Chapter 312
Chapter 312
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 312
Chapter Title: The Wheel of Causality (4)
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Krauch listened with a serious gaze.
“But you see, how should I put this… Yes, when you live endlessly, you get to peek inside the box a little. To explain it from a human perspective, it's like knowing who will be unfortunate and who will be lucky?”
“I see.”
The Terase had witnessed countless events from the origin of humanity to the present.
The feeling that an excessive gift would appear even before spinning the roulette was not a superpower or magic. It was an understanding of chaotic patterns gained from spinning a gumball machine far too many times.
“It was just a thought.”
As if she thought she was boasting, Uorin cut it short, sticking out her tongue cutely.
Krauch found her adorable. It was an absolute love dedicated to a being he could never dare to covet.
“Your Majesty's foresight is always admirable. So, what do you plan to do from now on?”
“Hmm, even someone as skilled as Arius went in and failed to extract the Ataraxia. There must be something I don't know. I plan to hear it from Zion. It's not like I don't have my suspicions.”
“Then what about Shirone?”
It was certain Uorin had arranged for the funeral, but he had yet to hear about Shirone's treatment. If she had taken custody of him for other reasons, he would have to act.
“My feeling is that Shirone is the type where red and blue marbles come out alternately. I'm not sure yet. I want to watch him a little longer for now. Let him live his own life. However, block all external intervention. Regardless of faction, organization, institution, or nation.”
“Understood.”
Uorin gave an order befitting one of the Three Sovereigns.
Maintaining Shirone's life as if today's events never happened was only possible because the world of the Terase was vastly larger than Shirone's.
“And I will inherit the name of Terase. Tell my sisters in each country to perish within two years.”
“I will obey your command.”
There was no need to ask permission from the ruler of Kashan. Uorin's judgment was the judgment of the Terase.
He had heard that in the early days of the lineage, disputes arose over who would succeed the predecessor. But over the course of eons, the Terase had evolved themselves to a stage where they could accept death.
The sisters would understand and end their lives when the opportunity arose.
But Uorin could have been one of them. So why did she decide that she must be the one to inherit the name of Terase?
If there was one thing that set her apart from her sisters, it was that she had met Shirone.
“Will Shirone… be able to stop the final war?”
Pleased with her subordinate's insight, Uorin gazed out the window. Morning was already approaching, and bright sunlight was illuminating the world.
“Hehe, stop the final war? That's not the only reason I'm inheriting the name of Terase.”
“Then…?”
“Heaven is also just another territory to be conquered. It doesn't have to be now. I am a being granted eternal time. Someday, I will conquer beyond heaven to the ends of the universe.”
Krauch's mouth fell open in a daze.
To conquer the universe. That was an ambition to drag down Anke La, the incarnation of the Akashic Records, and become a god herself.
“The Ataraxia will be a shortcut to hasten that future. If even Arius failed, it means no one can plunder it. But wouldn't it be a different story if it were me?”
“Then…”
“Yes.”
Uorin turned back to Krauch and placed both hands on her chest. Her smiling figure in the sunlight shimmered with a golden light.
“I will become Shirone's daughter.”
* * *
The next morning, the medical team from the Kashan Empire transferred Shirone to his quarters.
They had taken every possible measure, but he had not yet regained consciousness. Even if he did, they said the chance of his mind fully recovering was fifty-fifty.
At the words that he might never be a mage again, Vincent shed tears. Amy and Reina comforted Olina, who had collapsed and was sobbing.
“Don't worry. They were just speaking in general terms. Shirone's mental strength is different from others. I'm sure he'll make a full recovery and open his eyes.”
Her voice choked with emotion, Olina could only nod repeatedly.
As if coming to his senses, Vincent wiped his face with his sleeve and comforted his wife.
“Yes, let's wait. The doctors said it's fifty-fifty, didn't they? It's not a hopeless situation yet. At times like this, we have to be Shirone's strength.”
Hearing this, Olina shot to her feet. As a mother, she couldn't just sit there weeping.
Placing a wet towel on Shirone's feverish forehead, she clasped her hands and prayed.
As a mage, Amy knew better than anyone how great the shock to Shirone must have been. She knew such a temporary remedy would be ineffective, but seeing a mother's love for her child, she kept her mouth shut.
Leaving Shirone in Olina's care, the three of them quietly left the room.
In any case, his life had been saved, so now they had to think about the practical problems. They wanted to pack up and leave immediately, but administrative control of Kazra was currently in the hands of Kashan.
Interference in internal affairs was a national disgrace. As such, the nobles' backlash was considerable, but since Terase had been Orkampf's wife—even if it was a relationship in name only—it was an awkward situation to openly revolt. In the end, they had no choice but to wait until the next day when the paternity test results would be out.
It was only a single day's difference, but spending a night in an enemy nation truly felt like walking on thin ice.
The Kashan medical staff had hinted that the nobles of Kazra wouldn't act any further, but they couldn't feel at ease. Above all, their biggest worry was whether Eliza would let this go.
Olina had slapped the queen's cheek. For a commoner to commit violence against royalty was a capital offense. Olina would have done the same thing even if she could turn back time, but getting away with it was another matter entirely.
