Chapter 10: The end of the old era
The corridors of the Central Wing were usually quiet, filled only with old memories. But today, they were loud, shaken by the sound of people running despareately .
Alexius ran.
He ran like a scared son who did not know what else to do. His breath burned in his chest, and his heart beat fast, like a bird trying to escape. The big wooden doors of the Royal Bedchamber stood ahead. The guards saw the Prince Regent coming and opened the doors at once.
Alexius burst into the room.
The room smelled of clean herbs used for healing. The thick curtains were pulled aside, letting in the pale light of winter.And there, sitting up in the middle of the big bed, was Grand Prince Aegar Demetrios Leo.
He was awake.
Around him stood a flurry of activity. The Chief Royal Physician, Dr. Medicus, was checking a pulse with trembling hands. The Royal Herald, Marcus Junius, stood with a quill poised over parchment, his face pale. Captain Fidus, the Shield of the Nation, stood by the window, his massive armored frame shaking with suppressed emotion.
"I… I do not understand it, Your Highness," Dr. Medicus said, looking at Alexius. "An hour ago, there were no signs of life at all. And now… he is awake. He is talking."
Alexius didn't hear him. He walked slowly toward the bed.
His father looked... thin.
The man once called the Great Lion looked empty and weak. His skin was pale and thin, stretched tight over sharp bones like fragile glass. His hair, once thick and bright, was now thin and dry.
But his eyes were open. They were the same violet-blue as Alexius's. And they were smiling.
The Grand Prince looked at Alexius as he came closer.
"Alexius… my son," he whispered. His voice sounded dry and weak.
Alexius fell to his knees beside the bed. "Father... I'm here. I'm here."
Hope flared in Alexius's chest. Was it the potions? Had the high-grade elixirs finally worked? Had he saved him?
'System,' Alexius thought, his mind desperate for confirmation. 'Analyze.'
A blue window suddenly appeared above his father's head. In that moment, Alexius realised the situation.
[TARGET ANALYSIS]
Name: Grand Prince Aegar Demetrios Leo
Status:Ultima Lux (Terminal Lucidity / The Last Rally)
HP: 15 / 12,500 (Rapidly Declining)
MP: 0 / 8,000
Stamina: 2 / 5,000
Life Force:0.01%
[DIAGNOSIS] The subject's biological functions have already ceased. The current state is a final surge of adrenaline and soul-force—a phenomenon where the dying regain consciousness for a brief window before total system failure.
Time Remaining: < 30 Minutes.
Tears filled Alexius's eyes before he could stop them. He bit his lip until he tasted blood. He could not cry. Not now. He could not waste these moments on tears.
"Everyone," Alexius said, his voice cracking. "Out."
The Physician blinked. "But Your Highness, we must monitor—"
"I said OUT!" Alexius roared, the Sovereign's Aura flaring uncontrollably, shaking the glass vials on the table.
"Leave us! Fidus, guard the door. No one enters. No one."
Fidus looked at the Prince, then at his sovereign. He gave a sharp salute, his armor clashing loudly, and led the talking doctors and the Herald out of the room. The heavy doors closed with a deep sound, leaving the two lions alone.
"You… have grown up… my son," Aegar whispered. He reached out to Alexius. His hand was cold—colder than the snow outside.
Alexius took his father's hand and held it to his cheek. He sent his own mana into him, trying to make him warm again. But the System pushed it away. His father's body was broken. It could not hold any more light.
"I tried, Father," Alexius said through a tight throat. "I tried to make the country better. I will clean away all the bad things. I have the strength and power to do it now. I just needed… a little more time. I wanted you to see it."
Aegar's thumb brushed away a tear on Alexius's cheek.
"I know," the Grand Prince breathed. "I heard you."
Alexius froze.
"In the dark…" Aegar went on, his eyes slowly turning to the ceiling. "I heard your stories. I heard the tales of the freed slaves. I heard about the story about changing the country. I heard you reading your mother's favorite books."
A weak, trembling smile touched his lips.
"I am sorry, Alexius. I left you alone."
"Don't," Alexius said, shaking his head. "You protected me. Elias told me everything. You sent me away to keep me safe from those dangerous men."
"It was… cruel," Aegar said in a rough voice. "I chose to be a King instead of a father. I left you alone in that cold house. I let you believe that I did not love you."
