Chapter 153: I’m Afraid He’s Lonely (Monthly Ticket Bonus Chapter)
Holy Calendar Year 903, Month of Budding, 4th Day.
Golden Plains, City of Knowledge Camelot.
In a hotel room, the fireplace in the center burned fiercely.
The firewood in the fireplace crackled as it burned, and the warm heatwave within dispelled the chill of early spring.
However, at a certain moment, the burning fireplace fire suddenly froze.
The white-haired witch sitting on the sofa suddenly opened her eyes.
Sylvia’s beautiful eyes flickered with azure silver radiance.
A dense twilight surged around her, bringing all things, be it the flow of the breeze or the transfer of heat in the air, to a halt.
Around her, an illusory river of time condensed and coiled upwards.
Normally calm, the river of time was now roaring like a furious tide, surging and churning.
“Brother Shaya… he succeeded?”
With the status of a throne, Sylvia could clearly feel it.
The imaginary zone, which had once stood majestically at the end of the Third Era and the beginning of the Fourth Era in the river of history, was now crumbling.
And the owner of that golden holy sword, the Princess Royal whom Sylvia had met several times, was now under the protection of the holy sword, flowing downstream with the corrective force.
Finally, she slowly returned to the correct history.
The king who defied the tide of history and created the imaginary zone was able to return unharmed from the river of time…
Brother Shaya, how did he accomplish all of this?
This was a feat that even with Sylvia’s vision and knowledge as the lord of the White Tower, she had never heard of or seen before.
No, it could even be called a unique miracle in the world.
But at this moment, Sylvia did not have the slightest thought about how Shaya had achieved such a miracle.
She simply stood silently in the downstream of the river of time, gazing upstream.
Waiting for Shaya to return safely from the upstream of the river of time, as they had agreed when they set out, following the bond with the holy spear, with her.
But—
Five seconds passed.
Ten seconds passed.
The only response to Sylvia was the roaring, turbulent, and chaotic tide of time.
The figure she yearned to see never appeared.
And Sylvia’s heart, along with her waiting, sank to the bottom, growing colder bit by bit.
Countless thoughts and details, at this moment, once again surged into Sylvia’s mind.
Shaya’s resolute gaze before he left.
His words, which didn’t sound like encouragement, but rather like comfort.
And the inexplicable conversation between Aerora and Shaya before entering the historical residue.
Thus, the assumption that Sylvia did not want to face slowly formed in the Azure Silver Witch’s heart, becoming increasingly heavy.
“Brother Shaya… he wasn’t planning to come back from the beginning?”
Sylvia suddenly turned to look at Aerora beside her, messy light golden script appearing in the air.
“And you knew from the beginning? Then why didn’t you stop him?”
Opposite her, the blonde girl blinked her blue eyes and was about to speak.
But the next moment, a pale letter suddenly erupted with bright magic light.
On the previously blank paper, lines of black script suddenly appeared.
Both Sylvia and Aerora were very familiar with the text on the letter.
They would never mistake it; it was Shaya’s handwriting.
This was a magic device specifically set up by Shaya, which would only be triggered at a certain time node, allowing Sylvia and Aerora to see the hidden content.
Sylvia’s azure silver eyes suddenly narrowed.
Her plain white fingers moved slightly, and the twilight surged.
The next moment, the pale letter silently appeared in Sylvia’s hand.
The soft glow of the magic lamp illuminated the letter, making the script exceptionally clear.
Sylvia projected the content of the letter into mid-air with magic.
“My dear Sylvia, and Little Ai.”
“I believe that by the time you read this letter, everything concerning the imaginary zone of Escarnia from a thousand years ago will have settled, and Her Royal Highness will have returned intact.”
“However, I did not return from the historical residue together with Her Royal Highness, as we agreed.”
“I’m sorry, I did deceive you before.”
“Her Highness was too deeply trapped in that wrong history, bearing the sins of a thousand years. How could it be possible to bring her back without paying any price?”
Reading this, Sylvia’s plain white fingers trembled slightly.
In an instant, a guess formed in her mind.
“Yes, that’s right.”
