Chapter 943 Truth (2)
It was not hard for Euan to act aloofly around others because he was an Emperor. While he was not precisely an aloof person, his demeanor resembled one, especially when he was in front of other nation leaders.
After some time, Euan started to learn the Somulian language. This allowed him to communicate with the inhabitants of the plane better. He also knew that rather than referring to them as humans, they were called complete beings.
It was a very obnoxious way to call themselves, in Euan's opinion.
Soon, Euan learned more about Somuli. Unfortunately, before he could understand the power structure in the Kingdom of Cretea, he was captured by one of Anshel's subjects.
The reason was apparent. It was Euan's uncanny resemblance to Anshel. They believed his existence would pose a threat. Apart from that, he would cause confusion to others who were unaware of his identity.
Fortunately, Euan was an Emperor. He learned a lot of things, especially in the way of negotiation and a battle of wits. It also helped that Anshel's health had been deteriorating, and Euan's Alchemy knowledge was quite good, providing him an excellent leverage for negotiation.
Anshel agreed to let Euan live; in turn, his existence should be kept hidden. Euan was also forced to stay inside Anshel's residence.
As much as Euan wanted to reject such conditions, he had no choice but to accept them because his strength was insufficient to threaten Anshel and his subjects. He did not possess a Divine Armament and replenish his magic energy at will. His mage level was also pitifully lower compared to them.
In the Human plane, Euan could be considered one of the leading mages since he was already promoted to a Magus. But in Somuli, or at least in the Kingdom of Cretea, if the nobles wanted to enter the Mage Court, they had to be at least a Magus. And even then, with that level, they were ranked at the bottom.
The subjects under Anshel were all Legendary, with a few Arch Maguses that dealt with menial tasks.
From this, Euan knew he stood no chance if he rejected Anshel's conditions and tried to escape.
After accepting Anshel's conditions, Euan and Anshel made a pact. Euan then lived in the inner court, and only a selected subject of Anshel knew of his existence.
Euan wanted to reject Anshel's conditions because he wanted to learn more about the plane. If he stayed inside the inner court where his movements would be monitored, he could not gather intel.
Who would have expected that Euan would stand corrected by his thoughts?
After living in the inner court, Euan was given enough freedom and even authority to roam and enter some exclusive towers.
These towers were the Alchemy Tower and the Archive.
While Euan could only access limited books inside the Archive, it helped him understand Somuli and its power structure. He also learned how to write in their language in a short time.
Euan lived monotonously in the inner court for a few years. He focused on learning as much as he could about Somuli, the Kingdom of Cretea, and its neighboring nations. Finally, he did what he could to invent a combat strategy against the complete beings. The reason for the latter was simple. Although he could adjust to Somuli's Magic Law, his weakness was that he did not possess a Divine Armament. To cover for his weakness, he needed a new combat strategy.
This was similar to how Tyr created a new combat system utilizing his Array knowledge to enhance his support-type innate magic. Because of this, he could combat mages and combat mages with no apparent weakness.
Euan could have used the same combat system Tyr did, replacing his lack of Divine Armament with Array. Unfortunately, he was not proficient with Array. He was not entirely without knowledge, but it was limited to the point that he would require hours to complete a primary Array. Not to mention, he would need materials that he did not possess at the moment.
In the end, Euan chose to enhance his Alchemy— or, using Somuli's term, Apothecary. Fortunately, Somuli did not lack information about the latter. Unfortunately, Alchemy, or Apothecary, was not the expertise of the Kingdom of Cretea. Compared to Armakea, their Apothecary was behind by several miles.
Anshel, with his ever-worsening condition, could only survive that day because of the excellent relationship between The Kingdom of Cretea and the Land of the Eidums. Since the latter was the haven of all healers and apothecaries, they had been concocting a potion for Anshel.
With Euan's arrival, who was responsible for concocting Anshel's potion by then, they no longer asked for the Eidums' assistance. However, they still ordered large amounts of medicinal herbs and plants from them.
While Euan studied Somuli's Apothecary, he combined his knowledge with Alchemy and devised a new combat system he could utilize— Potion magic.
