Sophia was momentarily taken aback by Rocky's candid admission.
She did not expect Rocky to be so upfront about his plans to join the raid against her brother as his honesty placed Sophia in a difficult position.
On one hand, she did not want to provide him with the details he sought, as doing so would feel like betraying her family, however, on the other hand, Rocky was her only support system at the moment and had proven to be a reliable friend, so she could not outright dismiss his demands either.
If she denied him the knowledge about how to save his sister, their friendship would undoubtedly be jeopardized forever, shutting down her last safe haven.
Feeling stuck between a rock and a hard place, Sophia struggled to find a way out of this predicament without offending either side as Rocky, reading her conflicting emotions, did not give her enough time to think clearly about his request, as he pressed her for immediate answers.
"Sophia, this is a matter of saving my sister. If it were anything else, I would never put you in a situation where you might need to betray your family. However, I'm not asking you to reveal your brother's defensive plans or to plot against him in the raid.
All I want to know is how to save my sister safely and that's it," Rocky clarified, emphasizing that his only goal was to save Riva and nothing else.
"Hmmm..." Sophia murmured. After being pressed by Rocky for answers, she found it even more difficult to deny his request.
Everything considered, his request seemed genuine and as his friend, she could find no valid reason to refuse him.
In the end, she relented and decided to give Rocky what he wanted.
"Please never tell anyone as to where you got this information from, as if my family ever finds out that I told you how to save Riva, they will have me executed immediately-" Sophia said, as she let out a deep sigh and warned Rocky against the consequences of ever implying that he got this information from Sophia.
"First and foremost, let me assure you, that I have no hand in kidnapping your sister and know nothing about it, however, if your sister is being held in the floor21 palace prison then she must be held in one of the underground cells" Sophia said, as she tried to make it sound as if she had no involvement in Riva's kidnapping at all.
As Rocky listened to her words, he also simultaneously checked her aura to see if she was lying or mixing a lie in her words with his aura eyes, however, Sophia seemed to be speaking only the truth today as her aura stayed at a consistent green color.
"It seems like saving Riva won't be easy" Rocky murmured as he heard about all the security measures that the Olympians had put in place to ensure the safety of their political prisoners.
"What about alternate routes, are all tunnels leading to the floor one underground prison the same? Or do some have better security than others?
If it's only me, Erin and Buhara infiltrating the place, do you think we stand a chance?" Rocky asked, as Sophia shook her head from side to side and explained the four underground tunnels entrances that were created to reach the underground prison floor level one.
Three of these four entrances had the other gate within the palace walls, with only one entrance being outside the palace walls, opening deep inside the woods near an unassuming oak tree.
As a child it was this exact tunnel that Sophia often used to sneak out of the palace and it was a backdoor that was created by the palace designers to smuggle in food and essentials someday in-case there was a massive siege on the palace.
"I hope you realize that I'm betraying my family by giving you this information Rocky.... It's not something I'm supposed to do" Sophia said as she clutched her knees and drowned herself in the guilt that she was feeling for having given invaluable information to the enemy, however, Rocky felt no sympathy for Sophia.
For her to give him this information, Rocky had played the part of being her trusted friend for months and given her invaluable emotional support through her narcissistic phase.
It wasn't easy for him to make her open to him, however, he had managed to achieve it through a mixture of patience and manipulation, as first he carefully alienated Sophia from her family, painting them as the enemy in her mind and then helped fan the public sentiment in the university against her, until he was the only friend she had left.
While Sophia did not know any of this, by giving Rocky the information he wanted she had fallen into his trap completely today and Rocky did not feel even a bit apologetic for manipulating her as he knew that if she was in the position to manipulate him, she would do the same, if not worse.
"I know.... And I appreciate it, my friend, I'll remember this favor forever-" Rocky said nonetheless, as he gave Sophia's palms a few good squeezes, to express his appreciation for her support.
Although he had already obtained what he wanted from his relationship with Sophia, he still needed her to believe they were best friends for a few more days as he still had one big use for her left.
A use that would make even Shakuni blush, as not even the god of manipulation himself could ever be as cold as Rocky planned to be to Sophia in the near future.