Side Story.23

“To make it possible for an ordinary human body to use magic.”

In a silent space, the voice echoing alone was filled with a chilling anger that froze the heart.

“They captured merfolk, ground up their organs, and made medicine.”

At the place where all the truth was revealed, those who had taken the medicine felt unbearable nausea at the truth that they had swallowed the result of cruelly killing merfolk, legendary beings revered by humans.

“What’s the problem?”

But the one who committed all these crimes, staining even the innocent with blood, was utterly nonchalant.

“Thanks to the medicine I made, you were able to freely use magic you could never have dreamed of otherwise.”

With a faint sneer, Krshunie Polaris spoke, looking at the foolish ones.

“Because of that, the military strength soared, and all wars went smoothly. Now, if you ignore all those merits and pin all the blame on me, do you become innocent?”

“…….”

The palest face was Aeterna’s.

He, driven by a fierce jealousy and longing he could no longer recall, swallowed the medicine Krshunie gave him.

He stopped taking it due to Adelstein’s restraint and Hyperion Luar’s warning, so he could no longer use magic, but that did not erase the crime he had committed.

Krshunie saw through all the agitation of those gathered and slowly sneered.

In the end, the truth was exposed to the detestable Hyperion Luar, but they would not be able to cast him away so easily.

In the years he spent with them, nearly a decade, Krshunie had built a power too great to suppress.

But Krshunie Polaris’s sneer—

“Keugh—!”

—was shattered by a cruel kick to his face.

“You’ve twisted the natural order and turned it completely to rags.”

Unable to contain his anger, Hyperion trampled Krshunie mercilessly and spoke with a threatening aura that made even watching him terrifying.

“…….”

Krshunie wiped his bruised lips and glared at Hyperion.

“……Stop.”

Then, Adelstein blocked Hyperion.

Hyperion, as if he couldn’t believe what he was seeing, stared blankly at Adelstein, who restrained him.

“You committed an unforgivable crime, but surely you did it because you wanted to help me. So if there is guilt, it belongs to me. Hyperion, don’t kill Krshunie.”

After many years, even the arrogant Hyperion acknowledged the young man before him as his only equal, and at his words, Hyperion remained silent for a long time.

“……What?”

His beautiful golden eyes flashed with chilling anger as he shouted.

“There’s a limit to being too kind—are you saying this disgusting crime he committed is yours?! Don’t say such nonsense, Adelstein!”

“If punishment is to be given, I will give it.”

At that moment, a voice so firm it was almost unbelievable fell over the silent gathering.

“…….!”

“So calm down, Hyperion. Everything happened because of my mistake.”

Hyperion could no longer express any anger.

“I will soon declare the founding of the Empire.”

The boy, who once thought the foreign woman who fell from the future was so delicate that her gender was indistinguishable, had grown into a tall young man whose soft but overwhelming voice declared,

“I don’t want bloodshed at the time of honorable founding. However, Krshunie Polaris.”

“……Yes, Adelstein.”

Krshunie deeply bowed his head toward the master he revered most.

On his lips was a smile of ecstasy, thinking that Adelstein cherished him enough to subdue even Hyperion.

“Your cruelty and blind greed have gone far beyond all bounds.”

But in the next moment, all the smiles and composure vanished from Krshunie’s face.

“Adelstein…….”

Krshunie, with a blank expression, slowly raised his head.

The master who always looked at him with a benevolent smile was now gazing down with utmost coldness.

“You played a major role in exterminating the twelve beasts so they could no longer threaten humans, and in destroying the rebels. But the crimes you committed will eat away at your glory and make free movement impossible.”

“A-Adelstein. I…….”

He reached out trembling hands to grab Adelstein’s sleeve, but Adelstein turned away faster.

“I will grant you the title of Earl to govern the southern region of the Empire. But you will never be able to leave your territory until the day you die. And the one to watch over you…… will be Hyperion.”

Adelstein finished and looked at Hyperion.

