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Leveling Up the World (Chapter 830)
🕑 Added 2023-11-17 00:41:21 +0000 UTCGorgon Empress? Spending years real world time with her, Dallion was pretty sure he was familiar with most of her family history. There didn’t seem to be any love lost between her and her local parents, but they definitely weren’t royalty or even nobility. It was her otherworldy parents that were such. Could it be that was what the duchess was referring to? She definitely wasn’t an otherworlder herself, that was for sure, though maybe she had some knowledge on the matter.
“Empress?” Dallion asked.
“She’s the battle leader of the Alliance,” the woman said, adding a sensation of guilt with her music skills. “If there are three people that could be considered the rulers of the entire group, she’s one of them.”
Dallion was about to say that he considered that a good thing for the family, when he suddenly saw it. Flaunting his relation with her might be viewed as him making a claim for the Elzni House. He wasn’t anywhere close in the competition for heir—that wasn’t something he, or anyone else, wanted. Yet, by blood and skill, he was still viewed as a distant possibility. And even if it were to somehow get resolved internally without a lot of fuss, there was the larger matter at hand. Elazni, although powerful, was not the main imperial family. Some might view this as a powerplay and a challenge to the throne, and many more would use this as a pretext to cause trouble.
Maybe it was a mistake joining the Elazni, after all, Dallion thought.
“You think I’m using her to escape the cage,” Dallion said, and in a way, it was true. The lack of emotions emanating from the duchess made it impossible for him to tell whether that was the case. “You think she’s using me to get to the emperor?” he suggested. “She’s not.”
“Just because I’m the head of the Elazni doesn’t mean I can’t think of anything other than the status. Why do you think no one else is here? Many would love to be on a first name basis with the envoy. A dozen high-ranking hobbles in the capital have even made courting attempts. That’s not the issue. I don’t want to see history repeat.” For the slightest of moments, the woman’s shield cracked, allowing a flicker of sadness to slip through. “I don’t want to see you go through what my daughter did.”
Dallion remained silent. He hadn’t even considered that. Nobles were so different from ordinary people that they could be considered a different breed altogether. It was so easy to forget that they could have standard values as well, such as being afraid for their family.
“I made a vow not to discuss what happened to your mother,” the duchess continued. “However, I’m free to discuss some details with that man, your grandfather.”
“You don’t like him much, do you?”
“I utterly despise him, but that’s not the point. He was pretty much the exact copy of you—an awakened from an insignificant village in the middle of nowhere. Also, he was an otherworlder. At the time, that was viewed in a slightly more positive way than now.”
Dallion took that to mean that there were more of them walking about.
“He went to a Nerosal, where he took part in a war of little significance.”
Given that war determined the archduke of Lanitol province, Dallion strongly disagreed.
“During that conflict, he and his friend showed enough skill to be recognized by the local archduke and even rose to become a minor noble himself. Then he made his first mistake.”
“He decided to go to the capital,” Dallion said.
“Insisted,” Duchess Elazni corrected. “Once the archduke’s authority over his domain was reestablished, he was summoned to an audience by the emperor. Your grandfather was not even mentioned. He was too insignificant to be allowed anywhere close, yet his outstanding wins during the war had made it impossible for the archduke to ignore. He and his friend were allowed to accompany the archduke as servants.”
That didn’t sound like Dallion’s grandfather at all. The old man had been ambitious, though not the type to abuse his achievements. Then again, Dallion had only seen a fragment of his memory. Had victory turned him arrogant?
Old man. Dallion sighed internally. Did you have everyone fooled all along?
Thinking back, there was one person who his grandfather had manipulated—Veil and Gloria’s grandmother. It had been subtle, but he had convinced her to forsake part of her humanity and turn into a chainling, possibly knowing full well the feelings she had towards him. Dallion didn’t doubt the old man’s regret, he had felt it within the memory; however, that had been the first time. As the saying went, things get easier each next time.
“He came here?” Dallion asked.
The duchess shook her head.
“He didn’t have the status to get anywhere close to the imperial palace. Because of his friend, the two of them were allowed to stay in the overseer district until it was time for the archduke to leave.” A heavy frown appeared on the woman’s face, like cracks on marble. “One full day. That’s all the time they had and all it took to lead to the second greatest mistake he made—marrying above his station without any regard for the consequences.”
Dallion felt a lump form in his throat.
“Your grandfather believed himself so smart.” The woman’s eyes narrowed further. “He thought he had foreseen everything. His archduke left, but he remained. A week later, everyone knew who he fancied. A week after it was made official.” The duchess closed her eyes. “The banishment happened a year later to the day.”
“Unpleasant coincidence,” Dallion managed to say.
“It wasn’t a coincidence. Plans had been set in motion months before that. The…” she hesitated. “Parties involved wanted to make sure he had a child before they proceeded. They made sure that everyone from the family was there to watch. Even my father.”
“You weren’t the head of the family back then?”
“I was in a manner of speaking.” The duchess’ eyes snapped open as she returned to her usual cold self. “I ran most matters, but the old duke was officially the head. You can say it was the same relationship I’m having with Liya right now. She still needs a decade or so, but she’ll take on the role. No doubt about it.”