A violent cough shook his frail body. The HP counter in Alexius's vision dropped from 15 to 10.
"I wanted... to buy you time," Aegar said with a weak voice. "But I took away..... your childhood."
"You gave me a future," Alexius said with strength. "Because of you, I am alive. Because of you, House Leo still stands."
Aegar squeezed his hand with sudden strength. It was the last bit of power he had left—the only attribute that had not faded away.
"Alexius," he whispered in a hurry. "The Garden."
"The Garden?"
"Take me… to the Royal Garden," Aegar begged, his eyes suddenly bright with need. "To the place where she… where Lyra and I… first met. The Eternal Tree."
"Father, you can't move. It's winter. It's freezing outside."
"Please," Aegar begged as a tear ran down his face. "I do not want to die in this room. I want to see the sky one last time."
Alexius looked at the System. Time Remaining: < 15 Minutes.
He nodded.
Alexius stood up and bent down. He slid his arms under his father's back and legs.
He lifted him.
The Grand Prince weighed almost nothing. He felt like dry sticks wrapped in soft cloth. That feeling hurt Alexius's heart more than any wound ever could.
Alexius walked to the balcony doors. He kicked them open.
Cold wind rushed in, bringing snow into the warm room. Aegar breathed in the cold air deeply, as if it were something precious.
Alexius used [Flash Step], but he moved gently. He jumped from the balcony and landed softly in the snowy courtyard below. The Royal guards nearby gasped in shock, he ignored them. Holding his father close, he walked through the deep white snow toward the Royal Garden behind the palace.
The Royal Garden was quiet and still, like it was asleep for winter. No birds sang, and no insects could be heard. The fountains were frozen into shapes of ice. The rose bushes were covered in white frost.But in the center stood the Eternal Tree. It was a huge, ancient oak that had stood since the time of the first King of House Leo, a gift from the Legendary Phoenix. It never lost its leaves despite changing seasons. Its green branches stood bright and proud against the grey winter sky.
"There," Aegar whispered.
Alexius walked to the tree and sat down in the snow. He leaned his back against the rough bark and held his father in his arms like a child. He wrapped his thick cloak around the weak man, making a small nest of warmth.
The world was silent. The snow fell softly, landing on Aegar's eyelashes.
"She… was standing right there," Aegar said softly, staring at an empty place in the snow. "She was reading a book about money and trade. Can you believe it? Reading in a garden."
Alexius smiled through his tears. "That sounds like Mother."
"I was… a silly young prince," Aegar said with a weak laugh that quickly faded. "I walked up to her and asked if she knew the way to the kitchens. I wanted to steal a sweet pastry."
"What did she say?"
"She looked at me... with those eyes. Violet eyes... like yours. So pretty, And she said... "The path to the kitchen is north, ""Are you trying to sneak into the kitchen?" she asked with a small smile.
"If so, you may join me instead. I am reading, and the company would be nice."
Aegar closed his eyes, and a calm, peaceful look came over his face."I sat down, and I never wanted to stand up again. For the first time in my hard life, I was happy. I was happy just to sit there and stay with her."
The HP counter dropped to 5.
"I missed her... so much, Alexius. Every day.... Every breath...."
"I know, Father."
Aegar opened his eyes and looked up at his son.
"Now, I look at you... and I see her fire. I see... the Lion she wanted you to be."
His breathing slowed. The pauses between each breath grew longer. He is trying do hard to even talk.
"I have... only one regret," Aegar whispered.
"I will not... see you... wear ....the Crown. I will not see... the man you ...will become."
Alexius gripped his father's hand.
"You will see it," Alexius said softly. "Watch me. Watch me from wherever you are, with Mother. I will make this country strong. I will burn away the corruption. I will be a son you can be proud of—a son of Mother Lyra and Father Aegar. I will make House Leo feared by its enemies and loved by its people again."
Aegar smiled. It was a genuine, radiant smile that stripped away the years of sickness and grief.
"My son," he breathed. "My... hope."
"Father?"
"The flower…" Aegar murmured, his eyes drifting to the snow near the tree's roots. "Lyra's… lily…"
Alexius looked. Buried under the snow, miraculously preserved by the magic of the Eternal Tree, was a single, frozen Blue Lily. His mother's favorite.
Alexius reached out, his hand trembling, and plucked it. He placed it in his father's hand.