Hyperion, whose eyes had widened at Adelstein’s gentle smile, soon curled his lips into a fierce smile.

“N-No, Adelstein! How—how could you do this to me!”

Krshunie Polaris, forgetting even his pain, staggered to his feet and shouted.

The many gazes pouring onto him meant nothing.

He could not accept Adelstein’s decision to put him in virtual shackles and entrust the key to none other than Hyperion Luar.

“What reason is there not to do this?”

But the reply was a voice colder than he could believe.

“Don’t crawl up, Krshunie Polaris. Even the title of Earl I grant you is more than you deserve. The people who follow you and the merits you’ve accumulated are the only things stopping me from executing you.”

“……!”

“This meeting is adjourned. Let’s go, Aeterna. Western.”

The one he revered turned away without regret.

Those who naturally followed him were all loved by Adelstein, unreachable no matter what dirty tricks Krshunie tried.

‘Why did I do all this?’

‘My master, my king.’

‘I devoted myself so much, just to claim the closest place at your side……!’

“How pathetic you’ve become.”

Hyperion sneered at the wretched Krshunie and left.

All that remained in the empty place was discarded obsession and twisted hatred.

* * *

Aeterna, at some point, looked down at the artifact he always kept at his waist, feeling a sense of déjà vu.

He was not sure when he obtained it.

Lost in déjà vu countless times, beyond his hazy memories—

‘……Aeterna, don’t do that.’

The red, rippling hair and the gentle voice directed at him awakened forgotten feelings deep in his heart, only to be covered up and forgotten as if someone intentionally erased them.

“……Who are you, really?”

Aeterna thought.

Perhaps, until the end of this life, he would live, chewing over someone he should never have forgotten.

* * *

The blazing light that had enveloped her body and covered a moment in the past finally faded.

“……!”

Maia opened her eyes.

It was not luxurious, but a place filled with comfort.

For a moment, she thought she had fallen into a strange place after so long……

“Ah!”

It was home.

The home she had missed so much she could cry……!

“You’re finally awake.”

“……Hyperion?”

At that moment, silver hair fell over her cheek as she lay on the long sofa.

Maia looked up at the person leaning over her, meeting his eyes.

As they met, his eyes, shining like stars, changed with complex emotions—loving, dissatisfied, then overwhelmed by her beauty.

Tears welled up in his brilliant violet eyes.

It was Hyperion.

Not the distant past version from before the story began, but the only one she loved and who loved her.

“……Are you crying?”

“Hyperion!”

Maia, who had been staring at his face for a long time after waking, suddenly dropped tears. Hyperion, startled, embraced her as if reuniting with a lover after decades.

Then his clear face turned ominous.

“……You spent a long time in the parlor with that descendant of Aeterna, and after he ran off, I found you unconscious and asleep.”

‘Wait, hold on.’

Maia, stopping her tears at Hyperion’s summary, was swept by a cold intuition.

“I didn’t drag him back because I was waiting for you to wake up……. Tell me, Maia.”

With a gentle but irresistible touch, Hyperion lifted Maia’s face from his chest.

“What did he do to you?”

He smiled kindly, but the atmosphere was so menacing that it felt like someone would be shattered and buried without a trace depending on her answer.

……Well, there were moments in the past when she wanted to beat up Grand Duke Aeterna if she met him again.

But remembering the clumsy, prickly, but impossibly pure-hearted boy, Maia smiled gently.

“……Alright. I understand.”

And Hyperion, misunderstanding the meaning of Maia’s smile, smiled even more darkly.

“Guess I should just kill him after all.”

He strode toward the door with a fierceness dozens of times greater than before.

“No, Hyperion! It’s not like that!”

Maia, finally realizing the situation and trying to stop Hyperion, after a long struggle and several earnest kisses that confirmed nothing had happened, was finally able to rest in Hyperion’s arms.

Feeling relieved to have returned to her rightful place, to the home where her loved ones waited, she quietly smiled.

<Side Story Complete>