Chapter 199

The early morning light filtered through the monastery’s stained-glass windows, softly blurring the lifelike statues resting upon the stone coffins.

The golden-haired, golden-eyed young man stared at the coffin for a long time. After a while, his eyelashes trembled slightly.

“Your Highness the Crown Prince, it’s time for us to depart.”

The attendant reminded him in a careful, gentle voice, as if afraid of disturbing the departed souls within the monastery.

This monastery was the final resting place of the royal family. It housed recumbent statues and tombs of kings and queens from every era. The atmosphere was solemn and reverent, as though even speaking would be a form of blasphemy.

“Quiet.”

Sykes softly uttered those two words, and the attendant no longer dared to speak another sound.

His mother, Qin Tian, the empire’s former empress, lay in eternal rest within that stone coffin.

Sykes placed the white bouquet he had been holding onto the coffin. Another stretch of suffocating silence followed. No one around him could tell what the Crown Prince was thinking at this moment. They could only remain quietly at his side.

Several months ago, Ye Zheng had accidentally unlocked the memories he had sealed away. Ever since then, what had returned to his body were not only fragmented memories but also emotions that felt strangely unfamiliar to him.

In the past, he had believed he was no different from ordinary people. He had possessed memories from the time he was five or six years old and had clear, distinct emotions. As for his so-called mother, he had no memory of her whatsoever and naturally felt no affection toward her. After all, he felt nothing even toward the people who were constantly by his side.

Moreover, according to memorie, the empress had called him a monster in horror the moment she gave birth to him. She had never regarded him as her own child. She had resented him for causing her death, and thus the name “monster” had followed him as he grew up.

But ever since those memories began to flow back, Sykes had been shocked to realize that he actually had memories of the mother who had died on the very day he was born.

Her gentle voice when she spoke, her singing, her blessings, her worries… they would drift into his ears from time to time like a curse.

It wasn’t only her voice. There was also her appearance, hazy yet vivid, smiling or frowning. He felt an intense familiarity with her, yet these scattered memories weren’t enough for him to piece together the full truth.

Perhaps he could simply ask the old emperor Havel. But within one of his memory fragments, she had warned him in a moment of overwhelming grief — he must, he absolutely must stay away from Havel.

Sykes dug his five fingers into his golden hair and painfully clutched at the strands. His expression turned dark and gloomy.

He had sought out countless healing-type ability users, yet not a single one could truly restore all his memories. Only Ye Zheng. Only Ye Zheng could help him recall everything.

But there was no way he would lower himself, wag his tail, and beg that cunning woman for mercy!

Even if he regained the past, what good would it do? It wouldn’t change his current situation and would only bring him even more pain.

Sykes cast one final glance at the white bouquet resting on the coffin, and at the vividly carved face of the woman upon its surface. She was smiling, as gentle and indistinct as she had been in those fragmented memories.

Seeing that the Crown Prince had finally begun to move, the attendant let out a quiet sigh of relief and hurried after him.

His Majesty the Emperor had given strict orders that they escort the Crown Prince safely to the shelter in the Lower District without the slightest error.

The group stepped out through the monastery’s main gate, where a fully armed and prepared unit of royal knights was already waiting.

At the very front stood a white-haired youth clad in the deep red uniform of the Royal Knight Order. The attire only intensified her already frigid aura, like snow that refused to melt. Her pale pupils stared straight toward the gate without so much as a blink.

Sykes looked toward the rising sun at the horizon and narrowed his eyes slightly.

The Upper District… he’d be back soon.

He would carefully choose a day when everyone was celebrating, and present them all with a grand gift of despair.

The madness flickering within his golden eyes felt almost tangible. But in the very next moment, Sykes’s expression abruptly shifted. He blinked, wondering if he had seen it wrong.

On the sloping path, a figure dressed in a white robe, with a soft white woolen shawl draped over it, was slowly making her way toward the monastery. Her black hair shimmered beneath the gentle morning light, as if it had been gilded with a warm and sacred halo.

“It’s the Papess…”

Someone cried out in astonishment.

