Turning Chapter 1023

Chapter 1023

Yuder untied the string and unfolded the paper. Sentences written in Enon's characteristically rough handwriting were revealed.

The last hidden page where the first Duke of Tain had freely penned his thoughts before his death. The beginning of it started as follows:

Yesterday, I was told by the priest that I have only a few months left to live at most. It's a declaration of defeat, saying that no mystical power, medicine, or treatment can prolong my life any further.

He had seen this part before. However, at that time, his mind was in turmoil in many ways, and he had no motivation, so he couldn't focus on the content at all. If he barely read a sentence like that, how could he take in the rest? In the end, he lay down in front of the magic stone fireplace, closed his eyes, and ended up having a terrible nightmare about the day he killed Kishiar.

It didn't remain as a very bad memory because the man in front of his eyes followed the 'connection' and came to his dream to save him, but anyway, it might have been because of that time that he didn't feel like unfolding it easily afterward.

However, now that everything was over and even the matter of the South, which had long remained as a debt, was resolved, it was different. Yuder took a deep breath and exhaled again, feeling the weight of Kishiar leaning his head on his shoulder and looking at the same paper beside him.

His current state was extremely peaceful and stable. He didn't feel the heavy sensation that seemed to weigh down his whole body at all, and his mind was also perfectly clear.

After confirming that, he continued reading the lower part.

I have no regrets about other matters. The West has stabilized a lot, and it will be able to endure well for a long time even if I disappear. The only thing I feel sorry for is my mother and my kin, who will have to send off a child early, just as they did a father.

There's only one thing that bothers me. It's the research I've written down here. I haven't found the answer yet, I'm terribly short on time, and no one will continue this. Even if there is, I won't be able to know if I was right or wrong then...

Up to this point, nothing particularly unusual was seen. It was literally just a confession of feelings close to a diary.

Yuder roughly skimmed through a few similar parts that followed below and stopped his gaze at one point. From that part, which Enon wrote with a particularly thick stroke, something important finally caught his eye.

For all these years, there was only one thing I wished for. I wanted to meet my deceased father again.

The deceased father of the First Duke Tain.

He was none other than the first Emperor who founded the empire.

He had guessed that Luma and the First Duke Tain had each started their research due to some question that arose in connection with the death of the first Emperor, but there was such a purpose in it?

Yuder frowned and continued reading the lower part.

My father was a true hero and a great sovereign. He was so perfect, great, and admirable that I can confidently say no one born in the future could compare to him. However, the time granted to him was far too short, and we had to watch with a heavy heart as he, having achieved all his goals, suddenly lost his vitality and was about to depart to a distant place without any known reason.

Ah. How can I possibly describe that pain? Not as a child, but as a human being captivated by the great deeds and virtues of a hero, I sincerely wished that he could have been granted more time. It's so sad and tragic that he had to leave without even having the time to enjoy the peace we've just regained.

"..."

It was a well-known fact that the First Emperor passed away quickly after preventing the destruction and founding the country. However, reading it described from the perspective of his family made him feel a little strange. Was it because he realized that the legendary figure he had never felt close to was a living person no different from himself?

But my father himself didn't seem to have any such regrets at all. Even as he lost his vitality, he looked as carefree as someone who was looking forward to the day he would leave soon, or like a prisoner waiting for the day of his release. How could that be possible? The answer to that heartbreaking question was obtained that day.

The day I decided to start this research.

The first page ended here. Yuder read the last part several times as if to engrave it in his eyes, then turned the page.

That day, my father seemed to be in a good mood for once. My spiritual father and I, on behalf of others, took him to a nearby forest. The weather was very nice, and everything was peaceful. My father, who was watching the scene with a smile on his face, suddenly told me that he wanted to sit and rest there. Since I had to go back to where the horses were stationed to bring a mat for camping, I left for a while. But when I returned, what I encountered was my father, who had almost finished preparing for a long journey, in the arms of my spiritual father...

He probably deliberately sent me far away so that I wouldn't hear his last words. But in the end, I heard some of it. How could I forget that?

There was a blank space of about one line below that, and it was written in the most careful handwriting among all so far. It looked like Enon's agony as he wrote it could be felt.

My friend, do not weep. You may not believe it, but there's no need for sadness as this is all happening for the second time for me. However, then and now are entirely different. It was possible because you gave me another chance. I can't prove that what I experienced was neither a dream nor an illusion, but I always wanted to express my gratitude.

Yet, I feel I haven't lived up to the expectations you had for me. Someday, this brief peace will vanish, and the consequences of the choices will confront us once more. But this time, I want to place my expectations on you. Would it be okay if I ask you to do that? Everything I couldn't find out. The choice that was rightfully yours.

…

It must have been the real will of the First Emperor, which was not known anywhere. Even if he didn't know much about history, it was clearly felt how surprising and tremendous this was. Yuder continued to move his gaze and read on in the midst of trembling.

At first, I thought it was just a comforting fabrication, something fantastical spoken by someone close to departure, to ease those around them. Since I couldn't fully understand the meaning, I told no one. I pondered for a long time whether it was okay to reveal that I had heard those words.

Then, I met my spiritual father again at Gyllandr Hill, which I visited after a long time. I realized then that he not only believed everything my father said but was thinking beyond that. The words I heard were not mere mirages of nonsense but were indeed reality.

If my father was someone who had the opportunity to repeat everything one more time.

If he came back once, he might come back twice. There was no mention that the opportunity was only once.

Then, I need to find out where, how, and through what it happened. I wanted to know everything. I wanted to see my father one more time and give him back the glory promised to him. I was convinced that it would be my lifelong task.

My mother and the rest of my family could never understand this question. They said it should not be understood. My mother, who passed down her magical blood to me, had made choices that were entirely different from those of mine or my spiritual father.

And in the end, the choices that my spiritual father and I made diverged as well.

Someone will laugh, saying that I foolishly devoted my whole life to illusory words.

But I don't regret devoting my life to looking beyond the sky, to the things that have been hidden for a long time.

I am convinced that there is definitely something beyond that. It is by no means an invisible existence. If we can know the other side of the things that appear, dividing this world, surely someday the answer I hoped for---.

The hidden page of the journal ended there.

No, he thought it did. Until a small line of text appeared when Yuder let go of the hand holding the paper.

So, what did my father end up choosing?

Yuder stared at that line for a long time.

And he let out a deep sigh.

"...Indeed, I can see why Enon said that the First Emperor might have been in a situation similar to mine."