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Just then, there was another explosion. Because of the collision between his powers and mine.

Boom.

The windows had collapsed and the glass within had long shattered along with it. Our powers clashed as if they were at odds and the shockwaves from this tug-of-war were cracking the pillars.

“Hmph, no!”

I could instinctively guess what was going to happen after this collision.

‘This room wouldn’t be the only thing collapsing!’

To minimise the impact, I hurriedly directed my energy to the floor.

‘If this continues, the entire palace would collapse. I have to, I have to direct it underground.’

Crack! Rumble!

Unable to withstand the shockwaves, the floor below us cracked as well. But I couldn’t stop. Soon after, the ground below us collapsed as I fell for what felt like forever.

My body hovered in the air. I curled up to protect my head to brace myself for the impending impact.

But just when I thought I was going to crash, the impact never came no matter how long I waited.

“Cough! Cough!”

I sat up quickly.

“Julian. Is Julian still alive?”

It was only after I raised my head did a vague pain dig into my back.

I paused where I was.

I found myself in an empty space. However, unlike the room I was in before, the walls looked white. All because of the ball of light in the middle of the cavity that lit the darkness.

The shadows casted on the walls shook. The mysterious light that changed colour at every given moment. I recognised this light.

‘Oh my god.’

I slowly opened my mouth.

“Am I… under the Central Palace?”

The large crystal was right in front of me. The floor was littered with debris and dust. As the clouds of dust settled, the light grew in intensity.

‘I can’t believe the crystal was right below that room.’

Did Castor plan this? I couldn’t find out. But I could not shrug off the possibility.

‘He had taken the shortest route to the crystal.’

It hadn’t even been a few minutes since we fell.

I quickly scanned my surroundings to find Castor and Julian.

Before I spotted someone walking towards the crystal.

“Thanks to you, things got a lot simpler, Ashley.”

It was Castor.

With one hand, he was grabbing Julian.

‘Did he save Julian?’

This was a fall Castor, who was a templar, and I, the Heir of Death, could survive. But Julian was a non-templar.

Now illuminated by the light emitted by the crystal, I could see that Julian had been scratched in a few places but didn’t seem severely hurt.

The moment I saw him, I sneakily sent my purple light towards his way but it quickly disappeared upon Castor’s sword. He moved so quickly it was as if he had read my moves. I bit my lips.

‘Julian is not moving.’

His eyes were drooping as if he had fainted.

But the sword that Castor was holding seemed to be able to slice through Julian at any given moment.

“Julian fainted. If he were to die like this, he would die a very comfortable death.”

With his face half-shrouded in shadows, he seemed to be smiling.

“What will I have left if I killed Julian?”

Castor’s sword paused.

“I’m not doing this because I still have you.”

He then dropped Julian on the ground. However, his sword was still pointing towards the collapsed man.

“Rather, it’s because I want to get rid of everything.”

He turned his head towards me.

“We should start talking about the curse. Don’t you think so too?”

“…..”

“It’d be better if you learn everything too.”

My hands trembled with fear at his words.

“It would be nice of you to learn how this curse started.”

I looked up for the opening but we had fallen so deep I couldn’t tell how far we were from the surface. I lowered my head before staring at him. With his face illuminated by the crystal’s subtle glow, he spoke.

“A long time ago, the Lord had granted the First Emperor who did not love him back the ability to return to the past. To keep regressing until she chooses him.”

He smiled as he taught me the truth no one had ever told me before.

“The First Emperor eventually escaped the curse using her beloved companion. After she escaped, she made a wish.”

Goosebumps dotted my skin.

“I wish for you to remain on this land and make sure it prospers forever.”

The emperor’s last wish that had been praised by so many historians. A desperate ugly truth had been hidden in that wish.

Finally, the shell was broken and what was inside was found to be red.

“So that the Lord could no longer do anything to her. Because he was entrapped in the land.”

The gold in his eyes grew incredibly tumultuous.

“It is thanks to her selfish wishes, ones that never took her descendants into account, the Imperial Family suffered from a terrible curse. But the powers gradually morphed before the curse had turned into a nightmare.”

Madness surged even greater in Castor’s eyes like that of a tsunami. He seemed to be getting out of control.

“People had died thousands of times around me. They asked a child to destroy the world. Amidst all of that, friendship becomes very fleeting.”

An expression I had never seen on him before appeared.

“Ashley, do you know why I need someone like you? Because no one else understands.”

His eyes were no longer turned towards me. He had turned towards his younger brother, the one collapsed on the ground.

“Julian, you were the last piece of my conscience. You were so pathetically lovely–you never changed in spite of the thousands of regressions.”

Castor’s words sounded more like a hum.

“I hated you for it.”

My heart was beating wildly out of my chest.

“… Do you like Castor?”

“Hm? That’s a strange question to ask. How could I hate my brother?”

Even though I was another victim of Castor’s, I could understand since I had been placed in the same situation as him before.

“It is a kind of love that can never be erased. Because he’s my family.”

He had died hundreds, thousands of times. I understood. Back during those cruel and repetitive times, only my loved ones remained. They would always stare back at me with the same ignorant gaze.

“Princess, today’s going to turn out great!”

It was something that had once driven me crazy back during my 40 regressions.

Why wouldn’t they remember me? Why? Why was I the only one who could remember! Why! Why?

