Shadows of the Past, Tears of the Present

Click.

The old hinges of the inn door let out a soft groan. I froze, but Lucalis, lying on the bed, didn’t show even a flicker of movement. I could have teleported directly inside the room, but while that was fine for leaving, the mana flares from a warp formula upon arrival were potent enough to potentially wake a sleeping child.

Stealing across the floor as silently as possible, I approached the bedside. He looked exactly as he had when I left. He slept so deeply, almost like a corpse, that I checked his mana just in case something was wrong. He was perfectly fine. He was simply, truly, fast asleep.

I carefully perched myself on the edge of the mattress. Still, there was no sign of him waking. While the sleeping magic played a large part, the fatigue built up in the child’s body must have also contributed.

“…….”

The things I had witnessed while washing Lucalis flashed back into my mind. Not a single part of the child’s body was unmarred. His emaciated frame, where his ribs protruded pitifully, was tragic enough, but the visible wounds right before my eyes were quite severe.

The telltale signs of bones breaking and knitting back together were everywhere, and it was painfully obvious that he hadn’t received proper medical care when the fractures occurred. It was a miracle they hadn’t fused crookedly.

‘It must be thanks to his extraordinary recovery rate.’

The Vilpasion Imperial Family had originated from a divine house ages ago, and even after all this time, traces of that lineage remained in their constitution and supernatural abilities.

I raised a hand to cover my face. What use was there in thinking about this now? A hollow chuckle escaped my lips. The corners of my mouth curled upward, trembling in a distorted smile.

I couldn’t even remember how I had walked out of [The Shadow’s Phantom]. I had wandered aimlessly through the dawn streets of the capital, a place practically deserted save for vagrants and patrolling guards. It was a miracle in itself that I hadn’t been detained by the guards along the way.

I had thought walking would help clear my head, but it did the exact opposite.

“Fifty years…”

I knew a significant amount of time had passed, but never in my wildest dreams did I imagine it had already been fifty years. With a long sigh, I removed my hand from my face and looked down at the child sleeping soundly, completely oblivious to the world. My mind grew even more tangled.

Lucalis was not Vanessa’s son; he was her grandson.

It made sense why Linesey, who had been Vanessa’s contemporary, had died of old age. Though sharp-witted and highly intelligent, Linesey’s physical body had been close to that of an ordinary human.

But did that mean Vanessa, a Sword Master, was alive and well? No, she wasn’t. The world, then as now, was an unpredictable sea, a tempest that shattered small boats for no reason at all.

‘She was assassinated. It happened right after she gave birth to two children.’

The night of the birth. An unidentified group had infiltrated the Imperial Palace, murdered Vanessa, and fled. For reasons unknown, they left the wet nurse and the infants in the adjacent room completely untouched. Lamsphil had added that it seemed they had targeted the exact moment she was at her weakest.

His words had barely registered in my ears. Tinnitus. Nothing but a piercing ringing had filled my head.

The two children were twins, and they had no relatives to speak of.

Even their father was a mystery. Back when the pressure for her to marry had reached its absolute peak, Vanessa had vanished for a few days without a word. Naturally, the entire Empire was thrown into an uproar. The Knight Orders and the Mage Orders were scrambling in all directions like cats with their tails on fire. A few days later, Vanessa walked back in with a nonchalant expression, already pregnant.

I couldn’t help but laugh out loud. It was so incredibly typical of Vanessa.

The aristocrats and the commoners, who clashed over every little thing, must have been entirely united in their sentiment at that moment. Amidst all the chaos, she alone remained unfazed. Vanessa swore an oath before God that she would live the rest of her life unwed, and subsequently gave birth to the two children.

That very oath must have become the dagger the nobles used to pierce her.

My loosely hanging hands clenched into tight fists. Lamsphil glanced at my hands and asked if he should continue; I nodded to signal him on.

The two infants were taken and raised separately by the two opposing factions of nobles. One didn’t even need to hear the details to imagine what kind of palace life those infant princesses must have endured. I raised a hand, cutting Lamsphil off.

‘Do the princesses have any children?’

‘Only the eldest, Princess Siina, has a son. For your information, she was recently defeated in the war for the throne and executed. Her son, Prince Lucalis, was sent to Pavila Obsidian under the pretext of his studies, but he went missing along the way.’

‘Then is the current Emperor the second princess?’

‘No. This is where the story gets a bit complicated. She was assassinated not long after Prince Lucalis was sent into exile.’

My head spun. What on earth was this supposed to mean?

‘…Then who is the Emperor right now?’

‘There is no Emperor. A Prime Minister named Girdan is acting as the regent. For the record, he belonged to the second princess, Remina’s, faction. Though I suppose I should say he “used to” belong to it.’

‘Wait. Just wait a moment.’

I needed to organize the information inside my head. Massaging the space between my eyebrows for a moment, I gathered the scattered fragments of data in my mind and slotted them into place, one by one.

Lamsphil watched me with an intrigued expression as I regained my composure in an instant.

‘There is one thing I don’t understand. When Princess Siina’s faction was defeated, how did Lucalis survive?’

