Ch 19

The duke stared blankly ahead as he felt his heart drop.

He wanted to believe that he had heard it wrong.

‘No way.’

However, the Spirit King of Water never corrected his words. Rather, he just looked down at Lianrius with a cold look.

Elheim loved Lianrius.

He was a child who, as Jurien said, was believed to be the real owner of the family. They loved Lianrius, who would become the great Owner, so they wanted to give him everything they had.

[This is not the one who awakened the spirit stone.]

He thought that this couldn’t be several times.

He even thought that the Spirit King might have seen it wrong. His anxious mind was barely able to follow the words of the Spirit King.

Fake

He was not even the one who woke up the Spirit Stone.

“I can’t believe it’s not Lian.’

They could not believe that Elheim’s judgment, where they had firmly believed that Lianrius was to be the owner of the Spirit Stone all his life, was wrong.

‘Then who the hell?’

If it was not the beloved Lianrius, then who?

Who woke up the Spirit Stone?

‘It doesn’t make sense.’

The Duke of Elheim and Aynias were forced to kneel down to the unbelievably vain truth.

However, the work was not over even after they realized the truth.

They couldn’t see the outside from the room in the First Owner, so the rain and lightning could not be seen.

Boom-!

The Duke only noticed that something was happening outside when lightning struck and the building shook.

The announcement of the successor. Since Lianrius was originally strong, he naturally believed that he was still strong even if he was not the owner of the spirit stone.

[How dare you bring a fake and deceive me.]

The problem was that the Spirit King was frighteningly angry.

Rain poured down from the black sky outside.

The cruel energy of the Spirit King of Water crushed the Duke of Elheim.

[I’ll kill you all.]

It rained.

It was at that moment when Michael was about to hear about what the people of Elheim had done to Liarte.

But Michael felt the presence of a transcendent being.

But it didn’t intimidate Michael. It was just a little unpleasant because it had the properties of the opposite pole.

“Michael, what’s going on?”

Liarte, who was next to him, also approached the window.

In an instant, dark clouds rose, and unstoppable rain started to pour down.

It was a sky similar to the last sight she saw before her return.

‘It’s similar to my execution.’

The day when the magic circle of water took her life.

A blue man had come out of the shining spirit stone and stretched out his hand desperately saying no.

But now the feeling was different from then.

Powerful energy and lightning bolted down and destroyed the house.

The sight of water soaring from the ground that used to be a garden, gave fear to the beings on earth.

Michael reached out to the rain with his palm.

“What is this?”

“I can feel the energy of the water.”

If Liarte had a refreshing scent, then the rain didn’t smell anything.

The fact that Birce, who was sensitive to the smell of awakeners or abilities, couldn’t smell anything was weird.

In the meantime, Walter couldn’t enter the room and was looking sadly at Michael from afar.

Michael recalled his conversation with Walter.

“You said there was a spirit stone in Elheim.”

“Right. According to Lian, the Spirit King has awakened.”

But she didn’t know why the Spirit King was angry with Elheim.

Michael smiled slyly

“Oh, it looks like things aren’t going well. I was very excited because the Duke was going to announce that the youngest son was to be the successor during the coming of age ceremony.”

It would even be more pleasant if Elheim collapsed without Birce having to use his hand.

Michael just had to take Liarte and leave for Birce.

Once again, lightning hit the mansion. People screamed as the strong wind shook the roof.

Only Liarte was calm among the scenery where the world was about to perish.

She already died once, so two deaths were nothing to fear.

But somehow, Liarte wasn’t afraid of this dark being.

Liarte, who reached out her hand, received some of the rain.

‘You’re feeling lonely.’

Deep loneliness was conveyed through the rain.

It was a strange feeling.

The outside was so full of life, but she could feel the desperate and frail sadness.

It felt like it was crying.

As if it were a man who bursted into tears in sorrow because he was at a loss. He seemed to be sad because what he had been waiting for so long had collapsed.

Then, she remembered a memory that she had forgotten.

After the death of Liarte, who was executed, someone sang a song.

Liarte thought it was the blue man.

Michael did not disturb Liarte as she walked slowly. He just respected whatever she did.

Liarte was the only one who went out to the balcony in the middle of the mess.

Rain soaked Liarte’s body.