He had been through those days thousands of times.

For a while, I couldn’t bring myself to forgive Hernan who had once turned a blind eye to my plight. Even Hernan couldn’t forgive himself even after learning about the circumstances.

How did he endure for that long if he had regressed thousands of times? If it had happened thousands of times, would it be enough for him to hate even his loved ones?

“Ha. Hahaha…”

Just then, I understood what I never wanted to.

“Are you saying that… you loved Julian but he was also the one torturing you?”

Just as Fleon and Dane did to me.

But now that he was trying to kill him so indifferently, he must have lost those feelings of affection.

“Right. As much as I loved him, it drove me crazy how he couldn’t understand me.”

I could understand him. I had felt the same before.

But then, what was he doing now?

A force so strong, that the power it exerted was incomparable to the one back in the hall, emerged and tied Castor up.

“That man is the last remaining piece of your conscience. Then, you have to save him.”

I stumbled through the light that filled the room.

“If this makes you uncomfortable, then you have to save him.”

Illuminated by the blinding light, I smiled. Towards the murderer staring back at me.

“So that he can call you his brother once more.”

Light emerged from me as a butterfly once more before it led me to Julian.

“I’ll force myself to whisper sweet words to you. So that you can be a better man.”

I embraced the fainted Julian before smiling.

I wondered why? My mind was clear. Not only that, my whole body was filled with energy. My hands were burning. The ring was bursting with light. Was it because of the ring?

“Ashley.”

“Don’t come closer.”

I raised my head. Though tied up, he appeared before me. Slowly, he closed his eyes and opened them again, as he gathered the golden energy that surrounded him.

He seemed to be struggling as if my powers were blocking him.

“Do you miss the days you can no longer return to? Do you regret being unable to go back? Like I do?”

Like the way you tortured me during my regressions.

“You can’t do that, Castor. Why do you get to leave this the way you want to? I have never lived my life my way because of you.”

I couldn’t believe he still had a shred of conscience after making me like this. He disgusted me.

I loathed him.

“I loathe you.”

He slowly lifted his chin. Our eyes met.

“I hate you. I hate you, loathe you so very much. I abhor you. For leaving me with a curse for the rest of my life.”

I emphasised every single word.

“Every time I utter my words of loathe towards you, it feels like nails are coursing through my veins.”

The moments of my deaths returned to me vividly.

“I am the monster you made. A monster that cannot become human again.”

Tears streamed down my face.

“You knew from the beginning.”

But I knew now. I could never escape from this moment. He left me a scar. I had overcome it, but I could not return to who I was when I had already changed.

I could not return to the past when Fleon was still alive.

“Ashley.”

“You, don’t say my name.”

We continued to fight as we tried to gather our powers before they quickly dissipated. Even under this tense atmosphere, we did not take our eyes off each other.

“Why did you do that to me?”

“…..”

“Tell me. Why me!”

I grabbed his collar and pressed into him but he remained unaffected.

He forcibly stretched his hand out towards me.

“… I knew that if I killed you, your powers would force you to open your eyes. That’s how it started. I didn’t want you to get taken away by the emperor.”

Tingles electrified my cheek even though his hand never touched. It was as if he really did brush against my skin.

“You lived through death. It was beautiful to see.”

The enchantingly seductive charm disappeared from his voice but his words rang louder than ever.

“I wanted to have you. Safely in my cage for the rest of my life so that no one else can see you. I wanted to have you.”

I could tell he was being sincere.

The diary in my hands was vibrating. He was resisting powerfully to my restraints. But I mustered all the strength I had to keep him tied up.

“Is the man you ended up loving Amor?”

“…..”

“I can’t believe you’ve fallen in love with someone like him. It must have started with pity.”

“Zip it. It wasn’t pity.”

I replied through my teeth.

The tug-of-war between our divinities intensified. We repelled each other like we were never going to mix, as if we were oil and water.

He tilted his head slowly.

“It’s strange. I don’t believe I care whatever happens to Julian from now on. …That was how much I hated him.”

Castor was gathering an immense amount of power. I, too, continued to gather energy with the thought that he would be free from his captivity if I didn’t keep up. The finger wearing the ring continued to burn hot.

“Ashley. I am this Empire’s spectre. Ultimately, I will bring ruin upon this land. Because I lived through thousands of regressions for one goal.”

Wind mustered from his divinity whipped around us. I could hear his voice clearly through the howls.

“Only you can understand me. I cherish and care for you, even now you’re taking up all my attention.”

Even though he was tightly tied up, he managed to raise his arm and hold my cheek.

“Right. Love. This is love. I love you.”

He confessed with his eyes swirling in madness.

“At the end of your regressions, you had fallen in love. With someone you were sweet towards, someone you cherished.”

But his voice sounded too crisp and clear for me to think he was actually mad. His voice sounded so tempting, I wanted to cover my ears.

“But you would never love me.”

At that moment, my eyes must have been affirming his words more than ever. He also smiled as if he noticed that too. He lowered his back towards me.

“You hate me.”

“Right.”

HIs face drew nearer.

“But your love for that other man cannot win against your hatred for me.”

Even with his restraints tightening around him, he came close enough for me to hear puffs of his breath.

“You can never cut me out of your life.”

Our breaths mixed.

“Because your hatred will win against your love.”

He stopped just before we touched.

“And I’m satisfied with that.”