"Wait a minute, we haven't talked about Reela yet." Jude called out to Gemini, "Did she participate in the eclipse plan that time? Was the goal the same as this time?"
Gemini looked at Minnie: "Minnie, can we talk about this?"
"No, Jamie, we promised Lady Anna not to reveal anything before the time is right. Not following the agreement would result in punishment from the Star Spirit King, like with Lord Leo's exile."
"You fool, Minnie, you just spilled about Lady Anna."
"You idiot, Jamie, you repeated it again!"
"You're the fool, bleep~"
As the Gemini Constellation seemed about to argue, Lucy quickly tried to mediate: "Alright, alright, it's just a name, we don't even know who it is, it's fine."
Mira refuted, "No, knowing this name, we can uncover the truth."
"Huh?" Lucy expressed surprise, "Why?"
The others also looked at Mira with curiosity.
Mira, with a mysterious smile, took two steps towards Gemini, letting her shadow cover them, and her smile gradually turned menacing:
"Listen, if you tell us the truth, we'll pretend you said nothing. If you don't, we'll report your misconduct to the Star Spirit King."
As she spoke, she even threatened, clenching her fist.
Jamie and Minnie huddled together, shivering: "D-demon! So scary!"
Out of a Star Spirit Mage's conscience, both Lucys timidly advised, "Don't be like this, Miss Mira, if it could be told, Loki would have said last time..."
The night they met Future Lucy, they were about to summon Loki to question him.
However, that guy kept a tight lip, stating there was a contract constraint, and until the time came, he couldn't reveal anything.
Respecting contracts is a rule both Star Spirit Mages and Star Spirits abide by.
Rhode patted Mira's shoulder, signaling her not to scare the kids—two children whose ages were unknown.
He laughed and asked, "Miss Anna was probably one of your past Contractors, right? And she's related to the Eclipse... Hmm, you don't need to answer, just look at me. So, were she and Lady Reela collaborators?"
"Oh—before and after the Saint Dopia event, I collected information about Star Spirit Mages. Fourteen years ago, Lady Reela had summoned Star Spirit Mages possessing Zodiac Keys. Was Miss Anna one of the summoned?"
"Oh~ so it's about entering or exiting the Eclipse Gate? Because the plan was significant, could she not ensure her safety or her constant possession of your keys, hence the agreement, even if the keys changed hands, to not disclose that plan?"
Jamie and Minnie shivered, feeling this person was as frightening as the woman just now: "You... are you also a Star Spirit of the Gemini Constellation?"
Rhode denied: "Of course not."
It was just that the expressions of these two kids were too easy to read—hypothesize first, then exclude by reading faces.
Future Lucy whispered in Lucy's ear: "And you told Miss Mira not to scare the kids, isn't he tricking them now?"
Lucy showed a peculiar expression: "Let's see Mr. Rhode's performance first... then, listening to my own gripe feels so strange."
Future Lucy: "Being critiqued by oneself is even stranger..."
Rhode thought for a moment and asked, "If revealing the specifics of the plan is a violation, would merely carrying out one's duty—executing the task given by Lucy, namely being the King and revealing what he knows about Lady Reela and Miss Anna—not be a violation?"
"Bleep?" Jamie and Minnie tilted their heads, thinking, and said separately, "Seems like...", "Maybe not?"
Rhode turned and made a peace sign.
Mira covered her mouth and laughed, the tiny wings on Mebius's ears moved a bit, her eyes half-opening and closing, watching Rhode.
The others had a hard-to-describe expression; this couple... fortunately, they're comrades.
Although there were suspicions of being caught up in it, Jamie and Minnie carefully thought that mere intelligence gathering of this sort shouldn't pose a problem.
So, holding hands, they transformed back into the King—doing so made it feel more like fulfilling Lucy's task, providing a sense of security.
"Fourteen years ago, on July 7, X777, Lady Reela found the current King Toma, claiming it was time for the family's ancestral gate to be opened. This was the Hartfilia family's mission.
"After explaining the method, the King easily believed her, since the existence of that gate is a secret known only to the successive kings.
"Before this, the King always thought it was just a legend, not knowing what the gate's purpose was, only that it was passed down from the previous king that when the time came, someone would come to open it, and if not, it should be passed to the next king.
"On the day when the sun and moon intersected, the gate indeed opened, and from it came a person, Lady Anna."
"As she came out, five beams of light also shot from the gate, piercing the ceiling. It was later said that there were five shooting stars that night.
"Lady Anna claimed she was an ancestor from the Hartfilia family who traveled from 400 years in the past through the Eclipse Gate and inscribed the Eclipse Magic into a book for the Hartfilia family to pass down, telling future generations to open the gate in an era abundant with magic power, which was extremely important."
"Lady Reela said..." The King, as portrayed by Gemini, glanced at Lucy,
"She didn't actually know if then was the right time, but she hoped this heavy mission could end with her generation, rather than passing it onto her children... she wanted her child to live freely..."
Jude's mouth hung open, tears welling at the corners of his eyes: "Reela..."
Tears welled up in both Lucys' eyes, choking: "Mother was doing it for me..."
Jude immediately embraced both Lucys, stroking their heads: "I'm sorry. I never understood Reela's actions before, nor fulfilled her wish."
"No, I can understand now how you felt back then, Dad."
The father and daughters reconciled, especially Future Lucy, finally having the chance to call him 'Dad' face-to-face again.
No one rushed them, and Gemini didn't continue speaking, instead giving time for the familial interaction.
After a while, the topic resumed.
"After that, Lady Anna left, saying the Hartfilia family's mission was complete, leaving her responsibility next, hence didn't tell Lady Reela the specific plan.
"Lady Anna's motto was 'Everything must have an order,' and only when the time comes should things be revealed.
"Before leaving, Lady Anna asked His Majesty the King to destroy the Eclipse Gate; however... that gate was preserved till today and will likely be preserved in the future."