The Answer of Someone Who Lost Everything [#]
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The smart ones don''t wait.
to the attempt and beyond comfort.
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The Answer of Someone Who Lost Everything [1]
At a wide breakfast table, two figures sat side by side, eating their food in silence.
The first figure, a girl with shiny white hair under the morning sun and gray obsidian eyes, only ate a variety of vegetable bread and drank red tea from her cup decorated with intricate silver patterns.
From time to time, the girl would cast a curious sideways glance at the person next to her.
There, sat a boy with neatly combed raven-black hair to the sides, shoulder-length, and dull violet eyes.
Despite the variety of food, the boy only ate fruit and washed it down with fresh orange juice.
The longer Vierenna watched her brother Deon, the more her curiosity turned to worry.
Her brother had been in this state since that day three months ago.
The awakening ritual...
A sign of hope and change in every person''s life.
But this sign of hope was the reason her little brother was lost.
Since that day, he had not been the same...
Or at least her memory of him...
Deon, three months ago, was always trying to pick fights with her out of his excitement for his own awakening.
Vierenna didn’t want to encourage his actions, but what were her other options given that he would never accept refusal.
So from time to time, she would spar with him and teach him some sword tricks.
Being the second-born of House Eirenios, it was expected that he would gain talent in both the sword and elemental magic.
And that did happen,.. partially.
But not in the expected or usual way things went.
Every noble house in the Macizar Empire extracts and retains the dead mana of the main bloodline members of the house after their death.
That dead mana is re-injected into the younger generation members during their awakening rituals to ensure a prosperous future for their houses.
Vierenna, in her awakening ritual, was injected with the dead mana of her great-grandfather, her mother''s bloodline.
As usual, she received high talent in both the sword and elemental magic, along with an extreme talent, which was seen as latent talent.
As for Deon, he was also supposed to receive the dead mana of their great-grandfather from their father''s side.
But,.. that didn’t happen.
Mainly due to their mother''s intervention in defiance of tradition.
She said, her son would receive no mana other than hers!
No one understood her words at the time.
But soon they learned, that it was her way of announcing her chronic illness...
Mana decay...
A severe condition—if calling it an illness was appropriate, where an individual''s mana rebels against its owner and consumes all the progress the owner has made until nothing remains but an empty corpse, neither fully dead nor fully alive.
So mainly, what mother—Viktoria de Avila was asking for, was death for the sake of her son Deon.
Deon, at her own request, remained ignorant of everything happening to his own mother.
And the worst part was, that all the main family members blamed him for Viktoria''s death.
During that time, he didn’t understand the hatred and disdain he received from the moment of the mother''s announcement. Especially from his own father.
''And I did the same,.. for a while.''
Vierenna was and would always be ashamed of how she treated her Baby Brother.
She also blamed him for her mother''s decision, but watching him from afar in his sorrow and loneliness, she felt guilt eating her from the inside.
But despite that, she couldn’t approach him... for one reason!
...She felt jealousy.
Why Deon and not me?
Vierenna wasn’t ashamed of that, she went and asked her mother on her deathbed, directly.
The conversation she had with her mother at that time, she would never forget.
As it changed her thinking completely.
To say that her feelings of jealousy had disappeared would be a lie. But Vierenna understood why Deon and not her.
And so, she began to approach him.
In their entire family, Deon had only his mother and Vierenna. But that was destined to change, which was the way of life.
Their mother died, and Deon became more hated.
Some main family members even discussed bypassing Viktoria''s request under the pretext of preserving Tradition as were. Something they never dared in her life.
But Vierenna stood up to them and reminded them of their prior agreement. She even threatened to report their disgraceful actions to the De Avila household.
She stood up for her brother, and she was proud of that.
Everything went as the mother requested, and Deon received his mother''s dead mana without his knowledge.
Everyone expected he would gain primary talent in the sword, followed by talent in ice elemental magic, and a side extreme talent in illusion magic,.. just like his mother.
But.. to everyone''s surprise!
Deon received only one of his mother''s talents.
Primary talent in the sword.