“Ye Zheng, why are you here in the royal cemetery?”

Sykes’s restrained tone couldn’t conceal his surprise.

Ye Zheng didn’t seem to notice the disrespect in his voice. Her gaze first swept across Bai Muqing within the knight squadron before shifting to Sykes. A trace of surprise flickered in her eyes, as if she hadn’t expected to see him here either.

“Your Highness the Crown Prince, the royal cemetery and also a monastery. Through my constant day-and-night prayers, the God of Hope grants blessings upon the departed.”

Ye Zheng made a gesture before her and recited, “May the God of Hope be above us.”

The royal cemetery was indeed jointly maintained by the royal family and the Church. Sykes knew that, in the eyes of the public, resting beneath the gods’ gaze was regarded as a great honor.

Sykes fixed his stare on Ye Zheng and let out a low, ambiguous chuckle. “Then, Your Holiness the Papess, may I ask why you’ve come here today?”

“Today is the memorial day of the previous empress. The late empress showed deep care toward her subjects and embodied great benevolence and virtue throughout her life. I came in person to pray for her, wishing her happiness and joy in the kingdom of God.”

Ye Zheng looked at Sykes, her eyes carrying a calm, composed smile. “On the other hand, Your Highness the Crown Prince’s thoughtfulness is truly admirable. Coming to visit your mother so early in the morning shows a profoundly moving affection.”

To Sykes, these courteous words sounded like deliberate provocation and quiet mockery. Everyone knew that his birth had caused the previous empress’s death, yet Ye Zheng was openly praising his “affection.”

The veins at Sykes’s temples throbbed violently, yet he ultimately didn’t lose control the way he once would’ve. He couldn’t afford to act out now. He had to learn to keep a low profile.

He would first follow the old emperor’s wishes and remain in the Lower District for some time. Once he had completely mastered the ability to summon Aberrant Realms and fused it with his own 【Destruction】, there would be nothing left in this country that he couldn’t bring under his control.

Sykes’s irritable mood eased slightly. He shot Ye Zheng a sidelong glance, brushed past her, and prepared to leave this place.

However, the instant they passed each other, his steps came to a halt. After a brief pause, he clenched his fist, then turned back to look at Ye Zheng as she walked into the monastery.

“Your Highness the Crown Prince, we should depart for the Imperial Central Station,” the attendant urged, guiding him away from the royal cemetery.

Sykes strode ahead at the front, his head lowered. When he relaxed his fist, a small slip of paper rested in his palm.

【Coming-of-age ceremony. Imperial Palace. I’ll help you restore all your memories.】

✧✧✧✧✧

Ye Zheng stepped into the monastery alone. Beneath the towering dome and the vast stained-glass windows, she seemed especially small.

This monastery was dedicated to housing the stone coffins of the royal family. More than seventy coffins had already been placed inside. Most of the time, only one or two members of the clergy came to clean and maintain the place. It was exceedingly quiet.

After discovering Aston XIV’s first empress, Margaret, in the second edition of Imperial History, Ye Zheng had also thought of the previous empress, Qin Tian.

However, after reading through the historical records of Margaret’s life, Ye Zheng realized that although some of their experiences overlapped, their personalities were completely different.

Margaret was one year older than Vincent Aston. She had a strong will and was highly adept at political maneuvering.

She came from an old noble family with deep-rooted influence. In order to unite with the royal family against the rise of the new nobility, Margaret had married Aston XIV.

Judging from her conduct as empress, she hadn’t been merely a political pawn in a marriage alliance. Margaret had been a natural-born politician. In that single recorded year, at only fifteen years old, she had supported cooperation with the emerging classes, proposed actively advancing industrial development, introduced new forms of taxation suited to the changing era, and worked to improve the empire’s financial condition.

Together with Aston XIV, she had strived to help both the royal family and the empire adapt to the demands of a new age. Up until the publication of the second edition of Imperial History, the two of them had appeared to be a wise and youthful imperial pair. From the way it was written, their relationship felt more like that of an older sister and a younger brother.

