⟦A▮▮▮▮r▮▮▮ o▮ Origin: Vox Imperium⟧

Evangeline stared at the grey letters that had suddenly appeared on the surface of the mirror shard.

Then... she stared some more.

’What the hell?’

But no matter how long she waited, the letters remained the same: broken and incomplete.

At first, she had thought that the broken letters were only like this temporarily, and they would be fixed if she waited a little. But after waiting for a significantly long time, she realised that was not the case.

Having been suddenly told that she had awakened some ability had made her confused enough, but these letters had furthered her confusion.

Her mind began creating plausible explanations on its own. Maybe it was because of her being a reincarnate, or maybe she had made some mistake during the process, which had caused this.

But Evangeline simply shook away all those thoughts.

’I’d rather just ask instead of speculating pointlessly.’

"Um, Mama," she turned to her mother, showing her the mirror shard. "Something is wrong with these letters. They’re broken. Do you know how to fix it? Are they like this because I made a mistake?"

Her mother opened her mouth, but her father answered sooner.

"Oh, you don’t need to worry about it. The letters always appear that exact same way; there is nothing strange about them."

She tilted her head.

"But why, though? Why do they appear broken in the first place?"

"Nobody knows the answer to that." He leaned back. "You shouldn’t waste your energy on it either. Plenty of people had pondered this topic with nothing to show for it. Besides, only the part after ’Origin’ is what actually matters."

Evangeline frowned.

First, there was that strange vision that apparently everyone saw during their awakening. Now, there were those broken letters that are supposedly normal. And nobody knows the cause.

’What is wrong with this world?’

But she didn’t ponder any deeper; another thought distracted her. Her father mentioned that only the part after ’Origin’ was what really mattered, so...

’Vox Imperium, that’s the name of my ability, huh?’

From the name alone, it seemed like an amazing ability. And if she were honest with herself, she’d have to admit it was a name that sounded very cool.

Her mother glanced at the mirror shard.

"Vox Imperium? I don’t think I have heard that name, so it probably isn’t one of the best ones." She sighed. "Well, let’s hope it’s at least decent."

’What is that supposed to mean?’

Her father handed the thick book to her mother. She opened it and started skimming as she quickly turned each page. It took a long time for her to reach the last page.

She had a frown on her face as she turned the final page of the book.

"I can’t find it; it’s not here."

Both of them exchanged looks before her father took back the book from her. There was a frown on his face as well. Starting from the last page, he carefully turned each page. His gaze was completely focused on the contents of the book.

By the time he finished, he looked rather tired.

"It really isn’t here."

Her mother gave him an ’I told you so’ look. Evangeline, meanwhile, could only stare at them in confusion.

’What are they even talking about?’

What were they even trying to look for in that book? It was all so confusing. But before she could ask them anything, both of them turned to her.

"Sweetie, do you have any idea of your ability? About what it’s capable of?"

Evangeline paused.

She thought back to when she had suddenly seen that strange vision of the dark abyss. She recalled how every living being around her froze after hearing her shout, how her mana had drained at an absurdly rapid pace, and the feeling of standing in the middle of those frozen figures.

A chill ran down her spine as she recalled all those scenes.

It was pretty easy for her to guess what her Origin ability was capable of.

’The power to control living beings with my voice.’

Although she was unsure of the details, this power most likely used her mana as the cost to function.

She opened her mouth, intending to tell them everything she knew, but she paused with her mouth still open.

Something inside her was telling her to stop. Something deep within her–something she didn’t understand–was desperately telling her not to say anything. Her instincts were practically screaming, making her heartbeat quicken.

She had a strong feeling that if she told them anything about this ability, she was going to regret it greatly in the future.

"Baby, what happened? Why aren’t you saying anything?"

Evangeline hesitated.

"Um, well, I... I have no idea. Really."

Everyone went silent.

’Ugh, I blew it.’

Although she wasn’t good at judging things, even she knew how suspicious her words had sounded just now. She had spoken like a criminal desperately trying to lie about their crimes.