And instead of ice elemental magic or rare illusion magic, Deon had a high affinity with curse magic as a primary extreme talent as well.
From anyone else''s perspective, Deon should be seen as a sought-after talent anywhere.
But in the eyes of the family members,.. he was a waste.
And they made sure their voices were heard.
A curse magician in no Eirenios, they said.
With words like those, Deon was no longer his enthusiastic and proud self.
And his hatred turned towards himself and his talents.
Vierenna watched everything, but she wasn''t able to help.
She knew the truth might help, but she also promised her mother to keep it a secret, and she didn’t intend to break her promise.
So all she could do was be there, beside her Baby brother.
And for three months now, she remained helpless and unable to help.
...
SIGH
A faint sigh came from Vierenna''s side.
She turned her head to find Deon staring out the window to the garden below, ignoring his food.
She looked through the window to see what was so interesting that it took her brother''s focus.
But the garden was empty.
"What is so interesting?"
In her curiosity, she asked Deon with a slight frown. She wanted to know.
Deon focused on her and answered indifferently.
"Just, I don’t know, the garden is beautiful, I guess."
Vierenna opened her eyes in shock, looking at her brother as if he were a stranger. But inside, she was pleasantly surprised, she called that an improvement.
As she prepared to say something, Deon spoke again, his gaze at her carrying caution and hidden fear.
"Of course, you are beautiful yourself, but, the garden is a garden... and you are more beautiful..."
Vierenna smiled a wicked smile.
Deon''s current look at her was the result of forcing herself on him.
In short explanation, Deon didn’t want to see her either in his depression. And Vierenna''s solution was gentle violence— as she liked to call it.
And it worked, albeit with side effects.
Vierenna''s smile widened, while Deon''s face paled.
He began to push himself away from her slowly, but she grabbed his cheeks with her hand.
She wouldn’t make the mistake of pulling his hair again.
"Is that how you think of your sister?.. if you love me just say you do."
She pretended to think, while looking at Deon''s face as it gradually lost its color.
"I will give you the honor of taking this lady for a walk in the garden. I would say I would look more beautiful under the sunlight on my beautiful skin."
"....."
Deon remained silent.
"hmm... Do you perhaps? think otherwise."
"....."
Deon swallowed, but he remained silent.
Vierenna was puzzled by her brother''s silence, as she was about to speak again.
Deon pointed to her hand that held his face covering his mouth.
"Oh, this is embarrassing..."
She said, but her expression remained unchangeable — exaggerated smile.
Slowly, Vierenna loosened her hand allowing Deon to take a deep breath. But she didn’t let go of his cheeks that had turned red.
"I— agree.. what you said..!"
"Oh... is that so. You think I would look beautiful only under the sunlight. Are you saying I don’t look beautiful now?.. or you..."
"You are beautiful at every moment and time, you are beautiful no matter what you do, just... it would be an honor for me to accompany you to the garden."
Every word of his was followed by a deep breath as if he were dealing with a bomb about to explode.
''I guess I won’t make it hard for him...''
"If that’s your opinion, good for you. But sharing it with your sister, I don’t know about that?.. since you are so bossy today, I will entertain your fantasies."
Vierenna said with a skeptical smile at Deon who looked at her with a complicated gaze.
"What a good sister I am."
With this thought, she let go of his cheeks and stood up from her place at the breakfast table.
Deon remained seated with a blank look, but his trembling pupils put a smile upon a smile on Vierenna''s lips.
Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.
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The Answer of Someone Who Lost Everything [2]
Against his better judgment, Walid was forced on a walk in the garden while he was still organizing his thoughts.
But his thoughts came to a halt as he laid his eyes on the garden in sight.
A charming scene of a wide garden paved with straight paths, adorned with pink flowers and carefully trimmed trees. A long water basin reflecting the clear sky, ending at the outer gate of the palace in the distance.
In the rectangular space, there were gardeners tending to the garden, carrying various care tools, dressed in matching uniforms.
During Walid''s walk through the garden, he couldn’t ignore the sideways glances he kept receiving continuously from the various workers or passersby.
