CHAPTER 1, I FAILED MY LEGACY

CHAPTER 1, I FAILED MY LEGACY

Luna, my precious Luna.

She’s still standing there, dagger in hand. Scared, but satisfied. A grin before death.

I never thought I’d live to see that face. Or maybe I did. Omenmia, after all, is a nation born from usurping another nation. The cycle was always going to turn. I just didn’t expect it would be my beloved’s hand that kept it spinning.

My daughter…

Is this what you truly seek? The throne? The power? Or was it just for my death?

Funny, isn’t it? I spent a lifetime building an empire, and yet here I am, unmade by the one thing I built the empire for: my own blood.

This bleeding… it feels strange. For a Shin master like me to bleed non-stop, bleed without end—there’s something on that dagger. Something unnatural. Poison? Magem?

Who is that witch standing beside her? This must be her doing. She tricked her. It has to be. My precious Luna would never do this alone.

Is she from the Guild of Soul Seekers? It fits. That obscure cloak. Estin warned me—whispers of schemes to destabilize the Wizard High Council. But to infiltrate Omenmia itself first?

Ah—! It hurts.

Blood spills from my mouth, warm and metallic. I can feel the poison lingering at the edges of my mind, dulling everything.

The bleeding shows no sign of stopping. My control of Shin energy is fading, and I am flowing into the collective of Shin.

My hand trembles as I raise it toward them. “Why…?” My voice is fragile and weak.

The witch steps closer, tilting her head as if I’m nothing more than an experiment. “Hmm. I don’t think this version of the serum is working,” she murmurs, studying me like a broken bowl. “His energy flow… it’s losing its center.”

She watches me bleed out like she’s timing it. “This is not working. We need master Elusive’s knowledge.”

“I’m sorry, Father. This has to be done. It’s your fault for not giving me a chance,” Luna says.

She is not crying but fazed by her own action. “I cannot let you pass down the throne to Brother just because he is older. He is an idiot! He would ruin our legacy.”

“Luna…” I try to speak, but my body is already too far gone—numb, hollow, slipping beyond even regret. Maybe… maybe she’s right. Maybe I made the wrong choice, for trusting my own blood.

Grant might be an idiot, but would breaking the family rule have been better? For thousands of years in Gustan, we never broke the rule. Not once. The rule protected our house from infighting. The eldest rules. That should be the way. Benna was already out of the picture, and the second on the list shall be Grant.

Or maybe…

It’s my fault for letting her spend time with those Uxiospean princesses. Those Half-Celesus aliens, I never thought they’d rise from seeking diplomatic asylums to becoming actual rivals.

I still remember when Empress de Nova first came to us— how pathetic she acted! Begging for our protection. And now, she’s the ruler of one of the three strongest empires on the surface. An empire born without foundations… and yet it thrives.

Luna must’ve seen that. Must’ve felt that. The hunger, the possibility. I shouldn’t have given Luna the chance to even think it was possible. She’s always my favorite of the three children, smart and caring, and always knows the way to soothe my heart. Of course, she would think she deserves it.

But she just stabbed me. Were all those just an act? Maybe being my favorite is just not enough. But working with the Guild, something I warned her about? Maybe she is not that smart after all. Or maybe she is the one that should lead Omenmia to his glory. I still don’t believe I won’t be able to see a unified Gustan, a true Omenmia.

“It’s time to go. Prince Grant is coming,” the witch says.

“Goodbye, Father.”

I use my last breath to call out to her again as the witch summoning magic circumancy. “LUNA!”

Teleportation, I recognize the blue aura of that hex, Unidnian magic… Did the Guild already take over the Wizard High Council? Or are they working with the Uxiospean? No, it couldn’t be. They are more anti-Guild than us. But what does it matter? My fate is already decided.

The dagger is still here. Why?

BANG! Grant is here. I called him an hour ago. He is late again. He must be gambling with Colonel. “Father! I was trying to bring Luna here as well, but she was not…” he says while crashing into the throne room.

His face twists in shock.

“Father! What happened?”

He rushes to me without a second thought. He touches me and tries to hold me up. “Father! What is happening? Did you fight against someone? Where is the assassin? I should have brought Luna here, too. Father, I am here.”

Ah, yeah, he is the dumb one in the family. He already ruined the crime scene. After all these years of prince training, he never paid attention. At least he knows I’m dying. At least he cares about my death.

His personal maid, Felicia, is also here, a blond woman seeing the death of the Emperor, but still unfazed, a perfect “shadow soldier” created by my trusted Lord Protector, Estin. Soldiers like her never talk. They are mindless, like Estin said.

I can feel some of my energy flowing to her.

I remember Estin told me years ago that they were a bunch of orphans, collected through the Civil War, all emotionally hurt and numb.

