Chapter 28: Epilogue
The northern lands were as cold and desolate as ever.
Dale walked across the courtyard of the Saxon Imperial Castle, now the heart of a new empire, just as it had been in history.
The night sky was dark, and ashen snowflakes drifted down. With each step, his footprints marred the pristine white ground.
“Dale.”
A voice called out, and Dale looked up.
“Sephia.”
It was Sephia, the elf mage who had once been the mentor to both Dale and Lize.
“You look troubled.”
“When you’re left alone in the world and finally meet your loved ones again…” Sephia began, and Dale responded with a bitter smile.
“I thought my journey had finally ended.”
He revealed a vulnerability he showed to no one else.
“The world is in my hands, and my loved ones are by my side. What more could I want? What more must I gain to fill this emptiness in my heart? How much longer must I wander before my journey ends?”
Dale’s voice trembled, almost a whisper.
“Please, tell me, Master Sephia.”
He wasn’t a feared demon or a god of futility. Just a man, filled with weakness.
Before the elf mage Sephia, the ‘Black Prince’ sought guidance as he always had.
“Regrettably, I too am just a wanderer lost in this world.”
Even the wisest teacher could not provide Dale with the answers he sought.
So Sephia simply embraced him in silence.
He dreamed.
It was a dream so blatant that he was fully aware it was a dream.
Under the pale, dark night sky, Dale looked up.
He had inherited the title of Duke of Saxon, become the Emperor of the Empire, and was once trapped in the ice of absolute zero, cast into solitude.
Yet, he had reunited with his loved ones and risen as the new Emperor of the Empire.
A god of futility.
That was Dale, and before him stood a boy.
A boy with his eyes covered by black bandages, yet he was not the immortal Frederick.
How could he forget that face?
No one can forget their past.
The ‘Black Prince’ stood before Dale.
Yet Dale could only smile bitterly. This was just a dream. The figure before him was merely a ghost of the past.
But then it spoke.
“Why do you turn away?”
The Black Prince asked, in a voice as polite as Dale’s once was.
“From what?”
Dale asked back.
“From me.”
“Is there a reason I should face you?”
Dale asked coldly, and the Black Prince replied just as coldly.
“Are you afraid?”
The Black Prince had always been able to read others’ hearts and seize what lay within. The Empire’s greatest genius, the prodigy of the ducal family.
That presence faced him, yet felt inexplicably foreign. So Dale laughed.
“Is there a reason I should fear myself?”
The Black Prince asked, as if he couldn’t understand.
“Do you truly believe I am the same as you?”
“What do you mean?”
“You once asked her if you were truly the same person you were back then.”
Her, likely referring to Shub.
“──Do you know of the Ship of Theseus?”
”…”
The Black Prince spoke, and Dale quietly held his breath.
After slaying the monstrous Minotaur, Theseus returned safely to Athens on his ship. The Athenians, in honor of his deeds, resolved to preserve his ship for future generations.
“I know.”
“But as each plank of Theseus’s ship rotted, the Athenians replaced it with a new one.”
Even if one plank was replaced, it was still undeniably Theseus’s ship.
“Yet, through countless years of storms, as they endlessly replaced planks and parts, eventually none of the original planks Theseus sailed on remained.”
When the ship was entirely rebuilt with new planks, the original Theseus’s ship no longer existed.
Yet the Athenians still called it Theseus’s ship.
”…”
“Can it truly be called Theseus’s ship?”
What an insufferable brat.
And realizing that this was his past self made it all the more absurd.
“Our cells are constantly dying and regenerating. Even after all the cells in our body have changed, can you truly say that the person standing here is the same ‘Black Prince’ from the past?”
“You must know by now that my past self was quite the insufferable brat.”
“It’s not just cells. Your beliefs, your ideals, your goals—how many ‘planks’ have been replaced from the time you were the ‘Black Prince’ to now?”
“What are you trying to say?”
“I am not you. Just as you are no longer the ‘Black Prince.’”
”…And what does that mean?”
“That’s for you to ponder.”
The Black Prince sneered coldly, and the drifting snowflakes froze in place.
