As the Institute of Curses' genius and the inventor of the Miracle Creature "Yesterday Once More," what had Nepheli seen in her own past? Fu Qian had said at the time that he was curious.
After several encounters with that question in mind, the answer had become obvious.
Even Nepheli's unusual worldview now had a logical explanation: she had seen the version of herself who brought about the apocalypse.
Whether it was real or not, true or false, the sight might have planted a seed of doubt.
Then, at some moment in the dead of night, everything she had once pursued might suddenly lose its appeal.
If everything she had spent her whole life investigating was nothing but a lie someone else had woven, that would be hard for any proud academic to accept.
All in all, it seemed that Lady Nepheli had been shaken by what she saw, abandoned a bright future, and joined an evil organization to understand it all in her own way.
Of course, thanks to his active efforts, she had already been successfully expelled from the evil organization.
After that, she had come to him and asked for a flower of Madness Fire.
"I should also thank you for sharing so generously."
Nepheli seemed to have thought of the same thing. As she thanked him, she all but admitted his accusation, then looked around.
"I discovered this place a long time ago, but still not soon enough. By then, I'd already lost much of my interest in the secrets of the Sea of Ashes... It was just another one of the Night Watchers' patch-up jobs.
"But after I discovered one of this place's properties, figuring out how to use it became the answer I wanted to find."
She was getting more and more direct.