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Chapter 145
In the corridors of the palace, the severed head of the crown prince rolled, and the palace was thrown into chaos.
No one could easily restrain the 2nd Prince, and they hesitated.
In his madness, the sword in his hand could strike anyone next…
But Nathan neither fled nor spilled more blood, continuing to smile in that spot. Gazing at Lark, whose eyes were losing their light, he cast aside the sword he held.
As if to say,
“If I can only kill you, that’s enough.”
It was done.
“Ah, aah…”
The emperor, who had rushed there in haste, collapsed, doubting his own eyes.
It was a tragically catastrophic finale.***
[Imperial Calendar January 13, 1521.
The day when Crown Prince Lark van Rashmagh Descarde passed away.
The one who assassinated him was his half-brother and the second prince, Nathan van Rashmagh Descarde.
It is known that this tragedy marked the culmination of the power struggle within the imperial royal family.
This…]
This is… a turning point of the Descarde Empire that will be used in the future.
Vista, the spirit who was looking at that tragic record with closed eyes, suddenly turned around at the approaching presence behind.
“Landian?”
Unlike their previous encounters, Landian’s aura was undeniably different now.
He had returned without his contractee.
“Are you okay?”
“…”
There was no response as the imposing figure approached and sat down next to him. Though Vista couldn’t see, he could keenly feel Landian’s complex and subtle emotions.
“It looks like you’re not okay.”
“Well, it’s not like I didn’t expect this to happen.”
“You probably didn’t expect it to happen this quickly. You didn’t even get to say your final goodbye.”
With a sigh, Landian propped his head up with both arms and lay back. “I’ve never had a contract severed like this before.”
“Yeah, I know.”
Since he had protected humans, a few contractees had passed through Landian, but the endings had always been ordinary. He had only watched as they lived, aged, and peacefully closed their eyes when their time came.
“But this one’s pretty strange.”
In the end, the face of Lark, whose light had faded unnoticed, flashed in Landian’s mind.
Recalling that tragic ending, Landian asked, his lips quivering, “I know this was Lark’s second life. He died young in his previous life as well. Of course, I have no memory of it…”
“Yeah, that’s right. The king rewound 30 years, after all.”
Landian asked, watching Vista respond as though he knew everything, “By any chance, did you know that we had regressed?”
“You found out because of the king’s contractee, right?”
“That’s right.”
“Yeah. Unlike you, I knew even without anyone telling me. Because I’m a spirit who manipulates time. Spirits that manipulate time can instinctively sense disruptions in the flow of time, like cutting one thread and sewing in another. The 30 years the king rewound felt like that.”
“I see.”
“Are you blaming yourself by any chance?” Vista asked subtly.
“It’s true that it makes me feel powerless. Twice, in this manner… In fact, when you told me about my contractee’s death in advance, I even thought about whether I could do something…”
“Don’t do that. It’s not your fault. Why do you think the word ‘fate’ exists?” Vista comforted Landian by gently patting his head. “I see thousands of branches of the future. But all humans seem to meet similar endings within those thousands of branches.”
“…”
“Your contractee is no different. He has countless branches of the future, but the end is almost the same. He dies at a young age.”
“Fate seems to defy anything you do. It’s truly frustrating,” Landian muttered somewhat dismissively and, after a moment of silence, asked indirectly, “Is there really… nothing at all?”
“Nothing at all?”
“You mean there isn’t a single branch of fate where Lark, that guy, peacefully grows old and dies?”
“Well, there might have been.” Quietly pondering with his chin in his hand, Vista mumbled, “It seems like there might have been one. Now it’s a vanished future branch where your contractee has died and can no longer be seen…”
Vista recalled the most beautiful branch of life among the constantly changing futures.
“I remember how your contractee cried like a child…”
“Him? Quite unexpectedly.”
Lark’s memory of being unable to sleep for about 12 hours, not eating, and just restlessly pacing around had left a strong impression.
As Vista fumbled through his memories, he added, “If he were still alive… October 24th, 1529. That’s the day the next crown prince of the Descarde Empire was born.”
“…?”
Landian, who had been lost in thought while pondering Vista’s words, suddenly burst into laughter. “Hahaha…! Wait, so you mean he would cry his heart out because his own child was born?”
“Are you making fun of it? The birth of life is so incredibly moving. Especially if it’s a child who carries your blood.”
“Oh, I can’t believe this.”
Landian, who had been laughing while covering his face for a while, soon mumbled with a bitter expression, “I’m curious. I’d like to see what that guy’s child looks like.”
“Wow, Landian, you’ve become quite human-like.”
Vista comforted him as a gentle breeze rustled by. At the same time, he paused.
Suddenly, all the thousands of future possibilities that had come to mind changed.