So much for Tors trying to claim the spot. That wouldn’t stop him from trying, but the duchess’ mind was clearly made.
“That’s when he was cast out?” Dallion asked.
“Not just one. There were dozens thrown out of the capital. Don’t bother trying to find out who. No one remembers at this point. The banishment was pretty thorough. It was as if it never happened.”
That sounded like the Order in action. It was still outright scary how they could wipe out someone from existence. Dallion’s grandfather must have pissed off a number of high-level nobles in order to get such a punishment. But, in that case, why…
It suddenly hit Dallion. The only people who remembered the banished were close friends and family. Everyone considered that to be fact. But was it really true? Somehow, nobles and people of significance were more remembered than others. It stood to logic that they would be more famous, but that wasn’t supposed to matter as far as banishment was concerned. As Adzorg had said a long time ago, “every mention of their name even in books was erased from existence.” Clearly, that wasn’t the case.
“You still remember,” Dallion said. “And you’re not the only one.”
“Of course, I would. Despite the shame, my family was important, more important than now even. The Order knew doing us a favor would be to their advantage, so they allowed for a few exceptions.”
So, that was it. You sold out to the Order of the Seven Moons, Dallion thought.
“We weren’t the first to do it and we won’t be the last,” the duchess went on. “One of several, as far as your mother was concerned, and you after her.”
“You didn’t keep an eye on us directly.” Dallion resisted the urge to cross his arms. “You asked the Order to do it for you.”
“A bad choice, but one I had to make. I just don’t want to make it again.”
“You think I’m aiming too high?”
“Isn’t it obvious? If she had remained a mercenary, your relation with her would have been viewed as scandalous, but accepted. Now, if you don’t put an end to things, you’ll end up like your grandfather.”
There was no way that could happen. Dallion had already defeated that fear during an awakening trial, ages ago. Despite the similarities, he had magic and empathy—two traits that his grandfather lacked.
“I take it that’s my only warning?” Dallion asked in defiance. Good intentions or not, he had no intention of leaving something else to live his life.
“Just like him.” The duchess shook her head. “You probably think that you have a better sense of things, that you can see what your grandfather couldn’t. No matter. This time, I won’t allow history to repeat.”
“I see.”
It was clear that the duchess would try, but her word wasn’t above that of the emperor. As long as Euryale managed to convince Emperor Tamin to send Dallion on another mission in relation to the war, there wasn’t anything anyone could do.
Thanks, gran, Dallion cursed mentally. There were still too many pieces missing from the story. This was the last way in which he wanted to learn of his past.
“Is she alive, at least?”
The duchess looked to the side.
“Please tell me at least that.”
“Who knows? Maybe she is, maybe she isn’t. You’ll have to ask the archbishop for that.”
I damned plan to, Dallion hissed internally.
The conversation was over. The duchess had said everything she wanted and Dallion had no intention of hearing more. Two metalins made their way up to him, stopping a few feet on either side. Dallion turned around to be escorted out of the room. Halfway, he stopped.
“I heard that the domain rulers of the family are given emblem rings,” Dallion said, changing the subject completely.
“You heard wrong. Only those trusted enough were allowed to have them.”
Were? Dallion didn’t like the sound of that.
“They’re just a trinket now. I suppose one of the lower relations asked that you bring them for one reason or another.” The woman allowed herself a sign. “It’s been over a century since they had any significance. Still, I have no intention of just giving them out like that for no reason.”
“Isn’t trusting me enough, Duchess?”
“If I give it to you, will you vow not to end your relationship with the Gorgon Empress and never see her again?”
Dallion remained still and silent.
“I didn’t think so. Then again, what can I do? Age tends to make a person sentimental.” She raised her left hand slightly.
An overseer emerged behind her—the same platinum blond boy that had brought Eury and Dallion here.
“Bring me the emblem ring,” she ordered. “The small one.”
The overseer disappeared with a nod.
“Should I ask what you plan on doing with it?” The duchess glanced at Dallion.
“Hopefully, brighten someone’s day for a bit,” he replied.
“Just make sure they don’t swap it for alcohol. It will save Tors the pleasure of reclaiming it.”
Once again, that was one of the more elegant threats Dallion had heard. If there was one skill he wanted to learn from his new family, that was it.
“Of course, Duchess. I’ll make sure of it.”
The overseer returned a few moments later, appearing in the same fashion as before. Gently, he placed an ornate sky silver box in front of the duchess, then stepped back.
“The emblem rings,” the woman said as she removed the cover. “It’s claimed that they were a pair, but in truth there’s five of them, created at different times by different jewelers. The first is said to have belonged to the emperor himself before he gave it to his wife. A ring of true love that later became our crest.”
The story was without doubt fascinating, if one was interested in ancient imperial heraldry. However, upon seeing the contents of the box, Dallion felt a cold chill pass through him. He could see a thin black thread emerging from the piece of jewelry, disappearing in the air.
A void item, he thought. One of the House Elazni heirlooms is a void item?!
