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n“Haa, what the hell was that?”

nHans exhaled as he got up the ground.

nEverything was fine until someone who claimed to be another descendant of the warrior had arrived.

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nThere were very few descendants of Rakan.

nHowever, that man aimed his sword at the shinning king, who was a direct descendant, and turned into a monster that fluttered magi till he was killed.

nThe two men turned the royal palace into a wasteland, and Luke managed to overpower them, and even before the fake disappeared, he exploded.

nIf Luke’s Shield magic wasn’t done, then it would have turned into a devastating explosion, not just the Royal Palace but the Brandon city would’ve been wiped out.

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n“I’d rather wish everything was a dream.”

nThree days have passed since the incident. However, it felt like it just happened.

nMaron was in the temple. He was stuck with the thought of, ‘This must be a dream. This has to be a dream.’

n‘Wow, even if I want to deny what happened, the scars the battle left are too huge.’

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nThe palace was hit hard, enough for it to go under repair, and the other buildings close to the palace were broken with windows because of magi and aura.

nBut the serious damage was done in the palace backyard.

nAs the aftermath of the self-destruction, there was a huge pit that was in the size of the palace.

nAnd because of that, repairing the palace was tough. Gigants were mobilized to close the pit, but the work wasn’t fast enough.

n“Oh my, how do we make this right?”

nSebastian scratched his head in confusion.

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nHe transformed back into a human because of Hiros’ doing.

nHowever, no one seemed to be suspecting him as he claimed it to be a curse placed on him by Hiros, and it got lifted on his death.

nWell, no one was in a state where they could even doubt another.

n“Prime Minister, will this be okay”

n“Well, won’t it turn into a huge lake once it rains?”

nAt Hans’ answer, Sebastian glanced at him.

n“Do you really mean that?”

n“It doesn’t look good at any angle. The kings of the other nations deliberately make things like those to enjoy royal bathing in the palace.”

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nHans wanted to know what he was trying to say.

nHowever, he was in severe emotional shock to even think about what he was talking about.

nHonestly, the blow taken by Luke or the Symphonia Kingdom wasn’t as great as they thought.

nAlthough the Royal palace was broken, fortunately, Luke and the others survived with few casualties like Auster and a few other knights.

nAnd on the contrary, rumors spread that a dark magic user crept into Luke’s palace.

nRumors said that a man claiming to be the king’s kin turned into a monster who used dark magic.

nAlthough Hans ordered for the rumors to be stopped, the incident was too large and loud to stop.

nAnd since the rumors weren’t doing any damage to the king, they left them.

n‘In the end, everything is fine, right?’

nHans’ heart couldn’t settle.

nIt wasn’t simply because of the shock or the damaged palace.

n‘Hiros definitely used the Gold Sword, but it turned out that he was an evil monster filled with magi.’

nPreviously, the Gold auras were considered to be incompatible with magi.

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nBut, Hiros broke the prejudice.

nHe used Gold aura and was hiding the Magi in his body!

nMaron was shocked too at the realization.

nHans, who worshipped the warrior Rakan, was unable to comprehend that a monster made of magi was using the Gold Sword of Rakan.

n‘If Hiros could do it, then His Majesty too…?’

nLuke de Rakan learned dark magic.

nRumors like that have been passing around even before Luke became king.

nHowever, Hans and the other retainers, who long supported the Rakan clan, considered it to be groundless rumors.

nIf Luke really learned dark magic, he couldn’t have mastered the Gold Sword.

nBut the prejudices were getting broken.

nOnce the doubt began to creep in, Luke’s past behavior began to turn questionable.

nWhen he was dealing with the Devil King’s castle, Luke turned angry at the proposal of demolishing it and took down the statues of Rakan. He secretly went outside without letting the retainers know.

n‘Does His Majesty really know dark magic? No, the Holy Empire wouldn’t treat us favorably if that was the case.’

nIf Reina loved Luke enough to ask for a wedding, she would have known the truth.

nHowever, Arch Duke Gregory, who was known to be the strongest knight in the Rhodesia Continent would never neglect God and leave the matter aside.

n‘But why is Arch Duke Gregory being too quiet? No, that can’t be. He would never.’

nHans struggled to answer the questions in his mind.

nHe didn’t want to think that the man he served, and the man who was the head of an honorable family touched the power of darkness.

nBy the time Hans was troubled because of his thoughts, Luke was on the eastern side of the palace.

nThe east was actually the queen’s side of the palace or the one’s who were next in line.

nHowever, since the woman who should be there was in the Holy Arthenia Empire, he kept it empty and placed the wing under control.

nAnd that was the place where Auster and Karen were asked to reside. The two people, especially Karen, couldn’t be considered normal.

nIt wasn’t just because she saved him from the Aether runaway or was trying to stick close to him.

nThough it was hard to point out, something felt different for Luke after seeing the child.

n“What do you think?”

nErwin replied while looking at Luke who was laying down beside Karen who was asleep.

n“I don’t know why, but she seems to be tired. Her energy is getting weaker, and it doesn’t look like she’s sick.”

n“That so? This is nothing like what I saw.”

nZegal Soha, who took a look at Karen before Erwin, shared the same view.

nHowever, unlike Erwin, she carefully added the sad news.

nThat meant that Karen would die within a month.

nLuke could feel that too.

nHe could feel the Aether in Karen’s body slowly disappearing, so he tried to give her some of his Aether, but no visible difference could be seen.

n‘Karen, who are you? Why did you suddenly come and save me? Why did you try to stop the fight with Hiros?’

nWas she an angel from heaven?

nThough seeing Auster, in the end, was convincing, he couldn’t get the thoughts out of his mind.

nShortly after the fight, Luke asked Auster’s body to be taken and instructed his men to prepare for a proper burial.

nIf it weren’t for the man, he wouldn’t have been able to summon his Gigant, Avenger.

nHowever, the guards, who checked the Puppet, came back with a shocking report—that there was no blood marks on the ground or the Puppet.

nAs it was unbelievable for Luke, he directly went to look at the Puppet.

nAnd he himself confirmed that there were no traces left.

n‘Like something white got mixed in the air. No, was his existence erased?’

nHow could that even be possible?

nWhen in doubt, a maid came to report.

n“Your Majesty, Count Hwang Bo-sung, the commander of Guard Knights, has asked for an audience.”

n“That so? Understood. Wait a minute. I’ll get up.”

nAfter saying that to the maid, Luke turned to Karen.

nHolding her little hand, he tried to give her Aether once again, looking forward so that she would wake up and answer his questions someday.

nHe left Karen in the room and went to meet Hwang Bo-sung who was in the office room on the first floor.

n“What is it, Commander?”

nAfter confirming that no one was around, Luke asked.

n“Master, there is something I have to let you know.”

n“What is it?”

n“I know things that Master is curious about, and Auster let me know before his death.”

n“What?!”

nLuke was startled as Hwang Bo-sung spoke such words with seriousness.

n“You might not believe it, but I never lie, so trust me.”

n“Tell me what it is. This has nothing to do with what I believe and what I don’t.”

nAt Luke’s words, Hwang Bo-sung paused.

nHe was worried if things could be told, so he thought once again and decided to speak out.

n“Karen and Auster aren’t people from our time. They are from the future.”

n“What?”

nHwang Bo-sung guessed that Luke would be shocked and decided to continue.

n“And Auster is the future me. That was why he was able to pass his memories, well, the future to me.”

n“Speak in detail. If this language is uncomfortable, you can use your native tongue.”

nWhen Luke asked with a sincere expression, Hwang Bo-sung nodded and began to talk about the memories he was handed over from his future self.

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