Chapter 90
The cliff marking the end of the forest was sheer. A height that sent chills straight up my spine just looking at it.
This is nothing... for mana users like me or Leo, it's a breeze.
"Wait, wait! Hold on, Shushu! What the hell?!"
Leo, pale as a ghost, grabbed my hand tight as I charged toward the cliff without a second thought.
...What's his deal?
A Sword Expert couldn't possibly fail to leap from this height. I furrowed my brow faintly at his bizarre reaction.
"If we head down the cliff, the Basilisk will chase you and jump after. That's when I'll finish it—from the cliff."
"Th-then... you're saying we jump from here?"
Leo's voice was downright frantic. I could feel his hand shaking violently in mine.
Puzzled but undeterred, I kept marching toward the cliff.
"Of course. What's not to do?"
Soon, the trees gave way. The sun, veiled by branches, blazed down on the dizzying drop.
I hurled myself over the edge, where even the bottom faded into haze.
Thud.
And in that instant, the warmth slipped from my hand.
For a split second, I didn't register what happened.
Huh?
Even tumbling from that insane height, I twisted to look back.
There stood Leo, hands empty, face locked in terror.
Ah.
And like lightning, a scene from the novel flashed in my mind.
As I fell, hurriedly shielding my body with mana, I remembered something crucial I'd blanked on.
Alessandro fears running away... and falling from heights.
It was the trauma of a powerless prince in a kingdom, a boy forced to trade loved ones' lives for his own survival.
Damn it! How the hell did I forget!?
I could hardly believe I'd only recalled it now.
I coated my feet in mana to slow the descent, pressing my throbbing temple hard.
Guess my brain's been forcibly wiping original plot memories.
I'd jotted down all the key branching points and stashed them safely, but even memorized, they faded fast over time.
Back at the mansion, time to drill them again, I resolved, curling into a ball.
BOOM!
My plummeting body hit ground. Earth cratered coolly beneath my feet.
I blasted the dust away with a mana gale and whipped my gaze up the sheer cliff.
"LEO!"
My booming call made him jolt.
Fear-stricken Leo slumped against a nearby tree, shaking his head wildly.
"I-I can't. I can't do it!"
"Damn it! Yeah, I get it—but you have to!"
"I said I can't!"
"Goddamn it, hurry—"
"It's scary!"
His near-scream dripped pure terror, forcing me to flinch.
Leo—no, Alessandro Atara—was the seventh in line for Atara Kingdom's throne, a realm obsessed with birth order for succession. The baby prince of a lowborn consort.
As an infant, his mother's royal favor kept him breathing, but at five, she was poisoned—stranding him amid his siblings' brutal throne war, defenseless in the palace's knife-edge politics.
Assassins slipped into his bedroom daily.
His brothers wanted no extra rival in the chaos, so his life hung by a thread.
Not even gunning for the crown—just fending off endless killers was a nightmare.
Your Highness, obey me without question. No whining. Want to live? Get strong. That attitude makes you cannon fodder in this bloodbath succession.
Alessandro's sole ally was his nanny, Leisha.
Leisha was no ordinary nanny. A genius mage the Empire's Magic Tower had once coveted.
Leisha, protect my child.
She took the role at his mother's dying plea. Why she agreed? The novel skips details.
What mattered was how this rising star mage shaped the hero's rise—not her downgrade to seventh prince's keeper.
Wise and fierce, Leisha shielded the abandoned Leo from blades. She alone got him through palace childhood—overstatement-free.
L-Leisha! Th-there's a body in my room...!
No fuss, Your Highness. Killed the intruder from last night.
What? B-but killing...
Enough, Your Highness.
Still don't get it? Kill or be killed here. Can't handle it? Speak now—die pitying assassins or whatever. I won't babysit a quitter.
M-me?
Sacrifice in this war... or slaughter them all and claim the throne. Pick one. Nothing else.
Leisha raised Leo brutally, borderline abusive. Her novel lines were so blunt and razor-edged, they jarred for a ten-year-old.
No wonder he's a clawed lion cub... Makes sense now.
Leisha's methods explained his vibe at our first meeting.
Under her merciless lessons and wing, Alessandro mastered survival—and kingcraft.
His lifelong scar scarred at twelve.
That day, Leisha's guard dipped—just a touch. She was laxer, softer.
The first time she smiled at him.