The ‘Black Prince’ was gone, leaving only the endless expanse of a frozen winter night. An inexplicable chill gripped his heart.
And as he gazed upon the vast, empty land, Dale found himself speechless.
The next morning.
Upon waking from the dream, he felt the soft embrace of the woolen bed. Turning his head, he saw Charlotte sleeping beside him.
Silently, Dale reached out to caress Charlotte’s cheek, and she smiled in her sleep.
“You’re right here when I wake up, Dale.”
“Yes.”
Dale smiled, and Charlotte smiled back. He moved his hand to her swollen belly.
“You, me, and our child are all here together.”
“Isn’t it a bit cramped for three?”
“Not at all.”
Charlotte shook her head.
“It’s just right.”
“Really?”
“I don’t want our child to feel lonely in a vast space.”
Charlotte said, and Dale could only remain silent, unable to respond.
“It’s not your fault, Dale.”
But then Charlotte caressed his cheek, her voice gentle and loving.
“You’re not bad. So don’t blame yourself too much.”
”…Charlotte.”
Dale couldn’t say anything. He just wanted to lie there beside her, feeling their child and basking in happiness.
“What do you want me to do?”
So Dale asked. For a moment, Charlotte’s expression darkened, but only briefly.
“Be a kind father.”
Charlotte said.
“And…”
With a resolve and determination unlike any before.
“Give me your empire.”
Dale held his breath again.
“My empire…?”
“This world is yours now. But the world at your feet only brings you pain.”
“Charlotte…”
“Let me share your burden.”
Charlotte said.
“When I go to battle to defeat the Empire’s enemies, stay by our child’s side in the capital.”
”…”
“When I gather the nobles to govern the Empire, stay by our child’s side.”
Dale understood the weight of Charlotte’s words.
“Hey, Dale.”
“Yes.”
“Are you happy being the ruler of the world?”
Charlotte asked again.
“When our child is born, will you still leave us to bear the world’s burdens alone?”
”…”
Dale couldn’t answer. He could only feel the pain and suffering Charlotte had borne alone, biting his lip in silence.
There was hesitation.
But it didn’t last long.
“I promise.”
Dale said.
“Thank you, Dale.”
Charlotte smiled at his words. She leaned in and kissed him. As their lips met, the words of the ‘Black Prince’ from his dream resurfaced in his mind.
Was the person Charlotte kissed truly the one she knew?
He didn’t know.
And he didn’t want to know.
“Someone has come to see Your Majesty.”
As soon as Dale rose and stepped into the imperial halls, unexpected news reached him.
“Who is it?”
“They claim to be the leader of the revolutionaries.”
”…”
Dale took a deep breath.
“Is there any proof to trust their words?”
“A large force of armored soldiers has disarmed and surrendered to the Night Raven Knights at the duchy’s gates.”
”…”
“The knights have confiscated their armor, yet they willingly declare themselves prisoners, following their leader.”
“Bring him to the castle.”
Dale spoke, and his subordinate bowed his head. Even if there were some hidden conspiracy, it would be meaningless in the presence of this being. Those loyal to the House of Saxon understood, perhaps better than anyone, that their lord required neither their protection nor their concern.
Yet, the black and gold throne was not Dale’s to claim.
Charlotte sat upon the throne, with Dale standing by her side. No one dared to challenge this arrangement.
Soon, their child would be born, and Charlotte’s belly was already round with the promise of new life.
Watching her, Dale smiled quietly.
Creak.
After smiling, he turned his gaze beyond the grand hall of the Saxon imperial palace.
Before him stood the leaders of the revolutionary army, those who claimed to be its head and heart.
The family of House Eurys, accompanied by a small, elite force clad in magical armor, ready to support them.
“It is a pleasure to see you again, Your Majesty.”
The head of the revolutionary army and the patriarch of House Eurys bowed across the hall.
A vampire wearing the guise of Ray Eurys. Dale observed them with a cold silence.
“What brings you to this domain?”
Charlotte spoke in Dale’s stead, her voice cutting through the tension. Ray Eurys responded with a frosty question of his own.
“Are you familiar with the Ship of Theseus?”