Yuna Carlos, in terms of generation, could be considered Aisha's great-great-great-great-grandmother.
According to what is recorded in the Carlos family genealogy, Yuna Carlos was among the earliest batch of Duelists to awaken on the Spirit Continent.
Taking Yuna's awakening as a Duelist as the turning point, the Carlos family entered its most glorious era.
And it was precisely because of this that, when the Carlos family later fell into decline, they added Yuna's name into Aisha's name, hoping that the family's final Duelist could rekindle that former brilliance.
"┌(.Д.)┐ Something as important as a family genealogy was actually kept in my room the whole time… and I even used it to prop up a table leg?"
Alice said in a panic, "I didn't know either that you were using the genealogy to prop up a table leg, Aisha…. Such disrespect, such disrespect. Let's hope the ancestors are magnanimous and don't get angry."
"I thought it was just some shabby old book before…"
Using it to prop up a table leg was certainly Aisha's fault, but the genealogy really was extremely worn. There were even several breaks in succession, showing that even earlier members of the Carlos family hadn't taken it very seriously.
Fortunately, the written records in the genealogy were still fairly clear.
And among them, the entries about Yuna were the most numerous. The others were only given a few lines, recording their birth and death years and the positions they held in life.
Even so, despite Yuna having the most records, there was actually very little useful information.
It was nothing more than praise describing how Yuna, as one of the first Duelists, led the family into a glorious epic.
However, there was one passage that caught Miles' attention.
"It says here that Yuna Carlos was suspected of having a dual personality? That the personality she displayed during duels was totally different from her usual demeanor."
"Dual personality?" Irena said in surprise. "Wouldn't that mean—"
She didn't finish her sentence, stopping short, since Irena wasn't sure whether her sister Alice also knew about the existence of lingering spirits.
"And afterward, after an important duel, Yuna's dual-personality defect seemed to have been cured. After that, there were no further instances of drastic personality changes."
Even for Yuna, who had the most written about her, this was all the useful information that could be gleaned from the genealogy.
It didn't explain why Yuna had a dual personality, nor did it mention whether it was related to the Millennium Items.
Naturally, the question Miles cared about most—why Yuna's soul had appeared inside the obelisk tower back then—also found no answer here.
"That's all there is."
After carefully pondering it over again and again, Miles could only helplessly close the Carlos family genealogy and hand it back to Aisha.
"You've been very quiet for a while now, Aisha. Did you notice something?"
"..."
"Aisha?"
"Ah!"
Lost in thought, Aisha jolted awake.
From the moment Miles mentioned that the genealogy recorded Yuna Carlos as possibly having a dual personality, Aisha felt as if electricity had run through her mind, subconsciously linking the clues together.
First was the girl wearing the Millennium Puzzle in the family album.
Then there was the mysterious girl Aisha had encountered today, the one wearing an ancient Millennium Puzzle.
And then there was what she learned from that mysterious girl… that the original Millennium Puzzle had once contained a lingering spirit that was both gentle and powerful, but that lingering spirit had left due to an inescapable fate and would never appear again.
Corresponding this with the description in the Carlos genealogy… Yuna Carlos never again displayed drastic personality changes after an important duel.
Putting these together, Aisha seemed to arrive at an answer.
Yuna Carlos, who possessed the Millennium Puzzle, had always dueled in a state where a lingering spirit was possessing her.
However, when that "important duel" arrived, the lingering spirit within the Millennium Puzzle left Yuna. In the eyes of others, this appeared as Yuna Carlos's dual personality "flaw" being cured.
In other words, could it be that the mysterious girl she met today—the one who generously gifted her the original Millennium Puzzle—was Yuna Carlos herself?
The ghost of a deceased ancestor!
(￣ー￣) Mokey Mokey gazed wisely, seeing through everything.
"It's nothing, Mr. Miles. I was just thinking about which one is stronger, Mokey Mokey or Mokey Mokey Adrift."
"Hah, you're thinking about that at a time like this?"
Even after realizing the truth, Aisha decided not to tell the others for the time being.
That was because Yuna had said that "the lingering spirits of Millennium Puzzles are fated to leave in the end."
In order to prevent Miles from leaving, she had to change that ending.
