"Why did you attack Owen?"
At the question, Daphne Priestley, the Scholar of Yore, took a moment to gather her words before answering without reservation:
"There were three main reasons, if I'm being precise.
"Though looking back now, some of it seems rather coincidental...
"First, I happened to have turned Rena, the Demoness of Affliction, into a Marionette shortly before that. Through her, I learned about the grudges between Owen, her, and his former wife, the White Saintess Katarina...
"Of course, that wasn't the point. More importantly, her memories told me Owen had once sent someone to contact Baron Larry of Loen. He likely knew something about the Spectral Empire.
"And I was very interested in Trunsoest's legacy.
"Second, the Delien Family's prime minister commissioned the Secret Order, through certain channels, to intercept and kill Owen... Since I already wanted information from Owen, I accepted the job. The Delien Family gave me his itinerary, and I set an ambush in advance.
"You know what happened afterward. I didn't want the authorities to notice Demigods fighting, and I knew Owen's weakness for women, so I drew him into the Book of Virtues...
"Unfortunately, both the Delien Family's intelligence and Rena's memories were badly wrong about Owen. Not only did I fail to take him down quickly, I could barely fight freely. In the end, he even used... used that obscene thing to force me to flee..."
A trace of resentment crept into Daphne's voice. As a Sequence 3 who had lost to a Sequence 4, she was clearly far from pleased.
As a Scholar of Yore, she couldn't have her summoned Historical Projections make physical attacks inside the Book of Virtues. That had been frustrating enough, but worse still, she had chosen the battlefield herself.
*That prime minister of the Delien