Legacy of the Dark Sage



Kyran looked at Cyneah with a somewhat dumbfounded expression.

Since he did not respond immediately, Cyneah became more uneasy. She stammered, "W-Why aren't you answering? D-Did you think I w-won't mind that you're covering f-for me again?"

Kyran looked at her incredulously. When did he ever cover for her? More importantly, what did she mean about not telling Nahir and the old man the truth? As far as he was concerned, he had been honest when he told the truth about their situation.

Kyran paused as he recalled what he had told Nahir and the old man and scratched his head inwardly.

Okay, so he might have withheld information like how the Macabre Glacier was now inside Cyneah and that they mistook it as her Divine Armament. But so far, the rest of what he told them was true.

Kyran told them he unknowingly inherited something from the previous Dark Sage, and currently, there were powerful people after that. He also told them several Sovereign factions had been eyeing Somuli after it birthed its Sovereign, and some representatives of those factions were the ones who were after the Dark Sage's inheritance.

While it was true, Kyran did not tell them the inheritance was now inside Cyneah; he just found it troublesome to explain. Thus, he withheld that information.

Withholding information was different from not telling the truth. Although, Cyneah was right about Kyran covering up for her for not telling them about the Macabre Glacier.

In any case, he was surprised she was complaining about that and not the other truth he told Nahir and the old man.

"They don't need to know about the mirror," Kyran replied after a short pause. "At least, for now, they only need to know the gist of things. I will tell them everything after resolving the conflict between the Armakea and the Eidums. Because then, we'll have to confront the Somuli's Sovereign. The situation will escalate from there, and not knowing the whole truth can get the old man and his people in trouble."

This was not a baseless assumption. Once they confronted the Somuli's Sovereign, the truth that he was not really one would be revealed. When that happened, those representatives from different Sovereign factions observing from outside the plane would make a move.

Kyran would then have to reveal himself regardless if he planned to conquer Somuli or not. Once he appeared, then Flos and Ruin might come, and all hell would break loose.

It would be unfair to the Eidums if they did not know the truth of why Sovereigns would suddenly start a war in their plane.

"You—," Cyneah started but abruptly paused and bit her lower lip. Her cheeks slowly turned ruddy as she struggled to say what was on her mind.

"What?"

"I know that much why you did not tell them about the mirror," she said exasperatedly. "But I am not talking about that!"

"No?" Kyran slightly furrowed his brows in confusion. "What are you talking about then?"

"Us!" Cyneah blurted. Then she stopped short, and blushed before stammering, "W-What I mean is— you did not have to lie about who I am. Y-You could have just told them I... accidentally entered a vortex that's why I ended up in Somuli... and m-my master asked you to look for me—."

"If I said that, then I'll be lying to them," Kyran cut her midsentence. He was getting confused as to what she was on about.

"Are you telling me my master never asked you to look for me?"

"She wants to look for you," Kyran admitted. "But I did not need her or anyone else to convince me to find you."

"Fine. Let's say that's the case. You did not have to tell them you're—," Cyneah blushed once more before blurting, "—searching for— that I'm your mistress!"

By then, Cyneah's face had turned red as she faced Kyran unblinkingly.

On the other hand, Kyran was dumbfounded at first. Then he blinked once, twice, before her words, or whatever she was on about, made sense.

Frankly, this was the other truth he expected her to bring up. However, her reaction and the way she brought it up was something he was not anticipating.

He initially thought she would demand an explanation. That was why he believed it was not ideal for them to talk alone in his room. Because he knew she would not be convinced, and he might end up saying or even doing something to prove his point.

In the end, Kyran was caught off guard by Cyneah's reaction.

Seeing that she was waiting for him to respond, he finally said, "I did tell them the truth."

"W-Wha...t"

"Right, I guess you forgot after seven years," Kyran added with a bitter smile.

Cyneah opened her mouth to speak. But could not utter a single word. She was confused and, at the same time, nervous. She was not stupid not to understand the underlying truth in Kyran's words. Nevertheless, a part of her doubted her understanding.

Just as Kyran had said, it had been seven years for her. The things he knew and remembered might be different from her own. Not to mention there were things she did not fully understand in the past but did now.

One good example was how others called her Kyran's mistress.

Obviously, Cyneah remembered that. However, she did not understand what it meant before. Or maybe she did but never really cared. Since Kyran did not care, why would she? She was only sixteen, and he was eighteen then. They were quite close, but there was no romantic attraction.

At least, Cyneah thought she was not attracted to Kyran then. However, after being separated from him for seven years, she realized her feelings for him could not be summed with a simple word such as gratitude. In the end, even if she already understood her feelings, that did not mean he felt the same.

Cyneah did not believe Kyran's feelings would change after a year. She might have changed physically or mentally, but in his eyes, she remained the filthy, skinny girl he saved in a cave.

"Nar," Cyneah suppressed her feelings and kept a neutral attitude. "Do you know what a mistress is?"

"I do."

Cyneah was stunned for a moment. She did not expect him to answer with such conviction.