''So, Deon is hated?.. Typical!''
"Just ignore them. they are just curious."
Vierenna, who walked beside Walid, their hands intertwined, said from the side.
"Let''s go to the back garden, it used to be your favorite place?"
Without waiting for his approval, she began to pull him through the garden in an elegant manner trying to draw no attention on them.
Walid, helpless before his supposed sister, began taking notes of every place they passed, storing the information in his mind in case he stayed for a while—which seemed to (will) be the case.
''At least I''ll do something useful in the meantime.''
After a short trip through the towering palace that stood in the middle of the garden, Walid and Vierenna arrived at what she called the back garden. But in Walid''s eyes, it was closer to a city park.
Unlike the front garden, the back garden was empty and shaded by the massive palace. giving it a calming feel.
After a brief pause, Vierenna began again to pull Walid deeper into the garden.
Surprisingly, she became eerily silent, contrasting her lively and talkative nature.
Walid was tense from the silence, but he maintained his own and followed her.
Soon they arrived at a small shallow lake.
Scattered across the small lake’s space, colorful stones rested in the depths of the clear waters.
Each stone didn’t differ much in size from its neighbor beside it, but the same couldn’t be said about the strange colorful symbols on each stone.
Walid''s previous tension increased at the scene that was supposed to be pleasant, yet he couldn’t prevent the deep sense of wrongness from creeping to the edge of his consciousness.
The symbols were meaningless to him, but when looking at them as a whole, with the addition of the transparent lake, the arrangement of the stones, the colors of them, and the colors of the symbols on the stones. Walid couldn’t ignore that something meaningful rested there.
''...what is it?!''
Walid focused more on the scene, and the more he focused, the blurrier his vision became.
Unknown to him, he had already fallen to his knees, his eyes wide open at the scene as if they were devouring all the light that entered through them.
A faint sound stirred the strings of his hearing, but Walid ignored it. The scene in front of him took all his focus. No, his focus and consciousness were taken away from him towards the scene before him.
Walid was losing himself in the scene, but he didn’t notice.
Once again, the resonant sound entered his ears, Walid tried to ignore it, but a sharp pain hit the side of his face, sending him sideways.
Slap—
Walid''s consciousness returned as did his senses.
A sharp pain spread across his right cheek. He covered it with his hand, while his eyes rested on Vierenna who stood over him with a worried expression.
''Did she, slap me?!''
Walid looked at his position again, realizing the truth.
''Wait... why am I on my knees?!''
He turned his gaze back to Vierenna to ask, but the worried look on her expression told him what he needed to know.
''I did something again?.. I lost my consciousness..?''
Walid looked at the lake on the side. In parallel with his anticipation, he felt his consciousness slipping away.
He quickly turned his head away. Cold sweat moved across his back.
''what''s this feeling?!''
Before he could delve into his thoughts, Vierenna knelt on one knee, her worried expression calming down.
She opened her mouth to say something but closed it again.
Instead, she patted Walid''s head for a while before holding his hands and helping him stand again.
''Silence again?''
Walid was tense from the silence, especially Vierenna''s silence, but he felt there was a deeper reason here.
So again, he maintained his own, allowing her to pull him once more.
But to his surprise, they didn’t go far.
Apparently, the small lake was the destination, or more specifically, the wooden bench facing it.
"Mother, said to bring you here after your awakening ritual. But— but you always refused. And to be fair, I didn’t want to bring you here either."
The bells in Walid''s head rang dangerously. He felt there was something deeper in the situation as a whole. So he was compelled to ask.
"Why? Why didn’t you want to bring me here? And was I here after my awakening?"
He knew his questions might expose him, but his logical thinking was already out of reach. His raw emotions took the lead.
Vierenna''s eyes widened, the feelings of injustice she felt were evident on her expression.
"I didn’t want to bring you because I cared about you, I know how much you cared about our mother. And it’s not that I didn’t try to get you out of your room, it just so happened that it was today."
"....."
"Why are you looking at me like that?"
Vierenna asked as she looked at Walid''s face, which couldn’t hide his shock.
''Why today exactly?..''
