-Chapter Forty-One-
Village Ancestry - Part Two
Sepha was done for.
The people discovered the leftover remains of the Archduchy manor, finding the abandoned corpse of the Archduchess and no sign of the Archduke.
First, the Aerianne Princess disappeared from the eyes of society.
Then, this followed.
Anyone with some sense could see it was not coincidence.
For generations, the Aerianne Archduchy persisted in flourishment.
What scared the people, the shock factor, the contributing hysteria, was how a lineage that existed since the founding of the Kingdom, synonymous with the prosperity of the Kingdom, disappeared overnight.
It became the new sensation of the news: the Archduchess dead, the Archduke and Heiress missing.
Where could the father and daughter be?
It was a rainy day as the Aerianne Archduke, having hidden his identity, passed by city after city, following the traces left behind Aria through Mana Resonance.
It was the first time in his life he was unattached to the Archduchy.
Right now, he was his own man, with his own agenda.
No territory to consider, no country to serve.
Just his own… selfish interests.
He was no longer the Archduke, he was now just a hideaway.
As he chased the trails left behind by Aria, he was aware she had taken a warp gate, or perhaps used a teleport spell, but he was unable to tell where her exact destination was.
He could only tell the general direction.
Better yet, all of the warp gates are heavily inspected with each use.
As the missing Archduke, there was no way he could get through the guards without detection nor a fight.
And so, it had been many days into his journey, many-a-city he had travelled through.
The days dragged on, he began to doubt his cause under the erosion of time.
What should he say when he sees his daughter?
What should he do?
Maybe he could just turn around right now?
No, he’s already come so far.
He’s already travelled half of Farrien, it’s too late to return.
And there was also the matter of the Devils he had to consider. If he’s not careful, his daughter could die as well and he wouldn’t even know.
As he trudged through a busy marketplace, he recalled guiltily the moment he had hit her through the chest with his blade.
If it wasn’t for Aelius, she would have died on the spot.
How could he ever make up all the things he’s done to her? He didn’t know, but he had to at least try.
Another month of travel passed, and finally, the Archduke had arrived somewhere he was familiar with.
The Great Southern Forest that separated the Capital and Dawnbreak, the core city of Kanaria.
The Mana Resonance traces of Aria were also becoming stronger, meaning he was closing in on the source.
Another few days of navigating the maze-like forest at the guidance of the resonance markers, he finally came to a dead end.
The first dead end in his trip.
His destination was not exactly close to Dawnbreak.
No, he had come very far to the east, practically all the way to the coast.
It was also not far down enough South to turn incredibly tropical.
The climate was similar to the Capital in being a comfortable temperature.
Before him stood a mountain with a clean slate of stone as a wall and the markers he had been following went straight through the wall.
He may have been dense, but he was no stupid.
She can’t have randomly disappeared.
The wall had to have been some sort of entrance to something.
How interesting, he pondered as he narrowed his eyes at the gate, considering what to do.
The man spent some time shuffling about outside the mountain, looking for anything akin to a switch or a clue, but could find nothing after an hour of searching.
He gave a deep sigh, returning to the front and putting a hand to his chin.
There was only one last thing he could do. Closing his eyes, he called forth the bond of blood between him and his daughter, and when his glowing, resonating eyes opened again, he could see the silhouettes of her shadow around him.
She simply walked forward, he observed, until her figure completely disappeared.
The stone wall was still there though. Perplexed, he stepped up to the flat surface and placed his hand on it.
Yeap, that was definitely solid stone.
“Ugh…” he sighed, turning away and scanning the small clearing in the forest this entrance was located in.
Spotting a nearby tree, he sat down and leaned up against its trunk, sighing heavily as he gazed at the stone under the afternoon sun.
“Just where are you, Aria?” His eyes gradually fell closed as he felt the breeze on his skin and the warmth of the air.
This is surprisingly not too bad.
Suddenly, the Archduke felt something sharp poke him.
‘Gah!” His eyes snapped open, his sight instantly blinded for a moment by bright light.
He tried to reach up to block it from his eyes with his arm, but found his body restrained by something.
Another poke struck him in the chest and he looked down as his vision gradually returned, finding himself bound to a pole by rope.
“W-what the?” Looking up, he first saw the end of a stick with a rudimentary, sharpened stone on it, attached to a shaft, and finally, being held in the hands of a young boy.
