Frida asked Brenda, "Are you okay?"
Brenda nodded and responded, "I am okay, Miss Inger. You have saved me before they could do anything to me. I am grateful for your help."
Frida then pointed at Vale with her index finger and said, "You have to say that to this man. He was the one who found your situation." Vale was collecting the point ball from the two noble students that he and Frida had killed.
Brenda looked at Vale and said, "You are … I think I have seen you before, but I couldn't remember your name."
Vale responded, "You don't remember me? It's sad actually, considering we have been in the same class for 3 years."
Brenda opened her mouth a little and looked embarrassed. She apologized, "I am sorry, I just can't remember you."
"It's okay," Vale said. "I think my other classmates also didn't recognize me. Oh, they may recognize me as the least talented student."
Frida then changed the topic and asked Brenda about what had happened to her talent. "Brenda, I have heard about you when I was a child. My parents said you are the most talented magus from Martine Family since they became a noble family. Can I know what exactly happened to you?"
Brenda looked confused and breathed heavily before answering, "The truth is, I don't know what happened to my talent. It seems my talent just vanished suddenly."
Vale furrowed his brows and asked, "So, you also don't know what happened to you? Did you feel something weird when you lost your talent?"
Brenda explained, "I didn't feel anything unusual; it just felt like a regular day for me."
Vale was skeptical and said, "It makes no sense; someone's talent doesn't just vanish like that. I believe something happened to you that made your talent appear lost."
Frida insisted, "Did you do something weird or unusual before you lost your talent?"
Brenda thought for a while and then said, "Before I lost my talent, I was practicing a meditation technique that my parents sent to me."
"So, that the reason why—"
Vale was about to say something when Brenda interrupted and said, "No, I believe that was not the reason I lost my talent."
Brenda believed her parents would not make her suffer and cause her to lose her talent. Frida then proposed, "Brenda, have you ever thought that your parents did that to protect you?"
Brenda furrowed her brow, still struggling to understand Frida's question. "Miss Inger, what do you mean by that?"
"I mean, do you believe that your parents couldn't have caused you to lose your talent because you trust them so much? Is it possible that they did it out of love for you?" Frida explained.
Brenda nodded, acknowledging Frida's statement. She trusted her parents and couldn't imagine them hurting her intentionally. However, Frida's words made her ponder the possibility that her parents were responsible for her lost talent.
"That seems like a contradiction. Parents who love their children would never take away their talent. Losing one's talent can be devastating and can ruin their future. Your logic doesn't make sense," Brenda refuted Frida's theory.
"Talent is important, but so is life. Which do you think is more important?" Frida asked Brenda earnestly.
"Life, of course. But what does that have to do with losing my talent? Are you suggesting that my life was in danger because of my talent?" Brenda questioned, her mind racing with possibilities.
Frida went on to explain the history of the royal family and the recent events that had taken place, including Holman's attempt to kill her.
Brenda was taken aback by the revelations. She had no idea that such secrets existed in the Windeast kingdom. The gravity of the situation dawned on her, and she began to wonder if her parents were involved.
"Miss Inger, I understand what you're saying, but even after hearing your story, I still can't see why my parents would make me lose my talent if they did it as you say. After all, I'm not a member of the royal family. Even if I were strong, the curse wouldn't affect me," Brenda said, her critical thinking skills kicking in.
Frida was momentarily silent, realizing the hole in her assumption. She had no answer for Brenda's question.
Vale, who had been listening intently, spoke up suddenly. "Actually, it's related to political issues," he interjected. Brenda and Frida turned to him, intrigued by his insight. As someone who had lived on earth for over 40 years, Vale had a good grasp of the political situation in the Windeast kingdom based on the limited information he had heard from Holman and Frida.
"What do you think is the main reason why noble families don't want the royal family to rise? Is it just because of some curse? Let's say that the curse is real, and disaster will befall the Windeast kingdom. Frida, if such a disaster occurred, do you think the noble families would survive or not?" Vale asked with a quizzical expression.
Frida furrowed her eyebrows, trying to find an answer. "Well, they may suffer minor damage, but considering that most of their valuable possessions and families are in the dimensional fraction, I don't think they will suffer significant losses," she said slowly.
"In that case, why are they so afraid of the royal family rising? Do they care about the ordinary people and don't want disasters to happen?" Vale asked with a smirk, knowing how unlikely it was for noble families to care about commoners.
Brenda and Frida shook their heads in unison, agreeing with Vale's assumption.
Impatient with the conversation's direction, Brenda interjected, "Can you please tell me the reason my parents made me lose my talent based on Miss Inger's assumptions?"
Vale let out a deep sigh and said, "In simple terms, although I've never visited the kingdom of Windeast, the noble families seem to have more control over the kingdom than the royal family. They don't want the royal family to rise because they don't want to lose the authority they've gained."
He looked at Brenda intently and continued, "You may not be a part of the royal family, but your family is on their side. If you become a supreme magus in the future, the status of the Martine family will rise, and the faction of the royal family will become stronger. This allows them to take back the power from the hands of the other noble families."
Frida marveled at Vale's intelligence and said, "You're so smart! I'm ashamed that I couldn't think that far. The noble families do rule the kingdom, and even though the king still exists, the authority is actually in the hands of Prime Minister Alfredo de Horizon from the Horizon family."
Frida knew that she needed Vale's help. She had little knowledge of politics and lacked understanding of matters related to the regulation of power or the management of an organization. If Frida intended to build an organization that could help her, she needed Vale to organize it.