Don’t Concern Yourself With That Book

This place was so large I couldn’t reach it as fast as I wanted to. But after walking for a long time, I finally arrived in front of the scholar’s study. My eyes glanced towards the name inscribed on the door plate before I returned to the hallway. I had actually found the room but I didn’t dare enter. I squeezed my hands for a moment before deciding to open the door. Before I realised it, the light pouring through the window coloured my vision pink.

I knocked on the door.

“Come in.”

The door widened before a gust of wind blew through. When I opened my eyes, I spotted Abel sitting by his desk. Behind his large figure, I spotted the sun setting behind the horizon.

“Who would’ve thought you’d knock before entering?”

He didn’t seem to notice me. With his back hunched over and his nose deep into some documents, his face was crumpled as if he was reading something discomforting.

“What. Kizash. Why aren’t you replying? I’ll hand you the documents by evening…”

His eyes met with mine. His dark green eyes widened in surprise.

“Oh.”

He dropped the papers he was holding.

“Hm, as I was saying, Ashley?”

His long and thick finger pointed towards me before I nodded slowly.

“Yes. Do you know me?”

Abel rested his chin on his hand before falling silent. Perhaps he was hesitating to speak. Because he was sitting down, though he still looked tall, he looked scrawnier than before. His hands were so huge it seemed like half of his one palm was enough to cover my face.

“I won’t say I know you… but I’ve seen you before.”

Standing up, he strode towards me. I flinched. It was out of reflex in response to such a large shadow approaching me.

“How should I put this? I’ve met you before back when you were only a small baby. I was young and you were even younger.”

“When I was young?”

“Yes.”

His voice sounded as refreshing as the wind blowing from a forest in the early summer.

“I never expected to see you this big.”

Stopping in front of me, he muttered, sounding troubled.

“I guess I’m getting old too. I never thought I would become such an old man. Damn. Not the best feeling…”

It seemed like he wanted to scratch his eyebrows once more before he smiled at me. He then reached his hands towards me which caused me to stare in shock.

“Ex… Excuse me? H-Hold on…”

Before I could dodge, he lifted me into the air.

“Sorry, sorry.”

He mumbled his apologies to me as he asked me to hold still.

“It’s easier to get a better look at you like this.”

Since his voice was so thick, it sounded like it was resonating from his throat as well. His gaze was directed straight at me leaving me no place to escape. He held me in the air before staring at me for a long time. After a while, his expression turned strange as if he had become overwhelmed by his emotions. Rather than looking right at me, he seemed to be searching for something within me.

“So, what brings you to come see me at this hour?”

He fixed his posture before asking me as I remained in his arms.

“That’s…”

Abel gave a slight smile revealing a small glimpse of his snaggletooth. He looked a lot like a villain who just thought of something funny.

“It has nothing to do with class, Does it?”

He must already know very well that I haven’t been attending class for the past three days. I hesitated before parting my lips stiffly. I had been worrying about his back but I decided to let it pass for now because it was unexpectedly comfortable hovering in the air in his grip like that. There was something more pressing to discuss anyway.

“Since you asked, I’ll get straight to the point.”

I gave his clothes a slight squeeze. I captured his smiling yet serious gaze in mine.

“Did you know that there was an Heir to the Lord here?”

Then, Abel’s eyes widened more than before.

“No?”

His response was so stale it was discouraging.

“You really haven’t seen one?”

“I’ve been here for 10 years now but I’ve never seen one before.”

His gentle gaze rested on me.

“Other than you.”

He flashed a cheeky smile.

“… Me?”

“Yes, you. I’m sensing a whole lot of energy from you. You seem to be giving off the Power of the Lord. You’re an Heir to the Lord, right?”

His words made me flinch. He curled his eyes when I stared back at him. The hands that were holding me tightly now felt uncomfortable. Funnily enough, within his dark eyes, a figure I was both unfamiliar with and used to seeing coexisted.

“You’re right. I am an Heir to the Lord. But I have yet to awaken.”

“You’ll awaken soon.”

“Yes, I will… Huh?”

“Nothing, just keep talking.”

I glanced at him warily before saying.

Dane and Lord Ray were not templars. So, there were some things I could not ask them.

“After arriving here, I met a woman. Her name is ‘Rusbella’. She had golden hair and golden eyes. She is a Herbalism student and she’s very good with herbal medicine. She also hails from Kaltanias. She said she had escaped Kaltanias back when she was very young. You must have realised something, haven’t you? You know what this means.”

“Well. That she is another Her to the Lord?”

“Yes.”

Exactly. I nodded my head.

