Chapter 92: Result [2]
"Command of Grace... you have it too."
Eula’s eyes lingered on him for a second.
She cornered Leon, thinking that he would deny and make an excuse, but instead—
Leon blinked once, then smirked faintly.
"So that’s what you call it." He tilted his head, wearing an amusing expression, "Command of Grace... interesting name."
Eula’s eye narrowed, her tone hardened.
"That skill only runs through the bloodline of Lunovar. Are you telling me you’re one of us?"
Leon tilted his head slightly. "Who said that?"
Eula frowned.
"It’s written and passed down for generations in the royal family."
But, he didn’t stop there.
"Written by whom?" Leon asked, his voice calm, it sounded almost detached.
For the time being, Eula saw Leon’s eyes getting dim.
Eula’s lips parted, but no words came.
Who exactly said that? Her grandma? The First King? Her ancestors?
She genuinely thought at this point.
Would any skill truly be called something like bloodline-specific?
Leon stepped closer, a faint smile playing on his face.
"Maybe... this Command of Grace isn’t a blood-related spell, right? Maybe it’s a will-oriented skill that answers only those who dare to command it. Or, it simply has different, more superior versions that you are not aware of."
He looked at her the same way a scholar studies an experiment.
’She’s thinking about it already,’ he thought. ’Good. The more she questions it, the less she believes.’
Eula’s voice came out uncertain. "Are you implying the royal records are false?"
Leon smiled lightly. "False? No. It could be just incomplete."
He closed the distance slowly. Turning, she circled her shoulders.
Eula’s eyes followed him as he stopped near a fountain painted all white.
"History has a habit of hiding things it can’t understand. And people call it ’heritage’ when they’re too afraid to test it."
Eula turned slightly to him, following his movement, as her expression tightened.
"Are you saying you’ve tested it?"
Leon stopped right in front of her.
Their eyes met.
"I’m saying," he said, making his tone quiet yet deliberate, "the world isn’t kind to those who think power should be inherited."
For a moment, she said nothing. Her gaze flickered, as if seeing him in a different light.
’Excellent.’ Leon praised himself.
He knew Eula would ask him this question after the test. And he was prepared. He had crafted a double-edged sword for her; if that sword tried to harm him from one edge, then Leon would just have to force-use the other end.
’Believe what you will, Princess,’ he thought, watching her closely. ’As long as it keeps you only looking my way.’
Then, with the faintest of smiles, he added aloud, "But if it makes you feel better, let’s just say I borrowed it from you."
Eula’s eyes widened slightly, unsure if he was being serious or mocking her.
A faint, amused smile crossed Leon’s face.
"Anything else... Princess, or should we call it a night?"
"So, you are not a Lunovar?"
That was what seemed to matter to her the most.
Leon’s eyes twitched.
He then nodded once.
Eula faintly smiled. Then she asked, "Another thing."
Leon listened.
Her gaze didn’t waver this time. "Why did you kill Alice?"
"..."
Leon didn’t give the reaction she wanted.
Killing Alice? Well, indeed he did.
To meet the Silvermoon Goddess, there was one condition among many to achieve the reward from the system, and that was to be present individually. Leon had to sacrifice her. With her tagging along, he could not possibly obtain the reward.
Besides, he was all worn out at that time. He needed Alice’s ability to clear out the path, so he let her tag along.
He made her believe that he would instruct her, that only lesser demons were present. But in truth, Leon knew about the succubus before they even entered the Black Mountain.
He let Alice cast the provoking spell. He let her believe it would keep the lesser demons focused on her while he stayed behind to recover, giving Alice more freedom to butcher them when they attacked without worrying about Leon.
But what she did not know was that Leon had planned it all. He had set it up so that Nora, the succubus, would notice her first and take her out.
In that way, Leon would craft a natural death for her, one that would make the onlookers believe it was a simple miscalculation, a tragic mistake on Leon’s side that led to Alice’s end.
But Eula, she knew him well.
