After Ayanokouji heard her words, he thought hard.
"As Roswaal told you before, Kiyotaka, you underestimated the influence of emotions on people before, so you failed in the last regression." Echidna's head tilted slightly, there was a hint of ambiguity in her eyes.
"Emotions?"
Ayanokouji always regarded the concept of emotions as a tool that could be used, and that might have caused people to underestimate him.
It seemed that Willheim's longing for his late wife caused an unlimited power to emanate from his body.
"In the last regression, everyone's motivation was because of feelings. Whether it's Emilia, Betty, Garfiel, or Roswaal, they all did it because of 'feelings,' so that's why you made choices like that." Echidna smiled and continued, "As long as you can control emotions, then everything can be controlled by you. Didn't you previously excel in exploiting other people's emotions, and now you are also skilled in that. The people around you are the key to solving this mystery."
"Got it." Ayanokouji nodded while thinking.
The reason Roswaal did this was because of his love for Echidna, the reason Emilia became like that was due to low self-esteem and excessive self-attention, the same also applied to Beatrice.
From beginning to end, Ayanokouji thought that he had hidden Beatrice perfectly, but he did not expect that until others knew that he was pretending, he himself did not realize it.
Then Beatrice still chose to consider herself as 'that person' and provide assistance to him, and it was somewhat difficult to understand her motives.
However, to better handle various emergency situations in the future, Ayanokouji felt he needed to fully confirm this lie.
"You're about to leave." Echidna said with a smile, "The seeds are already there. It's up to you whether they can grow well, I'm also quite curious about this process."
"Goodbye then." Ayanokouji nodded to her, then reached out his hand and held the black pendant on his chest. As he touched the black crystal in the pendant, he could feel a warm feeling, like touching someone's skin, and the inside of the crystal seemed to vibrate, in sync with his heartbeat.
"I look forward to your performance." Echidna smiled at him.
Soon, Ayanokouji's vision became clear again. In the blink of an eye, he had returned to the ruins of the real world test. He bowed his head and looked at the black crystal pendant hanging on his chest.
He turned and looked at Emilia, who was unconscious beside him. Echidna had now followed his words. Although others had no way to let her directly pass the test, Ayanokouji could let others give her the qualifications for the test, he himself had to pass the test.
However, he had seen the dark side in Emilia's heart in the last regression. Her spirit was too fragile. Even if Ayanokouji successfully passed the test, Emilia might also become an unstable factor, and he needed to develop her so that she could become a competent tool.
Emilia's current value was greater than Felt. Now that he had obtained Echidna's knowledge as a backup, Ayanokouji decided to achieve the perfect ending as much as possible in this life.
So his priority now was to find a way to develop Emilia's mindset and enable her to complete the test challenges.
For Emilia to break through the test, her sealed memories had to be released first, and her low self-esteem and loneliness had to be overcome.
To exploit Emilia's feelings.
Ayanokouji had made a plan in his mind.
"Emilia, are you okay?"
He first deliberately fell to the ground, causing visible but not serious skin injuries, then came to Emilia's side and asked gently.
"Ayanokouji?" Emilia slowly opened her eyes, but her eyes were empty, and there seemed to be a hint of panic in them.
"No, it's not me, it's not me, don't come here!" Emilia cried out, her body trembling uncontrollably.
But Ayanokouji opened his arms and hugged Emilia tightly, "It's okay, I'm here."
As their bodies touched, Emilia was stunned for a moment. The gesture brought her back from panic to the real world.
"Ayanokouji?" Emilia felt unexpected.
She didn't expect Ayanokouji to hug her. At that moment, her mind seemed to have shut down, and all the painful images from the test disappeared from her mind.
She unconsciously opened her arms to hug Ayanokouji. Her face turned red, and she even felt a slight warmth in her body, as if there was a fire burning.
Although the sudden hug made it difficult for her to adapt, she felt comfortable.
"Ayanokouji... I'm okay..." Emilia said with a bit of shyness, her voice trembling.
"Really?" Ayanokouji released his hand and his eyes focused on her face, "I just saw you lying on the ground. I was a little worried, so I'm glad you're okay."
Hearing the concerned words, Emilia's heart warmed, and the redness on her face became more pronounced.
