Elders Speech was a special language created and used by ancient humans, this was an established fact in magical studies, a conclusion firmly believed by both the successive emperors of the Valeria Empire and numerous magic scholars.

This naturally included the Arcanist mage Charlotte, who had immersed herself in countless ancient magical texts.

"You mean, our previous understanding of Elders Speech was entirely wrong? That it was a fallacy built upon a false premise?"

Charlotte narrowed her amber eyes, her long, smooth legs stepping forward, her voice trembling slightly, clearly struggling to believe it.

To have decades of established magical doctrine overturned in an instant was difficult to accept, even if Astrid’s reasoning was sound good. For Charlotte, it was simply too sudden.

If this were true, then every scholar from the Lorin Empire to the present-day Valeria Empire who had tried to understand ancient human culture through the deciphering of Elders Speech had been walking down the wrong path.

"Based on the intelligence I’ve gathered so far, the possibility isn’t low."

Astrid spoke softly, gently flipping through the pages of her book and revealing an illustrated page to Charlotte.

"If the text at the bottom of this image is the real language used by ancient humans, then everything makes sense."

"Why Lady Gemini referred to Elders Speech as the Language of the Gods, and magic chanted in Elders Speech as Origin Spells."

"Why Brennild, who once seemed to be an ancient human herself, carried nothing but aloof arrogance, and harbored intense hatred and contempt toward post-Cataclysm humanity."

"Why Mother’s training journal specifically noted that Elders Speech ’has certain unique limitations, it does not belong to this age, nor to any soul born within this era.’"

Astrid blinked softly, her tone gentle.

"Returning to our earlier topic, Lady Charlotte, where did people originally get the idea that Elders Speech was the language of the ancients?"

Charlotte paused briefly, then replied after a moment of thought.

"Every ancient human artifact unearthed after the Cataclysm bears inscriptions in Elders Speech. The script’s writing features are extremely distinctive and rarely mixed with other scripts."

"Therefore, even though we couldn’t translate or chant them, we could still classify them as the same language based on their writing characteristics. With the help of the Spell creator Lady Gemini, we obtained foundational magical knowledge and partial modern magic incantations corresponding to Elders Speech."

In other words, the widespread belief that Elders Speech was the language of the ancients was based solely on these excavated ancient relics. Yet Lady Gemini had never left any records confirming she endorsed this view.

Connecting with Astrid’s train of thought, Charlotte furrowed her delicate brows, her slender arms wrapping slightly around her chest, elbows resting on her wrists, accidentally brushing against softness at her side, causing the fullness beneath her robes to tremble faintly.

"But... if we follow Astrid’s deduction, there’s still a major issue to address..."

Seeming to anticipate Charlotte’s words, Astrid took over, her pink lips parting.

"Lady Charlotte means to say, why, after such a long time, despite the exhaustive efforts of the Kingdom of Velys, the Valeria Empire, and even earlier the Lorin Empire, has no single ancient artifact with inscriptions in another language ever been found?"

If even one such artifact existed, proving the ancients had used other languages, the prevailing theory wouldn’t have dominated so overwhelmingly, crushing all alternative arguments.

"Hmm... it’s just too coincidental..." Charlotte murmured.

It would require every other ancient human site to have been destroyed in the Cataclysm, and every book that could prove the truth buried beneath sand and wind, only then could such a situation arise.

Hearing Charlotte, Astrid curved her lips into a smile and continued.

"So in the end, this is still just a hypothesis."

"Based solely on what I’ve said so far, I wouldn’t have reached this conclusion. There’s another piece of evidence supporting my judgment."

"What is it?"

"In the past, under Professor Evelyn, I studied many languages of other intelligent races..."

Her icy crimson eyes shimmered with a mysterious, elegant allure. The silver-haired beauty closed her book, speaking softly.

"Goblins, elves, merfolk, dragons, intelligent races once active across the continent. Why have we never found even a single relic from their past?"