The moment Leon told Alice to cast the provoking spell, she had already deduced it.
She knew. He was onto something.
Leon looked at her for a long moment before he spoke.
"You think I wanted her dead?"
Eula didn’t reply.
Leon shifted her gaze towards the fountain, where his eyes fell on a lotus leaf. A small frog was sitting on it, eyes glued to a fly roaming above its head.
"In the Black Mountain, you don’t get to choose who dies." He whispered, enough for Eula to hear. But, the entire time, his eyes were on that frog and the fly.
"You only choose who lives." He said.
The frog postured his head, aiming at the bug, before stretching out his tongue.
"Alice made her choice when she followed me...and..."
The frog hunted its prey to fulfil its hunger.
"...and I made mine when I didn’t stop her." He turned to Eula.
Eula, this time, read his expression. Leon let her read her expression.
Her eyes went wide.
The reasoning Leon gave her, his methods of doing things... it was not what Eula had seen before. It was not what she was used to.
He stepped closer to her. "She believed she could keep up. I actually let her believe it. Maybe that was my mistake. But if I hadn’t... maybe I wouldn’t have gotten what I wanted."
Eula’s jaw tightened. "So you used her."
Leon gave a faint, humourless smile. "Yes. It’s called survival. I used her. And tell me, Princess Eula, in your kingdom, do soldiers not die for their commanders? Do sacrifices not build that throne?"
His reasonings... his thoughts, and his goal.
It aligned with her.
It was perfect.
He was perfect.
Eula did not know when it started, but the feeling that what he said wasn’t entirely wrong.
She even tried to hate it. She tried to hate his way of doing things. But the more she thought, the more she realized how close their logic was.
Was it madness or honesty?
She remembered sending the Twilight Order’s member on some life threatening missions. But she gave them the orders anyways, knowing well that there was a slim chance they might not return.
It was cruel.
And she had watched their backs disappear into the fog, telling herself it was for the kingdom.
So what made Leon any different from her?
Her heart wanted to rage, but her mind whispered against it.
He was cruel.
But he was real.
Eula took a quiet breath, lowering her gaze.
She walked and stood right in front of him. The fountain water shimmered under the moonlight. And in that water, that little frog settled gracefully on the leaf.
Leon turned to her, wearing the same expression she does.
She understood now.
And as she did, for the first time, she envied him.
Maybe, if she had followed his way, she could have saved the First Princess.
She had been following what her late eldest sister once did. The First Princess of Liora, beloved by the people, righteous to the core.
But she was no more.
And Eula, knowingly or not, had been walking the same path.
It would lead to the same end.
She thought, perhaps it was time to do it differently.
Leon’s way might be cruel, but it delivered results.
And the results were what she needed.
Crossing her arms and showing him a genuine smile, Eula finally said what Leon had been waiting to hear all this time.
"You passed. Welcome to the Twilight Order."
She extended her hand to him.
Leon looked at it, then reached out and caught it.
Her palm was cold.
"I am glad you understood."
In that moment, the little frog resting on the lotus leaf shifted slightly, unaware of the shadow lingering below.
A silver-scaled fish rose from beneath the surface and swallowed it whole, leaving only ripples across the water.
— — —
Time passed, and Leon walked past the academy block.
He was alone after entertaining Eula.
He looked around and saw no one.
"Haaah..." He exhaled softly, his breath faint against the cold air. "Huu.. It’s cold. I need a hot spring."
Then, before him, a transparent window shimmered into view.
"Hm?"
[The reward has been allotted]
[Affinities and rank have been upgraded]
A faint warmth began to spread from deep within his chest.
He frowned, placing a hand over his heart.
"This is..."
The heat grew stronger, radiating from his mana core, coursing through every nerve in his body.
It wasn’t painful, it was just intense burning.
His mana pulsed like a second heartbeat.
’So, it finally happened,’ he thought. ’After all that training...’
Another window appeared.
[Mana Core: Crimson ★★★★★ -> Ignite ★ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆
[Check status to view reward.]