At the same time, Leticia, waking from her sleep, slowly blinked her eyes. As she raised her hand to caress Dietrian’s cheek, her hand suddenly and powerlessly fell. Her eyelids closed, and the sparkling green of her eyes vanished. Dietrian, momentarily stiffened, blinked in confusion.
“Leticia?” he called out, a chill running down his spine at her motionless form.
“Leticia!” His voice filled with panic as he hurriedly sat up, reaching out to pull her into his embrace. In that moment, her neck limply bent backward, her body collapsing lifelessly, sending a jolt of fear through him.
—
“Cough!” A surge of dark red blood spewed from Sigismund’s mouth, dripping through his fingers onto the sand below.
“This is worse than I thought,” the Tower Master exclaimed in alarm, noting that Josephina’s curse was more severe than in their past life.
Sigismund, enduring the Tower Master’s chatter, clenched his eyes in pain. “If I hadn’t absorbed the curse, Leticia would have surely died, bleeding from every orifice,” the Tower Master said, highlighting the curse’s deadly potential.
Sigismund knew this was true. Even with the dragon’s power shielding him from the curse, he felt excruciating pain, as if his esophagus and stomach were being torn apart. Leticia would not have survived a direct hit from such a curse.
“Ugh.” He felt another wave of heat rising from his stomach, unsuccessfully trying to suppress it, and finally, he vomited blood. The hemorrhaging continued three more times before it finally ceased.
“Phew,” Sigismund sighed, his hand trembling as he wiped his mouth.
“Damn it all,” he cursed, his eyes fiercely golden, glaring murderously at the dark walls of the black citadel amidst his pain.
“I’ll tear them apart, and it still won’t be satisfying enough,” Sigismund ground his teeth in fury.
“I clearly warned them. How dare they do this to that child again… I should obliterate everything, causality be damned… Ugh!” His words cut off abruptly as his legs gave way, and he stumbled forward.
He managed to catch himself from falling completely, but a burst of laughter erupted nearby.
“Sig fell down! Hahaha!”
“Stop laughing!”
“No! It’s hilarious! Sig fell! Ahaha!”
The Tower Master cackled, seizing the moment to make light of the situation. Sigismund ignored the uproar, lying sprawled on the ground, too drained from the curse’s impact to engage in a verbal spar.
The night sky was filled with countless stars. The Tower Master’s laughter faded into the distance, replaced by a whisper from long ago.
“Do you know, Sig? People become stars when they die.”
That phrase was spoken by his guide, who had introduced him to the human world. Being new to the world of humans, Sigismund had needed a guide. His guide was always chattering away.
“I really like that idea. It makes me feel less lonely, knowing that my family might be out there in the sky.”
As he lay there, looking at the dark sky, he couldn’t help but smile faintly.
“What do you think, Sig? Isn’t it beautiful?”
Back then, he found the idea more absurd than beautiful. Stars are just rocks floating far away. The birth of stars has nothing to do with human death. He found it pitiful that humans believed in such a nonsensical legend.
As a chosen transcendent, Sigismund felt it his duty to enlighten such foolish humans. So, he said:
“There are no family members of yours up there.”
“What?”
“Stars are just rocks in the distant sky. If you want to see your family, you should be digging graves, not looking at the sky.”
“Digging… graves?”
He had tried to explain it logically, but his guide’s expression soured. Sigismund couldn’t understand his guide at all.
“Why the long face when I’m speaking the truth? Are all humans as foolish as you?”
“…”
“Why do you even miss the dead? Does missing them bring them back to life?”
“…”
“Why do humans waste their energy on such pointless endeavors? Are all humans like you, focusing on things of no value…?”
“Can I quit being your guide?”
After that incident, it didn’t take long for Sigismund to understand the guide’s perspective, especially once he fell in love with her.
At first, his feelings bewildered him. Compared to the lifespan of a dragon, human life was painfully short. Dreaming of a life together with her seemed like a moth drawn to a flame, destined for destruction.
He contemplated if it would be easier to forget everything and live peacefully.
Would it be better to give up?
Yet, he ultimately chose to be with her.
Many things happened since then.
They became a couple, founded a nation, and ruled over humans together.
And he was there for her final moments.
