“Miss Ana… Please sit down.” Only after she complied did Arthur continue. “I may be a bit rude, but this is something you need to hear: You dear girl are living in a fantasy.”

“What?” Ana was livid. Even her mana was taking on a blackish color, though Arthur was not really disturbed.

“Let me finish.” He chided her. “Remember the little history lesson I gave you 5 minutes ago? I just told you how all nobles are hostile towards each other. So, why are you surprised I helped Ethan in his quest to take out the competition? He even paid me to do so.”

“All those innocent people…”

“Were working for the Wilsons and they wouldn’t have hesitated for a second to kill you or your boyfriend if ordered.”

“He’s not…”

“I don’t care.” Arthur cut her off. “What was Ethan’s initial plan I ask you? Was it not to viciously murder all the Wilsons and their subordinates with the exception of Charles and his buddies? Was he not waiting for you to beat them in the tournament, so he could kill them in cold blood right after?”

Ana went silent. It was like her mind stopped working and she could only listen stupefied.

“What do you think would have happened if I straight up refused to help your bloodthirsty best bud? Or, would you have preferred I gave him wrong information, so he’d get himself killed?”

The more he talked, the more Ana's beliefs shattered. She knew Ethan was reckless. She knew he was willing to spill blood. Heck, he even promised to do it. So, how naïve and stupid was she to be surprised by all of this?

“I’m an idiot…” she whispered amidst sobs. The girl tried to cover her face in her palms, but she only drew attention to it.

‘Maybe I went too far?’ wondered Arthur. It was not his intention to hurt her, just to give her a reality check. ‘If Ethan finds her like this, I’m dead as a doornail.’

He asked a maid to bring water and a towel, and then walked over to comfort her.

“Listen…” he said while placing a hand on her shoulder.

“Get away from me!” she bellowed and took some distance. “You act like it couldn’t be helped, but you don’t give 2 s**ts about the casualties! Even now, people are starving to death while your brother’s busy making a profit.”

“Of course!” Arthur raised his hands helplessly. “He’s a merchant. That’s his job. I’m the family’s next guardian. It’s my job to protect our interests.”

“That doesn’t excuse killing dozens of people.” Ana began forcefully calming herself down. Though she had backed away into a corner, her crying stopped and she was wiping off the tears.

“Dear God…” Arthur was getting so annoyed by her preachiness he started to miss Ethan. “Not everyone thinks like you. I only care about me and my family. No matter what, our interests come first.”

“Even when it comes to murder?” asked Ana.

“To put it bluntly, YES. And by the way, Ethan thinks the same. If it’s for you, he’ll gladly smash this entire city to the ground.”

“I won’t let him.” she protested. However, even as the words came out of her mouth, they felt false.

“Well, you’ve been doing an excellent job until now.” scoffed Arthur.

‘That’s right…’ While she was daydreaming about the tournament, Ethan was planning genocide. While she was sleeping in her room, he was killing mages by the dozens and causing widespread destruction.

“I tried talking to him, but…” She obviously failed. If things were to change, Ana needed to change too.