‘Oh, finally.’
Vista smiled quietly.
It wasn’t entirely unexpected.
He had suspected that it wouldn’t end like this.
The changed future.
Now, in any branch of life, there was no future where Lark did not exist. The fact that such a future suddenly appeared…
‘It seems the king’s contractee found out.’
***
“Again… I couldn’t hear you.”
It was already the fifth time she had repeated the same words.
Viego bit his lips when he saw Rubette, not crying nor collapsing, just stood there blankly, repeating, “Say it again.”
“So, the 2nd Prince—”
“Stop it.”
Viego interrupted Victor, who was about to repeat the same thing for the sixth time.
“Father?”
“He’s still in the palace. Not only Father but also all the nobles have been urgently summoned.”
“They must be calling to decide what to do with the 2nd Prince.”
“What else is there to decide? He’s locked up in the Tower of Silence right now, and he’ll be executed tonight.”
“Yes. There’s no need to go there.” Viego glanced at Rubette behind him and added, “Someone should be by her side, I think.”
“Uh, Brother… I have to go. Please, take care of Ruby.” Victor, lips sealed, briefly glanced at the dazed Rubette, then hurriedly left the duke’s residence as if escaping.
“B-Brother! Just wait—”
“Rubette.”
Viego caught Rubette.
“Oh, Brother. I didn’t hear it clearly. Just once. Let me ask Victor one more time…”
“Stop it. No matter how many times you ask, it won’t change anything.” Viego felt the pain of speaking coldly, but he had no choice.
“How…?”
“…”
“We were supposed to meet today, right? Today, today. We were supposed to meet later, that’s what he said…”
Viego couldn’t bear to see Rubette’s heartbreaking state any longer and turned his head away.
“Why…?”
“Rubette!”
Rubette, panting heavily as if she were insane, pushed away Viego’s hand and ran up the stairs. She returned to her room and locked the door, clutching her chest and breathing heavily. And then, she softly whispered the familiar name, “Wishit.”
As if he had been waiting, Wishit appeared.
The true form of the Spirit King with his splendid golden hair still felt unfamiliar, but to Rubette right now, he felt like a savior.
“Ah, haa…”
She almost burst into tears when she saw him, but Rubette held back.
As Wishit observed her face, he remained silent with a pained expression.
“Rubette!”
Wishit managed to catch Rubette, who was staggering and almost fell.
“Wishit…” Rubette’s pale hand, tightly clutching the hem of Wishit’s garment, trembled uncontrollably. “I, I must have made a mistake. Like a fool…”
“Calm down.”
Held in Wishit’s arms, Rubette breathed heavily as if she could collapse at any moment, and barely murmured, “Wishit.”
“I’m listening. Speak.”
Rubette raised her head with great effort.
Seeing her expression strained as if she were forcibly holding herself together was heartbreaking, so Wishit bit his lips tightly.
The tears that had welled up in her eyes didn’t fall, barely held back. It felt like, amidst the confusion, there was a strong determination to remain calm.
“I’m going to make my second wish.”
The second wish.
For Rubette, who had vowed not to make a third wish in order to be with Wishit, this would likely be her last…
Her second wish.
“Yes.”
Wishit smiled sadly, wiped away the tears in Rubette’s eyes, and asked, “What do you wish for?”
***
Lark opened his eyes to the dim dawn light streaming in through the window.
The clock showed 5 o’clock in the morning. It had been the same waking time for years.
“Hmm.”
Stretching his stiff neck, he got out of bed and removed his nightgown, standing in front of the mirror. Then, in a familiar routine, he glanced at the bedside table next to the full-length mirror. A calendar lay there, filled with appointments.
[January 13th.
07:00 Palace Guards
09:00 Duke Diollus
14:00 Ruby]
As Lark quickly skimmed through his schedule for the day, he noticed Rubette’s name and couldn’t help but raise the corner of his lips.
Every time he had an appointment with her, he used to write something as formal as “Princess Diollus”. But now, the newly formed closeness was evident, and it brought a smile to his face.
Thump, thump, thump, thump!
At that moment, a disturbance that was out of place for the time when it should have been quiet, disrupted the tranquility. Lark was startled by the noise from outside the door.
“P-Princess! You can’t do this!”
“Why are you doing this!?”
The confused voices of the guards and attendants outside the door could be heard.
Startled, Lark quickly put on the gown in his hand and approached the door.
“What’s—”
Clang!
And then he was surprised.
The door was rudely pushed open from the outside before he could open it himself.
“Rubette?”
Before him stood Rubette, looking disheveled.
“Ahh…”
“Why…”
Rubette, croaking with red eyes and mouth open for some reason, collapsed into Lark’s arms.
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