Her parents stared at her, doubt and suspicion clear on their faces. Under the weight of their gaze, Evangeline’s forehead slowly became damp with sweat as she hesitated to meet their eyes. Her muscles tensed as she clenched her hands behind her back.

She heard her father sigh as he spoke.

"Well, we can do nothing about it if you don’t have any idea about your ability. But Evangel, please be sure to tell us about it as soon as you figure something out. We need to follow the imperial law, after all."

She let out an internal sigh of relief as her tense muscles slowly relaxed.

’Don’t know how, but it seems I got through that.’

Her mother leaned in and spoke kindly, with a soft smile on her face.

"Baby, you must be tired after that little adventure of yours. Go rest in your room, I will have a maid bring you your meal."

"Oh, okay, thanks." Evangeline smiled. "I’ll be in my room, then."

With those words, she stood up and walked out of the hall with hurried steps, as if she had been waiting. She made sure to shut the door before leaving.

***

As Evangeline left after closing the door, smiles slowly faded from Lilianne’s and Alistair’s faces. They both quietly stared at the door with a deep frown.

"You’re thinking the same thing as me, right?"

Lilianne turned to Alistair, her expression filled with concern. Alistair paused before turning to her.

"She mentioned a black sun. I don’t think I have ever heard the mention of something like that anywhere. More than that, she only experienced half of the symptoms she should’ve experienced. It’s all so strange."

He looked uneasy.

"Maybe she remembered the details wrong because of confusion? It must’ve all been sudden for her, don’t you think? Besides, she’s only a child."

Even though Lilianne said that, she herself wasn’t too convinced. Her daughter may act childish and clueless, but both of them were aware of how perceptive and smart that girl was. It would be a stretch to expect that she had made such a mistake.

Still, she needed to believe that it was true. Perhaps for the sake of her daughter.

"You could be right, but the compendium doesn’t have any records of her Origin ability either."

Alistair’s frown deepened as he stared at the thick book in his hands.

He wasn’t wrong. Although it wasn’t impossible, it was extremely rare for someone to awaken an ability that was never recorded in the compendium.

’Maybe a powerful beast died recently, and she just happened to awaken its Origin ability?’

That could be a reasonable explanation. But Lilianne could not voice those thoughts.

It could explain this particular point, sure. But if she were to combine all the strange points, the explanation would sound like an excuse she was making in denial.

In the end, she could only sigh.

"Alistair, what are your thoughts? I... don’t know what to think."

"Maybe the source of her power is different?" He paused. "The shard worked normally, though, so we can’t be too sure. Besides, when we asked about her Origin ability, she was clearly lying."

Lilianne hesitated. Of course, that was true. For whatever reason, her daughter had lied to them. She was clearly aware of the nature of her ability or had some vague idea, at least.

Yet she decided not to share it with them.

"Maybe it was because she couldn’t trust us?" Lilianne leaned in. "We did indeed force an engagement onto her, after all. And seeing as how she snuck out instead of asking us, it seems likely."

She felt a slight tightness in her chest. They had no choice in matters related to the engagement. Still, it was sad that they had lost their child’s trust.

Alistair lightly put his hand on her shoulder.

"For now, we should give her some time. I think we should wait until she is comfortable enough to share it on her own. I believe that’s the correct choice."

She nodded lightly.

The atmosphere turned heavy after that, as both of them remained quiet. Alistair must’ve felt the same way as her. After all, no parent would want to lose the trust of their child. Especially for things that were beyond their control.

Lilianne took a deep breath and forcefully stretched her lips wide as she spoke in a cheerful tone, trying her best to lighten the atmosphere.

"By the way, that little girl is quite the actor, isn’t she? Acting remorseful, despite not feeling even a hint of remorse."

A soft smile slowly appeared on Alistair’s face.

"Yet you play along as if her acting fooled you completely."

"Don’t you do the same?" Her voice turned playful. "It’s fun, isn’t it? Seeing her trying to act like everything is going according to her plan, it’s just so adorable."

Indeed, this was a point they could both agree upon. Their daughter was the cutest.