Given the circumstances, there was no way they would leave the child of a political enemy alive.

Lamsphil shrugged.

‘Because Emperor Remina was infertile.’

Only then did I see the massive pillar supporting the entire narrative.

‘It’s because of the Grand Barrier.’

‘Precisely.’

The Grand Barrier was a myth-tier grand magic that allowed the Empire to exist as an Empire. It could be considered the absolute highest-grade version of the barrier found in the s*ave traders’ building. Though even comparing the two was laughable given the sheer difference in their leagues.

It had been passed down since ancient times, and according to legend, it was a colossal barrier capable of blocking even a dragon’s breath… but in truth, I was the one who cast it. I had created it using the Heart of the Perpetual Engine, dying over a dozen times in the process. I hadn’t expected it to last this long.

The activation condition was the bloodline of the First Emperor. To put it simply, only a direct imperial descendant could maintain the Grand Barrier.

During eras of war or when monsters still roamed near human settlements, the ability to maintain the Grand Barrier served as the very qualification for succession.

In the present day, the necessity of the Grand Barrier itself had diminished, but its symbolic value had grown even more unshakeable. It was to the point where even a man like Girdan, who was clearly the mastermind behind the curtains, didn’t dare dream of encroaching upon it.

‘That’s why he doesn’t dare to dream of becoming the Emperor himself.’

Static.

Noise disrupted the thoughts I had barely managed to file away. The mirror reflecting my inner self defied my will, dragging up a buried memory.

The first Emperor I had raised, long before Vanessa. The person to whom I had gifted the Grand Barrier, and the one who, much later as time flowed on, caused me to take Vanessa’s hand…

Thud!

An explosion erupted in the corner of the room.

‘Whoa! You startled me!’

Stop. Not right now.

I raised a chilling gaze to look at Lamsphil.

‘Continue.’

‘Yes, sir.’

He continued his explanation with a noticeably more deferential attitude.

‘So Remina’s faction killed Siina, and the remnants of Siina’s faction attempted to assassinate Remina as a final desperate struggle, which actually succeeded?’

‘Because Prince Lucalis is still on Siina’s side. He’s their ace in the hole, so to speak. If all the princesses die, the prince becomes the next successor regardless, and considering the Grand Barrier, no one can easily lay a hand on him. They actually thought it through quite well… I’m sorry.’

When my expression turned menacing, Lamsphil shut his mouth tight. I pondered quietly. Looking at the current situation, it was far more plausible to assume that the remnants of Siina’s faction had smuggled Lucalis out, and some sort of problem had arisen during that process.

‘This is enough.’

‘Oh, are you leaving?’

Without answering, I stepped out of [The Shadow’s Phantom].

When I looked up, the grand Imperial Castle engulfed in darkness came straight into view. The tall, elegantly soaring spires and the full moon hanging at their tips were exactly as they had been in the past.

Perhaps that was why it felt like if I were to go there right this moment, Vanessa would be sitting in her office. She would spring to her feet, asking what brought her master here, and grab the hem of my robe, begging me to help her process some paperwork since I was already there.

Even if I shook her off and told her to let go, she would never release her grip, and I would reluctantly accept about half of the classified documents and sit down right beside her.

And so, we would guard each other’s sides through the night, watching the morning star fade together…

“Ah.”

Should I just… tear it all down?

I barely managed to swallow down the impulse that surged up like bile. I was a Grand Mage, but that did not mean I was omnipotent. Overthrowing a nation might look like it was achieved through sheer brute force, but in reality, it was far more complicated than that.

More than anything, unlike the distant past, there was a slight issue now. You could say I had thrown away my own prime, or perhaps that I had reaped the karma I sowed. In short, while it was true I was a Grand Mage, I was an incomplete and unstable one.

Generally, once a mage reached the level of a Grand Mage, they could cast most spells chantlessly without the need for a wand or a staff. I used to be able to do that too.

But the current me required a tool or an incantation unless it was an incredibly simple spell, and high-level magic demanded a tremendous amount of preparation.

There was a story behind this that one couldn’t listen to without shedding tears…

‘It’s not what’s important right now. Regardless, it’s actually for the better.’

Fortunately, no one knew Lucalis was alive; they all assumed he was missing. I would hide him and raise him like this, and when the time was right, I would help him reclaim everything that rightfully belonged to him.

‘Will this be enough? Vanessa…’

[Ah, don’t make me laugh. If you don’t stay by this kid’s side and take care of him until he dies of natural causes, I won’t let you off easy when we meet later.]

The Vanessa in my imagination spoke. It was the exact tone she used when she was ten years old.

“Haha.”

I thought it was pathetic to feel like crying at my age, but by the time the thought crossed my mind, I was already weeping. I collapsed, sinking down right next to the child. I tightly pulled his small, wound-covered body into an embrace and sobbed.

“I’m sorry.”

Vanessa.

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

Even after living for two thousand years, I still break dishes and I’m still afraid of cockroaches. Just like minor mistakes, I repeat major blunders.

Even as I struggle desperately to avoid it, my body fails to move forward, sinking into the very spot I stand.

I was the most pathetic, fragile sunfish in the entire universe.