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“I-, I was told that my mother died…! But that was when I was extremely small, so I don’t actually have any memory of it…! Could it be, she was taken to Highland and transformed into a Hyrule Menace instead…?!”
“That… could happen…!”

If Charlotte had given birth to Liselotte and they were separated before Liselotte could remember, it would explain why she appears this age. She seemed to be around the same age as Eris and Ripple, or perhaps slightly older.

Her clearly superior abilities compared to other Hyrule Menaces might be due to her high suitability for the transformation.

According to Dr. Vilkin’s assessment, Liselotte also had an exceptionally high suitability. There seemed to be a common factor—lineage, a blood relation. It felt like there was a connection.

Eris took an incredibly long time to undergo the Hyrule Menace transformation, but it was said that Liselotte could have taken less than half a day at the most.

Could it be that Charlotte, after giving birth to Liselotte, underwent the transformation a few years later, and because of her exceptional abilities, she wasn’t sent to the Midland but was instead kept in the Highland as an Archlord?

It’s hard to say definitively without hearing directly from her or from Liselotte’s father.

“What are you all talking about…!?”

Charlotte, unlike Liselotte, did not show any reaction to the idea. Instead, she frowned with apparent displeasure.

“Um…! What is your family name? Althea…! Is it not Charlotte Althea!?”
“Althea…? I don’t know any such name…!”
“Then where are you from, and what is your family name? Even if you are a Hyrule Menace, you were originally human. You must have parents and a homeland! Do you not have any family…?”
“I don’t know…! I am an Archlord…! I have nothing to do with you!”
“But look at us, look at our faces…! Don’t you think we look far too similar for it to be just a coincidence…!?”

Liselotte descended near Inglis, lowering the tip of her halberd to avoid pointing it at Charlotte, and slowly approached her.

“If you don’t want to talk to me, then I will speak all on my own…! So please, listen to what I have to say…!”
“Indeed, you resemble me too much… It’s hard to believe it’s just a coincidence.”

As Liselotte approached, Charlotte did not seem to intend to attack immediately. Even from Charlotte’s perspective, Liselotte’s resemblance must have been undeniable.

“Is she going to be okay…? Approaching so unguarded like that…” Leone’s concern was understandable.
“…We are watching over her to make sure she’s okay, aren’t we? If she really is Liselotte’s mother, we won’t be able to stop her anyway.”

If Inglis’s mother, Selena, were in a similar situation, she would do the same as Liselotte. It’s only natural. And because it’s natural, she wouldn’t hesitate to lend her support. Rafinha would surely feel the same.

Smack!

Inglis felt a sharp pat on her back.

“That’s right! For once, you’re saying something good, Glis!”

Rafinha had just descended from the Star Princess.

“Ahaha… That hurt a bit, Rani. I thought I’ve been doing well all this time?”

Inglis had comforted Rafinha when she learned about the dark side of Illuminas and lost her spirit.

“But yes, Inglis is right. Liselotte has helped us a lot…! This time, it’s our turn to help Liselotte…!”
“Yeah, exactly! I’m sure she’s Liselotte’s mother…! We have to help her get her back…!”
“And it would be great if her mother became an instructor at the knight academy, right?”
“Stop trying to make every strong person an academy instructor! You’ve gotten too accustomed to that with Instructor Rochefort and Professor Arles!”

As Inglis and the others watched, Liselotte continued to speak to Charlotte.

“I am Liselotte Althea, the daughter of the Althea Ducal family of the Kingdom of Charalia. Are you familiar with the Kingdom of Charalia?”
“…It’s a relatively large country in Midland. It’s also a pitiful country that has been incorporated into the Duke’s Party.”

Perhaps that’s how the Church’s Union perceives Charalia. Or, it might just be Charlotte’s personal view.

“On the western coast of Charalia, there is a large city called Sealot. It’s a famous tourist destination known for its beautiful sandy beaches called the White Coast. The Althea Ducal family holds many territories centered around Sealot. I myself am from the city of Sealot.”
“Sealot…”
“Yes! Do you happen to know it?”
“There’s no way an Archlord wouldn’t know such a major city! Is that all you want to say…?!”
“No, I mean, my father’s name is Albert. Albert Althea. Actually, he was the one who married into the household of Althea. The previous Duke of Althea was my mother’s father, and my father succeeded the family after him.”

Liselotte spoke a little quickly, her words spilling out in her eagerness.

“Oh, so that’s how it was?”
“We didn’t know that, did we?”

This was news even for Inglis and the others. Looking back, the former Prime Minister Albert had always seemed more like a competent bureaucrat than a traditional nobleman.

“What is the point of all this…!?”
“My mother is also from Sealot… her name was Charlotte. They told me that she passed away when I was a child, before I could remember anything, but if she were alive, she would be about as old as you…. Please tell me, do you remember the name Albert?! Or Liselotte?!”
“I… I don’t know…! I don’t understand… for some reason, something—something is… ugh, uugh…!?”

Charlotte clutched her head, staggering slightly. The halberd slipped from her hand and fell to the ground.

“Ah…! A-, Are you okay…?”

Just as Liselotte reached out her hand to help— Someone else cut in from the side, picked up the halberd, and hurled it directly at Liselotte.

“…!?”

Liselotte, who had no intention of fighting, was caught completely off guard. Charlotte’s golden halberd, as if drawn by some invisible force, shot toward her chest.

The speed and force behind the throw were extraordinary, clearly driven by superhuman strength.