The conversation between the alchemical puppet and Adanis had been heard by everyone present, Angel included.
Those questions, along with the alchemical puppet's so-called conjecture, all pointed directly at one core issue: she had never grown at all.
Adanis thought too highly of herself to ever consider that, compared to ten thousand years ago, she had not grown in the slightest.
Put nicely, it could be called staying true to her original heart. But if that "original heart" had been flawed from the start—narrow, like a frog at the bottom of a well—then no pretty wording could conceal the childishness beneath it.
Even if Adanis had grown stronger, in Olao's eyes, she was still the same person she had been in the past, unchanged in the slightest.
Of course, there had to be other reasons why Olao's impression of Adanis had never changed. Angel did not know those specific factors, nor the full sequence of events.
But Angel could more or less guess the intent behind the questions raised by the alchemical puppet.
Just as Jon had once said: those in the midst of things were lost, while onlookers saw clearly.
When all was said and done, the answers to those questions came down to a single core: Adanis held Olao too tightly, so tightly that Olao could see only one side of her. And that side was exactly what those questions pointed to—you had not grown.
To put it bluntly, the questions and the answers formed a vicious cycle.
In Angel's view, breaking that cycle was not difficult. Adanis only needed to loosen her grip a little.
But for Adanis, making that choice was extraordinarily difficult.
Angel did not know what decision Adanis would ultimately make. But... he did not care.
What concerned him more was Olao, who was