"Every intelligent race has its own language. If the ancient humans had Elders Speech, then other intelligent races should also have left behind ancient language samples we could examine. Yet neither the Valeria Imperial Museum nor the grand storage chambers of Elizabeth Academy of Magic possess any."

"Does this suggest that among the artifacts we’ve excavated, there may actually be many items from other intelligent races, but because of Elders Speech’s presence, researchers instinctively assumed they were all creations of ancient humans?"

Thus, the logic chain was now complete.

"Are you saying... some conceptual force erased these intelligent races’ scripts?"

"It’s not impossible."

Astrid nodded, her gaze meeting Charlotte’s, her breath soft against her skin.

"Just as before actual experimentation, who would have believed there was some unseen force in this world obstructing the understanding of Elders Speech?"

This force, akin to a world-level inhibition, locked the upper limit of humanity’s exploration into ancient magic, its operational logic entirely unknown.

"..."

Charlotte fell into brief silence, silently processing the cascade of information.

Astrid was right. Such a possibility did exist.

If it were her past self, she might not have believed in some mystical power capable of erasing every intelligent race’s written language all at once, even the Cataclysm had only physically wiped out most life on the continent, unable to make objects vanish while leaving inscriptions intact.

This was conceptual erasure, something even beyond arcane magic’s reach.

"Truly... an emotionally difficult hypothesis to accept..."

Her silver high heels lightly pressed into the soil, Charlotte crossed her legs, her dark hair fluttering in the wind as she stepped closer to the remains.

"Still," the woman said, "it’s highly plausible."

At the very least, it successfully explained Astrid’s second point, why they had never found any ancient script samples from other intelligent races.

"If we follow this assumption... ancient magical studies textbooks might need complete revisions..."

Hearing Charlotte, Astrid gave a soft chuckle.

"Then let’s revise them. After all, our understanding of ancient humans has always been extremely limited."

"It’s just going from a single sheet of paper to one usable on both sides. The workload isn’t that heavy."

Though it sounded a bit like a dark joke, no one could deny it was the truth.

After explaining her reasoning, with the maid captain remaining on guard, Astrid and Charlotte began attempting to uncover more details.

"If we follow Astrid’s idea," Charlotte whispered, "the reason these people managed to preserve these books might be because they weren’t in reality?"

Astrid gave a slight nod. "Yes, most likely."

Trapped in the space between realities, a void where even the flow of time differed from the outside world, these travelers ultimately couldn’t escape the scythe of Death. Yet they may have narrowly avoided being cleansed by another force, allowing their final treasures to resurface.

Carefully inspecting the pile of remains, Astrid found little usable information. The clothes had long since decayed, the bones broken and fragmented. Judging from the jewelry and staff they carried, however, these people were likely relatively wealthy, assuming ancient human society was still at a medieval level like the Kingdom of Velys or Valeria Empire, and their productivity hadn’t skyrocketed to the levels of the previous world.

Besides this, another sign of their wealth was evident, almost every skeleton wore spatial storage devices, ranging from rings and gemstones to cubical tablets. A quick count revealed at least five or six.

"All unclaimed. Their internal storage capacity is roughly similar to the artifacts we’ve previously excavated," Charlotte reported after inspection.

The amount wasn’t much, nor was it little, too soon to determine which relics might be useful.

Astrid nodded and continued examining the remains. After about fifteen minutes, she spoke.

"There’s no preserved Dark Squid Ink to determine the exact time period. Calculating the flow of time within this void passageway will likely be difficult."

"Lady Charlotte, let’s pack these things away first. We can leave them for professional analysis later."

"...Using these spatial rings?"

"Yes. They were theirs to begin with."

In a sense, it was like returning their souls to their homeland.

Charlotte complied, channeling spiritual energy to confirm the spatial devices had enough capacity to hold the remains. One by one, she transferred the skeletons along with their tattered robes into storage.

Soon, the once-crowded silver disc stood empty once more.