“As you told me before, a simple-minded person is best suited for Shin training.” Estin continued, “I used magic circumancies to suppress these broken minds, reaching the ‘No Self’ state of mind. The result is phenomenal. After training for five years, they all reach energy rank around three of Shin mastery as kids.”

I noticed there were no visible circumancies on these soldiers. I asked, “Is the effect long-term?”

“Great insight, Your Grace.” Estin smiled for the question. “All the circumancies are hidden within their bodies, on the organs.”

“Impressive,” I replied. From my knowledge, Estin was formerly a Guild of Soul Seekers member who betrayed them to work for me.

Estin tried to save my first daughter, Benna’s life. She was hurt by a demon lord who kidnapped Grant. The result was somewhat similar to the shadow soldiers. Instead of punishing them, I’ve been intrigued by how powerful my daughter had become. I sponsored this experiment to continue.

Am I too heartless to other humans? Is this what brings my downfall?

We’re at war. There’s nothing unfair if it was for the nation.

“With enough of them, no enemies can stand against us anymore.” Estin was proud of their work. They continued, “No matter if it is the Shen Zhun Empire or the Uxiospean Empire, they will all fall behind us.”

“Let’s keep one of them for Grant. He stumbled on Shin training.” I sighed. “I thought simple-minded people were supposed to be proficient at it.”

I paused for a few seconds and said, “He will need better protection in the future.”

“As your wish, Your Grace,” Estin replied.

Felicia still doesn’t flinch, even with my blood dripping at her feet. No words. No fear. Just watching, waiting, like a weapon without a sheath.

“Father, why is your blood glowing? Is this some protection hex?” Grant’s question interrupts my self-loathing. What hex is this? How many circumancies have been secretly enchanted within my throne room?

This must have been planned for a while.

The glow links to the dagger. A circumancy turns on around the dagger, summoning it. Then it flies straight into Grant’s hand.

“What is happening?” Grant asks. “Father, are you trying to tell me something?”

The Inspector Sector arrives as well, with their leader, my sister, Ovivica Sibelius.

“Prince Grant killed the Emperor!” Gustaff, Vivi’s second-in-command, yells. His red eyes react in anger.

A young man from the ghetto, he was personally raised up by my sister. I can always tell he holds animosity toward Grant, either because Grant is incompetent or because he just hates nobles, a useful lapdog. His eyes are always sharp when he investigates court scandals.

“No, I didn’t. It wasn’t me,” Grant explains fiercely.

“Then why are you holding the knife, Your Highness?”

“It’s a setup! Yes, it’s a setup!” Grant yells.

For once, his instincts aren’t clouded by arrogance. A fleeting triumph, perhaps, but even fools stumble upon the truth.

I turn my fading attention to Felicia. She stands firm in her defense stance, bracing herself to stop them. Such a loyal servant… Admirable, indeed. I feel her pulling in Shin energy, gathering strength for the incoming battle.

But why… why does it feel like she’s also draining mine?

Is it because I’m dying that my energy is fading?

“You’re such a lousy liar.” Vivi sneers, her voice slicing through the tension. “I never thought highly of you, but Grant—this is just pathetic. You killed your father for that island? Do you really want that war?”

“No! I didn’t do it!” Grant shouts back.

“Arrest him!” Vivi’s command is cold and sharp.

“As your wish,” Gustaff replies, his grin spreading, disturbingly wide, disturbingly pleased.

That’s when I saw it. A flicker in Grant’s eyes, his mind racing to connect the dots, to grasp at some version of the truth. “It was you, Aunt Ovivica,” he blurts. “You always hated me. You’re trying to take the throne for yourself!”

As expected, it’s a wrong conclusion but with a certain accuracy. Why can’t you ever assess the situation properly? I sigh at heart as they seize him. My idiot son, cuffed by his own incompetence.

Then it happens—a sudden tug. A second, a faint force dragged me out of my body. Felicia’s Shin mastery.

My consciousness… It’s still here. Still flickering. There’s a chance. If she is as mindless as suggested, I could—no, I will—take over. When she absorbs my Shin, I’ll ride the current straight into her.

Maybe I am not done.

I focus, pushing what remains of my energy toward Felicia. It feels like flying—weightless, fleeting—like a dying bird’s last desperate flight.

Then—a jolt.

A violent suction, an energy blast, rips through me. And everything goes dark.

Did it work?

Or this is death?

I drift in emptiness—nobody, no pain, just hollow silence.

Is this the end?

What a death!

Betrayed by Luna. Grant, framed and too blind to see past his bias, but I didn’t see it either. Like father like son. My legacy—reduced to ash.

I led armies and conquered kingdoms… but couldn’t rule my own home. Couldn’t protect the empire my father built. What a life!