The night, longer than any other, passed, and morning dawned.
The attendants of the Ogent family who had stayed up all night guarding Shirone all had dark circles under their eyes. Contrary to their worries, nothing had happened. It seemed the Kashan medical staff hadn't been speaking idly.
It was the day Shirone's paternity test results were due, so the gazes of Kazra's nobles were fixed on the judiciary.
The safe that had been displayed in the inner castle garden was retrieved. Since it had been under public surveillance, no one had approached the safe during the exhibition period.
The alchemists opened the neatly sealed Caspi. If anyone had thought of tampering with it, now would be the only chance, but with control having passed to Kashan, no one dared to even think of approaching it.
The alchemists confirmed the results, had them inspected by a Kashan minister, and then wrote a report. And before the public announcement, they sent a letter in advance to the king's apartment.
Eliza had been bedridden with sickness for two days.
The fact that Shirone had tried to kill her was a shock. Moreover, the cheek Olina had slapped still ached. Last night, her fever had risen to 40 degrees, and she hadn't slept a wink.
Orkampf, who was taking care of his wife, was not in his right mind either.
He was burning with rage over the interference in their internal affairs, and Shirone, his only hope, was under the protection of the Terase. Now, all he could trust were the test results. If it was confirmed that Shirone was his biological son, he would be able to regain some say in the matter.
‘I need Shirone. I need him.’
Just then, the Minister of Internal Affairs arrived with the signed documents from the alchemy department.
“Your Majesty, the results are in.”
Eliza rushed forward before Orkampf and snatched the documents. Her nervous hands were trembling.
Collapsing onto the bed, she opened the file. Inside was a single official document stamped with the seal of the alchemy department.
The paper in Eliza's hand trembled audibly.
She read the sentences on the official notice, not missing a single letter. When the result finally came into view, thick tears streamed down her cheeks.
She clutched the document so tightly it crumpled and looked up at the ceiling.
“Ahh, my son…”
* * *
Olina stayed up all night nursing Shirone. As if her devotion had worked, the fever that had raged through the night subsided a little by morning. Amy looked at Shirone with pity.
The Kashan medical team said there was a high chance he would wake up within 24 hours. But if more than a day passed, they said it was impossible to predict when he would regain consciousness.
They might only have to wait a day or two. But in the worst-case scenario, he could remain in a vegetative state for over a year.
‘Well, he did cast an unbelievable spell.’
A monster from the first stage of the abyss had clawed, ripped, and torn his mind apart.
It was akin to tearing a child's blanket to cover an adult's body. Even considering Shirone's rapid growth rate, it was a level that would require at least five more years of training to reach.
She couldn't even imagine how great the shock to his mind must have been.
Could he recover?
If his mental fortitude had lost its resilience, he would have no choice but to live as an invalid forever.
‘Haa, what am I thinking? Shirone wouldn't... Shirone…’
There was a knock on the door. When Reina opened it, one of Eliza's handmaidens bowed her head.
Amy thought that the inevitable had finally come.
“The Queen is looking for Ms. Olina.”
Olina nodded calmly.
After changing the wet towel on Shirone's forehead, she kissed her son's cheek before preparing to leave.
“Let's go. Lead the way.”
Vincent followed with a worried expression.
“Dear, let me come with you.”
“No. The Queen summoned me. Don't worry. I'll be back soon.”
Olina also had her reasons for wanting to face Eliza alone.
If she were convicted of assaulting a royal, she wouldn't be the only one executed. She had to negotiate to protect her family.
The Grand Hall still bore the scars of the desperate struggle. The debris had been cleared, but the collapsed floor was temporarily repaired with planks, and the broken pillars were left as they were, as if they didn't even know how to begin fixing them.
The king and queen's attire was more extravagant than ever. Olina could sense it was a desperate struggle to hide the humiliation of having lost their sovereignty to Kashan.
Eliza, who was looking down on Olina arrogantly, was taken aback when the woman didn't avert her gaze.
When they first met, she was a woman so terrified she couldn't even make eye contact. So why was she now glaring at the queen of a nation? Because she was a mother? Perhaps.
But she couldn't accept it in her heart.
‘If our positions were reversed... could I do what she did?’
It seemed like something any mother in the world could do, yet at the same time, she had the contradictory thought that it was not something just anyone could do.
“I remember clearly what you did to me.”
Olina scoffed, very quietly.
Orkampf thought she might have gotten dust in her nose, but Eliza, being a woman, knew for certain it was a scoff.
Her gaze seemed to say: If I have one regret in my life, it is that I only slapped you once.
“Do you think I'm a pathetic mother?”
“I am not in a position to judge others. I simply could not tolerate my child being harmed.”
Olina replied, bowing her head politely.
Orkampf couldn't sense the high-density war of nerves passing between the two women, so he kept his mouth shut.
Eliza recalled the situation when Shirone went berserk.
“Yes. It's true I was scared. But Shirone attacked me. If I had gotten closer, I might have died. You act as if you've accomplished something greater than I have, but what do you think you would have done in my situation?”
“I still would have gone to Shirone.”
“Why? Because you're his mother?”
“Because my child had been stabbed.”