CHAPTER 080
Count Korald grasped the charred letter and dashed into the tent. He opened the leather bag laid out on a sleeping bag inside and took out a book. Carefully, he extracted a letter from between the pages and held it up beside the burned letter in his other hand.
“What’s the matter, Father?” Timothy, who had followed his father into the tent, asked as he saw him comparing the two letters.
A small gasp escaped from Count Korald’s lips as he alternated his gaze between the letters.
“Haa… she knows ancient script… she knows ancient script. Is this fate…?”
“Who knows the ancient script?” Timothy asked, his voice full of surprise.
The number of people in the empire who knew the ancient script could be counted on one hand. Count Korald was one of them and even renowned scholars who claimed to understand it had proficiency equivalent to a child just starting to learn to read. They could only understand the context by piecing together known words.
Count Korald handed the two letters to his son, his usually composed voice trembling slightly.
“Remember? This is the letter we found in the cave while tracking the black panther.”
His finger pointed to the letter he always carried between the pages of the book and then moved to the letter Timothy had thrown into the campfire.
Timothy’s blue eyes grew wide as he looked at the letter in his father’s hand and then at the one from the fire, his expression turning from confusion to shock.
Swallowing hard, Timothy exclaimed, “The handwriting on the letter from the cave is the same as the one Lady Arabelle sent me. That means… Lady Arabelle knows the ancient script!”
His voice rose an octave in disbelief, and Count Korald nodded vigorously.
“How does Lady Arabelle know the ancient script…?”
Count Korald was also curious about how Arabelle had come to know the ancient script, but he had more urgent matters to address. He opened the book again and took out two aged pieces of papyrus.
“These were taken from the underground archive of the palace.”
The two pieces of papyrus, thought to be related to the prophecy of the three kingdoms and the Lumen Saviour, were the only ones written in the ancient script.
“Look at the illustration here.”
Timothy leaned in, focusing on the first piece of papyrus as his father instructed.
“This prophecy suggests that the last princess of the Lumen Saviour saved the last king of the Heltherd Kingdom, who became the first emperor of the empire.”
Even without knowing the ancient script, the illustration on the first piece of papyrus was clear. It depicted a small-framed woman with long light brown hair cradling a bloodied, fallen man wearing a crown. A large, semicircular veil surrounded them protectively, with light emanating from the woman’s body.
Count Korald continued, his voice tinged with excitement.
“If this prophecy explains how the princess saved the king with the light of the Lumen Saviour, it could reveal a way to break the curse. If true, Lady Arabelle might learn how to use her light to break the emperor’s curse.”
Timothy stared intently at the woman in the illustration, who reminded him of someone, as his father’s voice filled his ears.
“The problem lies with the second illustration.”
Count Korald held the second piece of papyrus under the lamp in the tent.
“The previous illustrations, no matter how tragic the scenes, used bright colors. But this piece, which appears to be the final prophecy, is covered entirely in black, with only this small flame visible.”
Timothy’s blue eyes fixed on the tiny golden flame in the center of the otherwise pitch-black papyrus.
“The only words I recognize here are ‘princess,’ ‘end,’ and ‘light.’”
Count Korald furrowed his brow as he continued.
“The ‘end’ refers to the extinction of the Lumen Saviour race by betrayal… and the ‘light’ symbolizes their undying legacy. But…”
Timothy turned his gaze from the illustration to his father, who sighed deeply before sharing the thought that weighed heavily on his mind.
“I can’t be sure if this small light represents a burning hope or a dying ember. Whether the darkness is being driven away by the light or if it’s engulfing it… I can’t tell without knowing the ancient script beside it.”
A flicker of flame often symbolizes ‘hope,’ but to Count Korald, the light in the illustration felt more like ‘despair.’ He couldn’t explain why, but it left him with a heavy heart.
Shaking his head to dispel the thoughts, Count Korald placed the papyrus back between the pages of the book.
“Take this book and return to the capital. Show Lady Arabelle the papyrus.”
He handed the book to Timothy.
“She will be able to decipher the prophecy written on these two pieces of papyrus.”
“Aren’t you coming with me, Father?”