"Lady Charlotte, is there anything else you’d like to study?"

"Like these stone forest ruins..."

More exposure to related spatial magic might spark inspiration for Charlotte.

Hearing Astrid, the woman softly hummed in agreement, staying longer for nearly an hour under Astrid’s company, only leaving after repeated experiments with the spatial array.

They had arrived at noon, and with winter’s short days, it was nearly dark by the time they departed. Astrid naturally invited Charlotte to the palace for dinner, joining her and the Empress.

Charlotte had many questions for Astrid, and since the palace was just a short distance away, she didn’t decline the kind offer, following Astrid toward the imperial residence.

Entering the dining hall, they were greeted by rows of lavishly dressed royal attendants lining the corridor. Charlotte lowered her mage’s hood and murmured softly.

"I should’ve changed clothes today."

Truthfully, she’d thought so since the moment she saw Astrid.

Astrid gently brushed her silver hair aside, her voice warm.

"I think you look beautiful."

"Even in the simplest mage’s robe, Lady Charlotte is always stunning." 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Each sweet ’Sister’ and pretty compliment, how could anyone resist?

Only because Charlotte’s mind was occupied by the afternoon’s events did she fail to notice the ripples stirring in her heart. She pulled out a chair, her long, sheer-stockinged legs bending as she sat, then gently adjusted her robe.

And indeed, as Astrid said, even the plainest mage’s robe couldn’t conceal the mature beauty’s alluring curves.

Having settled her younger aunt, Astrid deliberately averted her gaze and left the dining hall on her stiletto heels, heading first to the Empress’s chambers.

Amalia, dressed in an elegant noble cake dress, sat at her study desk. Her slender, delicate legs were elegantly crossed, black leather shoes concealing her snowy-white feet, making her refined, petite ankles appear dazzlingly pale. Due to the golden-haired Empress crossing her legs, the smooth, silk-covered arches of her feet slightly peeked out from the black leather, like soft, chilled ice cream freshly taken from the freezer.

Seeing her sister approach, Amalia blinked, her blue eyes reflecting the graceful figure before her. She immediately abandoned her leg-crossing pose, drawing her silky legs neatly together at the skirt’s edge. Her patent leather shoes slipped off completely, landing on the floor, while her bare, silk-clad feet nestled against the cushion, smooth and pale as crescent moons.

"Has Sister finished her work?" the golden-haired girl asked softly.

Watching the Empress instantly transform into a golden-haired kitten, Astrid gave a soft hum.

"Mm, it’s almost 6:30. Even if busy, it’s time to stop."

"Is Amalia still handling official duties?"

As Astrid drew near, Amalia, who normally appeared cold and distant to others, reached out to wrap her arms around Astrid’s slender waist. Tilting her face upward, she presented her soft, delicate lips to Astrid.

Her desire was obvious.

So Astrid leaned down, more than satisfying the younger girl’s small craving. Amalia’ eyes softened slightly, and as Astrid whispered in her ear, "I guessed you hadn’t had dinner when I came back," she murmured in response.

"Coming back just to scold me... Sister hasn’t eaten either..."

Hearing the caring words and feeling that loving kiss, Amalia felt even warmer inside. Her words were merely playful teasing.

As the gentle maiden’s voice faded, whether intentionally or not, she darted out a moist, tender tongue to lightly lick her lips. Astrid stroked Amalia’ head, speaking softly.

"Alright, alright. Then we’re both half at fault."

"Tonight, Lady Charlotte is also dining at the palace. Let’s eat together."

Having already been informed of the regent’s movements by attendants, Amalia had anticipated this meal and obediently nodded.

"Mm, I understand."

Though... sister really is a womenizer... that pink-haired knight only just left this morning...

The deeply-rooted thought was instantly suppressed. Knowing not everyone was as bad as she was, Amalia leaned in for another kiss from Astrid, her nimble silk-clad feet searching for her shoes before slipping them back on.