The Crest of Ruin

Lucien was in his room after the Round 1 of the Selection ceremony . The walls was in a hefty as something was purging inside him.

He sat on the floor, legs crossed, robe tossed aside. Sweat clung to his skin, mana still stirring faintly around his body. His breathing was calm, controlled—but his heart wasn't.

He could feel it.

That pull again.

The strange, silent hum from the pendant hanging on his chest. Black gem, silver edges. Warm, then cold, like it was alive.

It responded to his mana.

No, it fed on it. Drew from it. Every time he got stronger, it reacted. In his veins, he could feel something new, Spatial distortion, he got a spatial magic for some time ago, Reality twitching at the edges.

And no one else knew.

Not even his father.

Spatial affinity... It is a very rare elemental magic...almost none of the mages have it...but I got this power after waking up when I was 10 years, well it wasn't strong at that time so it didn't matter but day by day as he growing strong the spatial magic is also growing noe he can teleport himself in a distance of 1m. Well, it's not much but its not less too...

He clenched his jaw.

If I didn't have strong will... the thing inside the necklace would have devoured him by now. It's like the power calls out — use more, give more, lose yourself.

I don't even know its name and I damn can't even take it out....Haah. All I know is—

A knock.

"Young Master," a maid called. "The Duke requests your presence in the garden. Lady Aria is already there."

Lucien stood giving this matter a pause.

Without a word, he grabbed his robe, fixed his collar, and walked out.

The garden was quiet, lit by mana lamps that hung between trees like fireflies. The scent of evening roses lingered in the air.

Aria was twirling on the grass, laughing to herself, her silver hair a soft blur in the wind.

And there he was.

Duke Kael Velentis.

Lucien's father.

Seated at the garden table with a porcelain cup of tea. He was Calm as always.

Lucien walked in, greeted with a bow.

"Father."

Kael didn't rise. He simply gestured to the seat opposite him. "Sit."

Lucien obeyed.

Aria giggled as she danced nearby, occasionally humming a song only she knew. Kael sipped his tea slowly. It was quiet for a while.

Then Kael asked, without looking up, "It feels good to look at you now like life once again came into you."

Lucien didn't answer.

"You used to be quieter, distant, but soft. Now you're hard, controlled, cold and stronger and soulful I guess."

Lucien's hands tightened on the edge of the chair. "You never asked."

He looked up looking into duke eyes...."Why suddenly this..I mean you know"

Kael finally looked up. His violet eyes were unreadable.

"I've always wanted to. But I never did. You know why?"

Lucien stared at him.

Kael set his cup down.

"Do you remember your mother?"

Lucien froze.

"I do," he said after a long pause. "Bits and pieces."

Kael's voice softened, but didn't shake.

"She was unlike anyone I'd ever met. I was… cold, detached, feared, respected, but alone and uninterested about the world and people. People feared the name Kael Velentis, the 'Mage Tyrant of the North.' But her…"

He looked up, his voice softer now.

"She was my sunlight. With her silver hair, and eyes the color of deep garnet. She laughed at everything. She'd stumble into the most dangerous places and still joke about it. She told me shewas just a field researcher from the Mage Tower when we first met. After that she kept pestering me, following me as she was assigned to me for helping her research."

Lucien stayed still, barely breathing.

"I didn't want to admit it. But she broke through everything. Her cheerfulness, her boldness, her smile, her warmth… I fell for her before I even realized it. She made me human."

Kael looked down at the empty cup.

"I fell in love without realizing it. She was the only person who looked at me and didn't see 'Duke Velentis.' She saw a man who can be loved. She made me feel like I wasn't alone."She became my reason to live...My Celcia. Even there was many choices for her other me because she was so pretty that she was even proposed by the imperial prince. Her beauty was transcendental. 

He paused.

"You were born a year later. And she said she wanted you to grow up without pressure and lots of love and without burdens. She wanted you to always smile."

Lucien's throat felt dry.

"Then came Aria. And... then she suddenly started to fell ill. Her body was growing weak day by day"

Kael's voice cracked — the first time Lucien had ever heard that.

"I brought in the best alchemists, the best mages, everything the empire had to offer. But nothing worked. Her body just kept getting weaker."

Lucien looked down at his lap.

"She told me to stop doing all those things. That she wanted her last days to be with us. But I couldn't accept that. I was devastated. My sunshine was gone from my world full of darkness"

Kael's hands curled slightly around the cup.

"Before she died, she held my hand, smiled and said, 'Kael… promise me. No matter what happens, always trust Lucien. Never force him or question him. He'll come to you. Just keep waiting.'"

There was a long silence.

Lucien's chest felt tight. His ears buzzed.

"So I waited," Kael continued. "When you changed… when you stopped smiling, started living like a madman without purpose, started distancing yourself from everyone — I wanted to intervene and talk to you."

Even when you suddenly let go of your sadness and again started living like a human...the sudden change it was difficult to get you know...

He looked directly at Lucien now.

"But I remembered her face when she said those words. That soft, tired smile. So I stayed back, I didn't ask or didn't spy on you."

"Well....there another reason I---I mean---I love both my kids you know so"

Lucien's voice was barely above a whisper.

"Even when you knew something was wrong?"

Kael nodded once. "I trusted you. Because she trusted you and I trusted her and you know I love you both too. Haha"

Lucien stood up suddenly.

He turned away, wiped his eyes, then turned back — his chest heaving.

"You should've yelled at me, hit me. I was such a bad son"

Kael rose as well. But he didn't approach.

"I couldn't. I saw your pain, I saw the anger and grief for your mother, it made my heart clenched. So I stayed quiet, I watched my son carry everything alone, and I hated myself every day for that...I am sorry son."

Lucien didn't realize the tears were falling until they dropped onto his robe.

"No...I'm sorry, I was bad, I---I didn't," he muttered.

Lucien remembered the day in his past life when kael died protecting him and Aria. His tears were falling like a stream"

Kael walked over — slow, firm — and pulled Lucien into his arms.

"You have nothing to apologize for."

And for a long moment, the boy who had died once, who had trained himself to never cry, finally broke.

Kael held him tightly, like he was trying to hold on to both the past and the future at once.

"Brother!" a small voice called out.

Aria stood holding two pink flowers in her hands.

"Why are you crying?! Did Daddy scold you? I'll cast a water BOOM BOOM magic at him!"

Kael laughed through his nose.

Lucien choked out a snort.

"No, Aria. I just… got something in my eyes."

"You're lying! Daddy, did you bully my brother!?"

Kael smirked. "I guess I did."

Aria huffed, stomped over, and wrapped her tiny arms around Lucien's waist.

And for the first time in years…

Lucien smiled without effort.