His nightmare ignited.
Poisoned "gift" food felled Leisha. Assassins swarmed his palace in her weakness.
Poison-crippled, she couldn't fight. He had no power to save her.
Damn them! Run! Now! No looking back! Teleport circle in the garden—window, go!
He fled—powerless.
Poison arrow in shoulder, body shredded, still no glance back.
Get strong. Avenge me! I refuse nanny forever! Be king—let me forge your reign as loyal retainer!
Leisha: powerhouse mage, raging ambitionist.
Alessandro dropped. Crashed through narrow window into barren, gardener-less garden.
Ground rushing up—
Eh! A person's here...
Leisha's final spell hurled him kingdom-to-empire. He met me, not Aria.
That was original Alessandro's backstory.
What the—this rag heap?
He bumped me over Aria, but his prince trauma stayed ironclad.
Alessandro dreaded flight... and heights.
Thud!
Damn it!
My sword-pierced Basilisk stirred anew.
Teeth gritted, I glared up at panic-frozen Leo on the cliff.
Sword—shit, no sword!
Stab-and-flee left me unarmed.
Almost asked Leo to toss his—but aura up there would clip him. Pass.
And climbing back? Too damn late!
Cliff: bottomless pit. Basilisk beats my ascent to Leo.
One play: Leo jumps.
Reprimands won't cut it.
Right-now Leo? Terrorized ten-year-old.
Corner a scared kid—disaster.
Lip chewed raw, I softened my face.
"Leo, Leo! Good boy. Look here!"
My voice made his shivers hitch.
He cracked eyes for a peek down—slammed shut.
"I-I can't look..."
Face blue-white, heartbreaking.
Basilisk closing in—I bit lip, cooed max-gentle.
"Leo, baby—it's fine. Ignore the cliff. Look at me!"
He startled.
Cold sweat rained from his brow.
Scars work that way. Old or new, prod 'em—they bleed, scar deeper.
Loss wounds? Brands that hemorrhage red out of nowhere. Even Sword Master me ached sometimes.
What was Leisha to Leo? My Karasho?
A mentor's smile ghosted my mind.
If Leisha equaled my Karasho for him—fear clicked.
Like I beat mine, beat yours too.
Dead leave stains, but living push on.
Took me ages to swallow that.
All-good vibes, I smiled soothing at him.
"Eyes on me, Leo. Not 'down'—on me!"
Silly reframing, laughable even.
But friend-facing vs. abyss-facing? Worlds apart. I whispered comfort.
"Leo. Look at me."
Sealed lids peeled slow. Pretty eyes gleamed pale-green irises under faint flutter.
Leo turned. Fear-frosted pupils met mine.
I soft-smiled into that dread.
Past fades. We're good now.
"It's okay. I'm here. Step off—I'll stay planted. Catch you sure. No worries—come to me! Not falling... coming home."
Daze glazed his fluorescent pale-green gaze.
Tremors eased—I beamed wide.
"C'mere, Leo. Big hug waiting."
My balm to him. Vow: snag your plunge. Cheer: embrace post-leap.
"......Ah."
Throat bobbed; he sighed faint.
Dazed eyes locked me obsessive.
Terror-face intact. Sweat-pouring frame.
Still scared stiff.
"......That... for real?"
Yet Leo stepped cliffward.
I held his zealot stare, saint-to-deity.
No savior me—but mire-escapers? I've coached plenty.
Soft smile, arms flung ocean-wide.
"Come on. Waiting."
Leo, steel-resolved, stepped.
One. Two.
Quakes rocked steps—he pressed on.
Foot kissed air—
KAAAAAK!
Forest-shredding Basilisk wailed nightmare-horrid.
Mana maxed—I launched skyward.
Greedy jaws yawned.
Leo grazed past, plummeting razor-close.
Me, full-thrust to snag him.
Instant panorama blast.
Mid-abyss, I crushed falling Leo to chest.
Terror-faced, he clutched back.
Shing.
His waist sword whisked to my grip.
One arm vise-locked his squeezed-shut form; other gripped blade—I grinned.
"Eyes open, Leo."
Air knotted brutal mana storm.
Lightless aura orb bloomed fast.
Blade perpendicular to dense-black sphere, I murmured:
"Witness your friend's power."
Sword arced elegant, velvet-smooth—at the black void.
World drowned in black.