Chapter 17
“It truly saddens my heart. It’s not pleasant to hear that His Imperial Majesty has lost his reason and lives that way.”
Lily had been the one watching Aaron, Blair, and Kyle from the closest place since they were young. It couldn’t be pleasing to hear that one of them had died and another had half-lost his mind.
“I feel quite upset too. The Duke promised he would come to his final farewell party. Breaking promises… what a liar, what a bad person.”
“Don’t just call him bad.”
Aaron took a bitter smile as he downed his drink. Having listened to Lily’s resentment, Aaron defended Blair.
“Pardon?”
“He lived magnificently, didn’t he? He was a man of great achievement. Would he want the people around him to grieve so much over his death? When I think about it, I’m sure he wouldn’t. That’s why I absolutely don’t cry.”
Lily gazed intently into Aaron’s eyes. Though he claimed not to cry, deep in those eyes, sorrow was distantly pooled.
“…You’re right.”
Lily agreed in a small voice. The mood sank. The impurities in the liquor settled down to the bottom of the bottle.
“He was too precious to leave so early.”
“Indeed. He was also an exceedingly good person.”
Lily quietly echoed in agreement.
“…I miss him.”
“…Me too.”
From that moment, no words were exchanged between the two. They simply shared drinks with each other. They couldn’t even tell how long they had been drinking. What few customers had been there all left. After locking the door, the two drank all night, while outside, heavy snow fell abundantly.
Aaron, who had a lower alcohol tolerance than Lily, fell asleep first as if collapsing. Lily laid Aaron down on the soft chair and looked out the window. Snow was pouring down heavily. Lily tapped the earrings hanging on her ears.
She left Aaron and went up the stairs to her room. Once inside, Lily ran her hand along the bookshelf and pulled out a book.
It was a very old book, its color already faded.
They said that thousands of years ago, when the empire was established, there were many beings that couldn’t be understood by human common sense. There were souls dwelling in objects, animals and fairy-like beings capable of higher-dimensional thinking, and witches who performed acts that humans could never do.
After countless years passed and technology gradually developed, such transcendent and unrealistic beings were all left in the past. All those with whom people had interacted disappeared. The same was true for witches. At first, they said there were many witches, enough to form witch colonies. But gradually their numbers decreased, until finally it changed so that the lineage continued through only one person. A witch would give birth to a single daughter, passing all memories and abilities to that daughter, continuing the witch lineage.
Lily was the only witch of her generation. A witch’s lifespan is far superior to that of ordinary people. She had already lived for nearly two hundred years, but she could probably live another three hundred years or so. Naturally, living longer than others, she had witnessed numerous deaths. It wasn’t uncommon to see young and vibrant lives extinguished.
But Blair’s death was quite shocking even to her. “He’s really too precious to die like that, Lily.” She agreed with Aaron’s words. The aftermath of Blair’s death was also extraordinary. She hadn’t expected Kyle to be unable to come to his senses for so long.
Lily tapped the earrings that had been gifted to her by Blair, then took them off her ears. Inside the sparkling amber, the flower Blair had given her that day was hardened. Lily spent a long time, a very long time, gazing at the pair of earrings.
After who knows how long, Lily brought a small dagger and pricked her fingertip. Though it belonged to a witch, her blood wasn’t blue or black. Rather, it was deep red. Bright red blood flowed, just like a human’s. When she dropped the round bead of blood from her fingertip onto the earrings, the earrings began to drink the blood. Until the amber, which had been scarlet, completely changed to a dark red color, Lily did not remove her finger.
* * *
The funeral of the imperial duke was held in early spring, as the severe cold retreated. It was a state funeral. The Crassia Empire bid farewell to Duke Gladius’s final journey with the highest honors.
Cremation was decided upon due to the wishes of the family and the strong advocacy of his close friend, the Finance Minister of Taklamakan. It was an unseasonably clear day. They placed the neatly dressed duke on a high stack of firewood. Despite nearly three months having passed, his appearance remained neat as if he were still alive, evoking sorrow in people.
The fire began to catch on the firewood. A very small flame gradually transferred to the wood and spread into a large fire. Everyone closed their eyes and observed a moment of silence for him. The fire grew larger. The figure of the duke, placed at the highest point of the firewood, was obscured by the flames.
While everyone was taking a moment to commemorate him, one person walked slowly, ethereally, parting the crowd and approaching the flames. It was a woman with long black hair, wrapped in a purple shawl. She removed the earrings she was wearing and threw them into the blazing flames. When the dark red, round earrings met the fire, they caused a small explosion.
Sparks scattered in all directions. The flames began to burn fiercely, different from moments before.
“Ah!”
