Chapter 14: Epilogue
The frozen tundra began to thaw under the gentle rays of spring sunlight.
The world that Dale and Lize cherished emerged from its eternal ice, and the hands of time, long frozen, began to move once more.
As the empire of winter melted away, another empire revealed itself.
The Grand Magic Empire, once the most powerful empire that had vanished from history, was now displaying its grandeur.
An empire ruled by the Black Gold Emperor, a force so formidable that none on the continent dared to oppose it, had put an end to the conflict between gold and shadow.
In front of the capital of Saxen.
Knights clad in black armor, marked with the emblem of the night raven, stood in formation.
They had sworn eternal loyalty to the House of Saxen, both in life and death, and now they too had awakened from the eternal ice.
As soon as they saw the man in tattered robes, they all knelt in unison.
Clang!
The sound of metal armor clashing echoed as they planted their swords vertically in a gesture of knightly respect.
The man walked calmly through them, while a young girl, overwhelmed by the incomprehensible scene, hesitantly followed behind.
The Night Raven Knights, now pledging their loyalty to the Saxen dynasty.
“His Imperial Majesty approaches!”
Their voices rose in unison towards the robed man, and at last, Yufi held her breath. Even a country girl like her could grasp the gravity of the situation. She recalled the words of the Marquis of Rosenheim.
The Black Gold Emperor, once hailed as the most powerful magic emperor on the continent, and his empire.
Dale halted his steps. At the end of the ceremonial procession stood the people he loved.
A girl with her eyes bandaged stood there, leaning on her parents.
An unforgettable elven mage was present.
There was the dark maiden of the shadows, who had pledged herself to Dale, and the leader of the Night Raven Knights, loyal to the House of Saxen.
A woman was there too, who had once followed in her father’s footsteps to become the greatest swordswoman on the continent, now carrying two lives within her.
Dale approached them, and they said nothing.
They simply understood, accepted, and affirmed him.
Dale could not know what had transpired here as the empire of winter melted away. He had been journeying across the continent to this land. What had happened in the meantime, and how they had come to accept this world, was beyond his knowledge.
He simply approached them, bowed his head, and then collapsed weakly.
Kneeling before them, Dale began to sob. Emotions beyond words poured from his throat.
“Welcome home, Dale.”
At that moment, his mother, Elena, embraced the weeping Dale. He could say nothing in return.
“Brother…?”
Just then, his bandaged sister reached out her hand. Her father, standing by her side, gently guided her to Dale.
“Father.”
“Come here, Dale.”
Alan of Saxen, once known as the Black Duke, smiled at Dale. Dale reached out to Lize, who was groping the air.
Holding Dale’s cold hand, Lize asked again.
“Brother? Are you there…?”
“Yes, Lize. It’s me.”
Dale replied. At his words, Lize reached out to touch Dale’s cheek, trying to feel his face.
Beyond the black bandages Lize wore, there was no longer the power once held by the ancestors of Saxen. The blue power she once possessed had vanished. It was the price Lize had to pay, a sacrifice she and Dale shared.
The ones they loved were there. And the empire they had built together with those they loved was there.
At that moment, a conversation with the Golden Lord, Ray Uris, came to mind.
’…My story has ended. The Black Gold Empire is the same. So at least, there will be no more records of us in your book.’
Dale had said. It was true. There was no longer a mission for Dale to fulfill on this continent, and the conflict between gold and shadow was no longer his concern.
Yet Ray Uris had asked again.
‘But will it really be so?’
On this continent, the conflict between gold and shadow, emperor and revolution, still raged. And when the Fourth Empire, once called the Grand Magic Empire, and the Black Gold Emperor appeared in this world.
Dale and his empire realized they could not escape the pages of Ray Uris’s “Book of Blood.”
Just as the revolutionaries had once dragged Dale, who had turned his back on the world, back into it.
In an era where magic was dying, just as Dale had once done, his empire too would have to face the world again.
Yet nothing would change. He lifted his head and gazed at his empire.
The Night Raven Knights, the necromancers of the Black Tower, and those Dale loved.
His father, Alan of Saxen, renowned as the greatest dark mage on the continent.
The divine sword Charlotte and the light sword Sir Helmut Blackbear, the shadow’s sword and the dark maiden Aurelia. The elven mage Sepia.
Realizing this, Dale let out a hollow laugh.
“Ah, damn. It was a good dream, but the aftertaste is terrible.”
