I watched the whole thing in silence.
I didn’t make a sound as Clara talked about prophecies I didn’t even know existed.
Darkness, light, chaos, order, dragon, phoenix, nothingness and death.
Oh, and the poem they didn’t complete...
In the six thousand hours I’ve spent playing The Lands of The Lunerra over the past three years, I have no recollection of any of these prophecies.
I squinted slightly, turning my eyes toward the old man standing directly across from Clara.
Chazon.
No information about his last na. Simply... Chazon.
His skills other than Clairvoyance, or his statistics... These are also unknown.
Even his real age is a mystery.
His existence is a knot of mystery, hidden from the entire planet with great interest.
But, simply put... he is the oldest seer on Lunerra.
A seer who serves on behalf of the Cevilian.
"Even though I trusted you, I had a shred of doubt..."
I paused at the low voice next to , my eyes darting from Clara and Chazon, who were talking amongst themselves, to Prince Lucas.
His eyes were on the two of them. His expression was... a little confused.
"Mr. Chazon told that a new seer had awakened a while ago, actually, but I didn’t care too much, since it was next to impossible to find out who it was. I was just... praying that whoever it was wouldn’t fall into the hands of our enemies."
His eyes narrowed, he sighed slightly.
"It’s... comforting to know it didn’t happen. But the fact that the seer in question was so young, and that she was also ’your’ sister... I don’t know."
His green eyes turned to this ti, worried, and he stared at for a few seconds.
I knew what was going through his mind.
"I won’t let anyone harm a single hair on her head."
"It’s impossible to completely conceal her identity, Aiden. If she lived in the palace, in our custody, like Mr. Chazon, it would be possible. But you want her to lead a normal life, you want her to walk outside like a normal person."
I didn’t say anything, I just waited, my eyes fixed on him.
But he continued.
"Besides... she belongs to a count family. She’s your sister, Aiden. She will be investigated, her identity checked. Not just by Saligia or our enemies, but even by your allies. And... maybe not anyti soon, but eventually, who she is will be revealed."
"Lucas."
When I simply said his na, he paused, his eyes widening slightly as his open lips remained still.
"I will find every single person who bothered to look for her."
I narrowed my eyes, maintaining my tone.
"No one who finds out who she is will be able to reveal it easily."
Prince Lucas remained frozen in place.
"Because none of them will live long enough to tell by then."
*******
Why... did I feel that way?
Maybe Aiden’s words weren’t directed at , yes...
But his eyes were on the whole ti.
He didn’t blink, he didn’t change his focus for a mont.
As if... he was warning , even indirectly.
.
A prince.
But, to make matters worse...
I couldn’t find anything to say.
If he had been a normal nobleman, he would have been on his way to life imprisonnt and maybe even execution for threatening a mber of the royal bloodline.
But... I didn’t feel like I could respond.
Even though he was weaker than .
After a brief mont, I took a deep breath, tore my eyes away from him, and returned them to where his sister and Mr. Chazon were.
Clara Tenebra... looked excited.
Very much so.
I had seen three seers in my life so far, and there had only been five in the last eighty years. But what they all had in common was that they were old. For so reason, they were all quite elderly when they appeared.
This one was different.
She was too young, and therefore suitable for training.
She was also a citizen of the kingdom.
A great advantage, really.
It’s just... her brother was a bit of a problem, that was all.
But that’s not too big of a deal.
I squinted slightly, rembering the look he had just given and the seriousness of his words. And now... his straight, calm posture, with a quite normal expression.
Okay... maybe it’s a bit of a deal.
*******
"As I said before. As her guardian, I approve of my sister training as a seer and using her skill for the future of the kingdom."
We were in a much quieter room this ti, but easy to focus on.
There was no Mr. Chazon, no Clara Tenebra, the sister we were talking about.
Just Aiden and .
"It would be a problem for her to physically co to the palace often, so I think it would be better for her to learn remotely."
Although... I’m not sure if that’s good or bad.
It feels like he’s even more daring because we’re alone.
"This way, her school life will be smooth and normal. Is there a problem with my thinking?"
There was, actually.
She was a seer.
We had to protect her, raise her in the best possible way.
And that was his purpose, actually.
But he wanted to do so much more than that.
And yet...
"No, I don’t."
It was an important person who demanded these things.
Aiden Tenebra... maybe he was just soone with a simple reputation now, a known na, but he was growing every day.
He was soone who could be of great use to the kingdom, even more than the pillar families... maybe.
"Learning remotely is acceptable. She can have daily etings with Mr. Chazon so that she can keep her normal life and at the sa ti get the seer training she wants. I’ll try to arrange it... but I need you to understand us on so level, Aiden."
His left eyebrow raised slightly, and even if his expression hadn’t changed, he certainly didn’t like hearing the word ’but’.
"But?"
