Kiana sat quietly, flipping through the documents.
Beside her, Elysia leaned in slightly, peering over her shoulder to read along.
The official continued, voice measured. "It started when a high-ranking official proposed not just restricting your movements temporarily, but outright detaining you—locking you away while you were still young. His idea was to brainwash you, reshape you into exactly what he wanted."
"He figured it'd be better than letting you run free. Why take risks when you could just condition you like a machine? Hypnotize you and turn you into a tool he could control."
"…"
He spoke carefully, choosing each word like stepping over broken glass.
Honestly, when he'd first read the report himself, he'd been stunned.
This was next-level extreme, wasn't it?
Wait—could hypnosis really do everything?!
"And then what?" Kiana asked, voice flat.
She looked dazed. Adorably so. Like a kitten blinking in sunlight.
Elysia worried—was she really okay? Deep down, Kiana didn't particularly care that much.
Why bother getting worked up over people like that? It just wasn't worth the time and energy.
"Then, naturally, that radical official got removed from power."
"…"
"Since he'd only made the suggestion—never actually carried it out—he wasn't punished severely. Just placed under surveillance."
"…"
The man paused, then added, "But the kid—the spoiled rich brat—well, he'd done every reckless thing you can imagine. His whole family rode on his grandfather's status. When the old man fell from grace, the whole clan took a nosedive."
"His allowance got slashed."
"People around him stopped fawning all over him like before."
"…"
"He somehow found out it was because of you his grandfather got taken down. And that you were here, in Sapphire City."
"So, egged on by his so-called friends, he downed seven or eight bottles of liquor and came barreling here like a madman. And… well. You know how it ended."
"…"
"Guess he's a great guy then, huh?" Elysia cut in, voice sharp with sarcasm. "Drunk off his mind, yet still managed to avoid hitting anyone else—just aimed straight for my Kiana. How thoughtful."
The official gave an awkward laugh, rubbing the back of his neck.
"Our analysis suggests the sudden drop in status hit him hard. Never faced real hardship before—grew up with everything handed to him. That kind of fall… it resulted in self-destructive impulses. He wanted revenge."
He spoke seriously now.
"We've checked thoroughly—no one else had contact with him. Even the info about you came from his grandfather, slipped out by accident. The old man's absolutely devastated now. If you'd allow it, he'd come in person, carry firewood on his back as penance—just so long as you don't stay angry."
"No need," Kiana said softly, shaking her head.
She lifted her gaze, meeting the official's eyes.
"Tell the elders… they don't need to walk on eggshells around me."
Then, suddenly—
"But hey."
She spoke again, tone light, but with an edge beneath it.
"Don't you think something's off? Even if he knew I was in Sapphire, how did he know my exact route? I only decided to go to the movies with Elysia on a whim. Me being at that intersection was pure coincidence."
"A spoiled kid couldn't pull that off, could he?"
"…"
The official exhaled, nodding slowly, a bitter smile tugging at his lips. "You were bound to ask."
He sighed. "As you suspected—foreign elements were involved. A high-level hacker infiltrated Sapphire City's surveillance network and tracked your movements."
"In fact, they were already planning the attack the moment you made a purchase. Everything was set."
"…"
Earlier, when he'd first briefed Kiana and Elysia, he'd labeled the incident as random. That was the official line.
If Kiana let it go, they'd sweep it under the rug.
Domestic issues—easy to manage.
Foreign ones? Could be handled too.
But this group had covered their tracks extremely well, making it much more troublesome.
Still, now that Kiana had asked—now that she'd hit the heart of it—it was clear she did care. She wanted the truth.
So he had to tell her.
Not that it'd lead to much.
Even if they did trace it back to some foreign mercenary outfit, it'd probably just be a middleman.
Follow the chain, and you'd likely end up at some government, some shadow organization.
But why? Why would anyone do this when they knew the sky projection was real? Knew the Finality was coming?
Some people just didn't believe.
Or worse—they believed, but thought, Hey, maybe I can poke it once. Just once. Won't blow up, right?
And so, mercenaries for hire—drawn by money—weren't surprising. But they were just hired hands.
Pull the thread, and you'd find someone bigger behind it.
Why would anyone risk this?
Simple.
If Finality truly came, she wouldn't die.
If she died, she wasn't Finality.
So testing her? Probing her limits?
That made sense.
And others wanted to use it as leverage against Shenzhou.
Look, your precious Finality Princess got attacked. Can you even protect her? If not, maybe we should all 'help'—share the responsibility, of course.
Back when Shenzhou had insisted on taking custody of Kiana, going against global opposition—
plenty of nations, plenty of groups, had protested.
But whether Kiana asked or not, Shenzhou wouldn't just sit back.
Except this was politics now.
Kiana waved a hand, clearly uninterested in the details.
The real problem was that the enemy had left no trace.
Otherwise, holding Finality herself—using her as the mandate to punish the unjust—would've given them perfect justification.
Wanted to strike? Strike.
No fear.
The military was itching for action.
Too bad there was no clear target.
Kiana closed her eyes for a moment, whispering something silent, checking in with her system. Then she picked up a pen and wrote down a few names.
"Take these," she said, handing the paper over. "This is everyone involved. The real ones behind it."
Truth was, she hated drama.
Announcing through the sky projection that she was the Finality—alive or dead, didn't matter—was meant to send a message.
Think twice before poking me. It's annoying.
But she also knew—sometimes, words weren't enough.
A little public example? That worked better than a thousand speeches.
Now, the rest wasn't her problem.
Even giving them the names was a message: Don't think I don't know what you've done.
If you want to stay hidden, don't do it at all. Outsourcing won't save you.
And just like that, the official left, clutching the list like it was burning in his hands.
Kiana finally relaxed, shoulders dropping.
Ugh. Keeping up the perfect idol act was exhausting.
"Mom, I want watermelon."
"Of course, sweetie," her mother said warmly, nodding.
Elysia bounced to her feet, skipping into the kitchen behind Kiana's mom. "Mom, I'll help too~"
Just a little moment. A tiny break in the storm.
But Elysia already knew—Kiana was fine.
She was stronger than she'd feared.
And that made her heart light.
Honestly?
Elysia was a damn good lie detector.
One look, and she could tell if the official was speaking truth or cover-up.
Thankfully, this time, the nation hadn't failed.
If they'd tried to dance around the truth, stammering excuses—Kiana would've been angry.
Because really—
Was it about the truth?
No.
It was about the attitude.
--+--
T/N: This was done using qwen because deepseek apparently saw this content as not allowed, so the prominent AI grammar is kind of inevitable.
--+--
T/N: While I am an inexperienced Translator, I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 3 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.