"I see," Razeal finally said after a long silence. His voice was flat, devoid of emotion. Then, without sparing her another glance, he took a step forward to leave.
He didn’t want to look at her any longer. He didn’t want to hear anything more from her mouth. Because he knew if he stayed even a second longer he might not be able to control the rage building inside him. And he didn’t want to show that to her. Because he isn’t strong enough.
"That’s it?" Celestia’s voice broke out behind him, startled and a little desperate.
"Hey, Raze... try to understand , please... I really regret it. I didn’t know your family would be this cruel.."
But her words were cut short as she moved in front of him, stepping in his path to stop him from leaving.
"Leave."
Razeal ran his hand through his hair, his expression unreadable, tone empty of even the pretense of care.
Celestia hesitated. She instinctively raised her hand, as if to touch his shoulder to reach out and stop him in so way. But the mont her eyes t his those cold, distant eyes she imdiately retracted her hand. It was like touching him would burn her.
"Yeah... you probably need ti to digest all of this," she muttered quietly, stepping aside.
"But don’t worry, I won’t let you die. Even if you lose... I can still help you, you know?" she added from behind as he walked past.
"I just don’t understand why you’re acting like this. Why are you so determined to throw your life away? Why make enemies out of everyone? First Areon, and now Maira? You even offended half of the Upper Circle of the Empire just a few monts ago... do you realize that?"
Razeal stopped in his tracks.
For a second, it looked like he was about to turn back say sothing, maybe give her so scense. But then, he just shook his head slowly... and continued walking.
Celestia didn’t stop him this ti.
She just stood there, watching his back as it disappeared further into the distance, her hand resting lightly against her forehead.
"I made it worse, didn’t I?" she whispered to herself.
"Maybe I shouldn’t have said anything about him being weak..."
She let out a heavy sigh.
"Sigh..." Celestia let out a long breath, her fingers brushing her temple in frustration. "I even prepared the whole day... for this?"
She stood alone now, surrounded by silence where only monts ago tension had crackled in the air. Her golden eyes, once confident, were now clouded with regret.
"Only if you had been strong... maybe we could’ve ended up differently."
The words were barely a whisper, but they clung to the wind like truth unwilling to be buried. She ant them. Every syllable.
And in her heart... she knew she wasn’t completely wrong. Perhaps the thod had been wrong cruel, even but the decision? It wasn’t baseless.
Who would want their life partner to be weak in a world that worshipped strength?
Celestia had been born into an empire where power ant everything. From the guards who patrolled the gates to the gardeners tending the palace grounds everyone had so level of ability. Aura, swordsmanship, magic sothing. In that world, to be powerless wasn’t just rare. It was shaful.
How could she, soone raised to beco the future Empress, bind herself to soone the world would never respect? Even her own servants would look down on her husband. That wasn’t just embarrassing it was dangerous. In an empire like theirs, weakness didn’t just draw ridicule. It invited enemies. It created cracks in foundations ant to stand for centuries.
She didn’t hate Razeal.
Never had.
In fact, he had once been close to her heart. A quiet shadow that had always walked by her side in childhood. But when he turned out to be talentless when the awakening ceremony ended in silence for him everything changed.
The weight of her mother’s promise to betroth them hadn’t changed. But the way people began to look at her... that had.
She knew if her mother the Empress herself had known Razeal would be talentless, she never would’ve nad him her fiancé. That kind of decision, made in ignorance, was irreversible once spoken aloud. The words of the Empress were law. They couldn’t simply be taken back.
Unless... sothing discredited them.
And when the opportunity finally ca when Razeal was accused of a vile act Celestia acted.
She hadn’t expected the situation to escalate so far. Truly. She thought it would be a quiet affair. A private punishnt. Nothing public. Nothing destructive. Just enough to nullify the engagent with dignity preserved on all sides.
After all, he hadn’t actually succeeded in the cri, right?
And with his powerful family backing him, surely things would be handled discreetly. That was how the empire worked. A few nobles would be inford. He’d suffer so internal consequence maybe even be relocated for a while but it would blow over.
The accusation wasn’t even ant for the public.
It was ant for the Empress. For the courts. For the ones who could legally break the engagent.
But then...
His mother and sister.
Celestia had never anticipated how ruthlessly they would react.
Even knowing the accusation wasn’t absolute, they dragged the matter to the imperial public square. They wanted everyone to see. To hear. To rember.
They didn’t just punish him. They humiliated him. Stripped his na. Declared his guilt openly regardless of how much evidence there was or wasn’t.
They used her words as a weapon sharper than any sword.
And Razeal? He vanished.
One day he was there broken, silent, disgraced. The next... gone.
She searched for him. For months. Pulled strings across the entire imperial network. She even enlisted the help of the Grand Court. Nothing. It was as though he had fallen off the face of the world.
Eventually, she had to accept the truth: he was likely dead.
And she... she would carry the burden of his death forever.
Even if she never truly wanted it.
Even if she just wanted freedom from a promise neither of them had asked for.
"Gods..." she muttered, running her fingers through her long, Platinum hair, her shoulders sagging. "I just wanted a way out. Just one."