The young boy looked at him with obvious apprehension, with a buzz cut and a skinny physiqye, he reached up to poke the Archduke again.
“Ow! Stop it! What in the Goddess’ name?” The Archduke hissed and the boy stumbled a step back.
Looking up past him, the Archduke was surprised to see he was indoors now, in what appeared to be the inside of some sort of cavern.
The young boy looked over his shoulder to see another group of young children join him, looking at the Archduke apprehensively.
“Go call…” they whispered to each other, giving each other a determined gaze until they split off, leaving half the group supervising him and the other half disappearing off around the corner.
“Where am I?” the Archduke sighed, his eyes darting around the room, looking for his blade.
He found it lying a dozen metres away up against the back wall and felt a tinge of helplessness.
“Shh!” they shushed him and he just continued to gaze at them, unamused.
“This way!” They all heard from around the corner, and the Archduke’s eyes widened as he saw one of the children pull a taller figure around the corner.
First was the light blue hair, and then the golden eyes. She had graduated from her lifelong companion, the white and blue coat he had given her for her birthday.
Aria came skidding to a stop around the corner, blinking in surprise at her father who was held captive by the children.
“Aria!” the Archduke called.
“F-father?” the daughter exclaimed, her eyes scanning the scene, trying to figure out what was going on, until she finally sighed.
“What are you doing here?” she asked as she stepped closer.
“I-I came looking for you,” the older man stammered, looking down at the ground, falling silent for a moment, until he wryly chuckled. “This wasn’t the reunion I had in mind.”
“I could figure that much out,” she responded as she began to untie his rope. “And why did you chase me all the way down to the South? What about the Archduchy?” she asked.
“Well…” As the Archduke was answering, the rope binding him came undone and he slid down to the ground, hitting the stone with a thud.
As he considered his answer, he didn’t bother standing up again.
“Your mother is dead. And as much as it pains me to say this, probably for the better.”
Aria continued to gaze at him silently, waiting for him to keep speaking.
“I hurt you… not only that night, but all along, I had no idea what was happening behind the scenes. No, I knew, but I chose not to acknowledge it. I was caught up in my own selfish delusion. I wanted her to be a good mother, I didn’t want to face the truth that she was hurting you.”
Aria saw the man clench his fists.
“I went into her study and found out the truth. The truth of what was happening in our family because of my negligence.”
Slowly, he rose to his feet, unsure of what to say.
“After I uhh… stabbed you…” the words come out of his mouth with great difficulty, but he said them nonetheless. “Aelius told me he was taking you away from this toxic place. After I found out the truth about your mother, I realised… I’m the only family you have, and you’re the only family I have.”
He continued with his eyes on the ground.
“You’ve always been my pride and joy, even if it didn’t seem like it. With your mother dead… I just… left the Archduchy behind. You were brought here in search of a better life but I was thinking, maybe, just maybe that…” he tried to get the words out. “Our family- that is, you and I- we can keep going?”
For a moment, there was only dead silence, and he didn’t dare look up, until a hand rested itself onto his nervously clenched fists.
“If you’re willing, then I’m willing.”
He looked up, finding her giving him a small smile.
Suddenly, he felt it was strange.
Was his daughter always this mature? Composed?
But more than that was the relief.
She didn’t hate him. Or at least, even if she did, she was willing to give him a chance to make it up to her.
“I’m willing,” he nodded frantically. “Our family will stay together from now on.” She gave him a bright smile.
“Great. But first, I’ll have to check with the owner of our village.”
“Village?” the Archduke asked, confused and Aria nodded, turning away.
“Mmhmm. Our village.”
—-----------------------
The night was dark, and the room which Saki and Lia arrived at was dimly lit by modest candles.
The woman named Grayalla had led them here and then took Aelius with her.
They were probably going to discuss magic.
Saki stood at the entryway, examining the room when Lia stepped forward into it, approaching one of the beds and pulling aside the blanket.
Stolen novel; please report.
“It feels a little bit lonesome without Aria here, doesn’t it?” Saki remarked as she approached one of the other beds.
“Yeah…” Lia murmured. “I liked Aria.” She propped herself up onto the bed and leaned up against the header, pulling her knees into a cuddle.
Saki silently gazed at the younger girl for a moment before she sighed and began taking her dress off.
“Do you know what the deal with Aelius is?” she asked, catching the quiet Lia’s attention.
“Sorry? What do you mean?” she responded and Saki raised a brow.