The man was there too, in a room of the Saxen palace, with his legs propped up on a desk.
“Was it a good dream?”
“Do you even have to ask?”
The Sword Master Baro took a swig of beer and cursed, while the “Shadow Saintess” beside him smiled silently.
“We all dreamed a happy dream. But in the end, it was a false dream.”
“Did you wish not to wake from it?”
“That wouldn’t be so bad. But a dream is only a dream because we wake from it.”
”…”
“Even if His Majesty had affirmed that child’s will, it would have ultimately failed. Yet because we dreamed that dream, we came to understand.”
“Understand what?”
“How to dream a dream that never ends.”
At those words, Dale held his breath for a moment, and the Shadow Saintess rose silently.
“Now, my knight.”
”…My lady?”
“You must have dreamed the same dream as I did. I too have seen many things in exchange for these eyes.”
“Phuh, cough!”
At her words, Master Baro spat out his beer. Watching this, Dale cursed, and then noticed Baro’s face turning uncharacteristically red.
“Thank you for protecting me, Baro.”
The Shadow Saintess said.
“And can you stay by my side until the end?”
”…Didn’t I promise?”
Master Baro bowed his head, and Dale gave a wry smile at the sight.
“Then I’ll take my leave as the intruder.”
Ignoring Master Baro’s continued words, Dale turned away.
Blessing their dream that would never end. And towards the dream that lay before Dale, one that would never awaken.
“Charlotte.”
“Dale.”
As soon as she saw Dale, Charlotte smiled warmly.
She was no longer the Charlotte who feared and trembled before Dale. Instead, she was a wife who understood and affirmed him more than anyone else, feeling the life stirring within her.
“I had a dream.”
“Yes.”
Charlotte’s dream, remembered from the empire of winter, was the same dream Dale was having, and the dream Charlotte was having too.
‘I was so scared that this happiness would shatter like a dream.’
He remembered her smiling in that illusion, indistinguishable from happiness.
So Dale gently reached out and caressed Charlotte’s cheek.
“I saw your dream.”
He said as he caressed her.
“And I will never let your dream break.”
“I was afraid of you.”
Charlotte said.
“Of you becoming the Black Gold Emperor, atoning for the world’s sins with your empire. It felt like the Dale I knew was gone.”
“It was all my fault.”
“Yet the you standing here now is the Dale I know.”
”…”
At her words, Dale said nothing. He simply reached out and kissed Charlotte.
“I will never let your happiness break.”
Dale said after the kiss. At his words, Charlotte silently wept.
The empire of winter melted away, and everyone awoke from their dreams.
“From the beginning…”
Having come this far, he finally understood what Lize truly desired.
Why, in the empire of winter that Lize had built, the Dale she loved most was left alone in the world.
So Dale asked.
His sister, her eyes wrapped in black bandages. But the Lize Dale faced now was no longer the trembling, weak girl groping in the dark.
Just as the ancestors of Saxen had done, her empty, jet-black pupils pierced through to the truth beyond.
“Did you know it would come to this from the start?”
At that moment, he saw Lize’s shadow before the empire of winter. It was an undeniable truth.
Despite everything, the shadow of Lize that Dale was observing revealed another truth.
“Have you forgotten the teachings of the Blue Tower, brother?”
”…”
The art of deception and lies.
As an agent of the Blue Tower, the key was to never realize you were an agent yourself.
This rule applied even to the rulers of the Blue Tower. Lize was no exception.
“You even deceived yourself.”
“No, brother. I never deceived myself.”
His sister, the master of the Blue Tower, spoke with her eyes covered by black bandages.
“My truth was an undeniable truth. I just didn’t realize I was a puppet dancing to the strings of another self. But brother, that other self and I are not separate beings.”
Lize continued.
“I never wanted you to suffer for this world. Neither did that other self.”
“Like mother, like daughter.”
Dale couldn’t hide his amazement and laughed.
“Your empire and the world do not fear you, brother. And there is no longer any suffering you need to atone for in this world.”
Lize spoke as if she had fulfilled her mission and had nothing more to wish for.
“So even if you come to hate me, I’m content. I’ve completed my mission.”
”…”
Dale remained silent at Lize’s words.
After a moment of silence, he quietly reached out and embraced her.
“Thank you, Lize.”
At those unexpected words, Lize caught her breath. The master of the Blue Tower, the mistress of deception and lies, stood silent in Dale’s embrace.
And then, like a child, she burst into tears.