"Ayanokouji, how did you get in? Shouldn't only those with test qualifications be able to enter?" Emilia's heart was full of doubt, but when she noticed the wound on Ayanokouji's body, she was hurt because she was worried that he had forced his way into the ruins. "Ayanokouji, what have you done. I will treat you soon!"
"It's okay, it's just a minor injury. Let Betty treat it when the time comes. Emilia, you participated in the test very hard, so you can't use energy anymore!" Ayanokouji said immediately.
"How can that be done! You're injured because you protected me!" Emilia pouted, her eyes had fully recovered, and she immediately started to care for him.
Ayanokouji looked at Emilia's worried eyes, and he knew his first step plan seemed to be effective.
In the last regression, he had sought another way to pass the test, ignoring Emilia's own feelings. This reinforced her inner inferiority and made her spirit more fragile and difficult to break through the test, leading to a vicious circle and eventually turning dark.
And now he wanted to take care of Emilia, tell her that he would accompany her through difficulties, and shorten the distance, to soothe Emilia's inner emotions.
"Ayanokouji, your wound has healed!" After a few minutes, Emilia smiled and nodded.
"Okay, thank you for your hard work. I'm clearly here to help you, Emilia, but I didn't expect it to make you work harder." Ayanokouji said.
"No, no, no! On the contrary, I should thank you!" Emilia said shyly, and after being silent for a few seconds, she continued, "But, Ayanokouji... I failed the trial..."
"It's okay, as long as you're okay, don't worry too much." Ayanokouji stood up and helped her stand, "Let's go back."
"Mm."
They left the trial site. Just like last time, Garfiel waiting outside was confused as to how Ayanokouji could enter the ruins. Emilia immediately used the injury to save him, and Garfiel, who had a straightforward mind, didn't think too much about it.
Beatrice noticed the black pendant on Ayanokouji's chest. She could feel a very familiar aura, but there were too many people present, so she didn't ask further.
The camera panned, and Ayanokouji and his group had returned to their residence. He first asked Emilia to return to her room to rest, and asked Ram to prepare spices that could help her sleep. Among them, while outside, Ayanokouji noticed Beatrice looking at his black pendant. As a Spirit created by Echidna, she should be able to sense her mother's aura.
"Ayanokouji..." Beatrice closed the door, turned and looked at him, "Where did the pendant on your chest come from."
"After I entered the ruins, I participated in the test." Ayanokouji said, "I met your mother."
"Did you meet Mother?" Beatrice's eyes widened, full of disbelief.
"Yes." Ayanokouji nodded.
Although he admitted to meeting Echidna, he would never tell Beatrice about Echidna's true face in the Dream City. "She gave me this pendant."
"What did Mother say to you? Why did she give you that pendant!" Beatrice stood on tiptoe, her eyes full of curiosity.
"Because she is Betty's mother. After seeing me as 'that person,' she told me many things." Ayanokouji said slowly, "Then Echidna told me that this pendant is equivalent to certain acknowledgment."
Ayanokouji's words were 30% truth and 70% lies. It was all to make Beatrice truly believe that he was the person, Beatrice's words before her death were only after admitting her love. He realized that there was a flaw in his perfect initial appearance.
Beatrice actually never fully escaped from the prison in her heart.
"To better exploit Betty's value, I have to make this lie fully a reality and let Betty fully believe that I am the right person for her." Ayanokouji thought to himself.
"Is that so..." Beatrice's eyes were gradually moist, and her voice trembled slightly, "So, Mother, is this what you mean? Why couldn't Betty understand before."
"She also warned me to treat Betty well, or she would give me a lesson." Ayanokouji said, "She also told me, Betty, you are a good and dishonest person, even if you help others, you will appear arrogant and refuse to admit it..."
"I know!" Beatrice pouted and blushed.
"That's enough."
"So, you must listen to my mother's words! Treat Betty well! Don't cause trouble for Betty again!"
"I know, I know, I wouldn't dare provoke Echidna." Ayanokouji said slowly.
"Ayanokouji." Beatrice suddenly opened her eyes wide and looked at him carefully.
"What is it?"
"Did you just smile? This is the first time I've seen it. You smiled!"
For a moment, Beatrice seemed to see the corners of Ayanokouji's mouth lift slightly.
"Sorry, Betty, you're mistaken. I was born with difficulty in expression, so I rarely smile when I was young." Ayanokouji immediately denied.
"Ayanokouji, Betty is enough for you now!"