I was not in a good mood.
The prophecy had given too much to think about, and I didn’t want to do much thinking. I didn’t want to do much of anything, actually.
But the universe, as I’ve been ntioning from the start of this narration, never gives us what we want when we want it.
So, on top of the Crimson Guild, I now also had to worry my handso little head about Thalia’s death prophecy.
Uncle Thorax was right. The soothsayer who made that forecast actually made it about my sister, not .
He was also right about there being thousands of ways to interpret a prophecy.
I should know. I have firsthand experience with the treacherous paths fate takes to fulfill a destiny.
Even back then, I knew this.
And yet, I couldn’t stop worrying.
The anxiety plastered on my face must’ve been clear as day, because it wasn’t long before my companions started asking if sothing was wrong.
I simply waved them off.
Again, it wasn’t because I didn’t trust them. I did. They were incredibly competent, all of them. But I just didn’t think this was a matter they could help with.
Besides, they all had their own upcoming problems to deal with.
So, I let them be.
anwhile, my mind was spiraling.
One thing was clear — the war between the Theosbanes and the Southern Prince was being instigated by the Syndicate. There was no other way a young Prince could have swayed the Great Free Tribes of the South so easily.
There was also no way he had managed to wipe out my family’s years of deep-seated influence in the Coalition on his own.
From what I knew of him, the guy was only twenty-four — nearly the sa age as my eldest brother, Ezra.
He never appeared in the ga. But according to so rumors flying around in noble circles, he was just an arrogant asshole drunk on money and power.
He supposedly cared more about spending the night with his harem of won than politics.
So, despite being a Monarch’s son, he was a disgrace. (No need to point at . I know I’m the pot talking about the kettle here)
Which, in hindsight, was exactly the kind of man that the Syndicate loved to use.
I sighed tiredly, leaning back against the wall while the chaos in the room carried on without .
Because that was the thing, wasn’t it?
n like him didn’t need to be competent.
They didn’t need to be brilliant, or even particularly strong.
They just needed to be useful.
And he was, in fact, very useful.
I could even picture the offer the Syndicate must’ve sent him. After disappointing his father over and over, they probably told him they had a way to fix everything.
Redemption and recognition — he would get both if he convinced the Free Tribes to rge with the Southern Safe-Zone.
Then, they must’ve manipulated the Coalition into agreeing to marry off their princesses to a Southern Prince.
Now sprinkle in so propaganda about the Theosbanes exploiting the Free Tribes as a foreign power while offering them equal political standing at the sa ti...
And voilà! You have the recipe for a world war.
"Tsk," I clicked my tongue.
What even was the point of everything I did in Ishtara if this conflict was going to happen anyway?
I let hundreds of thousands of people die to avoid this very global conflict we were heading toward, and it felt like it was all in vain.
"Argh," I grumbled, massaging my eyebrows to ward off a headache. The chill in my right arm was growing. "Fuck it all."
Fuck it all, indeed.
Instead of torturing myself with the guilt of things I couldn’t change and a past I couldn’t rewrite, I decided I would do what I did best.
Leave tomorrow’s problems to tomorrow’s Samael!
Heh. I know. I was a genius even back when I was young.
...What? You think I’m dumb?
Excuse !?
It was Marcus Aurelius who said, "Never let the future disturb you. You will et it, if you have to, with the sa weapons of reason which today arm you against the present."
So, if you’re calling dumb, you’re calling him dumb, too! And I don’t think you want to pick a fight with a dead Roman Emperor.
•••
After the knights who were going to escort us back to Luxara were done with their preparations, one of them — a tall man with an imposing presence and an overly deep voice — stepped forward with his back to us.
Clad in a suit of golden armor and a fur-lined black cape that suggested he was so kind of minor lord of a vassal family under my father, the man raised one hand with his palm facing ahead.
Then, right in front of our very eyes, his entire body began to slowly light up in a diffused cyan glow. At the sa ti, shimring tendrils of the sa ethereal brilliance unfurled from him, crackling like sparks of electricity.
That was Spirit Force (or Spiritual Pressure).
Well... one application of it, at least.
The cyan glow only continued to intensify in radiance until, in the empty space before the man, soft crackles of distortion started forming circular ripples through the air — not unlike a heat haze, but way sharper and much more tangible.
And before too long, under the unbearable weight of that crushing pressure, it seed as if the air simply... folded.
I an that literally, by the way.
The air literally folded inward and punched a hole in the very fabric of space. It started small, around the size of my fist.
Then it widened and widened like a tear being coaxed open rather than ripped, before finally stabilizing into an oval-shaped rift suspended in midair.
Its edges shimred with that sa cyan glow that engulfed the knight who had created it, but deeper and denser... like the air itself had been condensed around it into sothing physical to keep it open.