''...a coincidence?..''
''Could it be? She said Deon refused to leave his room, it’s not that she didn’t try!''
Despite Walid''s optimistic, or delusional thoughts. The part that remained logical in his mind said otherwise.
''It can’t be a coincidence?''
''I am missing a lot of important information.''
Walid looked at Vierenna, whose frown deepened.
"I’m sorry. For being... difficult.— But, what did mother say to you?"
SIGH
Vierenna sighed in turn, her facial expressions relaxing.
"You are indeed difficult, but these are the ups and downs of being a big Sis..."
She sat on the wooden bench and gestured for Walid to do the same.
"I am also sorry, for yelling at you."
He did, but he sat in a sideways position not facing the lake.
"Storytime!.."
She clap her hand. enthusiasm returning to decorate her already beautiful features.
"Mother asked me to take you from time to time to this lake. That’s all."
"Aeh—!"
A strange sound came out of Walid''s mouth.
''A very short story.''
If one looked at his expression now, as Vierenna did, they would scream as she did.
"What''re you doing with your face?! Fix it now! no, i don''t want this in my mind."
Walid bowed his head and adjusted his posture.
Vierenna, in turn, breathed a sigh of relief while she began to scold him.
"Are you crazy, what did I do to you to punish me this way... one would say... hm.. hmm.. hmmm..."
Walid knew she would never stop talking if he left her to speak, so he closed her mouth with his hand.
He began to miss the eerie silence Vierenna had adopted the moment they entered the garden.
Walid, knowing that his method of silencing wouldn’t work for long, began to ask the questions he found illogical regarding her answers.
"Why did she ask you to take me to the lake only after I awakened and not before? And why did she insist that you bring me and not that I go by myself?"
Walid posed his two most important questions, letting his hand drop to allow the girl to speak.
Vierenna looked at him seriously for a moment, before her expression turned to sorrow.
"You already know that mother built this garden for us when we were children. So it makes sense she would want us to come here, together, to remember her."
''That answers the second question.''
Vierenna''s silence continued for a moment before she continued.
"Why after your awakening!.. I don’t see why that’s important. I myself think it’s just a matter of good expression... you know, that you become an adult after your awakening ritual."
That’s a very good excuse... Walid would have believed it, but unfortunately for Vierenna, he didn’t.
It was painfully obvious she was trying to hide something. He would have pressed for the truth, but he stopped himself.
If he did, it would certainly expose that he wasn’t her brother Deon.
So he settled on asking something else.
"Did mother say anything else... about the lake?"
Vierenna smiled widely and nodded vigorously.
"She did indeed."
Walid swallowed hard as he listened intently.
"She said the lake would be mine in the light and yours in the dark."
She began pointing to her white hair and his black.
"Got it... light and dark."
Walid nodded, but for a different reason than Vierenna’s excited one beside him on the bench.
''What is supposed to be the hidden meaning?.. That I come here at night?''
Despite the absurdity of the idea, Walid would try. Especially now after finding meaning for himself.
Remembering his mental breakdown in the changing room, Walid felt a self-guilt...
"Since you are now in my lake in the light, what will you pay to allow you to be in my domain?"
Vierenna interrupted, which was probably for the best.
Walid looked at her expression that made her seem comically superior, and he couldn''t help but smile.
"I say it''s only fair that I have you at night. It would be a great honor."
He needed to be sure, and he couldn''t do that without her help.
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The Answer of Someone Who Lost Everything [3]
In the distance, the setting sun slowly began to disappear behind the far-off mountains, casting a final disturbing red light before vanishing, allowing the night a chance to take over.
Watching all of this was Walid, in his room inside the palace.
A look of determination adorned his calm expression.
''It''s time!''
Despite his thoughts, Walid didn’t move from his standing place by the window.
He had to ensure he wasn’t just deceiving himself.
With one last look at the reddening sky that was darkening slowly.
Walid remembered the darkness of his thoughts this morning, his surrender or desire to surrender to his fatigue and the failure that haunted him like a vengeful ghost.
