So why would they want to hide Pheles, when they had given him power?
Aquasteed stared at Grail, hungry for an answer. But it was Liliarge who opened her mouth.
"I can tell you the reason."
Her small body moved up the chair and she looked around at everyone present. In her hand was the ring that Pheles had made.
"This is the ring of the starry sky that Pheles gave to me. It has two effects. The first is the power of healing. And the other… The immense power that Pheles is not able to take in…is put into this ring."
"What…!?"
The person who was the most shocked by this revelation was Tiararose, who had been given a similar ring by Aquasteed.
If it was also a ring of the starry sky, then it must have the same effect as well. It had brought Tiararose"s memory back. That must have been the healing power.
She touched her ring now and was not able to hide the surprise on her face.
She wondered if it contained all the power that Aquasteed was not able to hold. It did not feel like it now, at least.
But, more importantly—
"Queen Lilia. Will Prince Aqua be alright…!?"
Tiararose was worried that Aquasteed might become unstable like Pheles.
Liliarge looked at Tiararose and said, "well, let me continue."
"Normally, Pheles and I alone should have been able to manage it… But it was not to be. And now it pains me to have to entrust such a thing to our children…"
Liliarge shook as she said this. She was greatly troubled. She did not want Tiararose and Aquasteed to be hurt because of them.
After a short silence, she continued.
"…You have probably guessed the rest. Pheles became unstable and started to change…because my ring was at full capacity and could no longer take any more of his power."
There had been moments in the past where this had seemed likely, but this time, try as they might, they could do nothing about it. Liliarge said.
Even Liliarge had only recently been able to move with this inhuman body she had gained. And so she had much less freedom than they had thought.
"I am sorry for not telling you before."
Tiararose shook her head.
It took a lot of courage to tell someone of a burden that they would have to bear. Especially as this was greatly related to the future of the country and Aquasteed.
"Aquasteed. You have been strongly influenced by Pheles. It is something that you were likely born with. You are closer to the king than anyone else before you."
"In other words…Pheles"s blood is thick in my veins."
"Yes."
Liliarge stared at Aquasteed.
"It has only been recently that I became able to move around like I do now. But the effect remained with Pheles."
"Effect?"
"Yes. Aquasteed. Your power is effecting Pheles. I don"t understand why… But I think that Pheles does. The power is increasing…or changing…"
-In other words, I am the reason for all of this.
He had never considered the idea that his power was affecting Pheles. He would have to meet with Pheles and find out the details.
"Aquasteed. You may have the same amount of power forced onto you one day. You considered the same thing when hearing about it, didn"t you, Tiara?"
"Queen Lilia…!"
"…Don"t worry. It should not happen for a while."
Silence fell after those words.
Everyone was worried about the coming threat to Marineforest, and what would happen to Aquasteed.
It was Aquasteed who broke the silence.
"Thank you for telling us this, Queen Liliarge. But as you can see, my body is perfectly fine. And there has been no increase in magic… I have no trouble controlling myself."
"Yes. I was very surprised when I saw how you were. Pheles looked so tired as soon as he gained the power…"
Liliarge said that it was a most strange thing.
Of course, it was not a bad thing in the least, and she hoped that this state would continue.
"The answer to that, is likely Tiara."
"Me?"
Keith looked at Liliarge and said what had been on his mind. Tiararose heard it and looked at Keith with a puzzled expression. After all, Tiararose did not have much magic power or any special abilities like Akari.
She wasn"t even the heroine. Would a villainous daughter like her be able to do anything?
Keith saw her puzzled expression and laughed.
"Didn"t I tell you before? You are quite funny. You are like a large container with very little magic inside. But that just means you will be able to contain more of Aquasteed"s magic."
Tiararose heard those words and thought about her position as a villain.
She was one of the few characters in the game that had a name. Unimportant characters were just called "student" or "knight."
As the villainous daughter, she at least had higher specs than those nameless mob characters. She just hadn"t had much opportunity to do anything.
In other words, Tiararose"s body was made to be able to endure high-spec magic from the beginning.