“A long time ago, a silver river.”

She sang a song that suddenly came to her mind.

“When my willow tree blooms and fogs.”

It was an old song that had been circulated in Elheim.

She didn’t know the meaning, but she thought it was familiar from the moment she first heard it.

However, Liarte was not good at singing this song.

Who sang this song to Liarte in the memory that she had forgotten?

“A blue bird flew in and sat on a branch and embraced you, whom I love.”

A light foggy rain fell over the swirling blizzard.

Fog touched the mansion as if to cover the anger.

The small drops of rain mixed with the rain were friendly and soft.

As the fog thickened, the stronger the power faded.”

As if someone had heard Liarte’s song, the noisy rain began to subside.

She couldn’t remember the chorus.

But it was enough.

The world was already quiet.

[Jurien.]

Where Liarte could not see, the Spirit King, who was in the room of the First Owner, closed his eyes.

A long time ago, Jurien Elheim sang this song.

“I can’t memorize the chorus part no matter how hard I listen to it,” said Jurien Elheim.

A careless but gentle voice calmed the anger.

It was someone who would rather sing a song than be afraid.

[I miss you.]

The Spirit King of Water answered through the sound of rain.

It was not a language that humans could hear.

The descendants of Jurien were self-righteous and were deeply protecting their own safety.

Those who were obsessed with the power of water could not have been educated about the wills of the Spirit Stone nor Jurien’s.

Why didn’t the successor of Jurien appear?

There must be a reason for that.

The Spirit King of Water looked down at the useless descendants of Jurien.

Even Danterion lost his usual composure and hardened.

Fear was engraved on their bodies because they had just experienced an ability that could not be compared to humans.

He had softened, but the killing intent was still there. The Spirit King was still thinking of killing them.

[Find the real owner of the spirit stone.]

Still, Elheim was generous to those who possess the power of water, so the heir to the Jurien must be doing well.

That was why the Spirit King restrained his anger.

[The successor of Jurien is here. Bring that person and make them sing.]

The Spirit King of Water closed his eyes once again after saying that.

The more he used his abilities, the more he could loosen the barriers that sealed the evil presence of the Imperial Palace.

As he hid and trembled, the duke lowered his head deeply.

“I will do what you want.”

He said as he tried to recall everyone in his head.

From the upper awakeners to the lower awakeners who could barely express the power of water.

Just in case, he was even going to bring in servants again and again.

However, his only mistake was that he ruled out Liarte, the unawakener.

* * *

“It’s all right, Lian.”

Aynias spoke affectionately.

“Even before you were born, I had no desire for the position of the duke. My dream is to assist you even if you are not the owner of the Spirit Stone.”

Lianrius’s own ability was enough to become a duke.

The fact that he wasn’t the owner of the Spirit Stone was just regrettable.

When the Spirit King of Water was angry, Lianrius was in quite a mess.

“Now that it’s dawn, I have to go back.”

Danterion was carrying a luggage bag.

Aynias recalled a forgotten fact.

“Aren’t you going back with the Princess?”

“I was going to, but the Crown Prince is leaving too quickly. Let’s go to the palace now. Thanks to you, I took a good look.”

Soon, Danterion left his seat with a sigh.

“Lian.”

“Leave me alone, Ayn.”

Lianrius’s voice was low. Aynias nodded his head and carefully went out and closed the door.

‘The aftermath of the Spirit Stone is greater than I thought.’

Aynias went down toward the garden.

Meanwhile, Birce’s successor was quiet.

‘You’re not coming to ask what happened yesterday.’

He felt stuffy because he didn’t know what was going on.

If he took a walk in the garden, his head should become clear.

‘I don’t even know what it means to say that Lian is a fake.’

It was at times like this that he would miss his childhood.

The happiest time for Aynias.

At that time, his mother was alive. It was a time when everyone laughed and everything was peaceful.

The reason that he was reminded of that time was probably because of the appearance of Liarte at the banquet.

The dead Duchess of Elheim and Liarte did not resemble much.

However, he suddenly realized that she had grown up into a noble lady.

Aynias, who was walking slowly, entered the garden.

‘Who is it?’

There was someone standing between the blue flowers, which were fresh from the rain.

Liarte’s eyes which looked at his side were also blue.

However, she turned away without a second of hesitation.