The surrender at that moment felt as sweet as sleeping in a warm bed on a cold night.
And yet, sleep didn’t come that easily to him, not then and not before.
His mind was busy with the question he posed to himself.
''What is the answer of Walid who lost everything?''
He tried to pretend ignorance of the answer, but Vierenna gave him a small push that cleared his mind enough to regain some stability.
As he told Vierenna at that time — though she didn’t believe him — he knew the answer, it was with him and accompanied him even to this world that supposedly he created ink on paper.
In theory, this answer was simple, clear, and straightforward.
Restore everything he lost...
Even if it meant restoring his previous despair.
Yet, from a realistic perspective, how could Walid, a failed writer, a failed person, and a failure overall, do such a thing?
It was blatantly obvious that he was just deceiving himself.
Anything he might try to do would only lead to despair.
Walid didn’t have an answer to that.
But, did he need one?
''How will I return to my world?''
That was the question.
''How did I reach the world of my novel in the first place?''
And that was the answer... or at least the direction.
Walid''s answer was step by step. Only by learning could he uncover the mystery that veiled his vision.
So first, Walid decided to discover how he arrived in this world. As for the why and what for? These questions didn’t concern him for now, and he felt they would answer themselves. His existence was proof of that.
But he was getting ahead of himself.
Haste was a fast track to failure.
He knew that from experience, and that’s why he was able to control himself.
The adrenaline that rushed to the top of his head slowly receded, leaving space for coherent thoughts to crystallize.
''First things first, I need as much information about the world and how it works.''
Despite being the writer of this world, Walid knew very little about it.
And his current location, Zeleshyre—the city capital of the Macizar Empire did not fall outside his circle of ignorance.
Although the events of the planned second volume took place in the capital, they were only planned and not solid like the events of the first volume.
''The events of the first volume have ended by now if my date predictions are correct.''
Despite the ignorance and uncertainty Walid had to deal with now, he was still glad that the events of the first volume had ended.
If he had been summoned to the north—the cold land where the events of the first volume began, he would have been just a statue corpse by now.
Walid''s body shivered slightly, and he regained his train of thought.
''First, I will learn about the Macizar Empire from the palace library, if there is one. Then I should ask Vierenna about my admission date to the Academy. In the first year of the main character Emlyn, she was in the second year, so she should know, right?''
Of course, Walid had more questions and doubts, but if he stopped to think about each one, he would never start.
So for now, he would try and start somewhere.
Walid placed his hand on the reflection of the window in front of him, and with the little light remaining after the sunset. He looked at his reflection on the glass.
Long dark hair, large violet eyes, and good facial features.
Despite the blurriness of the reflection in the low light. The figure before him was handsome, if not charming.
''This shouldn’t be that hard, should it?!''
Walid would try to be this person, bear his name and burdens until he regained his own.
Despite the ease of saying the words, Walid doubted his ability to apply them.
But again, he would try.
And that didn’t excite him at all.
...
Deon left his room and descended the spiral stairs to the first floor.
His path was illuminated by white light, changing intensity depending on his movement.
He didn’t wander much due to his ignorance of the palace''s overall layout, but he knew where the servants were, and that was his destination.
As he approached his destination, he could hear their words from a distance. They didn’t even seem to try to lower their voices.
"No, he looked pretty good for someone who hadn’t left his room for ages. The lady takes good care of him."
"And whose job is that supposed to comment on the matter."
"I tried, okay!.. But every time... he just shuts the door and ignores me... I don’t want to lose my place... I..."
"You worry for nothing, his father doesn’t care about him for some reason, he’s not even here! I don’t think he’ll mind if you don’t care for him... you said it yourself, you tried..."
"I’m still trying..."
"You didn’t go today. Why?"
"The young lady said to prepare breakfast for both of them... and I can rest for the day."
"You know you are his personal maid,.. but you can’t just defy her... what a dilemma you are in... the young don’t last long, they say."
"Stop scaring her, what’s wrong with you... don’t tink his words seriously, he just enjoys scaring you... you’ll be fine, just... the work you don’t do, make it up with other work and come to me to record it in your name..."
