Episode 226
“Mother.”
Dale spoke softly, and his mother, Elena, responded with a gentle smile.
“Speak, Dale.”
”…”
Dale remained silent, casting a sidelong glance at his father beside Elena. How much of the truth did this man know? Had he been an accomplice from the start? It was impossible to tell.
Yet, to use the “Eye of Truth,” he would have to reveal the Avatar of the Shadow Lord. It wasn’t something he could show openly in front of the Duke of Black.
“May we speak privately?”
“Let’s talk in my study.”
Thus, Dale spoke, and as usual, his father, Duke Saxon, replied.
“Yes, Father.”
Dale almost corrected himself but simply nodded instead.
The Third Rose War had ended, and the successor of the Red Tower had fallen to the Black Prince. This could only mean one thing.
War.
In Duke Saxon’s study, Dale recounted what he had gained from the Third Rose War. His wife, Charlotte, had become the Grand Duchess of Lancaster and had acquired the “Book of Cold Ashes” through the Shadow Heart.
“A war unlike any we’ve seen before is about to begin.”
“Indeed.”
To Dale’s words, Duke Saxon responded with surprising calm, as if he had expected this all along.
“Aren’t you surprised?”
“Since you claimed the name of the Shadow Lord, it was only a matter of time.”
”…”
“When you were young, you said the empire’s justice was flawed. But none of us were ever truly just. It was merely a relentless struggle for power, a survival game.”
The Duke of Black spoke. The person before him was no longer a child, and thus, there was no need to shield him from the harsh truths.
“The victor will survive, and the defeated will perish. In the end, your childhood words were correct. Conflict is inevitable, and knowing that, we should have prepared for battle from the start.”
“Father…”
“I only hope you remember one thing.”
“And what is that?”
Duke Saxon spoke.
“You don’t need to fight for the belief of driving out the Empire of Fire and Light as the Shadow Lord.”
“I fight for what I must protect.”
Dale replied, as the heir of the Saxon family.
“And those are things you must protect as well, Father.”
“Never forget that until the end.”
“I will remember.”
Dale nodded solemnly and turned away. As he watched his son walk away, Duke Saxon remained silent, a silence filled with complexity and melancholy.
“Brother!”
As Dale exited the study, young Lise greeted him with a bright smile. Dale returned the smile, gently ruffling her hair.
“Did you just finish talking with Father?”
A woman standing beside Lise spoke, and Dale quietly swallowed.
Lise, oblivious to the world, began chattering about the blue magic she had learned. Her teacher, Sepia, had taught her well. Dale listened attentively to his young sister’s stories, praising her with care.
Nothing had changed. The goal of toppling the empire remained steadfast.
“Lise, Sepia is waiting for you.”
“Yes, Mother!”
At that moment, Dale’s mother, Elena, spoke. Realizing this, Lise hurried off to the courtyard where Sepia awaited.
Only then did the emotion drain from Dale’s face.
“May we speak for a moment?”
Elena nodded and began walking silently. Dale followed her in silence.
“Everywhere and nowhere.”
Once they had left his father and sister behind, Elena spoke.
“That is the essence of our Blue Tower.”
“How much of the truth does Father know?”
“Who can say?”
Elena smiled enigmatically.
“He is wise and perceptive. He might know, or he might not. I only hope I’ve managed to deceive him skillfully.”
“What was your purpose in approaching Father?”
“There were many purposes.”
Elena replied.
“But in pursuing those purposes, many things I believed to be clear became blurred.”
“Have you developed familial affection now?”
“You speak as if it’s someone else’s business.”
Elena, the master of the Blue Tower, smiled sweetly.
Hearing those words, Dale’s expression froze.
A void, as if the ground beneath him had crumbled, engulfed him.
The master of the Blue Tower had the power to manipulate minds at will. She could gather the minds of sorcerers into one place, alter memories and truths, turning them into unwitting puppets of blue.
─ Finally, the puzzle pieces fell into place.
The Stone of Rebirth, the Hero from Another World, Reincarnation, and the Saxon family.
“Isn’t that right, Dale?”
“Was it your doing?”
“It was also your decision.”
The blue mastermind spoke. The hero from another world quietly swallowed.
