Chapter 96: The Latent Monster
"I am ready to grant you anything your heart desires! I could purchase an entire amusement park for you if you would only reveal the remainder of the technique’s sigils and explain them to me!"
Arthur’s voice erupted with a feverish eagerness as he sat on the luxurious sofa in the home’s main reception hall. His agitation was palpable, while Amelia sat with imperial dignity among the rest of the children, the silent Cathy seated to her right. Amelia had previously signaled to Cathy to maintain absolute silence and trust her implicitly, hinting that she would witness something that would unveil the long-hidden truth.
The servants laid out a lavish spread of the finest fruits, appetizers, and delicacies before Amelia, celebrating this newly discovered "prodigy child."
Amelia partook in a small piece of pastry, then turned with a feigned, childlike innocence and asked: "Honestly... I was quite curious and kept wondering, Mr. Arthur... I’ve been Cathy’s friend for some time now, yet I have never seen you or her mother here before. I wonder if you hold a very high and crucial position in the Ministry that justifies leaving Cathy all alone all the time?"
Arthur attempted to style a practiced, artificial smile, adjusting his posture as he declared: "I possess everything necessary for any genius to ascend to the absolute pinnacles of science! No one in this world can place you on the platforms of immortal greatness besides me... With me, your name will be etched into the history books for eternity!"
Amelia replied with outward calm: "I imagine that would require a very long time... But what about your time with your family? I feel I might become the reason for you to be further distracted from your parental duties and your family time..."
In the privacy of his own mind, Arthur believed Amelia to be merely a tender, considerate child. He had already verified her profound genius when he previously posed a few exceedingly complex questions regarding mana theory to her, which she answered without so much as batting an eye! And when he inquired about her age, she coldly informed him that she was merely five...
’Even younger than my useless daughter who knows nothing but how to weep!’ Arthur thought to himself with dark, harsh comparison. He viewed Cathy as a sweet girl, but—in his narrow perspective—she possessed none of the talent worth sacrificing his scientific future and imperial research for. ’If only Cathy possessed even half the talent of this strange child, my life would be infinitely easier and I would be crowned with every award I dream of!’
Arthur continued in a condescending tone: "Do not worry, little one... Our family always dedicates its existence to sacred science! Our lives were created to be spent inside laboratories and among ancient manuscripts... That is why I say to you that I am the single best person in the Empire capable of discovering your capabilities so we may win the highest scientific accolades together!"
Amelia asked him once more, adopting an air of sheer innocence: "Yet, isn’t family time important? Are you not, in this manner, subjecting Cathy to injustice and neglect?"
At that instant, the father’s facial expressions darkened completely. Arthur was deeply irked by this child’s repeated mention of his daughter, Cathy... He questioned inwardly with irritation why this young genius was so concerned with his weak daughter instead of focusing on their inevitable scientific glory!
Arthur spoke in a dry, definitive tone: "You are special, Miss Amelia... You are far more special than her! You ought to be proud of yourself. Cathy simply lacks the essential qualities of a true scholar; she is an excessively sensitive individual... We always want what is best for her, but family time, for real scientists and geniuses, is considered an asset of far lesser value and utility compared to absolute knowledge!"
Amelia was seething inwardly, exerting immense self-control to refrain from leaping up and beating this man into the ground to shatter his arrogance! However, she restrained herself to hear the absolute extent of what he might disclose, withholding her true maturity so as not to arouse his suspicion, particularly as he held back only because he had yet to ascertain her father’s identity or her family’s influence.
Amelia feigned fear, asking: "I am deeply terrified that my life might turn into something similar to yours... endless science and research without pause. Isn’t that a miserable and dull existence?"
Arthur let out a mocking, obsessive laugh: "My young lady!... As long as you possess such phenomenal talent, you have been chosen by the stars themselves and bestowed with something far higher than mere ordinary human life! Out of reverence for this legendary gift, you must worship these sciences and dedicate your very existence to them! That is precisely what my master taught me long ago... We were not created for play and recreation; our bodies were built to perish inside the laboratory!"
He appeared truly unhinged, completely bereft of free will before the glare of prestigious titles and the obsession with scientific authority.
Cathy, sitting beside Amelia, was terrified... Was this the true face of her father?! Was she genuinely fated to be nothing more than a slave to the laboratory and research, without ever spending a warm moment with her family or friends? To her young mind, this brand of science was not a "blessing" as her father claimed, but a curse and a dark prison! A true blessing is that which grants you joy, uniqueness, and freedom, whereas this obsession was a chain binding you in shackles.
Cathy pondered deep within herself: ’Isn’t science supposed to be useful because it helps us comprehend this world better?’ For Cathy’s hyper-advanced mind, which fundamentally fed on pattern analysis and formula comparison, her father’s words were a completely illogical anomaly! How could science open horizons of exploration for you, while simultaneously trapping you in a physical cage with a fixed ceiling beyond which you may only gaze?!
In that moment, Amelia caught the shift in Cathy’s expression, which suddenly transformed from fear and astonishment to a profound, towering intellectual depth...
Amelia interrupted the father calmly, asking: "Mr. Arthur... do you know what the true first dimension of all existence is?"
Arthur shrugged his shoulders casually, answering with supreme arrogance: "It is time, of course! Time began first, and then existence commenced its expansion..."
As he was on the verge of continuing to flaunt his knowledge before the children, a definitive counter came from where he least expected it:
"Incorrect..."
The corners of the hall echoed with Cathy’s voice... A voice that was no longer childlike or gentle as usual, but consumed by a terrifying, sterile scientific rigor: "Time has a beginning... and whatever possesses a beginning has an inevitable end and dissipates like raw energy. The true first dimension of all things, which possesses neither beginning nor end, is ’Nothingness’... or in other words: the void... for it is the sole dimension from which all existence erupted!"
Arthur’s eyes widened in profound shock as he whipped his head toward the source of the voice... His daughter, Cathy, was staring directly at him! Yet her gaze was not the pleading, desperate look he was accustomed to seeing; rather, it was unyielding, sharp, as though the dormant entity deep within her soul had awakened to reveal her true scientific monster!
Amelia immediately activated her magical eye technique, inspecting Cathy’s mind in awe; the neural and cerebral activity within the young girl’s brain surged to unprecedented thresholds, the neural pathways in her head igniting like brilliant suns.
Amelia smiled inwardly, realizing the absolute truth: Cathy was not posturing or pretending... rather, she shed her childlike outer shell entirely, transforming completely into her true, brilliant essence whenever she stepped into her personal astronomical domain!