Having heard enough, Deon opened the large double doors, and stepped forward where a variety of servants sat.
"My personal maid?"
He asked from what he learned from the conversation he eavesdropped on.
With that, he stepped back a few steps outside the room and waited until a girl with a nervous expression followed him.
"What can I do for the master."
Her small body was trembling under the black and white maid outfit she wore.
Feeling pity for the young girl, Deon spoke the reason for requesting her services.
"No need to be nervous, I want you to go and summon my sister. Tell her I will be in the back garden, and she is welcome to join me."
And also because he didn’t know where Vierenna’s room was.
The young maid raised her head to meet Deon''s eyes directly. Her large green eyes held a slight hint of astonishment.
"Is that all I can do for the master?"
Deon fell silent. He was surprised by the girl''s sudden enthusiasm, but he was more surprised by her appearance.
Raven-black hair similar to his tied in a bun behind her small head. Light green eyes with yellow patterns merged smoothly to give an alluring look to her eyes. Pale white skin enhanced the sharpness and beauty of her other features. Her body, although leaning towards delicacy, carried a balance that seemed fitting for her alone.
''Is this really a maid?''
Deon didn’t care much for a person''s outer beauty as much as he did for what was inside their heads. But the girl in front of him was too beautiful to be just a maid.
He would dismiss the situation as just the norms of this world. But as he took another corrective look at the rest of the servants who watched him from behind the open door, he realized that the girl was just an anomaly.
Nonetheless, Deon didn’t give the matter much thought.
"For now, that’s enough. I’ll go ahead there."
Without another look at the girl or the other servants, Deon made his way following his memory towards the back garden.
Part of his mind hoped his intuition about the lake was just a meaningless hunch, but the other part hoped otherwise.
The first part of his mind was afraid of what he might learn, and the other sought that knowledge.
Only through knowledge, are puzzles solved.
Deon''s thoughts continued to spin until he found himself facing a familiar wooden bench.
The entire area around the lake was illuminated by white lights spread over the green ground, not allowing shadows to participate in the scene.
Deon didn’t look at the small lake that was facing the bench, apparently, the fearful part of his mind was still in control.
But that wouldn’t last long.
He approached the wooden bench and sat facing the lake, his eyes closed, facing it as well.
whoosh—
With a deep breath, Deon opened his eyes to the familiar scene.
Colorful stones rested in the clear water depths, and on each stone, different colored symbols from stone to stone.
At that moment, the familiar feeling of his consciousness slipping away returned.
But contrary to what the feeling indicated, his consciousness didn’t slip away.
In fact, his consciousness expanded allowing a new sense to enter the scene along with his other senses.
A sense that allowed him to see and hear what he couldn’t this morning.
Hello, you’ve finally found your way here—
A familiar and unfamiliar female voice entered Deon''s consciousness directly, bypassing his hearing.
Deon held his breath at the strange phenomenon and engaged all his senses to make sense of this strange but somehow comforting mode of communication.
He waited to hear more, but the voice stopped at the welcoming message.
"Is that all? Just..?"
His thoughts halted at the sight of the change that began to occur on the surface of the small lake.
"Words..?!"
Indeed, words were forming above the lake''s surface in white, appearing from nowhere.
Soon, a text formed vertically, facing Deon directly like a huge sheet, though the sheet was the lake and the ink was the clear white color on its surface.
''And my... my current name headed the text.''
—?[Deon V. Eirenios]?—
//// Tier 1 Magician
/// Duel Talent
// Type : Extreme [curse]
/ Innate dormant ability
Mana sense : The key to the world''s greatest mysteries.
Cursed : You are cursed and your curse will bring about the end.
// Type : Body [Swordsmanship]
/ Innate dormant ability
Sword Sense : The sword is not a thing, but a process; sense it.
Sword Attraction : The movement of the sword is an ignored perspective. you are just one possibility of its meaning.
—?[Deon V. Eirenios]?—
As Deon read the text with complex emotions, the familiar and unfamiliar female voice spoke inside his mind again.
Now, I will impart to you knowledge that will remain absolute—