The sun shone brightly overhead, casting a warm light across the landscape. The sky was painted with blue hues, creating a picturesque background for the scenery while birds perched on the trees singing merrily. Walking down the pavement, gentle winds brushed against Cassian's face, fluttering his locks and garments.

Scanning the area, the tall fortification wall surrounding the place caught his eye. Knights patrolled along the parapet and watchtowers, their weapons at the ready. Glancing sideways, the courtyard was an open expanse of land dotted with trees and patches of wild grass. Lots of knights roamed around while maids and butlers ran their errands.

However, the knights with wolf badges were more dominating than those with sun badges—they were Duke Godfrey's knights—Cassian grandfather's knights and the ones with sun badges were the Imperial knights. Duke Godfrey sent him a letter, expressing his devastation about his grandson's assassination. He stated that he wanted to visit him, but he was currently stationed at the Zerounix Kingdom - Solarié Empire sea border at the Emperor's order, that was why he sent knights to ensure his safety.

Thinking back, there was a passage in the novel that briefly explained how Duke Godfrey and Duke Vazquez had been fierce rivals in a power struggle for the throne. However, their conflict ended abruptly when an accident occurred, leading to the downfall of the Godfrey duchy, though the novel never revealed the details of the accident.

Yes, everything happened before the novel started. Despite Cassian's powerful background, he was none other than a fucked up character with red flags surrounding him and his family. Somehow he was wondering if could he destroy all of them. Because doing nothing was definitely not an option.

Today marked the third day since he possessed Cassian's body, and thanks to an audience with Lord Samuel, he found out that his assassination attempt was closed as a bandit attack, which was ridiculous. What kind of bandit wiped out all of his knights? At this point, the Empire's title of the strongest military in the continent was surely laughable.

Furthermore, the Emperor didn't seem to care about Cassian as he let the case close just like that—not even justice for his own flesh and blood, huh? And only lent one of his knights to become his temporary escort knight. No wonder Roseanne—the Empress—was seeing red that day.

Peeking behind his shoulder, he fixated on a red-haired knight with reddish eyes. As their eyes crossed, Ezio—his temporary escort knight—smiled benignly at him and inclined his head respectfully. He was a man in his late twenties and was said to be the youngest of the Emperor's escort knights.

"Are you even listening to me?" A familiar voice cut through his thoughts.

Cassian turned to see Julius had stopped walking, his emerald eyes pinned on him. He halted and nodded with confidence. "Of course, I am."

Julius narrowed his eyes, his suspicion palpable. Unfazed, Cassian held his gaze steadily, feigning calm. Actually, he HAD been listening—at least at first—but Julius had been talking non-stop for what felt like hours. While it was impressive how he never ran out of things to say, it was starting to grate on his nerves.

Was he really the same Julius from the book? In the novel, Julius was the epitome of an edgy, brooding protagonist—not this relentless chatterbox. Could it be that he'd somehow transmigrated into a parallel version of the novel or something?

After an intense staring contest, Julius eventually gave up with a snort. "Very well," he said, folding his arms, "Then tell me—what did I just say?"

"About we used to play here." Cassian shrugged nonchalantly. Honestly, it was a wild guess. That was because Julius had been repeating variations of that line at every stop.

"Ho?" Julius arched an eyebrow, clearly amused, "Surprisingly accurate—for someone with such an unconvincing face."

Cassian's eye twitched. "I beg your pardon?"

"Let's keep moving," Julius whirled on his heel and strode off, blatantly ignoring his simmering annoyance.

'Seriously?' Cassian watched Julius' back in disbelief.

Julius stopped and glanced over his shoulder, "Are you coming?"

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With a heavy sigh, he followed. "I'm coming."

Currently, they were on a tour, with Julius acting like as his guide, accompanied by their knights. The Western Palace—where they were staying—was located in the western region of the Solairé Empire. It was considered a sacred place because it was a place where the founder of the Empire was born. According to imperial custom, the heir to the throne was required to undergo training here for five years before reaching adulthood.

When the sound of water flowing reached his ears, he glanced toward the noise and spotted a grandeur fountain made of ivory marble in the distance. However, the most striking part was the towering monument at its center. As they drew closer, the writing engraved on the tower's wall caught his attention:

[ In realms where shadows dance and play,

And secrets lurk in the light of day,

Let not ambition's fire ignite,

For in its blaze, lies endless night.