Her death, even though he was mentally prepared, was more impactful than he anticipated. Experiencing an unfamiliar sense of loss for the first time, he struggled to find his bearings.
One thing, however, comforted him: watching over her descendants. Even after her departure, humans remained fragile, making their existence all the more desperate.
Their beauty in living each moment so fiercely, like brilliant flames, was striking.
Gradually, he began to dream.
He wanted to continue living, aiding humans, protecting her descendants with his own hands.
But he failed.
He had to leave.
He didn’t want to.
But back then, it was the best decision to make.
“I’ll keep trying until I can’t anymore. Only then will I quit.”
Dinute’s choice was the polar opposite of Sigismund’s.
Though their decisions were contrasting, their objectives were aligned. Both Sigismund and Dinute sought the tranquility of their people.
At that time, they believed their choices could coexist harmoniously. Indeed, there were periods of peace.
However, everything started to unravel after Josephina became the Saintess. Recognizing the distortion in fate, Sigismund pondered countless times.
Had he not left the kingdom, had he made a choice like Dinute, could he have preserved destiny?
‘Such pointless thoughts again.’
Sigismund shook his head to clear these musings.
Dwelling on irreparable past decisions is futile. It’s wiser to focus on what can be done in the present.
‘Well, I did reverse it once.’
He smirked to himself.
Even when his wife died, he refrained from tampering with time due to its perilous nature and the heavy toll it demanded.
But this time, he dared to break the taboo, risking even annihilation, to rectify the twisted fate.
“I should’ve recorded it in a crystal! What a waste!”
The Tower Master continued to laugh uproariously. Sigismund gestured towards him.
“Enough laughing. Make a staff for me.”
“Why a staff?”
“My legs are weak. I need support. Now, make it.”
The Tower Master abruptly stopped laughing, looking baffled.
“Why should I make it? You can create it yourself.”
“My energy is depleted from the curse. Make it now.”
“I refuse! Why should I use my precious magic to craft a mere staff?”
“Obviously, because my walking is more important than your legs.”
“What kind of demonic thing to say! Absolutely not! I want legs too… Yaaaah!”
Boom! Sigismund finally managed to explode the Tower Master. Moments later, popping out of thin air, the Tower Master tearfully crafted a staff.
“Waaah!”
Continuously nagged by Sigismund, the Tower Master crafted a truly impeccable staff.
“Boohoo! You heartless dragon!”
Listening to the Tower Master’s wailing, Sigismund gripped the staff with his small hands. His legs were still shaky, but he could feel his strength slowly returning.
“Quiet down. Stop crying and follow me.”
Sigismund was in a hurry.
“Josephina could go mad again at any moment. We can’t afford to be far from the kids.”
To intercept the curse, he needed to stay within a certain distance from Leticia. The Tower Master sniffled and asked.
“What about Josephina? Weren’t you going to kill her?”
“Kill Josephina with my own hands? Am I insane?”
Sigismund retorted with disbelief.
“If it were that easy, I would have done it long ago. No need for such a roundabout journey.”
Had it been simple, he would have twisted Josephina’s neck back when Julios died seven years ago, or even earlier, when she first started spouting those false prophecies as true.
“Of course, I won’t let her off easily. I’ve sent her a ‘gift’.”
Imagining Josephina’s face upon receiving this ‘gift,’ Sigismund smirked.
“There’s no need for me to dirty my hands. That wretched woman will destroy herself. Just like today’s curse.”
“Eh?”
“Dinute was right. The second prophecy had an effect, haha.”
Sigismund burst into laughter, his golden eyes sparkling with vitality.
“Who would have thought the prophecy’s effect would be this swift? I didn’t expect it at all. I’ll have to apologize to Dinute when I meet her.”
“The effect of the prophecy? What do you mean by that…?”
The Tower Master was still clueless.
“You mean to say the curse just now was the result of the prophecy?”
“Ha, really now. Are you genuinely asking that?”
Sigismund looked at the Tower Master with a mixture of amusement and disdain.
“Incredible. I didn’t expect you to be this dense. Are you really from the Tower? I spoon-feed you the information, and you still don’t understand.”
“…”
“Once you find your legs, go straight to the Tower and tell your disciples not to respect you. You’re too dull-minded.”
“…”
“To think such a person is revered as the greatest Tower Master. The magicians would regret their admiration if they knew.”
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