"Then you probably don't care what it means, but if others hear you refer to someone like that, they might misunderstand."

"No, they won't," Kyran replied almost at once.

Cyneah's brow furrowed. Suddenly, the feelings she was trying to suppress threatened to burst.

"Neah."

When Kyran called her name, his voice sounded deeper than normal, and her heart skipped a beat.

"I will never let others misunderstand. If I did not consider you as my mistress, I would have corrected them."

Cyneah opened her mouth to speak, however, just like a while ago. She could not say anything because her mind was somewhat of a mess. Her mind tried to reason with her, but her heart would not stop yearning that she did not misunderstand what Kyran was trying to tell her.

"But I suppose that is selfish of me," Kyran suddenly said with a bitter smile. "Sorry. I did not even consider how you'd feel being called like that."

"Nar, I—."

"I'll be careful next time. But I won't take back what I told Nahir and the old man. Please keep that in mind."

"W-What d-do you mean...?"

Kyran raised his brows, "I think I made my intentions clear. If you feel uncomfortable, tell me."

'Master, we have a situation.'

Suddenly, Gael's voice sounded in Kyran's head.

Kyran frowned at the timing and sighed inwardly.

As much as he wanted to continue his talk with Cyneah, he had to put it on hold and attend to the matter at hand.

'The Prince of Armakea and his knights are already close to the border,' Gael continued. 'Instead of going straight to their HQ, however, they had set up a camp. At the same time, the Armakeans on the border have started to gather. It appeared they planned to leave the borders and rendezvous with the Prince.'

Kyran's frown deepened. From this, he could glean that the Prince did not plan to attack head-on. They likely planned an ambush, attacking the Eidum's border at their weakest point.

'Send me their location,' Kyran told Gael.

'Are we going to intercept them?'

'I will,' Kyran replied. 'You return to the Eidum's border and stay put.'

'Understood.'

Kyran sensed Gael's reluctance. Nevertheless, he was grateful he did not insist on going.

Meanwhile, Cyneah, whose mind seemed to have short-circuited at what Kyran told her, regained some of her wits after a short lull.

But before she could even say something, he heard him say, "I have to go."

"Go?" Cyneah repeated with a frown.

Instead of answering, Kyran called the attention of the closest Eidum on duty and asked him to take Cyneah inside. She wanted to protest, but he had already jumped down the wall and disappeared.

The Eidums on duty were dumbfounded.

But their reaction could not compare with Cyneah's, who appeared perplexed at everything that transpired.

*

After Kyran left the receiving room, the Abbot and Nahir stayed and discussed what they had learned.

Frankly, Nahir had his reservations. But his father accepted everything Kyran said and even suggested rescinding the pact between him and Cyneah. He reasoned it was inappropriate for them to claim someone else's mistress. In any case, the pact was only made to ensure the Somuli Sovereign could not touch her.

Nahir refrained from voicing his opinion on the matter because he did not know how much Kyran said was true. Moreover, he did not want to rescind the pact.

It did not matter what Kyran said about Cyneah because, to Nahir, he abandoned her for seven years. Besides, Cyneah agreed to the pact without mentioning her relationship with Kyran, which meant she chose him.

That alone was enough to make Nahir refuse to rescind the pact.

Nahir's meeting with his father was interrupted when they noticed the array inside the receiving room lit up.

The Abbot immediately took out a hexagonal-shaped dark purple token that Kyran gave him. He activated it by inserting magic energy into it, and it lit up with a flash before his whole person disappeared.

Both the Abbot and Nahir were surprised at what happened.

Kyran told them the token would prevent others from seeing the Abbot, and they assumed it was a one-time concealment spell. They did not expect it to make the Abbot turn invisible literally. Moreover, Nahir could not sense his father's presence. It was as if his father had left the room.

They could not read each other's minds but thought the same thing.

The token they believed to be a one-time concealment spell, was no ordinary item. It was a lost technology.

The array dimmed and revealed the messenger, who knelt before Nahir and said, "Lord Nahir, Nar has left the borders."

Nahir frowned at once.

"Left? Did he say where he is going?"

Only a few knew what happened between Nahir and Kyran, and the messenger was not one of them. Before resolving their differences, Nahir ordered the messenger to monitor Kyran's movement closely.

The messenger shook his head, "No. Although the Lady Saint was with him before he left."

"Sisi? Where were they?"

"The borders."

"What were they doing?"

"They seemed to be in the midst of a talk..." the messenger hesitated before rephrasing his words, "Actually, the Lady Saint looked flustered the whole time."

"You did not hear them?"

"They were using that strange language."

Nahir scowled as he leaned on his chair.

The old man looked at Nahir closely. He wondered why his son did not respond when he suggested rescinding the pact. It seemed his fear had come true. He had his suspicion when his son suggested using the pact to protect Cyneah from the Sovereign's advances. It appeared his suspicion was right.

Nahir had feelings for Cyneah, and judging by his reaction just now, he was jealous.