A templar could instinctively feel the Power of the Lord. Soricks mentioned how it made it difficult for them to breathe. But Abel was the Templar of the Winds. So, he must have felt something strange. I didn’t know what each person felt, but could he feel that woman’s powers?

“No, that…”

“No what.”

He smirked.

“It’s an open secret but descendants of separate lineages of the Imperial Family exist.”

“Are you saying that, Rusbella, I mean, that person is one such descendant?”

“The current emperor has no illegitimate children. I am certain. So that can be the only possibility.”

Abel spoke firmly. He glanced at me before flashing another smile.

“The emperor would never let his blood escape his grasp. And the only one not connected to him through his blood is you.”

“… How did you know that?”

“My sister, the 2nd Princess, was a close friend of your mother, Auresia’s. And your father was a good man. To me, I mean.”

“My father?”

“Acheron. He was another such descendant.”

As I stuttered to say his name, he repeated Acheron once more for me. Perhaps the name of my biological father was sticking to my tongue.

“The powers running through these branch lineages are typically weak. And there are more of these lineages than you can even begin to fathom. I have never felt the powers you said to exist here. Her powers must be either insanely strong or abysmally weak to escape my eyes. But if she were that strong, she couldn’t have possibly survived till now. She would have died. If she hadn’t been as weak as the 1st Prince, she would have died with no chance of survival.”

“Because of the emperor?”

“Yes. Just like your father did.”

Instead of continuing, he flashed a smile. But his silence was an affirmation.

“The emperor is a madman who was willing to do anything for the Empire. His obsession with power grew day by day and now it has become closer to insanity. Your father was one of his victims. In the past, it would be only natural for him to die.”

“But that person is alive. And she has golden eyes.”

“You said that she had fled. She was probably forced by her parents to flee because they couldn’t go to the borders themselves. Perhaps one of her parents was an imprisoned Imperial member.”

“But.”

I mumbled. I didn’t manage to remove the thorn stuck in my chest that was bothering me but he had helped pull it out, rendering me speechless.

“If you were from the Imperial Palace, you would know. The 4th prince, my younger brother who is to be imprisoned in his palace for the rest of his life.”

I raised my head upon hearing talk about Amor.

“Why are we talking about Amor now?”

“Because he’s the same.”

“How?”

“Don’t you find it weird? Why do the Heirs of the Lord appear one at a time?”

This was a question I once had. As if he noticed the change in my expression, Abel continued.

“To lock them up. It might be surprising but somewhere in the Empire, there is a land that holds all those who carry the Power of the Lord. There are people living on that land who are supposed to be dead. For those bound to nothing, they either end up dying of old age or as a sacrifice to the crystal.”

He then resounded that it might even be better to grow old and die there instead. I was confused by his bitter smile.

“Perhaps she’s the descendant of someone from there.”

The truth had revealed itself readily. I had discovered a clue to a story I had no idea of but why? I didn’t feel a shred of happiness.

“So she’s powerless?”

“Well?”

“You look like you know something else.”

He grinned before shrewdly muttering.

“One characteristic ability of Heirs of the Lord is their ability to indiscriminately seduce people regardless of reason or identity. Is the woman perhaps very attractive?”

She was very beautiful… She was meant to be the most beautiful woman in the world. Something occurred to me as I listened to him. ‘Devilish’. Anyone who came to know Rusbella would fall in love with her. No way.

“That ability exists regardless of how strong their powers are. That charm is actually their most frightening ability.”

Was there a reason why the <Light of Rusbella> had turned out to be a harem novel? No, it was clear that it had just been planned to be that way. The ‘devilishness’ of the Successors of the Lord. I was suddenly reminded of the Head Templars who were deathly afraid of Castor and yet admired him. Even his voice, which I hated so much, was sweet enough to melt my ears.

“Even the weakest heirs have that ability.”

As soon as I came to my senses, Abel’s deep gaze appeared before me. It felt like he was talking about me as I lowered my head blankly.

“… I don’t have it.”

“Really?”

Abel held me up and tilted his head. I struck his forehead with mine which forced him to let me go.

“What do you think brought you to me after we had met for the first time 10 years ago?”

I raised my head.

“I don’t usually say these kinds of things because I’m not used to it.”

“What?”

The gaze he held towards me was both warm and friendly yet unfamiliar at the same time.

“You’ve grown up to be very cute. It’s a weird feeling.”

I frowned slightly at his comment. For some reason, I suddenly recalled Fleon. It was strange to see how Fleon was overlapping with a stranger’s figure.

T/N: help i forgot to upload on friday lol