This secret, even Noe Wilford, the head of the family, did not let Lanci know, because it was a safeguard for the benefactor of the Chamber of Comrce. It wouldn't be revealed to anyone outside of the family head. Aside from Noe, only the steward Hans left by that mysterious rchant knew about it.
It wasn't until Wilford Chamber of Comrce started to falter that Hans ntioned the past during a casual chat with Pranay.
"Tata, has Lanci ever told you about the world line that the Goddess of Destiny showed him? In that world line, a tragedy befalls the Wilford Family. This was the initial reason why Lanci wanted to co to Ichrite to study—he was trying to change the future of his family's destruction."
Hyperion looked toward Talia. She noticed that Talia was staring at her too, a flash of understanding in her golden eyes.
"I know."
Talia nodded thoughtfully.
The Blood Clan in the Cerryti Empire, the Rebirth Church, the mystery surrounding Duke Migaya's disappearance, and the tragic future of the Wilford Family might all have obscure and tangled connections.
The ti when the Blood Clan fully controlled the Cerryti Empire, the timing of Duke Migaya's assassination, and the Wilford Chamber of Comrce's annihilation—all coincided.
Moreover, the Wilford Chamber of Comrce was the vital international trade and transport channel traversing between the Hutton Kingdom and the Cerryti Empire.
It was a chain reaction.
The essence of the Wilford tragedy is this: if Hyperion dies, Duke Migaya suffers a Spiritual Fissure and gets subjected to mind control by Rashar, the Third Ancestor, then the Wilford Family will also beco a cross-border channel controlled by the Blood Clan.
The Blood Clan's attitude toward humans has always been one of use and discard.
Once the value of the Wilford Chamber of Comrce is completely depleted, the Blood Clan would naturally eliminate it without leaving any traces. In that failed world line, the Wilford Chamber of Comrce might have known too much anyway, and death was inevitable.
Therefore, Lanci's initial thought to bring down his own Chamber of Comrce was correct but not entirely so. Destroying the Chamber of Comrce—even if Duke Migaya was truly controlled—would cause the Blood Clan to lose such a channel, thereby reducing their ties to the Wilford Family.
However, as ti passed, if the Blood Clan had excess capacity, they might still clean up the Wilford Chamber of Comrce as a minor leftover issue left by Duke Migaya.
Bringing down the Chamber of Comrce was a thod that treated symptoms rather than the root cause.
The real solution was actually to protect Hyperion; she was the true crystal.
Lanci, with his straightforward and keen sense, accidentally managed to beco friends with Hyperion. After prominently guarding her along the way, he gradually discovered that Hyperion was soone whose destiny was intricately intertwined with his own, sharing both calamity and fortune.
"So the major shareholder of the Wilford Chamber of Comrce is actually Duke Migaya."
Hyperion and Talia looked at each other, everything unspoken but understood.
At this mont, they finally unraveled all the causes and effects.
Unexpectedly, the clue actually ca from an incidental remark by Isatia.
"Tata, do you rember last ti when the three of us visited the Wilford Family together, their old steward Hans acted as though he knew ?"
Hyperion asked Talia.
Back when they visited the Wilford Family, Hyperion noticed that Hans treated her with particular respect—even before she introduced herself, Hans directly addressed her as Miss Hyperion.
"I didn't think much of it at the ti, since I was already quite familiar with Hans by then."
Talia had been very well acquainted with Hans, the Lance Family's old steward, and Maid Frances for more than a year by that point.
Thinking back now, it was indeed just as Hyperion had said.
"Hans? Isn't he part of our household?"
Isatia, who rembered that their own Duke Migaya household also had a steward nad Hans, asked in surprise.
"Looks like Migaya had placed Hans in the Wilford Family."
Talia heard this and roughly understood everything.
In the beginning, she had remarked that the Wilford Family must be rich—it was rare for a border family to have soone as skilled as Hans, a top sixth-order fighter, serving as both steward and guard.
A steward of this caliber might not even appear in the households of nobles at the Nanwantian Border.
"By the way, why are you both so familiar with the Wilford Family?"
Isatia thought for a long while but still couldn't understand why Hyperion and Talia seed so acquainted with the border Chamber of Comrce owned by the Wilford Family.
Logically, her sister and daughter should have been residing long-term in the Royal Capital Ekrite. Moreover, evidently, they hadn't known before that the Wilford Chamber of Comrce was connected to Duke Migaya's household—this had been entirely concealed by him.
"Don't you know? Lanci's full na is Lanci Wilford."
Hyperion looked at Isatia with puzzlent.
"What? Brother is a child of the Wilford Family?"
Isatia asked in shock.
Right after speaking, Isatia covered her mouth.
"Brother?"
Hyperion's confusion deepened.
She seed to understand each word individually, but altogether she couldn't grasp the aning.
"I-I-I an your brother. Isn't Lanci just like a big brother to you, always looking after you? If I had been in Ichrite at the ti, I would have definitely arranged for you two to be betrothed when you were kids."
Isatia stamred, sweat forming on her face as she scrambled to cover up.
She'd been too careless—or perhaps too relaxed just now.
Now she suddenly rembered sothing—when she had her child, Lanci might have only just been born. And yet, she had thought of such a young child as a "big brother," which was an incredibly embarrassing thought.
"This, this…"
Hyperion's face turned red.
Hearing Isatia say she wanted to arrange a betrothal for her, Hyperion didn't know how to respond.
"..."
Talia watched the two of them silently.
She could clearly understand what both Isatia and Hyperion were thinking.
Sure enough, the problem of human relationships and relative status was a cumberso issue.
But the most complicated relationship had to be between Isatia and Lanci.
"Sister, as for your relationship with Hyperion, I won't interfere. Whoever wins, I'll support."
Isatia noticed Talia's gaze and made a firm promise, feeling conflicted about both sides.
Usually, she enjoyed gossiping with Antanas, but this ti, the gossip involved her own family, making her feelings indescribably chaotic.
The more she thought, the stranger it felt.
If Talia won, then Isatia would have to call Lanci "brother."
If Hyperion won, then Lanci would have to call her "mother."
She only just managed to keep her thoughts together.
What she truly dreaded was the possibility of Lanci marrying both Talia and Hyperion—then she'd have no idea what to call him.
Forget it. Things had reached this point; all she could do was cheer them both on. After all, no matter how it turned out, they'd all end up as one happy family in the future.
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