Alia de Beaufort POV
Alia’s day had been long.
She had just finished hours of talks with the delegation from the Southern Continent.
Negotiations always drained her, especially now that she held the crown of the Eastern Continent.
After Luminera conquered Earth, the world had been divided under the rule of demigods, many of whom had ascended to godhood since then.
By the ti Alia left the council chamber, her steps were heavy.
The corridors of the palace were quiet, lit only by the soft glow of mana crystals embedded in the walls.
She kept her composure as always, but inside her chest was a tight knot of exhaustion.
It was then that she noticed Layla.
The younger woman stood near the corner of the hall, trying and failing to look composed.
Her fingers tugged at the hem of her robe.
Her gaze flickered up and down the hall as if she were waiting for sothing.
Alia’s eyes lingered on her for a mont before she pushed open the door to her office.
Layla hesitated, then followed her inside.
The office was piled high with docunts, reports, petitions, records, all demanding her attention.
Alia sat down behind her desk and imdiately began sorting through them.
The scratch of her pen against parchnt was the only sound in the room.
Layla stood near the door, fidgeting nervously.
She kept opening her mouth like she wanted to speak, then closing it again.
Minutes passed.
Alia continued working.
Finally, Layla’s voice broke the silence.
"Big sis... can I go et big brother?"
Alia’s pen stopped mid-stroke.
Slowly, she raised her head and looked at Layla.
Her gaze was cold. It was sharp enough to make Layla’s shoulders tense.
Layla bit her lip, her eyes dropping to the floor.
"I understand," she whispered.
Then she turned and left the office.
Her steps were slow, as if she hoped Alia would call her back and change her decision.
The door closed. The
silence that followed felt heavier than before.
Alia leaned back in her chair. Her head tilted up until she was staring at the ceiling.
She closed her eyes and exhaled.
mories ca unbidden.
Neo.
At one ti, she had owed him everything. He had saved her mother when no one else could. Back then, her gratitude had no limit. She had respected him for his strength, for his vision. He achieved things no one else dared attempt.
But respect had turned into sothing else. Worry.
He was always distant, always carrying burdens he refused to share. She had wanted to help him, but he never let her close enough. And then ca the mont everything changed.
He sent her mother to fight the Void Templars.
Her mother had nearly died in that battle. His excuse? That he couldn’t give her information about the Void Templars because he was tampering with the future. If she knew too much, Fate might notice and kill her.
Alia’s fists clenched against the armrests. Was her mother not already on death’s bed? If Neo truly cared, why did he lie to her and send her there anyway? Was it really necessary?
That was the first ti Alia hated him.
Not long after, her mother died.
And then ca the dreams.
Visions of her mother in hell, fighting desperately, standing at Neo’s side. Dying again and again, struggling to return, yet never making it.
Those dreams crushed her. Her mother’s voice within them told her to live happily, to avoid being entangled in emotions that would destroy her. But how could she do that? How could she ignore the sight of her mother suffering endlessly?
For years, Alia lived torn between doubt and despair. Were the dreams just her own hallucinations, or were they fragnts of truth?
"Perhaps that was when my hatred started to grow," she whispered to the empty room. Perhaps that was her when the person known as Alia beca twisted.
But back then, she hadn’t cared. The more twisted she beca, the faster she grew stronger. And strength was all she wanted.
Even so, she hadn’t fallen into complete darkness. She still had her family. Layla, and Henry. Living with them, protecting them, kept her from collapsing.
Until Henry fell ill.
His body withered. His breaths grew shallow. She had seen it in his eyes, though he never said it aloud. He wanted to see Neo one last ti before he died.
But where was Neo?
Nowhere. No one knew where he was.
Henry had given his life for Neo in so many ways. He had guided him, protected him, even sacrificed his own peace to give Neo a better future. And when Henry needed him the most, Neo wasn’t there.
That was when Alia began to wish Neo had died sowhere. At least then his absence would have made sense. At least then she wouldn’t hate him for letting Henry die without peace.
Her hand pressed against her forehead as the mory burned inside her.
Henry died. Just like that, the two people she cherished most were gone. Her mother. Henry.
One lost because of Neo’s choices. The other couldn’t die in peace because Neo didn’t appear.
Alia’s emotions had dried out. She trained ruthlessly, desperate to stay busy. She couldn’t rest, because resting ant rembering, and rembering ant pain.
And then Percival ca.
He had grown strong enough to read Fate in detail. The first thing he did was seek her out. He told her about Tartarus. He told her what her mother endured. He told her how she died.
It was worse than anything Alia had imagined. The dreams had been true.
Her chest tightened as she recalled his words.
"Please don’t hate Neo. He did his best to save Elizabeth."
Save her? Alia’s lips twisted bitterly. Did he save her by sending her into the Void Templars? Did he save her by dragging her into Tartarus? If he was truly saving her, why was her death more brutal, more drawn out than ever before?
Alia’s hatred for Neo deepened that day. But she also ca to hate herself.
She hadn’t been strong enough. She had always depended on others to protect her mother. And when it mattered most, she failed her again and again.
Her thoughts grew darker. To keep herself sane, she clung to denial. She rejected Percival’s words. It was the only way to keep moving.
Years passed like that.
Then a news spread. The Universal Alliance was hunting Earth. The leaders pf Earth trembled upon finding the new discovery. They knew their ti was short. Any day, the Alliance could capture them.
And Earth itself fractured.
Traitors rose from within, desperate to curry favor. So tried to sell Earth’s location in exchange for safety. Others sought wealth, resources, luxuries from the Alliance. Greed turned the world into a battlefield. Civil war broke out. Blood soaked the continents.
Demigods clashed. People died in waves, caught in battles they didn’t understand. Fear beca part of daily life. No one knew when death might reach them.
And then ca the final piece of news.
A Heavenbreaker from Earth. He was the reason the Universal Alliance was searching for Earth.
Everyone already knew who it was.
Neo.
Alia’s breath shook as her hands gripped the chair’s arms tightly. Once again, the cause of endless suffering, endless death, traced back to him.
Her mother. Henry. Countless others.
Their death, their pain.
The cause of it all.
It was always him.
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