And after gaining the concept of possessing two Millennium Puzzles, Aisha developed a certain intuition.
If she kept this secret to herself, then at a critical moment, she might be able to change fate.
Conversely, if she confessed that lingering spirits were destined to leave, she would lose any chance to change that outcome.
Mr. Miles, I, Aisha Carlos, will stake my life to protect you! To protect a future that has you in it!
Aisha made this vow in her heart.
As for Yuna, with no further clues even in the genealogy, and having temporarily lost any direction for investigation, Miles and the others spent another two days in Lukao Town.
During that time, Miles stayed alert at night, worried that there might still be Shadow Duelists like Bryce who would attempt retaliatory attacks on the Carlos family manor.
However, the two nights passed in peace, and Miles realized he was probably worrying too much.
Perhaps after Bryce, one of the top combatants among the Shadow Duelists, had been defeated, the rest had already backed off, knowing their limits.
Carlos's vicious dog—Miles felt that this strange nickname spreading among Shadow Duelists wasn't necessarily a bad thing.
At the very least, it ensured that before those Shadow Duelists tried to cause trouble for the Carlos family, they would weigh their own strength more carefully.
Time flew by in the blink of an eye, and soon it was time to depart.
The formal invitation from the Holy Varian Empire to the Carlos family—counting from today—meant that in two nights, it would be Emperor Queldes's birthday banquet.
By then, not only would all of the Empire's illustrious families be in attendance, but even duelists from the other two great nations, and some smaller countries as well, would receive invitations.
The Empire Emperor's birthday banquet gathered together the powerful Duelists of the continent in recent times and had practically become an annual tradition.
The reason was simple: the Holy Varian Empire revered martial strength more than any other nation.
And as the representatives of the pinnacle of power on the Spirit Continent, Duelists—especially the outstanding among them—were precisely the people the Holy Varian Empire respected and sought to win over.
Likewise, for Duelists themselves, receiving an invitation from the Empire was both an honor and a form of recognition.
"I really didn't expect the Carlos family to receive an invitation from the Empire's Emperor."
From the moment she saw the invitation letter, Aisha had been unable to believe it.
Even now, at the time of departure, she was still in a daze.
If it had been this time last year, an invitation to the Empire Emperor's birthday banquet probably wouldn't even have earned the Carlos family a glance.
After listening to her sister Alice explain the Empire's annual tradition, Miles asked thoughtfully, "Since this is a banquet that invites famous Duelist powerhouses, Irena, have you ever received an invitation?"
As one of Fusion Academy's twin pillars, and a renowned Duelist in her own right, Gray Witch Irena receiving—or not receiving—an Imperial invitation made Miles quite curious.
It would also allow him to roughly infer the Holy Varian Empire's standards for inviting Duelists.
"Sorry, I'm afraid I'll disappoint you. Neither this year nor last year have I received an invitation from the Empire."
"Even Senpai Irena doesn't get invited?" Aisha said in surprise. "Could it be that Duelists who are still studying at the academy don't receive invitations?"
Aisha seemed to have forgotten that she herself was also still an academy student.
Of course, the reason Aisha was invited was largely due to the title of Royal Duel Knight.
Added to that were the storms Aisha Carlos had stirred up in the Duelist world across the entire Spirit Continent over the past half year.
She defeated the household-name Imperial Marshal Locke Slint.
She saved the Axet Republic, leading Fusion Academy to a comeback victory over the Three Polar Gods.
She also obtained two of the legendary Egyptian God Cards. She had even successfully wielded the god-slaying weapon Divine Arsenal AA-ZEUS.
So many events that could only be described as miracles were all concentrated on a single Duelist.
At that point, whether she was still an academy student had already become irrelevant.
"As for whether students can receive invitations from the Empire, I do know a little about that," Irena added. "Last year, Fusion Academy actually had one person who was invited."
"Who was invited last year?" Aisha asked curiously.
"If it was only one person, then it could only be him," Miles said, already guessing the answer.
"Senpai Alester. As a third-year student, he received an invitation from the Holy Varian Empire. But from what I know, Senpai Alester directly refused it."
"He outright refused an invitation from the Empire?" Aisha said in disbelief.