But the second edition of Imperial History only documented events up to five years before the descent of the Aberrant Realms. Margaret’s records covered just that one year.

The third edition began its account of Aston XIV’s reign from after the descent of the Aberrant Realms.

Five entire years were missing in between. It was during those five years that the royal family had created the Demonic Dragon.

The birth of the Demonic Dragon must’ve been tied to Margaret. That was why Aston XIV had erased her existence and concealed the dragon’s true form.

The trail of clues seemed to have snapped once again. Yet within the darkness, it felt as though the same fate was beginning to repeat itself. Because of that, Ye Zheng turned her attention toward the current royal family.

Recently, monster attacks had been occurring in the Upper District. Although the empire publicly declared that the Crown Prince had failed to restrain his pet aberrant beast and had punished him by sending him to the Lower District to reflect on his mistakes, Ye Zheng knew the truth: an Aberrant Realm had descended upon the Upper District.

Sykes, who had been born from the remains of the Demonic Dragon and the corpse of his mother, not only possessed the world-destroying 【Destruction】, but had also acquired the ability to summon Aberrant Realms. Even though it still appeared unstable for now, it wasn’t hard to imagine how terrifying he would become in the future, just like the Demonic Dragon of the past.

Ye Zheng couldn’t travel back through time to seek out Margaret and the dragon from five hundred years ago, but she still had ways to approach the current emperor, the former empress, and the secrets surrounding Sykes.

After receiving news that Sykes had gone to the monastery to pay respects to the previous empress, a plan quickly began to take shape in Ye Zheng’s mind.

Sykes had always wanted to recover all of his memories, yet because of their rather unfriendly relationship, he was unwilling to ask her for help again.

Since that was the case, she would first offer him a way out.

With 【Mother of All Things】 in her possession, she was confident she could help him regain every one of his memories.

Not only could she help him recover them, once 【Mother of All Things】 grasped the other party’s life energy, Ye Zheng was entirely capable of sharing his memories as well.

As for the appointed time and place, Ye Zheng considered it carefully.

Neither of them particularly wanted to see the other. In that case, she would choose a day when the two of them were certain to cross paths.

Her coming-of-age ceremony.

Sykes was destined to go berserk during her coming-of-age ceremony. In the original manga, the person he had wanted to kill was Pei Xi. The former “Ye Zheng” had merely been arranged by the plot to block that attack. But this time, Ye Zheng had a strong feeling that he would turn the blade directly toward her, regardless of whether Pei Xi appeared or not.

Judging from Sykes’s behavior earlier, he himself probably didn’t yet know that he’d lose control at her coming-of-age ceremony one week later.

Perfect. Let all the truths be laid bare on that day.

However… a trace of hesitation flickered through Ye Zheng’s dark eyes. She wasn’t sure whether Sykes would still need her to restore his memories by then.

If he refused, she’d likely never get another chance to read his memories, because on that day, only one of them could walk away alive.

If he was willing to honor the agreement before trying to kill her, then Ye Zheng would gain another bargaining chip. As long as she could make 【Mother of All Things】 come into contact with his energy under the pretense of restoration, her chances of killing him would become much greater, even approaching one hundred percent.

It all hinged on whether Sykes would accept this gift from the God of Death.

Ye Zheng quickly found the previous empress Qin Tian’s stone coffin among the grayish tombs. A bouquet of flowers still rested atop it.

She closed her eyes, first offering a silent apology, and then began reciting words of mourning and blessing.

She had no choice but to use the previous empress Qin Tian as an excuse, but even if it was only an excuse, she’d still keep her promise.

She didn’t know how much time had passed, but the light filtering through the stained-glass windows had grown noticeably brighter. Ye Zheng opened her eyes the moment she heard the monastery door being pushed open once more.

Creak—

Ye Zheng turned her head. A tall, broad-shouldered woman stood at the entrance, staring at her in astonishment, clearly unable to comprehend why she was there.

Qin Lu, her teacher and the younger sister of the former empress Qin Tian.

She was Ye Zheng’s second target for visiting the monastery today.