Beware the path where power gleams,

For in its grasp, reality teems. ]

"—We used to play here—"

"What is that?" Cassian interrupted, pointing at the poem.

Julius followed his hand and shrugged indifferently, "A warning."

Cassian rolled his eyes, "A warning for what? Not to climb the fountain?" Of course, he understood it was a warning against seeking power. "What I'm asking is, why write something so cryptic here of all places? Is there something special about it?"

"Hmm," Julius hummed thoughtfully, adopting a thinking pose before smirking mischievously, "Perhaps it's here to spark curiosity. Worked on you, didn't it?"

Cassian's fists clenched tightly as he fought the urge to smack the back of Julius' head. The more time he spent with him, the thinner his patience wore—almost as if Julius existed solely to erode his sanity.

"Your performance as a guide is truly lacking, I must say," he spat in exasperation.

Julius' smirk widened, visibly enjoying his frustration, "And your capacity for forgiveness seems equally deficient."

Cassian pinched the bridge of his nose at the insufferable headache. Letting out a heavy sigh, he sank onto the fountain's edge. Talking to him drained his energy, and he refused to dignify him with a response. 'This guy is impossible.'

After a moment, Julius sighed as well and sat beside him. "I don't know the extent of your memory loss, but the main point of the training is that we shouldn't chase power. We're meant to be keepers of balance instead."

"Yes, thank you very much for your kind explanation," Cassian replied dismissively. He wasn't in the mood for further conversation.

Cassian leaned back slightly and tilted his head upward, letting his gaze follow the lazy drift of clouds across the blue sky. The rhythmic sound of water cascading from the fountain and the gentle breeze gradually soothed away his irritation.

"I'm sorry." Julius's voice broke the silence, shattering his moment of respite. Groaning inwardly, Cassian begrudgingly turned to him, only to find Julius staring blankly at the pavement.

After a moment, Julius glanced at him and repeated, "I'm truly sorry." Gone was his usual mischief—only helplessness remained. "It was my fault. If only I'd come sooner, you wouldn't have gotten hurt, and you wouldn't have lost your memory."

"…" Cassian said nothing and regarded the man before him.

Nonetheless, whenever Julius displayed his vulnerability side, he couldn't help but wonder: was his apology genuine, or merely an act? According to the Empress, despite the enmity between their factions, Julius and Cassian shared a bond akin to that of siblings. Julius even often stepped in to thwart assassination attempts ordered by his mother and his grandfather.

But if that were the case, then why did Julius kill Cassian in the novel? What was his reason behind such an act? Was it… the throne? After all, it wasn't uncommon in feudal societies for brothers to kill each other over power.

Yet, what puzzled him even more was the novel's repeated emphasis on Julius's overwhelming loss over Cassian's death. He even suffered recurring nightmares and relied heavily on sleeping pills to sleep. Just why? 'Did he… regret it?'

After a long pause, Cassian eventually gave his answer, "I don't know if it's my place to accept that apology, but thank you for saying it." How could he accept an apology meant for a brother he had never truly been? He was simply borrowing Cassian's body, and nothing else.

Just as Julius was about to retort, he quickly added, "Also, it's not entirely your fault. Let's not dwell on it. What's done is done." He knew Julius far too well—or at least, the version of him described in the book. No matter what anyone said, Julius would always shoulder the blame.

Julius stared at him with an indescribable expression before chuckling softly, "You sounded like Gilbert just now."

Cassian furrowed his eyebrows, "Gilbert?" Of course, it was just an act. In the novel, Gilbert was one of his most loyal subjects.

Julius pointed toward the knight standing beside Ezio. "He's my escort knight. Just like you, he's like a family to me."

Following Julius's gesture, his eyes landed on a tall and bulky knight who stood beside Ezio. Gilbert was a middle-aged man with olive skin, a platinum blonde-haired man with golden eyes. The moment their eyes locked, he bowed respectfully to him and Cassian nodded in acknowledgment.

However, the sound of a bell thundering in the air caught their attention, marking the midday time.

Julius turned to him and asked, "Shall we get going for our family luncheon?"

He nodded in agreement, "Sure."

Julius offered him a warm smile and patted his head before rising to his feet. "Let's go."

Cassian complied and fell in step with Julius.

Whatever Julius' reason for killing him might be, for now, he would just observe him, while also keeping him in check in case he tried anything funny.