But the empire didn’t believe in simple exits. Everything had a price.
"Maybe I should’ve kept quiet," she said aloud. "Maybe I should’ve endured the sha. I an... would that really have been worse?"
With one final breath, Celestia looked up at the sky.
Gray. Still. No light broke through.
Fitting.
"Forgive , Razeal... even if I don’t deserve it," she whispered.
Then, without another word, she vanished into thin air leaving behind only silence and the echo of a decision that could never be undone.
***
[Host... umm, are you alright?] The gentle voice of the System echoed in Razeal’s mind, filled with hesitant concern.
Razeal didn’t respond at first. His hands were tucked casually in his pockets as he walked away from the academy gates, his expression unreadable beneath the long strands of hair falling across his face. His steps were relaxed.. too relaxed almost like soone strolling on a peaceful evening rather than a boy who had just faced the source of his lifelong ruin.
"Huh? What happened to ?" Razeal replied after a pause, his voice calm... too calm. A chill ran through the air, but the smile tugging at his lips remained. "I’m all fine."
[You don’t need to always hide your feelings and emotions, you know,] the System said gently. [I believe... if soone feels anger, frustration anything they should let it out. At least for their own sake. It doesn’t make you weak. A strong person isn’t soone who suppresses everything. If that’s what you’re trying to beco by locking your heart up... that’s not strength.]
"What would even happen if I showed my emotions?" Razeal responded quietly, eyes fixed ahead. "Would anything change? Just get angry, destroy things, scream, cry, punch soone? Would anything change? How about the things i been through? Will it rewrite what I am?"
His voice dropped lower, almost a whisper.
"No... Right?"
"This all happened because I was weak. And I still am."
[That’s not true..]
"It’s always so easy for people to say, ’Well, it was your fault. You weren’t strong enough.’ And then they just move on like that makes it okay. Like that justifies everything."
He stopped for a mont, staring at the stone path beneath his feet.
"You know... if there’s anything I really regret from back then, it’s that I spent so much ti trying to win their favor. Trying to get in their good books. What a waste... I threw away years of my life chasing people who never once saw as anything but disposable."
He said it without bitterness, without anger. It was almost like stating facts from a history book detached, clinical, cold.
[What else could you have done back then?] the System said softly. [Even from my perspective, there was nothing. That world... it was cursed for you. You tried to change them. You tried to fit in. That wasn’t weakness. Maybe it was just bad luck. The kind that clings to people who never asked for it.]
"No," he muttered. "If I hadn’t wasted my ti chasing them, maybe I could’ve found another way to get stronger. There had to be a way, right? Sowhere in this world. That was a bad investnt of my ti. The worst one I’ve ever made."
He sighed softly, the sound lost beneath the soft wind.
"All those monts... every single one of them ended in pain, trauma, betrayal. I never asked for any of it. Never imagined I would live through it."
He paused, taking a long breath, eyes fixated on the path ahead.
"That was the real mistake."
[That was impossible, host, as I said. This isn’t our world.]
And then there was silence.
Razeal kept walking, weaving through the academy. Students passed by, many casting cold, hateful glances. So stared with contempt. Others looked as though they’d spit at him if they had the courage. The air around him was thick with silent judgnt, the kind that cuts deeper than words ever could.
But Razeal didn’t blink or look at them. Didn’t even seem to notice.
[And you know... it’s alright to waste ti letting your emotions out, host,] the System spoke again, this ti more softly than before. [I just don’t want you to beco an emotionless machine who only knows how to plan... survive... and live in fear of living or dying. There’s more to life than survival. You deserve to be happy too.]
A pause.
[You didn’t do anything wrong.]
[I just don’t want you to lose yourself... in all this hate that you never asked for.]
Razeal blinked slowly. The words echoed inside his head, quietly.
"Deserve to be happy, huh..."
He didn’t answer right away. He just kept walking, eyes watching the gray sky above. The clouds hung low, thick and moody, like they were trying to hold back a storm.
Ti passed.
Then, in a voice that lacked confidence, as though he wasn’t even sure if he wanted to know the answer, he asked,
"Do I really?"
[Of course,] the System replied imdiately. [And I promise you, host... we will be happy. No matter what happens, even if your childhood was stolen and shattered... I won’t let your adulthood be the sa. Just hold onto . We’ll make it through. Together.]
For the first ti in what felt like forever, a faint smile appeared on Razeal’s face.
It was hidden beneath his long bangs, subtle and barely there... but real. A whisper of hope in a storm that had lasted far too long.
He looked up, the gray clouds swirling above.
"I really hope so," he said.
And with that, he kept walking, the weight on his back still heavy but maybe, just maybe, not as crushing as before.
---
Hey everyone, sorry about only posting one Chapter yesterday.
Sothing unexpected ca up my little brother had a minor bike accident, so I was caught up with that and couldn’t finish what I’d planned.
But today’s a happy day!
It’s my birthday! Hehe. So I’m feeling a bit more energetic and positive today.
I’ll be working on making up for yesterday. Counting today, I’m aiming to get two Chapters out for you all!
Thank you so much for reading and sticking with .
Love ya..
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