The things Duke Saxon had told him to protect now faded into an uncertain haze.
“It was a ridiculous family charade from the start.”
“Indeed.”
Elena laughed bitterly.
“It should have been.”
”…”
“Everyone has skeletons in their closet, and you discovered mine too soon.”
Dale remained silent.
“But just as your goal of toppling the empire hasn’t changed, my goal of serving the Shadow Lord won’t change either.”
“Was that your purpose?”
“To dedicate my all to the victory of the shadows, what other purpose could there be for a herald of the shadows?”
“Father told me not to fight for the belief as the Shadow Lord.”
“That’s just like him.”
Elena laughed, seemingly amused.
“I’ve seen countless sorcerers over the ages. Those who wouldn’t hesitate to become monsters to achieve their desires, those disgustingly vile creatures.”
“Like you.”
Dale’s sarcasm was met with a bitter smile from Elena.
“But a sorcerer unlike any other, like him, was a first.”
“Father is…”
After a pause, Dale continued in a faint, trembling voice.
“Too good and too kind to be used by frauds like us.”
“Indeed. That’s why his presence is all the more pitiable and sorrowful.”
Elena genuinely agreed, laughing softly.
She had thought to use everything at her disposal. Thus, she had claimed the position of the Saxon family’s eldest son, using that man, and Elena had done the same.
“Nothing will change.”
Dale said.
“We’re already accomplices on the same ship.”
”…”
“I will topple the empire for Father and Lise, and you must bring down the Golden Empire for the victory of the shadows.”
From the beginning, their goals were aligned. Toppling the empire would mean the victory of the shadows, and the victory of the shadows would signify the triumph of the Saxon family.
”…Dale.”
Despite everything, Elena hesitated. But Dale didn’t wait for her words.
“War is approaching. And in this war, the Blue Tower must give everything it has.”
“For you, I will gladly give my all.”
“As a loyal herald to the Shadow Lord, it is your duty.”
With those words, Dale turned away. Or at least, he tried to.
”…When I gave birth to you.”
Elena spoke softly.
“And as I watched you grow each day, I feared this day would come. For I could never deceive the Lord of Truth forever.”
“Is that so.”
“Even if it was a ridiculous family charade, I was truly happy to be your mother.”
“As a plan to birth the Shadow Lord of ideals, it was quite convincing. I had no reason to refuse.”
Dale spoke coldly.
“But for our goals, too many have become puppets, dancing to our tune. In the past, and even now. Neither you nor I deserve the happiness of family. However…”
Dale continued.
“For Father and Lise, I don’t want to shatter this ridiculous facade.”
“Yes, that is your decision.”
Elena smiled.
“And for that, I am simply grateful.”
An egg is the world of a bird. To be born, one must destroy a world.
“Our Blue Tower swears to dedicate all we have to the Shadow Lord.”
Even if what Dale sought to destroy was her world, as a mother, she would affirm it. Because she was his mother.
Even if it was a laughable family charade, nothing would change.
After all, Elena was Dale’s mother.
A truth closer to a lie than any lie.
Lady Scarlet was smiling through her pain. Marquis Eurys held her hand, smiling gently.
“You’ve done well, my dear sister.”
Her belly was no longer swollen. And the demonic seed that had been growing inside her had finally emerged.
A loathsome infant wailed on the cold marble floor of the Red Tower.
That day marked the birth of the demon of evolution, conceived within Lady Scarlet through a ritual of desperation.
Life is a constant struggle. The victorious survive, while the defeated cannot.
To those who fall in life’s battles, the victors who strip them of everything and devour their essence are nothing short of evil.
In this regard, what Lady Scarlet had brought into the world was the pinnacle of life’s struggle, the apex predator in the food chain of evil.
Angra Mainyu.
The baby cried out, and Lady Scarlet gazed at the child with a gentle smile.
“Oh, how utterly adorable you are.”
The Red Tower revered the philosophy of power. In this respect, this being was the most fitting successor to their ideology.
“It’s such a pity that Rey died without ever seeing his sibling.”
Scarlet murmured bitterly. Though this being was conceived through her, it was no different from Rey.
A child of falsehood.
Yet, the bond between those not connected by blood was a lie closer to truth than any family.