“I think if you read this, Little Ai aside, but with your wisdom, Miss Sylvia, you should have guessed what I did.”
“Using an ancient holy relic, I usurped Her Royal Highness, no, the identity and authority of the King of the Imaginary Zone, the Crimson Empress, and all the karma for distorting history that she bore.”
“Haha, bearing all the evils and sins of this world, as the last lonely king, watching over my territory on the throne until everything is erased by the corrective force.”
“The Son of Heaven guards the gate, the monarch dies for the country, to rest together with the nation… Doesn’t it sound cool?”
“But, please don’t be sad, don’t be anxious.”
“It is true that I left myself in the imaginary zone to save Her Royal Highness and bore the sin of distorting history, but the corrective force is not strong enough to kill me.”
“Especially Little Ai, no matter what, please believe me! Absolutely do not do anything foolish like hurting yourself or following me in death!”
“You know me so well, you should know I’m a man who dreams of becoming a harem king. My grand ambition is not yet fulfilled, so how could I fall so easily here?”
Reading this, Sylvia unconsciously looked back at Aerora beside her.
But she saw that the blonde girl remained silent. She just looked at the content of the letter in mid-air, her exquisite cute face, like frost, showing no emotion.
“Sylvia, Little Ai, I believe you have always been curious why I can enter the historical residue?”
“I myself have always been curious, but in short, I am indeed very special. I have tried many times, no matter how I altered the tide of history, the corrective force seemed to have no effect on me.”
“Of course, even if I’m not crushed into powder by the corrective force, because the imaginary zone is corrected, the turbulent temporal currents are enough to make anyone completely lost within them.”
“However, I still have a way.”
The script on the letter paused here for a moment.
“Do you remember that annoying cup and the invitation from the Golden Dawn?”
“Although I don’t know the purpose of the Golden Dawn’s invitation to me, they did help me a lot… It was a special world independent of history, and I could use it as a coordinate to avoid getting lost in the river of time.”
“However, this also means that I will be wandering in the temporal turbulence for a long time, until the turbulence of the river of time subsides and I find my way home.”
“The flow of time in reality and history is not the same. I think you won’t have to wait too long in reality, perhaps a few days, perhaps a few weeks or months.”
“But, the time I personally experience may be several years or even decades…”
“Wandering alone in the river of time for several years, or even decades, must be quite unbearable… However, this might not be a bad thing, but rather a form of atonement for me.”
The script became slightly softer here.
“Sylvia, my Sylvia, I have always felt guilty towards you.”
“Because of a careless word I said back then, you buried yourself in the White Tower, in a dark, lightless tomb, enduring loneliness and pain, waiting for me for five hundred years.”
“Thinking about that feeling makes my heart ache immensely.”
“I have always felt that I am not worthy of accepting your feelings.”
“So, I want to try to experience that feeling… although the length of time may not even be a tenth of the loneliness and solitude you have experienced.”
“But I think, when I return from the end of time.”
“I can truly, without any scruples, without any debt, embrace you.”
“And then, I will announce to the whole world that you are my lover, and also my fiancée.”
The black script ended here.
And the white letter then slowly faded, scattering into sparkling fragments.
“Shaya, Brother.”
Looking at the end of the letter, the confession filled with emotion.
In Sylvia’s azure silver eyes, the flowing radiance could no longer be suppressed.
“Even if you didn’t do this…”
“I wouldn’t have cared either.”
The witch’s mutter drifted away with the wind, unheard.
But the next moment, the holy spear’s radiance, which suddenly shone in the room, made Sylvia turn her head in astonishment.
Then, she saw it.
Around the blonde girl behind her.
The river of time, which had become illusory, even almost disappeared, surged again.
“Miss Aerora…?”
Looking at Aerora behind her, Sylvia couldn’t help but show a hint of bewilderment.
“I know Shaya is lying to me, I knew it from the beginning.”
Aerora’s figure was slowly fading, but for the first time, a smile appeared on her frosty, exquisite cute face.
“He’s just that kind of guy who likes to hide all his thoughts and secrets, and would rather force himself than let the people around him worry when something happens…”
“It was like this before, and it’s like this now.”