The view beyond the rift revealed a massive courtyard with a tropolitan cityscape view behind.
There was no mistaking that it was Earth.
A Portal to ho... had been set up.
•••
So Lily finally showed up when it was ti to depart.
She was looking even worse than Michael... which was saying sothing considering how depressed and hollowed-out the boy looked with those deep, baggy dark circles under his eyes.
The two of them didn’t even make eye contact, which I guessed was for the best.
I was currently in no ntal condition to stop Michael’s suicidal attempts.
Everyone offered their brief greetings before we began stepping through the portal one by one.
The knights erged after us, right before the Portal shrank to nothingness, disappearing as if it had never been there at all.
We had landed in the expansive courtyard of my family estate in Luxara. And boy, could we already tell the difference.
I think I’ve ntioned this once before, but reality really does feel more stable inside a Safe-Zone.
It feels more concrete and... well, real.
You know that sense of safety you experience in the embrace of sothing far greater than yourself — sothing that doesn’t just protect you, but fundantally defines what safe even ans?
That was what a Safe-Zone felt like.
I can’t properly put it into words, so bear with .
But because the five Safe-Zones on Earth were blanketed by the Monarchs’ Spiritual Pressure, you could feel it in your very bones.
You could feel it in the air, which felt denser and more stable, and in the ground that felt firr and more sturdy.
It was like an unseen law was holding everything together.
That sa feeling of security was there in my father’s domain as well, but on a much smaller scale.
Here on Earth, here in Luxara, though...
It felt like we were finally ho. And we were.
Vince’s reaction was exactly what I’d hoped for. As soon as he stepped through, both his hands flew to the sides of his head, fisting his hair in pure disbelief.
"What the fuck?!" he exclaid, his jaw hanging so low it was practically touching the cobblestones. "Is this real?!"
"What? You thought our gold was only for decoration in the Golden Sanctuary?" I scoffed, crossing my arms.
He snapped toward , indignant tears of frustration actually rolling down his angry face. "Shut up! I knew your family was rich, but not this rich!"
Ray also gasped from beside . "I... I have seen the videos and the photos, but..."
His words trailed off into stunned silence.
I suppressed a chuckle, then walked to the front of the group and raised both my hands in a theatrical gesture. "Welco to my ho: Luxara, the City of Gold. If it had existed in the old days, people would’ve called it El Dorado."
Yeah.
The towering buildings in the distance behind , the entire estate stretching out around us, the massive skyline catching the afternoon light and scattering it like a thousand quiet crowns— all of it was plated with real gold and palladium.
Sure, unlike my description, only the main district for the nobility was constructed like this, not the entire city itself.
But it was still common to see golden lampposts and statues and architectural accents everywhere you might go.
Foreigners’ reactions to all that never really got old. Call it a cultural shock, I guess.
And especially Vince! The poor guy was going to be traumatized for many years to co.
•••
Aside from Juliana, Michael, and myself, no one had the luxury of ti to stay the night. It was a bumr, since I was looking forward to showing them a good ti in the city.
...N-Now don’t get wrong!
It’s not like I actually wanted to hang out with those idiots or anything! I... uh... I just wanted to show off! Yes, that’s right! I wanted to flaunt the gold!
But they couldn’t stay.
Alexia needed to return to the Academy as soon as possible. I doubted her father would be able to get to her in Luxara, but I also agreed she was safer in Apex.
Kang was naturally going to follow his mistress.
Ray also wanted to head ho imdiately, and Vince’s desperation to see his siblings couldn’t have been more obvious.
Lily, clearly not wanting to be around Michael for the ti being, also decided to head back to the Academy. I was surprised she didn’t even want to et her father, but then again, I totally understood her.
So, as the sun dipped low over my hotown, the knights took everyone who wanted to leave to the international travel permit office.
That left with a depressed crybaby and a homicidal maniac currently upset with . Great company!
"...Anyone want to hit a club or sothing?" I threw the question out, fully expecting to be t with either dead silence or silent sobs.
But to my surprise, I heard Michael sigh.
"Yeah," he croaked. "I need to distract myself so badly..."
I clapped my hands together. "Oh, good—"
" too."
"...."
I blinked... then turned to Juliana, only to find her innocently looking back at . I tilted my head. She batted her lashes as if confused.
"What?" she asked.
...The fuck did she an, what?! Wasn’t she the one who gave the cold shoulder last night?!
Is this bitch bipolar?! — I rember thinking, then realized she might actually be. I really needed to get her to a therapist soon.
"Can I not co?" she asked again, expectantly.
I could’ve sworn I saw her pouting... but then maybe not? Was I imagining things now?
"...You?"
"Yes," she nodded like I was being particularly dense. "."
"Ahh," I swallowed. "Sure..."
"Great."
What the fuck?
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