“Well… I don’t know a thing. You’ve been with him longer than me so I thought you might know something.”
Pulling off the straps, Saki laid down into her bed with her pyjamas.
“Know what though?” Lia shrugged. “All I know is we’re travelling somewhere, and he intends to help me control my power.”
She frowned, her thoughts stirring. “Though he won’t let me condense my next Mana Ring for some reason.”
“Huh…” Saki tilted her head curiously. “If it’s him, I’m sure there’s a good reason for suppressing a breakthrough.” She leaned back down as well, and for a long moment, silence rang between them.
Finally, Saki broke it again, continuing.
“You know he’s not a normal boy, right? I don’t know about the normal standards of people here, but for a fifteen year old, he’s abnormal.”
“Well yeah, it’s obvious,” Lia looked back to Saki. “He’s smarter, stronger, and… he definitely has some sort of goal.”
“A goal…” Saki wondered.
“Yes, and I guess he wants us to help him with it?” Lia shrugged.
“Well he hasn’t told me anything about it, so I guess I will just have to wait for a moment to ask him directly,” Saki sighed, laying down and turning onto her side, gazing at Lia who gazed out the window into the night of the city.
“He saved my life,” she finally said after a pause.
“He saved mine too,” Lia answered softly. “And my family’s.”
“I intend to offer him everything I have.”
“...Me too.” Lia glanced over at her companion to notice she was giving her a beaming smile.
“It’s not exactly a race but… Aria’s already gotten one step ahead of us.”
Lia’s cheeks flushed as she realised what Saki was talking about.
“They are childhood sweethearts after all,” the younger girl responded.
“Yes, but where I’m from, men can have multiple wives and women can have multiple husbands.”
“So… everyone is dating each other?” Lia asked.
“No, no,” Saki chuckled. “If a group of men belong to a woman, they can’t go and have an affair with other women either. They belong to that one woman, but that one woman can love any one of the men.”
“Oh… a one-way harem?” the younger girl asked with a raised brow.
“Harem,” Saki repeated. “Yes, that’s the word. A harem.” For a moment, her voice fell dejectedly.
“Let’s be honest, there’s no woman who can keep Aelius to herself.”
“Well… there might be one,” Lia answered. “You won’t have met her. But if it’s that woman, she might.”
“There’s a woman I don’t know about?” Saki asked and Lia nodded. “Then all the reason to go on the offensive!” the girl in her twenties determinedly insisted.
“Aelius definitely has a sense of responsibility. We can all get some of his love if we tie him down to us.”
The tip of Lia’s ears turned red and she buried her face in her arms.
“What’s there to love on me?” she asked. “I’m all skin and bones, and I’m his age but I’m definitely not as mature. You probably won’t have any problems cause you’re smart, Saki. And attractive. But I’m just a flat washboard.”
“Oh, Lia…” Saki looked at the girl with sympathy. “If you eat well, it’ll only be a matter of time before your body reaches a healthy weight.”
The girl was clearly starved for the last few years, with her bones showing under her skin.
“...Maybe,” Lia murmured.
“Or…! You could ask Aelius to feed you himself. I’m certain he’s willing to take care of you.” Lia shook her head frantically at Saki’s suggestion.
At the words, an image flashed in Lia’s mind of Aelius catering to her caringly and her cheeks suddenly flushed.
“I don’t want to reach for something out of reach,” she answered.
“Sure, but do you not notice the way he looks at you? He genuinely cares for you, Lia. And me. All of us. Think about it, if today, we got in some sort of trouble, like we were abducted, or you were attacked by somebody and injured, how do you think he would react?” Saki asked.
“Well knowing Aelius…” Lia took a second to consider the scenario. She recalled when he brutally murdered the attackers when they first met. “He’d probably get angry and kill them.”
“And why do you think that is?” Saki patiently asked.
“Because… if we’re hurt, it means someone messed with something he holds important?” Lia wondered.
“Not just something important,” Saki wagged her finger. “Because something- no, someone that belongs to him, someone that is his, is hurt. And he finds that unforgivable.”
“Right,” the other girl agreed.
“In other words, we’re already his people. His women, you and I. Do you understand now? I don’t know about you, but there is no one else in this world that I am closer to than Aelius.”
Lia fell silent, pondering her words.
“So what? You just want me to start begging for his attention and love?”
“If it works, what’s wrong with that? But no, I just mean…” Saki considered her next words for a moment. “Open up to him, Lia.”