Surprised by the flames that suddenly seemed to come alive, leaping around wildly, people scattered in confusion. The woman who had been gazing intently at the scene turned her back and mysteriously moved away from the crowd.
A butterfly with purple wings fluttered up above it all.
## 3. spirituoso – vividly
A boy with black hair lay on well-arranged white bedding.
When the boy opened his eyes, the purple pupils hidden beneath them sparkled.
Blair blinked several times. Certainly, the last scene imprinted on his retina had been the sky of the imperial hunting grounds. He remembered being moved to the imperial carriage, but by then his sight had already been lost, so he couldn’t see the inside of the carriage. But now, what he saw before him was neither the magnificent ceiling of the palace, nor the sky of the hunting grounds, nor a carriage.
Where on earth is this?
Blair raised his upper body and looked around. It was an extremely clean and tidy interior. The layout seemed quite familiar. There was a bandage wrapped around his left shoulder where the arrowhead had struck him.
Could it be that I didn’t die?
Blair tilted his head puzzlingly. But he knew better than anyone that this couldn’t be the case. He had distinctly sensed death at that moment. Blair was someone who understood death better than most. He couldn’t go against that cold intuition. It couldn’t be possible.
If not the imperial palace, then where exactly is this? While Blair was racking his brains trying to figure out the identity of this place, the door to his room opened.
“Young Master! Are you awake? If you’re awake, you should have called someone. You gave me such a fright.”
A maid who opened the door and entered made a fuss as she approached.
Young Master?
Blair frowned. Of course, Blair had been a “Young Master” once. About fifteen years ago, Blair was indeed called by such a title. He was the third son of Count Monetery’s family, so naturally, he was a beloved young master of a noble house. When he stayed at the Monetery household, everyone called him Young Master.
But after entering the academy, he rarely heard the term “Young Master.” Even more so after the battlefield, and after being appointed Grand General and handling state affairs. He was addressed as “Your Grace” or “Grand General” and the like.
Suddenly, his head throbbed. Blair pressed his right hand—which was free to move—firmly against his temple. What exactly is this situation? Am I dreaming?
“Oh my, Young Master. Does your head hurt? I’ll call for a physician right away. Now, now. Don’t get up, stay lying down.”
The chatty maid rushed over and hurriedly laid Blair back down on the bed.
If this isn’t the imperial palace, where could it be? Since Kyle and Aaron had taken him, the final destination should naturally have been the imperial palace, but no matter how he looked at it, this wasn’t the palace. Had it been the palace, there would have been about ten imperial physicians attending to him, and they would have called him “Your Grace.” Blair, lying down, fiddled with his left shoulder. Ugh, he grimaced. A bone-crushing pain surged. Feeling the pain and seeing the bandage wrapped around it, it clearly wasn’t an illusion.
Blair raised his upper body again. For someone who had been hit with such a deadly poison and had broken bones, his body felt remarkably light. Wasn’t I dead? Blair turned his head and once again looked around the interior. No matter how he looked at it, the scenery was quite familiar. The bedside table, the vase on top of it, the white, fluttering curtains. The spacious, clean room. What on earth? Blair narrowed his eyes and examined the house.
“Hmm.”
As Blair observed the interior, trying to dig up memories buried somewhere in his mind, the door flung open again and a man entered.
“Blair!”
“Brother Theo?”
Blair looked with wide eyes at the man who opened the door and came in. Theodore, his eldest brother. Theodore, with his large and robust build, was a brother whom Blair adored. Theodore asked worriedly:
“Are you all right?”
No, why call my brother for something like this? He’s such a busy man. Of course, it was indeed a massive event given that it was a matter of life and death, but Blair felt awkward nonetheless. To his much older brother, Blair was always the young brother who needed protection.
“Of course, I’m fine.”
Though he had crossed the line between life and death, Blair reassured Theodore that he was fine for now. Theodore, with a worried look, gently touched Blair’s shoulder.
“Ugh.”
“Does it hurt a lot? The physician is on his way now.”
“Yes, Brother.”
Blair nodded obediently and scrutinized Theodore’s face, which gave him a strange sense of dissonance. Something is off, but what? What is it?
It was definitely the Theodore he knew, but was it unfamiliar because he hadn’t seen him for too long? Feeling something off, Blair naturally raised his hand and touched Theodore’s cheek. Theodore smiled brightly and asked Blair:
“What’s wrong?”
“Ah, it’s nothing, Brother. It just feels a bit unfamiliar.”
“Unfamiliar? Why? Perhaps because you’ve awakened after so long.”
Theodore tilted his head puzzlingly, calmly offering his face and touching Blair’s hand that rested on his cheek.
“After so long…? How many days have I been unconscious?”
[To be continued in the next part…]
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