"No matter how trustworthy she is, even if she is your own sister, we want her to sign a Mana Contract because she is a young seventeen-year-old."
His eyes narrowed as his slightly raised eyebrow straightened.
"What kind of contract?"
"A contract that she will keep her status secret in every possible way, and that she will not betray the kingdom, and all that sort of thing."
For so reason...
I can’t help but feel like he’s the prince, and I’m the count expressing his desires.
"After the contract is drawn up, I want to see its contents. That’s the only way I’ll approve it."
"That’s fine with us."
But, as I thought before.
It doesn’t matter.
Because he’s a valuable card, not a simple count.
Pride or any of its variants are unimportant concepts.
"Then... we’ll continue about my sister after this contract is prepared."
His expression, his look, returned to normal. He even leaned back slightly, as if quite relaxed.
But that’s not what caught my attention.
It was more... the tone of voice and posture in the last sentence.
As if... there was more to what he wanted to say and we were not finished.
"I’d like to continue our discussion which was inevitably interrupted last ti."
Ah, right...
The Laute Family and Eshaware.
I stiffened my posture, in contrast to his relaxed deanor. The more relaxed and carefree he seed... the more serious and attentive I beca.
Clara Tenebra was certainly an important matter.
But I could more or less guess how that matter would end.
The Laute Family and Eshaware, though...
This was another story altogether.
"Alysia Laute is not the only living heir of the Laute family."
The implication of his sentence was clear.
But, nevertheless, I carefully engraved every word in my mind and reviewed it over and over again. I wanted to make sure I wasn’t missing anything.
"Adrian Caleo is the second child of Ethil Laute, and also younger brother of Alysia Laute."
It was not surprising.
It was sothing I didn’t talk about directly because nothing was certain.
But it was also sothing that had to be revealed sooner or later.
The suspicions were too many, after all.
Silver hair and erald green eyes...
An exterior that looks exactly like Ethil Laute...
The Laute Family’s mana manipulation technique...
Only a fool would ignore all this.
"Rather than using him to destroy the Laute Family completely, I plan to use him to keep it standing in order to use it as a bridge between us and Eshaware."
So, in short...
"You want Adrian to be the leader of the Laute Family and negotiate with Eshaware..."
"Yes. I intend to erase the Laute Family’s past and rewrite it with Adrian and Alysia, while maintaining a positive relationship with Eshaware so that they can be useful allies for Cevilian."
"We both realize that Eshaware... are not going to welco Adrian and Alysia with open arms, right?"
The Laute Family is a family that Eshaware has been looking for almost for decades, a family considered traitors.
They will not simply accept two people who co from a bloodline that they simply see as terrorists...
"Yes, they won’t. They will even want to execute them on sight."
He paused slightly, opened his watch, and projected a holographic screen between us.
No, there was nothing important here.
Not even a photo or a video.
Just...
"But technology can provide more than enough ans to overco so things."
There was a social dia interface.
"We’re going to use social dia to show Adrian as the one who really ended the family, and Alysia as the innocent girl who helped him from the inside and was exposed to the horrors of the family. We’re going to spew out all the cruelty of the Laute Family, we’re going to expose every single hole they’ve poked their noses into... and these two will be the ones to expose it."
Using the dia, he wants the planet to stand with Adrian and Alysia...
"They will be the descendants of villains, but they will be the two who will bring their downfall for a noble cause, and who, through no fault of their own, will be willing to do anything to make ands for what the Laute Family has done in the past."
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And in this way, he wants Eshaware to be more lenient with Adrian and Alysia, even if only in front of the dia, by avoiding actions that could provoke a backlash...
"Humans, elves, other races... it doesn’t matter who they are. We like to see heroes, Prince. We are excited to see those who refuse the fate imposed on them and act in the na of ’justice’ with sacrifices. Heroes are always loved and supported. Especially when they have a tragic story."
What he said a few days ago, just before he got a nosebleed, suddenly echoed in my mind.
Lie...
"So this is the lie you wanted to tell."
He waited a mont before answering, for so reason I didn’t know why.
His gray eyes were on , calm.
"Yes."
I inhaled a deep breath and couldn’t help wrinkling my forehead with my fingers.
There were so many bad scenarios that could happen.
Everything could go wrong.
But, when I thought about it... it seed like a reasonable plan.
If it could succeed, at least.
Was it really the right decision to leave the relationship between Cevilian and Eshaware in his hands like this?
Was Aiden, no matter how important he was... soone who should be given so much freedom?
Could he really... flawlessly achieve everything he claid?
Or would he fail and bring the kingdom to the brink of collapse.
...
I was not sure of the answer.
It was impossible, in fact, for to give an answer that I could be one hundred percent confident in the outco.
And yet, despite the shreds of doubt that would remain in no matter what...
I agreed.
"Okay."
He had clearly expressed his intentions for the future, at least.
And his purpose... was sothing that made trust him.
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