Like Theodore, Matthew, too, began doubting the credibility of this tale.
'If it all went down as she said, how did we survive? And how did we even find our way to Araya?' Matthew wondered.
Lilly could discern their thoughts from the way their facial expressions kept changing. If she were in their shoes, she would also find it hard to believe all that she was saying. "I can tell that you boys doubt my words, but don't jump to conclusions yet. Let me finish," she voiced out, bringing their attention back to her.
"I mentioned that I used to be part of the Church of Knowledge to you boys back in Araya. What I didn't mention is that I was one of the people in charge of capturing the members of the Liberty Forge and their families," she added, pausing to gauge the reactions of Matthew and Theodore.
And just as she imagined, they looked at her with vitriol in their eyes. The two of them seemed as if they wanted to attack her.
"It's okay to be angry. I used to be so misguided and blind, and I did a lot of questionable things to achieve my goals. However, I am not ashamed of what I did. I had objectives to reach," Lilly said.
Alaric continued to sip on his tea, acting like there wasn't an uncomfortable tension in the atmosphere. He seemed to be enjoying himself in their presence.
"So you know who my parents are? Our parents?" Theodore asked after calming himself down a bit. He couldn't put a finger on it, but he was sure that there was something wrong with his mind and the way his feelings were spiraling. Nonetheless, he was able to reel the anger back a bit.
"I knew your parents. Your mothers were the only pregnant women in the group that we captured," she responded lightly. No guilt could be found in her tone.
Both Matthew and Theodore were speechless. They didn't know how to process this information.
'What sort of pain was my mother put through when they captured her with me in her stomach? What did she do to protect me in her womb?' Matthew wondered. Unknowingly to him, tears had begun gathering in his eyes. As soon as he noticed this, he closed his eyes to prevent the tears from running down his cheeks.
Theodore still seemed to be more in control of his feelings, although he was also hurt to hear that his mother was captured when he was still in her womb.
"Wait, according to what I read about the Liberty Forge and the time that the Emperor put out a kill order on the organization, I heard that there was a public execution for its high-ranking members. There was no mention of pregnant women being executed. Also, if the Church of Knowledge had already purchased the lives of Liberty Forge members and their families, who was it that the Emperor executed publicly in the Citadel?" Theodore asked.
"The Emperor only put on a show for the public. He didn't want people asking questions about them. So an illusion was created for the masses to watch—an illusion that could only trick weak mystics and normal people. At the end of the execution, what was done to the corpses?" Lilly replied.
"The bodies were laid on dry wood and set ablaze," Theodore responded, unable to figure out why she was asking him this.
"If the corpses were real and they actually burnt that many bodies that day, all in one place, do you think the people living around that place would have been able to stomach the smell of human meat burning?"
This statement hit Theodore. He had never thought about that. 'If I was the one, would I have been able to stomach the smell of human meat burning? Heck, I might even stop eating meat because of it. There was nothing about the aftermath of the execution, just that life continued, and the laws of the empire became better due to the Emperor not wanting another situation like this to arise,' Theodore thought.
Lilly could tell that Theodore understood what she was alluding to. Most humans would find it hard to eat if they witnessed something like that.
"How didn't anyone notice that it was an illusion?" Matthew questioned this time.
"If you learn more about Magic and the Arcane, you will be able to understand better," Lilly answered.
"I assume that the captives were taken to a secretive place?" Theodore voiced out his thoughts.
"Yes, they were taken to the Nether Region."
"Where on Earth is the Nether Region? Stop giving us one-sentence answers and just spill it all already!" Matthew demanded. He wanted to know it all.
Lilly looked at Matthew. Unlike Theodore, he wore his emotions on his face.
"The Nether Region is a treacherous place, to normal humans and the Mystics. The sea alone is already a force that humans cannot match, but that area of the sea is like another definition of doom. The Nether Region, to us Mystics and those who explore the seas, is known as the entrance to the edge of the world.
The Nether Region is a conglomerate of islands that perhaps used to be an entire continent in the past that eventually split into hundreds of islands due to unknown forces. The islands in the Nether Region contain remnants of ancient civilizations, civilizations that possessed technology that far surpasses what we have now. They possessed greater knowledge of the arcane too," Lilly explained.
Normally such information would pique Theodore's interest, but he wasn't interested in that at the moment.
"So you took our parents to deserted islands and then used them for whatever you wanted on those islands?" Matthew pressed on.
"Although I took them there, I also saved them from the torments that they were about to face on that island. Because of me, your mothers were able to give birth to you boys and live on that island for almost a year," Lilly defended.
"What about our fathers? Were they also saved?" Theodore asked.
"No, I was only in charge of the females. Even if I wanted to save your fathers, it was out of my jurisdiction, and trying to force something like that would have made things worse for your mothers and you boys."
"How did we then get separated from our mothers?" Matthew asked.
"When I was still a part of Omniscius, I had rivals, people who wanted my position and would have done anything to get it. Some wouldn't even mind stepping on my toes to achieve their goals. A few of them found out about the treatment I was giving your mothers, and then they reported me to the higher-ups. I tried to defend your mothers, whom I had become very close to, but the church wasn't having it. They wanted them dead, and they also wanted you boys dead.
They didn't care if you were an infant or not. Maybe because of my guilt or because of how close I got to your mothers, I couldn't sit back and let that happen. So I tried to help them leave the island, only to be interrupted by a very persistent rival. In the end, I could only flee with you boys in my hand. It was what your mothers wished for.
Your mothers were the ones that gave you the names Theodore and Matthew. Theodore Kai Turner, Matthew Kai Midas, they bestowed middle names on the two of you, hoping that it would connect you boys and guide you, and then your father's name."
Matthew had been struggling to hold his tears in, and upon hearing how his name came to be, a tear slipped out of his eye, running down his trembling cheek.
Even Theodore was trembling, but he shed no tears.
The concept of a middle name is something that is bestowed on a family that is of noble birth or ancestry, but in their case, it is certain that their parents weren't of noble birth. It is a silent taboo for commoners to have such compelling middle names that consist of only three letters.
"Call it rebellion towards the nobles of the Iron Empire, the people their husbands fought, the type of person that sentenced their lives to such agony, the people that looked down on them. Your mothers wanted you boys to rise above that.
Although the two of you are not related by blood, your middle name, Kai, means fate," Lilly informed.
Upon hearing how their names came to be, the doubt they had about Lilly reduced substantially.
"They say a mother's wish is for her children to be the best there is. Unfortunately, they were unable to make it off the island and died there. I was the one that took you boys out of the Nether Region, across other continents, running away from the pursuers of the Church of Knowledge. After unforeseen circumstances, I met with the Resistance that everyone thought to have been destroyed in the last war.
They took me in after I narrated everything to them. They helped in taking care of you boys. Whenever a problem occurred, the Resistance helped to cover it up. The Resistance also paid for your education."
'Now that I think about it, I received different incentives from other children in the orphanage. I wasn't allowed to go out much then, even when they let the other kids out to play, I always thought it was because I was hated. However, was it on purpose?' Theodore wondered.
'Whenever a problem occurred, I always wondered why that higher classmen didn't come to find me after I set his carriage on fire. Were they the ones that took care of it for me?' Matthew reasoned.
A lot of dots started to connect the more Lilly revealed.