Suddenly Aces pulled out a crystal, emitting a purple glow.
Elodie asked what it was for. Aces answered bluntly. "I invented it for the sake of toppling the Pedia family."
Only then did she realize the tower master was actually on the opposing side of her father. Once she calmed down, she asked why he was targeting the Duke of Pedia.
Aces's eyes turned cold. "I hate him to the bone, and I want to steal what belongs to him."
But Elodie noticed that this part had never appeared in the original.
Aces then added, "There's another main reason I called you here this time. It's because your name is very similar to someone I know. Her name is Arcelia."
That was precisely the name of Elodie's biological mother, and she told him so on the spot.
Aces was stunned. "You're actually that woman's daughter?"
Elodie decided to stop going in circles and tacitly acknowledged her current identity, then pressed him. "What exactly was your relationship with my mother?"
Aces answered softly. "She was my benefactor, and the reason I stayed alive."
Elodie had almost no memory of her biological mother before reclaiming her past life memories. She had never seen her. Even after recovering those memories, she still could not recall any clues about Elodie's birth mother. After all, Estelle was the protagonist. The villainess's biological mother had no need to leave many details in the original story.
Aces had never expected that she had not even seen what her own mother looked like. So he offered to help her. He told her to wait a while longer. "Later, I'll use a memory projection device and let you see your mother's face."
Elodie herself could not say exactly why she cared so much about Elodie's mother. Maybe she wanted to see her for her own sake. Maybe she wanted to find the mother for the real Elodie. But in any case, she was Elodie now, and she wanted to see her.
When her father learned that Elodie had met the master of the magic tower, he immediately asked, "What did you talk about?"
She knew full well that she absolutely could not mention the investment or the matter of her mother, so she picked something she could say. "Aces said you're a playboy who fools around outside."
The Duke was stunned. "He actually dares spout that kind of crap."
Her father pressed her. "Other than that, what else did he say?"
Elodie continued relaying. "He said he's making a secret magical tool to bring you down, and that there's something he wants to steal."
The Duke understood at once. What he wanted to steal was Pedia's heirloom treasure.
Her father strictly ordered her to stay away from that guy from now on, and also instructed her to tidy up the annex and move back into the main residence.
Even though their relationship seemed to have softened, Elodie still felt she could not obtain their love, because she was at her core a stranger in this world. So she refused her father's kind offer.
The next day, she had Ryan take her to visit the mercenary company. Ryan said they had many empty rooms at their headquarters.
As the two of them walked into the interior of the mercenary base, Ryan's men, seeing their captain return, immediately wanted to come over and chat. One of them even sighed that the captain really had it tough, since the woman he was guarding was no ordinary one. Not only had she yanked someone's hair at a banquet, her nickname was the ruffian of House Pedia.
Ryan cut him off on the spot. "Shut up."
The man was left baffled. Why did the captain suddenly get angry?
Elodie calmly joined in. "I'm the one you're talking about. The Lady Pedia who pulled someone's hair at the banquet."
So his fate, needless to say, was sealed.
Ryan took the initiative to apologize to her. "It was my failure for not managing my men properly."
Elodie was not angry. On the contrary, she was surprised that Ryan would take something like this to heart. So she told him, "I don't care about that." But Ryan was different. He cared a lot.
After this little episode, Elodie could not help starting to doubt whether she should keep accepting Ryan's kindness. From the very first time they met, Ryan had never once shown hostility toward her. He had always been the one-sided helper, staying by her side whenever she was in danger. He accompanied her without hesitation. That kindness was clear, clean and pure.
She could not understand. Why is Ryan so good to her, just because he saw her previous life? So she decided to find out exactly what Ryan wanted from her.
A few days later, Carl went to complain to his older brother that ever since Ryan appeared, Elodie no longer let him act as her guard. He had also noticed that she had been looking in very poor condition lately.
Ashen had sensed it too. According to the reports from the watchers he had arranged, Elodie went shopping on Tuvenet Street every morning with the mercenary king, then headed to the Sky Eagles' headquarters, and did this almost every day. It was said that whenever she returned home in the evening, her face was always very pale.
Ashen wanted to know where Elodie was going and what she was doing there. There also seemed to be some sort of deal going on between her and their mother. But when it came to their mother, Ashen did not even dare investigate too deeply.
Seeing his brother lost in thought, Carl felt even more annoyed.
Ashen, however, could not help wondering. "Didn't you always want to take a bite out of Elodie? And now you're feeling guilty because you couldn't protect her."
Carl muttered that he had only just woken up to things. He had played pranks on her when they were little, so now he wanted to make up for it. He wanted Elodie to forgive him.