In the blonde girl’s sky-blue beautiful eyes, there was also a hint of unconcealable heartache.
“I know him too well.”
“Although he appears mature and calm on the surface, as if everything is under control, he’s actually terrified of being lonely.”
“That’s why he saved me in Ceylon at great risk, and even took in Solun, who was homeless at the time…”
“With Shaya’s ability, he doesn’t actually need our combat power, or profits like investment returns.”
“What he needs, in fact, is just the companionship of his companions.”
This was why Aerora still remembered Solun’s decision to leave years later.
“When he found out I didn’t get on the steam train to the White Tower, although he complained verbally, I knew Shaya was incredibly happy inside.”
“If no one is around, he will definitely feel so lonely he wants to cry, and even give up on himself.”
“So—”
In her clear and cold words, there was a determination that astonished Sylvia.
“I must go with him.”
The holy sword possessed by the Second Princess Isadorella could allow her to travel through time, to Escarnia a thousand years ago.
Then, the holy spear, which possessed the same status as the holy sword, and had left an indelible mark in history a thousand years ago due to Cain, could naturally do so as well.
The next moment, Aerora’s figure completely faded.
In the spacious and luxurious hotel suite, only the astonished Azure Silver Witch remained.
…
Upstream of the river of time, the imaginary zone.
Shaya sat on the black iron throne.
The endless collapse caused by the corrective force stopped only when it reached this Hall of Thrones.
Then it dissipated and disappeared.
Only a magnificent Hall of Thrones remained, suspended in the roaring flow of time.
Drifting with the chaotic currents, with no destination.
“Master, according to estimates, the turbulence caused by the extinction of this imaginary zone will last for three months in real time.”
“Converted to your perceived time in the imaginary zone, it is approximately nine to ten years.”
Yui’s voice came through the connection of the Fifth Soul Pact, echoing in Shaya’s mind.
“Ten years?”
Shaya sat on the black iron throne, looking at the empty Hall of Thrones around him, and couldn’t help but smile bitterly.
When he was acting cool and saying goodbye, he was so free and easy.
But when he actually faced it, he could only endure it alone.
“It was a miscalculation. I should have had Yui copy a bunch of adult novels to pass the time.”
Shaya leaned back on the throne powerlessly, looking at the metal dome of the palace.
This vast and secluded Hall of Thrones would become his entire world for the next ten years.
Looking on the bright side, these ten years are extra time compared to reality, and it should be enough to advance my mental strength to the legend level, or even more, for cultivation.
By then, I shouldn’t have to worry about being the one being ridden by Sylvia and Her Royal Highness.
However—
Looking at the empty, secluded world before him, and feeling his familiars—Silver, Sparkle, Crimson, etc.—in the Soul Pact Space, who could only sleep due to their inability to adapt to the temporal turbulence.
Shaya still felt an undeniable sense of loneliness welling up in his heart.
Over the years, he had grown accustomed to liveliness.
He had even grown accustomed to the companionship of the girl by his side.
It was like raising a cat. You don’t feel anything normally, but once it’s really gone, and you search everywhere at home and can no longer hear its meows welcoming you,
That feeling of loss would inevitably surge over you like a tide.
However, the next moment.
He saw that in the gloomy and silent river of history, light suddenly began to shine again.
It was a pure silver lance.
Carrying its host, it pierced through the river of time.
In the roaring temporal turbulence, a silver-white lance broke through the waves, flowing upstream.
Then, just before the imaginary zone completely collapsed, it arrived at the Hall of Thrones.
A few breaths later.
Shaya heard the approaching footsteps.
And that faint, yet incredibly nostalgic scent of sandalwood.
Light golden hair swayed in the dark air.
“I’m here, Shaya.”
Accompanying the girl’s voice, which was as pleasant as heavenly music.
Two slender, boneless hands gently wrapped around Shaya’s waist.
“Just as we promised back then…”
“Neither death nor time itself can separate us.”
…
PS: Bonus chapter completed. Monthly ticket lottery event is now open, requesting monthly tickets!