“...Okay.”
With that final response, it seemed the conversation had come to an end between the two girls, and as Lia laid down and turned her back to Saki, the older woman looked at her companion for a moment longer, and then turned away as well.
“Goodnight, Lia.”
“Goodnight, Saki.”
—-----------------------
Can you hear the madness of the night? The carnal chaos that will be brought down upon you imminently, beneath the moon?
Saki gasped for breath as she woke up, immediately aware something was amiss.
Sitting up in the bed immediately, she reached up to quickly rub her eye and look around her.
Aelius was yet to return, and beside her, Lia was still peacefully sleeping away.
But Saki could feel something wrong.
Her pink eyes began to faintly glow as she called upon the power of her Awakening Arts and she felt the world melt, fade and merge away into itself, like layers combining into a single wave.
As she activated her Mind’s Eye, thinking of taking a quick inspection around her, she immediately realised something was definitely wrong.
Very wrong.
She had come across this type of sensation before, she thought to herself gravely as she was unable to perceive clearly her surroundings.
She could recognise straight away what was happening; something was obstructing her connection to the Abstract Realm.
But how was that possible? The only people capable of doing this to her were from her original world, and they were all the elders of each sect, with unimaginable cultivation.
How could such an otherworldly existence be present here, in this lower realm?
If only Saki could resist the World Principles, but unfortunately, her cultivation was far too lacking.
If it was like this, the only thing she can do is go out and see for herself what was going on.
Swinging her legs off the bed, Saki began to throw on her dress when she suddenly heard footsteps outside.
Dozens of footsteps, a march, as though a large group was trudging down the corridor.
For a moment, she wondered if something was going on, or if it was just a routine group passing by?
But she then felt a sudden sense of anxiousness.
The room they were in was a guest room, it was incredibly remote from anywhere else in the building.
People coming towards this room could only mean one thing.
And the fact that Aelius still hadn’t returned yet… Saki quickly pieced together that something must be going on.
Just in time of her realisation, she saw the door knob begin to turn and the door hinge creak as it was pushed open.
“No!” Saki instinctively raised her hand and slammed the door shut with telekinesis.
With her left hand raised and holding the door shut, she reached out with her other hand to the nearby chair and telepathically flung it across the room.
With perfect precision, the chair slotted into the doorknob, preventing it from turning, locking the door in place.
As her hand dropped, she took a moment to catch her breath, looking at the door with eyes of bewilderment, before her thoughts of clarity returned to her and she ran to Lia’s bed and shook the younger girl awake.
Lia’s eyes flung open with a jolt to see her companion towering over her with a worried look on her face, but the young girl who spent her childhood on the run had experienced many moments like this before.
Without any need of explanation from Saki, the black-haired pale-skinned beauty flung on some rudimentary clothing and approached the window.
Saki who was looking around the room for an escape route, locked eyes with Lia, and the two girls nodded.
Behind them, there was a sickening crunch followed by a sickening crunch as their attackers tried to smash down the door.
Silently, Saki followed Lia out the window, just as she heard behind her the door get slammed and the crowd run into the room.
“There they are!” she heard over her shoulder and without looking, followed Lia down the wall.
Now on the outside of the building, on the third floor, they were one slip up from a fall to their deaths, and they could see no path down.
The girl and the young woman exchanged glances for a moment, before Lia pointed over Saki’s head and they saw hand holds running up the side of the building to the roof.
“Let’s go!” Saki called, immediately spinning around to latch onto them and scaling her way up the building.
Lia was behind her with impressive pace, keeping up until they reached the roof.
As soon as they reached it, they scoured their surroundings for an escape route, for they knew any moment, their attackers will reach the roof as well.
Saki could tell Lia was visibly becoming more and more distressed, unable to find a solution, and she could feel her own heart beat racing.
Right now, unable to rely on her Awakening Arts, she could only rely on Aelius to defeat their opponents.
Or Lia could attempt to, but the girl was new to both combat and the act of harming others.
Saki closed her eyes, calming her breath, feeling the air flow in through her nostrils, and acute clarity struck her mind.
Her eyes lit up pink as she tried to peer through the fabric of reality before her, but as she expected, any perception she could cling onto was obscured.
She could not even tell where Aelius was, or how far away he was.
There was one thing, however. To the North-Western side of the village, near the bottom of one of the canyons, she could feel an energy radiating from it.