One of the three great nations, the Empire that revered martial power above all—countless Duelists would break their heads just to obtain that recognition and honor.
Yet that Senpai Alester, a super-genius who received an Imperial invitation while still a student, had simply refused it.
"All I can say is that really is just like him," Miles said.
"I wonder if Senpai Alester will receive another invitation this year," Irena said, gazing up at the sky through the carriage window.
Because of the shadow of being utterly crushed in her first year, Irena was extremely afraid of facing that terrifying senior known as a madman.
But after using Miles' help to awaken Red-Eyes Dark Dragoon with her own Deck centered around Dark Magician, that moment of comeback seemed to have healed Irena's fear of Alester.
After all, once the concept of possibility existed, even goals that once felt utterly unreachable no longer seemed so frightening.
"If Senpai Alester receives an invitation this year too, we might even run into him," Irena reminded them.
"Come to think of it, Senpai Alester seems particularly fond of you, Aisha. If he finds out that the Carlos family also received an Imperial invitation this year, he might actually agree this time."
"Fond of Aisha?" Alice's little-sister-protective instincts tightened once more. "The academy is a place for studying, not for flirting or romance!"
"Sister, Senpai Alester has already graduated. He's not at the academy anymore, so you can relax."
"Graduated is even more dangerous! Once the restraints of student status are gone, who knows what he might do after graduation?"
Indeed, no one knew what Alester did after graduating.
Praised by the Headmaster as a once-in-a-century super genius, and also known as a madman, Alester Crowley vanished from the public eye after graduating from Fusion Academy. No one knew where he went.
"Let's set aside Senpai Alester for now," Miles interrupted. "Sister Alice, there's something I've been wanting to ask. Why are we traveling to the Empire by carriage instead of taking a magitek airship or magitek train?"
"Because we can't use magitek transportation," Alice explained. "Opposite from the Axet Republic, within the Empire's borders, any tools powered by magic stones are forbidden."
"The Holy Varian Empire actually bans magic stones?"
That genuinely surprised Miles.
As convenient transportation widely used across the Spirit Continent, magitek trains and magitek airships had become indispensable means of travel.
Yet the Empire went against the times—such convenient magitek transportation was strictly prohibited within its territory.
With no railways allowed to be built and no airship docking platforms, other nations naturally couldn't enter the Holy Varian Empire via magitek transportation.
If this had been before his exchange studies at Synchron Academy, Miles would have assumed the Empire's complete rejection of magic-stone technology was nothing more than the arrogance of a great power clinging stubbornly to the past, destined to fall out of step with the times.
But after experiencing the battle at Axet, Miles had completely changed his view.
The Holy Varian Empire seemed as if it had foreseen the catastrophic disaster that could result from magic-stone rampages and had prepared in advance. Even if it meant giving up the convenience of magitek technology, it would not allow itself to be entangled with it in any way.
"The Empire really does have foresight," Miles said, then asked, "So, Sister Alice, does that mean we're going to travel straight into the Holy Varian Empire by carriage?"
At carriage speed, crossing the vast territories of two great nations, by the time the Emperor's birthday banquet took place two days later, their group probably wouldn't even have arrived.
"That won't be necessary. Although magitek tools can't be used, the Holy Varian Empire has its own method of passage. Riding in the carriage is only to rendezvous with another group of invited guests."
"Another group of invited guests?"
"You'll find out when we get there."
After traveling for about another hour, the carriage slowly came to a stop before a massive canyon.
Irena lifted her witch's hat and looked out excitedly. "Could this be the legendary—Dragon Ravine?"
"You really are well-informed, Irena," Alice said with a smile. "Next, we'll ride dragons into the Holy Varian Empire. Crossing Dragon Ravine is the Empire's only official route of entry."
"Riding dragons to cross… now that really is a unique method."
Although Miles could directly summon Stardust Dragon to ride, there were also Duelists without Dragon monsters, as well as non-Duelists who needed passage.
In front of Dragon Ravine, many creatures were raised that were not Duel Monsters, but genuine fantasy wyverns native to the Spirit Continent.
Aisha asked, "Sister, you said earlier we'd be meeting up with another group of invited guests. Do we know them?"
"We should, more or less. At least for you, Aisha, they won't be unfamiliar."
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