Aegar's fingers closed around the stem. He lifted it to his nose and breathed in. His mind drifted back to a warm summer long ago.
"Lyra," he whispered. "I'm... coming."
HP: 1
"Alexius… I cannot see you," Aegar said softly, as if his sight was fading.
"Yes, Father. I am here," Alexius replied. He held his father's hand and pressed it to his cheek.
"Live," Aegar whispered, his voice light as the wind. "Do not… be alone… like me."
"Te amami… meos filias," he breathed.
I love you, my son.
The hand holding the flower slowly relaxed. His chest, which had been fighting to breathe, grew still with one last, quiet sigh.
The violet eyes looked up at the grey sky, catching the falling snow, but the light inside them was gone.
[System Notification]
[Name: Aegar Demetrios Leo]
[Title: 28th Grand Prince of Leo, The Great Balancer]
[Status: DECEASED]
May he rest in the gentle hands of Deos, the Creator.
The wind ceased to howl. The snow ceased to fall. There was only the weight of the man in his arms. The man who had been a stranger, then a protector, and finally, for a brief moments, a father.
The word slipped out. A word from his past life. A word Michael had never gotten to say to his own parents before he died. A word Alexius had yearned to say for his entire life.
"Et te amami, Patara."
I love you too, Father.
Alexius bent forward and pressed his face into his father's cold shoulder. A cry rose in his chest, deep and painful, with nowhere to escape.
He cried, and his tears fell onto his father's face—warm and helpless against the cold of death.
He cried for the years taken from him. He cried for the lonely days in the mansion. He cried for the man who gave up his own heart so his son's could keep breathing.
He sat there for a long, quiet time, holding the Aegar's body as snow slowly fell, covering them both in white.
Footsteps came closer, crunching through the snow.
Elias. Captain Fidus. The Royal Herald.
They stopped a short distance away. They saw the Prince sitting in the snow, holding the Grand Prince's lifeless body. They saw the blue lily in the dead man's hand.
Royal Herald, Marcus the man of iron composure, broke. He covered his mouth with his gloved hand, his shoulders shaking as he cried in silence. He had served Aegar since they were boys.
Fidus removed his helmet. He dropped to both knees in the snow, planting his greatsword in the earth and bowing his head until it touched the cold ground.
After a long time, Alexius took a deep, shaking breath. He wiped his face, brushing away tears and melting snow. Slowly and carefully, he laid his father back against the tree. He fixed the cloak so Aegar looked like a sovereign of the country at rest, the blue flower held forever against his chest.
Alexius stood up.
He felt empty inside. The [Grand Strategic View] flashed before his eyes, but he ignored it. He did not care about armies or supplies right now.
He looked at his hands. They were shaking.
He looked down at his father's peaceful face one last time, then raised his head to address the small gathering of witnesses."The First Day of the Snow Season," Alexius murmured.
The Royal Herald, Marcus Junius, swallowed hard. He took out his quill and touched it to the parchment, his voice shaking as he recorded the passing of a legend.
"Grand Prince Aegar Demetrios Leo," Alexius said to the silent garden. "Son of the Phoenix. Lion of the North. The Twenty-Eighth Sovereign of the Leo Principality."
He paused and looked at the man who had held a broken country together with nothing but his will.
"He took his final breath on December 1st, Year 5128, in the fourth hour of the afternoon. Let it be written. Let the records show this truth. History shall remember him as the Great Balancer."
The wind howled and pulled at Alexius's cloak. Then silence fell again.
Alexius stepped away from the body. He turned to Elias, Fidus, and the Herald. His eyes began to glow with violet light as he used Sovereign's Aura, pushing his grief aside and filling the air with fierce, frightening power. Everybody could feel the pressure weighing down on them.
"As the Sovereign of the country has passed, The Throne cannot remain empty," Alexius declared, his voice rising.
He placed his hand over his heart.
"Hence, by the ancient law of the Principality, I now take the Crown as the only true heir of House Leo."
Captain Fidus drove his greatsword into the frozen ground and knelt on one knee. Elias bowed deeply, his forehead touching the snow. The Herald did the same, lowering himself before the new ruler of the realm.
"Long Live the Grand Prince!" Fidus roared, his voice cracking with emotion.
"Long Live Alexius Demetrios Leo!" the others chanted in unison.
Thus marked the end of an old era, and birthed a new era.
(Continue....)