It was an energy signature of that of a life form, but was definitely not human.
If they wanted to escape from their pursuers and hide, that would be the place to do it.
But the question was, how to get there?
Saki peered over the edge of the roof at the ground half a dozen stories below her, gritting her teeth when she heard the door being thrown open behind her.
Whipping her head over her shoulder, she found a line of uniformed village guards filing out of the rooftop doorway.
“Lia!” Saki shouted and the younger girl dashed to her.
“Argh, Goddess have mercy!” Lia shouted as she tackled Saki off the edge of the building.
Saki felt her breath catch in her throat at the sudden impact and the rapid falling sensation, but just as she braced herself for the crash to come, she felt the air come to a stand still, and looked around her to nice a dark flame enveloping them, slowing their fall, until it disappeared and they gently landed on the ground.
Lia looked up, wearing an expression of relief, and though she was impressed, Saki took the chance to grab Lia’s hand and lead her into the dark alleyways, shaking the tail of their pursuers.
—-----------------------
Finally, the young woman and the mid-teen girl reached the outskirts of the village, where they came to a skidding stop at long last and bent over to catch their harsh breaths.
“W-what happened while I was sleeping?” Lia asked through her deep inhalations.
“I don’t know,” Saki answered, finally feeling her heart rest and straightening her back up again. “All I know is that I woke up with them about to ambush us.”
“Ugh…” Lia looked back to the village, down the dark and narrow alleyway. “Aelius will be fine, right?”
“I’m more worried about the villagers…” Saki bit her nail. “If Aelius finds out they tried to hurt us, I wouldn’t be surprised if this village was razed to the ground.”
“You know him so well, even though you’ve only known each other for so short of a time,” Lia remarked with a small chuckle.
“Well… he did use half of his blood to summon me,” Saki shrugged and Lia gave her a perplexed look.
“Is that the whole upper Realm, Datenshi-Fallen Angel thing?” she asked and Saki nodded.
“But that’s not important. Aelius will be fine as long as he doesn’t have to worry about us. We should find somewhere safe to hide while he figures this all out.”
“Okay,” Lia nodded, looking past Saki at the cave leading into the side of the canyon’s base. “In there?” she asked with a raised brow and Saki nodded.
“I think we’ll be safe from the villagers there.”
“Well… alright then,” Lia sceptically began to approach the tunnel, looking down the hole that travelled into the ground. “Where’s it lead?”
“I can’t tell,” Saki answered. “But we’ll find out.”
There was no light in the tunnelling cave that continued deeper and deeper underground, and so Lia had the role of summoning a dark blue flame that cast a brightening white light on their path.
The cave was very clearly manmade, but had nothing built into it.
No walls or stairs, it was merely a hole in the earthen rock.
The further the two apprehensive girls continued, they gradually began to sense vibrations rushing up from the end of the path, reaching them and continuing past them.
As it began to grow stronger, they came to be able to sense the shaking more clearly.
The tremors that came in waves were almost as though they were rhythmic and patterned, almost like the beating of a heart.
Not knowing the source made Lia fear what awaited them, and that fear was affirmed as they eventually arrived at a large opening underground.
The exit of the tunnel expanded into a gigantic cave within which they could hear a fearsome current of wind shooting through.
But it turned out not to be wind, but rather… a breath.
Lia and Saki froze at the entrance to the tunnel, their widened and bewildered eyes landing on a gigantic shadow curled up in the centre of the humongous cave.
“W-what is that-” Lia whispered but was shushed by Saki holding up her hand.
The other young woman closed her eyes and summoned her Mind’s Eye, attempting to inspect the unknown, fortress-like beast with her ability.
No different to earlier, something obscured her sight, but she could now sense that some sort of odd power was constantly being supplied to the beast from the source of the barricade - the magic tower in the centre of the village.
As she was pondering what to do, she suddenly heard a familiar voice in her mind and her face lit up.
Saki? Aelius’ voice reached her and she breathed a breath of relief.
Before their connection faded, she desperately tried to direct him to the magic tower and disable the barrier that was cancelling their Awakening Arts.
Before she could finish her words, she felt their link die, and looked back to the monster before her.
“We wait,” Saki softly whispered to Lia, bending down and pulled her skirt aside as she seated herself on the ground. “Wait for Aelius.”
Beside her, the younger girl joined, and the two girls silently waited, not daring to wake the monster until help arrived.