“I have more to investigate here. I will return before His Majesty’s birthday, so you go ahead.”
Though his heart ached for his son, who was struggling with unrequited love, Count Korald placed a supportive hand on Timothy’s shoulder, meeting his gaze with encouragement.
After the date for the Emperor’s wedding was set, Timothy’s shoulders had slumped in resignation. With a deliberately emotionless voice, Count Korald spoke to his son.
“It’s difficult, but now is not the time to be distracted. It’s for the empire. We must break His Majesty’s curse to prevent the empire from falling.”
Strengthening his grip on the book, Timothy nodded silently.
***
The sound of Timothy’s horse hooves grew fainter as he headed towards the capital. In the deep mountains, where dawn was pushing away the darkness, Count Korald also hastily mounted his horse.
The reason Count Korald sought Ekolph Mountain, a place known for its lethal danger, was twofold. First, it was a hotspot for monster activity on the continent, and witches who trafficked information about monsters hid there. The second reason was…
Two summers ago, he had encountered a black panther there.
He had pursued it with a bow but lost sight of the creature when it leaped over a steep cliff.
As he guided his horse along the water veins, Count Korald scanned his brightening surroundings. When the Emperor first spoke of his curse, Count Korald had thought the black panther he encountered two years ago was the Emperor. But after confirming that Emperor Maxwell had never been to Ekolph Mountain, another possibility crossed his mind.
Although believed to have met a grim fate at the paws of the black panther, Crown Prince Luka, who had turned into the black panther… If the black panther encountered at Ekolph Mountain wasn’t Emperor Maxwell, then surely it was…
Flap, flap.
Suddenly, a flock of birds, startled from their slumber, took to the sky from the tall tree branches.
***
Baeosu, is an island with an active volcano.
“How do you plan to enter Inis Lake on the Emperor’s birthday? They will be fully prepared, thinking it’s their last chance to break the curse.”
“There are strong knights guarding him who can hold their own against monsters. Once he leaves the island, he won’t be able to use his power properly, making it impossible for him to fight them or teleport.”
The power of Kaligo, the white panther who had practiced dark magic for a thousand years, was strong enough to imbue other monsters with energy, enabling them to teleport freely.
This was why the man and woman spotted by Count Korald at Inis Lake could return to Baeosu Island in the blink of an eye.
However, while monsters lived much longer than humans, they were not immortal. A thousand years was an incredibly long time. Of the cursed monsters once protected by the Lumen Savers, only three survived to this day.
Kaligo, who maintained the body of a boy forever, and the couple of bears who never gave up their dream of returning to their young children.
The moment Kaligo left the volcanic island, he would no longer receive the life-sustaining energy of the volcano, causing his power to diminish rapidly. Not only his power but even his life would be at risk the longer he stayed outside the volcanic island.
The two people who received life energy from him couldn’t hide their anxious looks as they watched Kaligo. Kaligo, who had been soaking in the boiling lava, slowly opened his eyes, revealing opaque glassy pupils.
As he slowly raised his emaciated body and stepped out of the lava, the woman draped a long cloak over him. Kaligo, now clad in a dark grey cloak, lifted one corner of his mouth in a crooked smile.
“One thing I’ve learned over a thousand years is that humans are endlessly foolish creatures.”
Kaligo’s cryptic words left the two people staring at him in a daze.
With a twisted smirk, Kaligo raised a bony finger and placed it on a glass orb.
“The most foolish among them are those who fall in love. Especially when that love leads to jealousy and hatred, like unrequited love.”
Kaligo lifted the glass orb with both hands, a sinister glint flickering and then disappearing in his eyes.
“The thirst for unattainable love turns into self-pity and then jealousy towards the one who has their love. That jealousy morphs into anger and hatred, which begins to consume their soul.”
Kaligo set the glass orb back on the rock and pulled the hood of his cloak deeply over his head.
“Even if I can’t use my power properly outside the island, it’s very easy to wedge into a soul filled with such hatred.”
As Kaligo’s low laughter echoed in the cave, the man and woman hurriedly followed him outside.
The murky glass orb on the rock began to glow, revealing the image of Timothy riding towards the capital.
Comments
Post a Comment