"Wait, Layla's matter hasn't been addressed yet," Jude called out urgently to Gemini.
"Did she participate in the Eclipse Plan back then? And was her objective the same as it is now?"
Jamie glanced nervously at Mini.
"Mini… can we talk about this?"
"No!" Mini shook her head violently. "Jamie, we promised Lady Anna we wouldn't reveal it until the proper time. If we break our promise, we'll be punished by the Celestial Spirit King, just like when Lord Leo was exiled!"
"Idiot, Mini! You just let Lady Anna's name slip!"
"You idiot, Jamie! You repeated it!"
"You're the idiot, wah-lee!"
Seeing the two of them about to start fighting, Lucy hurriedly stepped in.
"Alright, alright! It's just a name. We don't even know who she is, so it's fine, right?"
"No," Mira replied calmly. "Once we know the name, we can trace the truth."
"Huh?" Lucy blinked in surprise. "Why?"
The others also looked at Mira, confused.
Mira smiled, a smile far too gentle to be reassuring.
She took two steps forward, her shadow enveloping both Jamie and Mini. Her expression slowly darkened, the warmth draining from her eyes.
"Listen carefully," she said softly.
"If you tell us the truth, we'll pretend you never said anything."
She clenched her fist.
"But if you refuse, we'll report your transgression to the Celestial Spirit King."
Jamie and Mini instantly huddled together, trembling.
"D-Demon…!"
"So scary…!"
Out of pure Celestial Spirit Mage conscience, both Lucys pleaded weakly at the same time,
"Please don't do that, Miss Mira, If they were allowed to say something, Loke would've told us already."
They still remembered that night, when they had summoned Loke to question him after meeting Future Lucy.
That man had been completely tight-lipped, claiming he was bound by contract and forbidden from revealing anything until the proper time.
Contracts were sacred to Celestial Spirits.
Rhodes gently patted Mira's shoulder, signaling her to stop terrifying the technically children.
Then he smiled.
"Lady Anna must have been one of your former contractors, right?" he said casually.
"And she was connected to Eclipse."
"You don't have to answer," he added lightly. "Just look at me."
"And she and Lady Layla were working together, weren't they?"
"Oh, and during the Saint Topia incident, I gathered information on Celestial Spirit Mages. Fourteen years ago, Lady Layla summoned multiple Zodiac-key holders."
He tilted his head.
"Lady Anna was among them, wasn't she?"
"Oh?" Rhodes continued thoughtfully.
"Then did she enter the Eclipse Gate… or exit it?"
"Because that plan was extremely dangerous. She couldn't guarantee her own safety, nor that she would always possess your keys."
"That's why she made an agreement, wasn't it? That even if the keys changed hands, the details of the plan could never be disclosed."
Jamie and Mini were shaking now, staring at him in terror.
"Are...are you also a Gemini Spirit…?" they whispered.
"Of course not," Rhodes replied calmly.
'It's just that you two are very easy to read,' he thought.
Make a hypothesis. Watch their expressions. Eliminate the impossible.
Future Lucy leaned over and whispered into Lucy's ear,
"He told Miss Mira not to scare them… but isn't he tricking them instead?"
Lucy made a complicated face.
"Let's… let's just watch Mr. Rhodes perform."
"And it's really weird hearing myself complain."
Future Lucy sighed.
"It's even weirder being complained about by myself…"
Rhodes paused, then asked one final question, his tone mild:
"If revealing the plan itself violates your contract, then simply carrying out Lucy's order, which is to report what the King already knows about Lady Layla and Lady Anna would that still count as a violation?"
"Wah?"
Jamie and Mini tilted their heads, thinking hard. Then, almost in unison, they said:
"It seems, not a violation?"
Rhodes turned around and gave them a thumbs-up.
Mira covered her mouth and laughed softly. Beside her, Mavis's tiny wings fluttered, her eyes half-closed as she watched Rhodes with clear amusement.
The others all wore complicated expressions.
'Good thing these two are allies,' several of them thought at the same time.
Although there was an undeniable feeling of being gently led by the nose, Jamie and Mini carefully considered the logic and finally concluded that revealing information to this extent should indeed fall within acceptable bounds.
So, holding hands, they transformed once more into the King.
Transforming like this truly felt as though they were fulfilling Lucy's request, and that sense of "mission completion" gave them a great deal of reassurance.
"Fourteen years ago, on July 7th, X777," Gemini, now wearing the King's appearance, began,
"Lady Layla approached the current King, Toma, and informed him that the gate passed down through the royal family for generations was due to be opened."
"She stated that this was the mission entrusted to the Heartfilia family."
"After explaining the activation method, His Majesty easily believed her, because the gate itself was a royal secret known only to successive kings."
"Before that, His Majesty had always believed it to be nothing more than a legend. He didn't even know the gate's true purpose. The previous King had only told him that when the time came, someone would arrive to open it, and if no one did, the secret must be passed on to the next King."
"On that day, when the sun and moon intersected, the gate truly opened."
"And then… a person walked out."
"That person was Lady Anna."
"As she emerged, five beams of light shot out from the gate, piercing through the palace ceiling. Later, some claimed they had seen five shooting stars that night."
"Lady Anna declared that she was an ancestor of the Heartfilia line, someone who had entered the Eclipse Gate from the past, four hundred years ago."
"She claimed that she had written the magic of Eclipse into a book, passing it down through the Heartfilia family, instructing future generations to open the gate only in an era abundant with magic."
"This matter was… extremely important."
Gemini, still in the King's form, paused briefly, then continued, glancing at Lucy.
"Lady Layla said that she was not fully certain whether the time was truly right."
"But she hoped that such a heavy responsibility could be fulfilled in her own generation, rather than being passed on to her child."
"She hoped… that her child could live freely."
Jude's lips trembled. Tears welled up as he whispered,
"Layla…"
Both Lucys were already crying, their voices breaking as they spoke together:
"Mom did it for me..."
Jude immediately pulled them both into his arms, gently stroking their heads.
"I'm sorry," he said hoarsely. "I never truly understood Layla's actions back then. I… I failed to fulfill her wish."
Lucy shook her head through her tears.
"No. I understand how you felt back then too, Dad."
The father and his two daughters finally reconciled.
For Future Lucy especially, this was the first time she had been able to call him Dad face to face again.
No one rushed them.
Gemini also fell silent, giving them the time they needed.
Only after a long while did the explanation continue.
"Afterward, Lady Anna departed," Gemini said quietly.
"She stated that the Heartfilia family's mission was complete, and that from that point onward, the responsibility belonged to her alone."
"She did not tell Lady Layla the specifics of the plan."
"Lady Anna often said: 'Everything has a priority.'"
"And that certain truths could only be revealed when the proper time arrived."
"Before leaving, Lady Anna requested that His Majesty destroy the Eclipse Gate."
"But, the gate was preserved."
"It has remained until today."
"And it will continue to exist… even into the future."