The study fell silent. Amber was quiet for a moment—she had fully understood Gawain's speculation, and had to admit that this was probably the only possible answer.
But as someone directly involved in this vortex, she still needed some time to calm herself down.
Several minutes passed before she suddenly raised her head and looked into Gawain's eyes. "When did you start thinking about all this?"
"Actually... I had a vague feeling when Nicholas and the others discovered that Shadow Hall," Gawain said after giving it some thought, speaking frankly. "At first, the Shadow Power entrenched in that hall made me think of you, but the possibility of you being the 'Star Chart Custodian' was vanishingly small—even you couldn't remember your 'life experiences' before the people of Gondor transformed you into an Artificial Human.
"After that, I began to suspect the Night Lady—an ancient god with a mysterious connection to you. She had survived from the Voyager Era to the present day, hidden deep within the world, wielded the authority of shadows, and had been engaged in a long-term struggle against the Tide of Reversal... Every clue was suspicious. Then there was the abnormal reaction you had when Nicholas and the others explored Shadow Hall. I gradually came to feel that... the Night Lady was probably the answer to everything."
Amber blurted out, "You thought of it back then... then why..."
"Because one crucial 'explanation' was missing, which meant my speculation completely contradicted the information we had always 'known,'" Gawain said, shaking his head. "The Voyagers slaughtered nearly all the ancient gods. Their records even specifically mentioned dispatching a fleet to continue hunting the Night Lady, and the dragons' records confirmed that. All along, every piece of evidence indicated that the Voyagers and the ancient gods were locked in a