As the last Imperial Princess called upon, Ivyst, led by a Court Maid, slowly made her way into Elloch Palace.
At that very moment, Saint Laurent VI sat solemnly on his throne.
Sensing Ivyst's presence, he gathered his wandering thoughts, and his originally deep gaze sharpened once again.
The gazes of father and daughter intersected in midair, each measuring the other with a glance.
Ivyst snorted coldly, quite annoyed, and averted her gaze.
Clearly, this was not the interaction of a typical father and daughter.
Saint Laurent VI, however, remained expressionless.
After a long silence, he slowly began speaking, "Recently... how have you been?"
Clearly, he was inquiring about Ivyst's current physical condition.
Yet, hearing such seemingly caring words, Ivyst showed no touch of emotion and even scoffed at the notion.
"Don't be so hypocritical, old man," she said, her head lowered, observing her delicate, pretty fingers, "you and I are not in a relationship where we can sit down and chat calmly."
"If you want to play out a scene of fatherly affection, you might as well find Amesda."
Though her voice was soft, the rejection and disgust were unmistakable.
After the incident in Orn City, the relationship between this father and daughter had completely deteriorated.
Ivyst knew exactly why he had sent her on that mission, and Saint Laurent VI also knew that she had seen through his ulterior motives.
Hearing her words, Saint Laurent VI's expression, just slightly softened, turned icy and severe in an instant, "You're right, our relationship is not one that can communicate normally."
"Ivyst, it seems that your trip to Orn City has changed you quite a bit."
"Is it because of Lynn Bartleion?"
Upon hearing this, Ivyst's eyes softened for a moment.
But realizing the current situation, her expression quickly hardened again.
Saint Laurent VI caught that fleeting change in her emotions, his face showing a hint of a smirk or something.
"Since that's the case, let's talk about him."
Prompted by Saint Laurent VI, the question surfaced in Ivyst's mind for the first time.
To be honest, she had never considered this before.
Her goal in the dragon confrontation had merely been to make Lynn overcome the ten-thousand-year gap between her and the Doomsday Witch, to irrationally fall in love with her flawed self.
As for her feelings towards him... Ivyst had never thought about it.
To like, was probably to like very much.
Otherwise, where would such crazy thoughts come from, like wanting to bite him with her teeth at every encounter, or even wanting to hold him tight in her arms, to meld him into her bones?
But a sense of confusion soon emerged in Ivyst's heart.
Was this liking similar to that for a pet, or was it something else?
Having never experienced such things, Ivyst was unclear.
However, early in Orn City, she had promised Lynn that she would try to see him as a man from now on.
And that time on the train, she was not as composed as she had appeared.
Deep inside, there were mixed emotions.
Especially Lynn's warmth, the sticky wet sensation still lingering on the soles of her feet.
Every time she thought of that moment, Ivyst's heart would race.
But her pride as a master made her subconsciously suppress these thoughts.
After all, making Lynn fall in love with her was the most important thing for her at the moment.
Seeing Ivyst silent, Saint Laurent VI thought he had guessed something.
Thus he sneered, "It's quite interesting."
"That cold, heartless 'tool' actually showing such emotions, as a father, I am quite comforted."
Though he said this, his face showed no sign of comfort.
"It's just a pity... your change because of him, seeing him as someone important, but to me, it seems he does not have similar thoughts."
"Oh Ivyst, a 'tool' is always a 'tool,' even if it falls from one person's hands to another's, but what the other person values is merely your monstrous power."
"It's ultimately just exploitation, you should be clear about that."
Saint Laurent VI slightly raised his voice, implying something.
Was he sowing discord?
In some sense, he was correct.
For Lynn, who had lost his memory at this moment, that vile person in the future was his object of loyalty and admiration.
She was merely her own shadow right now.
Her dear puppy, even if it came clambering to her to display affection, was largely because she resembled the future Doomsday Witch.
Though Ivyst was furious, this was also something she had long known.
This was precisely why she tirelessly tried to make Lynn fall in love with her.
So the words of Saint Laurent VI at this moment were not entirely wrong.
To him, it was more about leveraging; Ivyst could not feel otherwise.
To put it even more harshly, it was exploitation.
Even if there were brief moments of being moved, these were only towards her physical body.
Not worth mentioning.
"The future is long, and what will happen then, no one knows," Ivyst's lips curled into a slight smile, "for now, he hasn't come into contact with Hillena or any other person, even if it's exploitation, this feeling is solely directed at me."