“I find no meaning in living even a single day without Vercheria now,” Laclahan sincerely spoke. It was the moment he realized that every moment he had lived until now had been for Vercheria. He felt his long-empty heart warming up intensely. It was not just a metaphor. Indeed, he knew that the hole inside him had been filled as if gasping for air. Vercheria was now synonymous with the meaning of his life.

“Your Grace!”

For a moment, it seemed like Wyatt was calling him. However, after that, Laclahan’s memories disappeared as if cut with scissors.

When Laclahan woke up again, a strong sulfur smell permeated his nose.

“Sigh.”

He was holding his deceased mother’s crown, showing no signs of movement.

Three years.

The war, which ended at the age of 17, had taken away everything Laclahan had and finally brought victory to Ferriat.

It was a war that took everything away, leaving only scars until the very end.

“Mother.”

Returning to his homeland like that.

Even his mother, who should have been waiting for him, had become a cold corpse.

“Laclahan.”

Despite the voice calling him from behind, Laclahan didn’t move as if he had turned into a stone statue.

Towards him, a small foot approached, staggering.

“Laclahan, lift your head. It’s time to know the whole truth.”

His shoulders shook at the voice so familiar to him.

Laclahan raised his deep black eyes to the woman calling him from behind.

“The truth?”

He hadn’t tried to uncover the truth about his mother’s death until now.

Whatever he did, the fact that his mother had passed away remained unchanged.

He understood death.

Having just buried his beloved father and brother in the battlefield.

Having seen in front of his eyes their throats being cut and breath ceasing.

Death is something irreversible, and the world belongs to the living.

To uncover death, he couldn’t sacrifice the living.

“Laclahan, get up and listen to me now.”

His mother, lying in the coffin like a withered mirage, looked down at him just like when she was alive.

The hand stroking his shoulders was warm.

“…….,”

Laclahan stood up with a stiff body.

His legs didn’t respond properly as they were not used to bearing the weight of the coffin, and he wobbled for a moment.

Meanwhile, his mother waited for him with a gentle smile, just as she did in her lifetime.

“Laclahan, I’ve been waiting for you for a very long time. To tell you the reason for my death.”

Laclahan licked his dry lips with his parched white teeth.

His mother, whom he missed so much, was looking at him vividly, just like back then.

The affectionate eyes, the voice that always teased him in a low tone, the clean skin, and the warmth of the two arms that embraced him – everything was exactly the same.
“What killed me was Emperor Gerard. Laclahan, I suffered an unjust death.”

Laclahan closed his bloodshot eyes deeply and then opened them.

“I missed you, Mother.”

She smiled kindly.

“Yes, I know. I also didn’t know how much I missed you, Laclahan. Now, let’s seek revenge. Can you kill Emperor Gerard to relieve this unjust heart of your mother?”

Laclahan reached out and held the delicate hand of his mother, as if she had never experienced any suffering.

Then, slowly, he pulled her into an embrace.

The son, who had been about the same height as his mother when he last embraced her, had now grown much taller.

“Laclahan, will you listen to your mother’s request? Speak now.”

Laclahan exerted strength in his arms and smelled the familiar scent of his missed mother.

He had always been burdened by the fact that he couldn’t embrace his mother who saw him off to war.

“Yes, I will do that, Mother.”

He prayed.

If only he could embrace his living mother once more.

If only he could do everything he could if given the chance.

“Revenge is…”

Laclahan slowly released his mother from his arms.

And he looked at her with a calm gaze.

His mother, who had been full of expectation, looked back at him with eyes full of hope.

“Yes. Revenge is?”

“I won’t do it.”

“…What?”

He lifted his sharp eyes, allowing his perfectly falling black hair to cascade. In a brief moment, Laclahan’s expression had completely changed.

“Is thinking just about that? Starting a war with Emperor Gerard and perishing?”

Her lips, which had been holding a gentle smile, slowly distorted as Laclahan raised his head again.

When she shook her head as if in disbelief, her hair was dyed entirely with a gray hue by now.

As she shook her head as if in disbelief, her eyes gradually turned gray, just like the gray of the Absolute Deity.

“Absolute Deity.”

Laclahan spoke in an indifferent tone.

“Do you think I would easily fall for such a trick, even if I became human?”

“Haha. You’re truly amazing, Adkins. Even after such a long time, your soul is still sharp and sensitive like a god’s.”

Laclahan looked around with cold eyes.

As if trying to capture the last moments of his mother, even if it were an illusion.

“As expected, you’re just too precious to live as a mere human.”