There was once an observatory erected in the western part of Varidianth's central palace. It was a dome-roofed building made of gleaming iron, visible even in the daylight, and reserved solely for research purposes. During his time at the palace, Dravon never found interest in the iron dome or anything within it. However, in Valorthorn, the observatory and planetarium were open to the public for research and divination purposes. When feeling weary, Dravon often visited just to gaze upon the beauty of the universe. The beauty amidst millions of chaos—from the past to the future.From several servants Dravon knew, he learned that the coronation ceremony had been postponed. Actually, the word 'postponed' was too simple to describe the current situation. All the servants were in a panic. The drizzle followed by an impending storm was a bad omen in Remirer, a city almost unfamiliar with rain. They had to relocate all the chairs and tables in the palace's backyard, where the celebration wou
"Serena, are you betraying me? Answer me!" Jace's voice echoed through the bedroom.It was the first time Kieran had seen and heard Jace so furious. The man had never been angry before; he was like an older brother figure, always pleasant, cool, and incredibly skilled at making things better for everyone. But now, his demeanor was vastly different, and it felt somewhat eerie."Don't yell at me!" Serena retorted as she rose from the bed and stood right behind Kieran. "I'm not betraying you, Jace. On the contrary, it's you who's betraying me."Jace laughed, short and cold, poised to deliver a hurtful remark to both of them. But his young, petite-bodied guard whispered something to him, instantly silencing Jace and steadying his breath.Kieran thought the situation would soon improve. However, Serena suddenly moved to the wardrobe and retrieved her beloved red-handled dagger. Jace's subordinates moved forward swiftly, and Kieran didn't need to think twice. He immediately summoned his shi
Facing four of Jace's guards at once was no easy feat. Yet Revenant, inhabiting Kieran's body for centuries, across different forms, was agile and swift. He darted between chairs, scaled walls, dodged Jace's bullets, then struck one guard, seemingly the smallest and lacking teleportation powers.In one sword thrust to the cursed guard's chest, he fell lifeless. Kieran's body leaped away, a bullet grazing his cheekbone, shattering it. Blood and bone splattered the walls. The enraged Revenant dodged aside, summoning Eliora's arrow and expertly hurling it at Jace's finger holding the pistol. A cry rang out, but the Revenant didn't linger to relish it. He swiftly moved, evading the teleporting sorcerer's chair swing and advancing to attack one of the burly guards.The guard wasn't just strong but agile and highly skilled in combat, anticipating Kieran's sword movements and dodging them. A sudden kick slammed into Kieran's chest, sending him rebounding into the wall.Bones cr
The rain returned to greet Rainvale, this time accompanied by thunder so powerful it deafened and quickened the heart. Julian closed the back door of his house, connected to the backyard, and drew the curtains to shield it. Instantly, the surroundings plunged into darkness. And Julian realized, this was the first time he felt alone with Everly Sablecrest.Everly was making hot cocoa for the two of them. Julian couldn't help feeling a bit wary of her. At any moment, the Revenant could decide to poison him. It could be tomorrow, it could be now. But he quickly dismissed the suspicion in his heart and approached Everly."Let me show you to your room," Julian said. "You can also change into something more comfortable. I'm sure my sister's old clothes will suit you."Everly nodded nervously, her face blushing. A demeanor Julian didn't expect her to possess. So, which one was real? Everly's gentle and pleasant nature when they chatted at the ice cream shop, or Everly casually threatening him
This was Kieran's first attempt at using his powers to teleport, leaving him disoriented about his whereabouts. Suddenly, he and Serena found themselves wedged between the narrow gap of the sofa in Julian's living room, accidentally pushing each other in the darkness until they landed on the floor in a painful position with Serena on top.Despite Serena's elbow pressing into his chest and her knee against his thigh, Kieran didn't complain. Instead, the girl cursed."Sorry," Serena muttered as she stood up in a panic. "I mean, seriously, why didn't you aim for a better landing spot? Oh well. At least we can be thankful you didn't teleport both of us onto the highway.""I'm sorry," muttered Kieran half-grudgingly as he quickly got up. His ears could hear the sound of heavy rain pounding on the roof and distant thunder. The house was so quiet, a sign that a power outage was occurring. Then, Kieran heard footsteps. He promptly summoned his holy sword, letting its light illuminate the room
After the four of them performed the teleportation, one of Kieran's feet landed on Serena's bed, and his other foot landed in thin air. He quickly lost his balance and almost fell if it weren't for Julian pulling him in the opposite direction, causing him to land gently on the bed."Where are we?" Everly asked, confused. Her upper-class Remirer noble accent sounded completely natural. However, Kieran's mind-reading power couldn't be fooled. The power didn't miss a single detail, capturing every image in Everly's mind as they shifted between several scenes. Among them were the overall portrait of the Remirer palace, Frostwyn palace, and the similarity between the bedside lamp resembling a candelabra on the nightstand and the one in her room somewhere else.Although he only glanced at it briefly, Kieran could see clearly what was inside the room. From the bedspread made of dusty fabric with knitted edges, to the magic books on the nightstand alongside a genuine candelabra with melting c
Honestly, Julian couldn't help but feel jealous seeing Kieran and Serena appear in his sitting room ten minutes ago. It brought back memories of a time that felt so long ago, when Serena decided to distance herself from him and exile him. So... Serena wasn't doing the same thing with Kieran.It was just not hard to guess that Kieran could read his mind. The Revenant now had the magical ability to teleport, so it wasn't surprising if he had other magical abilities too. Julian could only imagine Kieran had killed several people over the past six years. His speculation was immediately dispelled when Kieran teleported him to someone's bedroom. A bedroom Julian soon recognized as Serena's from its scent.It felt very much like Serena because the faint scent of rain lingered. But it felt very much unlike Serena when the scent of burnt flesh and fabric filled the air. Moreover, the room was fairly tidy, with many anomalies. Like the scratched and scorched sofa. The shattered glass table. The
A strong wind blew the two shutters in the Queen's private room until they shook and made a very loud sound. The ten servants who were in the room preparing the Queen's beautiful dress looked shocked and nervous. The Queen, however, only scowled."Why are you so afraid of the rain?" snapped Seraphina exasperatedly at the servants. "It's just rain.""Yes, Your Majesty," said one of the servants who was repairing Seraphina's dress, having to modify it by replacing the cape with a more waterproof material. "It's just that drizzle in Remirer is already considered a bad omen. Especially if it gets stormy."The servant was not wrong. The drizzle and rain that fell in the town of Remirer had indeed slowly turned into a quite fierce storm accompanied by lightning. But Seraphina was not willing to postpone her coronation ceremony. She had been bothered about the details of this event by the elders ever since she got her first period-they were acting as if Serena's mother would die young! And n