Robin stared at Cudius after hearing his response, her expression darkening.

  "Did I say I just 'sider myself' a schor? Do you think I'm exaggerating? I passed Ohara's professional certification exams, you know! I was officially reized as a schor at the age of eight—a top-tier talent!"

  After mentally venting her frustration, Robin took a deep breath and spoke again.

  "That's not what I meant. What I'm trying to say is that I was already a schor before I left Ohara with you back then. I passed Ohara's professional examination—"

  Cudius, still unfazed, casually picked up the cold tea cup from the table, took a sip, and responded in an unbothered tone.

  "Oh? Really? That's pretty impressive, I guess."

  Robin almost lost her temper on the spot.

  "Do you have any idea how much ce it took for me to say this? Do you know how long I've kept this secret? Do you think I'm just pying games here?!"

  She ched her fists, frustrated beyond words.

  "Do you even uand the significe of this?" she asked, her tone slightly aggravated.

  Cudius finally set his tea cup down and said in a calm, measured voice.

  "If I remember correctly, you were eight years old in the year 15ht?"

  Robin frowned slightly, puzzled by his suddeion.

  "Yeah… why? Y to praise me or something?"

  Cudius leaned back slightly, his gaze turning ptive.

  "Eight years old..." he murmured, his expression unreadable.

  Then, after a moment of silence, he smiled.

  "Other kids at that age barely know what they want to do in life. But you? At eight, you had already passed Ohara's schor certification exams. You became the you schor in Ohara's history, studying aexts, deciphering records, even w with Poneglyphs..."

  His voice was soft, yet there was a strange weight behind his words.

  Robin's eyes widened slightly.

  "You… already knew?" she asked in shock.

  Cudius chuckled. "Of course I knew. Do you really think I wouldn't? You know how vast my intelligework is, don't you?"

  Robiated, recalling everything Cudius had orchestrated over the years.

  His pnning, his influence, his power—yes, it really would have been impossible for him not to know.

  "Then why did you save me back then?" she asked in a low voice. "Wasn't your mission to eradicate Ohara's schors pletely?"

  "That wasn't my mission." Cudius' voice remained calm.

  "My task was to assist the Marines in capturing the rogue Vice Admiral Saul.

  And, to satisfy my own is, I wanted access to the Tree of Knowledge. If not for that, I wouldn't have even goo Ohara."

  Robin's mind spun as she processed his words.

  "So he khis whole time?" she thought. "A, he never once brought it up...?"

  After a long pause, she finally spoke again.

  "You didn't… save me for your own gain, did you?"

  Cudius tilted his head. "What would I gain from you?"

  Robiated for a sed before expining, "You're not ied in a history, are you? But I read the aexts… I decipher the Poneglyphs. Weren't you pnning to use me to uhose secrets?"

  Cudius tapped his fingers oable thoughtfully.

  He remained silent for a long moment before finally speaking.

  "You know… when I was a kid, I was actually really curious about the Void tury.

  I wao know about that great kingdom that existed 800 years ago.

  I wao learruth about the ins of the Celestial Dragons.

  And the story of the Twenty Kings who formed the Wover..."

  Robin leaned forward slightly, waiting for his answer.

  "And?" she pressed.

  Cudius smiled faintly.

  "And then… I ged."

  "I gradually lost i in those things."

  "I stopped wanting to know."

  Robin's brows furrowed in fusion.

  "Why?" she asked. "These are secrets no one else knows!"

  Cudius let out a sigh, his voice tinged with something almost like regret.

  "What's the point in knowing?"

  "Look at Ohara.

  They were obsessed with unc the past, so much so that they ignored reality, ighe future. And in the end, what happened?

  They were wiped out."

  His voice wasn't cold, but it carried a weight of undeniable truth.

  Robin fell silent.

  He was right.

  Ohara had been one of the greatest intellectual ters in the world, a bea of knowledge and history.

  But in the end…

  What good had it done?

  It was gone.

  "Of course, that's just my perspective," Cudius tinued. "My ambitions don't lie in unc the past, I want to shape the future.

  But for a schor like you, uanding history is important."

  "Necessary, even."

  Robin gazed at him with a plicated expression.

  Finally, she asked, "Then… back then… did you save me out of kindness?"

  Cudius touched his .

  Had he?

  Back then, he had sidered using her knowledge, perhaps to locate the A ons, or uhe mysteries of the past.

  But as his own pns evolved, those things had bee increasingly irrelevant.

  The past couldn't ge the present.

  Power was the only thing that mattered.

  As he pondered, he finally smiled and said, "You should already know the answer by now."

  Robin froze for a moment.

  Then she slowly nodded.

  Yes.

  After all these years, Cudius had never oried to use her for anything.

  If anything, he had given her plete freedom, provided her with every resource, allowed her to pursue her studies without restris.

  She had worried for so long about what would happen if Cudius discovered her secret.

  A, here he was—pletely unbothered.

  Robin suddenly smiled.

  "Cudius… you're a good person."

  Cudius grimaced immediately.

  "Oi. Don't start handing out 'good person' cards. I never said I was trying to chase you, okay?"

  Robin chuckled.

  "I used to think that if you found out about my secret, I'd be in danger.

  But over the years, I've learned so many of your secrets instead.

  So I finally decided, if I've been listening to all of yours, it's only fair that I share mine."

  Cudius' expression darkened slightly.

  "I told you, that earlier thing was a misuanding!" he protested. "I'm an ho and upright man, known for my iy! How dare you accuse me of sneaking around at night?!"

  Robin just gave him a knowing look.

  She made a mental o upgrade the locks on her doors.

  After a brief pause, Cudius spoke again.

  "Ohara may be gone… but its knowledge survives in you.

  One day, when my pns are plete, I'll help you rebuild it."

  Robin's expression shifted, and for a moment, something like hope flickered in her eyes.

  But then, she exhaled softly and shook her head.

  "No. You once said that history repeats itself, but humans ot return to the past.

  Ohara is gohat's the truth.

  I will tio study history. I will tio be a schor. But I won't live in the past.

  I'll look to the future.

  To see what kind of world you create."

  Cudius was momentarily surprised by her resolve.

  After a pause, he asked, "Really? You don't want it rebuilt?"

  Robin smiled.

  "No. But… if possible, I'd like to rehe Prometheus someday."

  Cudius blinked. "To what?"

  Robin's voice was soft, but firm.

  "Ohara."