Everything was going as Euan expected. After almost three years, he could already use the potions to cast magic. Of course, his experimentation was concealed from Anshel and his subjects. It was a struggle to hide his endeavor, especially b from acquiring medicinal herbs and plants to concocting potions, but he managed somehow.
In Euan's fourth year in Somuli, something forced him to change his priorities.
The Third Division of the Court Mages captured a woman with a rare eye and hair color.
Euan had been present, albeit hidden when the woman was presented to the public for execution. To his horror, he discovered the woman had an uncanny resemblance to his daughter— Haylee.
For the record, at that point in time, Euan still did not know that Haylee was only an essence. Thus, he only saw the woman as a stranger who looked similar to his daughter.
Nonetheless, Euan found the look in the woman in question's eyes a tad familiar. How she did not show signs of fearing her imminent death made him remember the first Empress.
The first Empress had the same look when she unhesitatingly faced death if it would ensure the safety of their daughter.
Seeing the woman's expression, Euan felt a rare weakness. But he resolved not to get involved because he had his priorities. At that time, his priority was strengthening his Potion magic, voiding his pact with Anshel, and escaping.
But when the judge read out the woman's sin, the name he called her made Euan's blood run cold.
Cyneah.
The judge pronounced it strangely, but Euan, who heard it reflexively, spelled it inwardly in his head.
The first Empress was the one who named their daughter. One could say that was the only thing that connected her to their daughter after her death. However, because of another curse affecting their daughter, Euan christened her with a new name— Haylee. This name was only known by selected family members and servants. Thus protecting her from a curse's threat.
What were the odds that a woman who looked much like Haylee would possess her old name?
Euan's intuition told him this was not a coincidence. And the more he looked at the woman named Cyneah, the more he found her familiar rather than a stranger. He was then overcome with an urge to understand the truth. For all he knew, Haylee was still in the Human plane, and while he trusted Kyran and the others would have stopped her rebellion, how they dealt with her was a different matter.
Euan would not have the heart to execute his daughter. But what about Kyran? He had the power to warp. What if he exiled Haylee to a distant plane that happened to be the same plane Euan ended up in?
A lot of what ifs and could haves flashed through Euan's mind. Ultimately, he could no longer be uninvolved himself.
When the judge declared Cyneah's sentence, and who would execute her, Euan left to find the executioner.
He planned to use Potion magic and delay Cyneah's execution as long as possible by poisoning him.
In the end, Euan discovered the executioner was having second thoughts about executing Cyneah. However, he also could not defy his orders. Euan immediately changed his approach, and instead of poisoning the executioner, he used a potion to sway the latter's will and instill an idea in his head to save the woman.
Fortunately, the potion worked, and the executioner showed a determined expression.
Euan planned to make the executioner hesitate, and then he would cause a commotion by appearing before the crowd of Nobles. With his resemblance to Anshel, his appearance without any signs of illness would cause an uproar.
How the executioner would save the woman? Euan could only trust him to use the window of opportunity he provided.
In the worst-case scenario, Euan would pretend to be Anshel and outright order Cyneah's release. He would be subjected to Anshel's wrath, but because of his usefulness - with his potions seemingly more effective than the Eidums- he would not kill him.
But none of the scenarios Euan thought of happened. Instead, another complete being with proper authority stepped in to save Cyneah- the Eidum's Abbot.
At this point, Cyneah, who had been silent from the start of Euan's narration, slightly changed her demeanor. Her indifferent expression softened slightly as she looked over to Euan.
Euan pretended not to notice Cyneah's glance and continued with his story.
Nachum's decision to save Cyneah displeased Anshel. In his opinion, Nachum's explanation about Cyneah's different eye and hair color was far-fetched. He was convinced Cyneah was tainted and would be a threat to the complete beings if left alive.
Euan managed to change Anshel's opinion. Or, to be more accurate, he used potions to change the latter's mind slowly.
This was why the Kingdom of Cretea did not make a fuss after Nachum took Cyneah.
Soon, Euan made a breakthrough in his potion-making. He only needed one more ingredient that might make or break the potion he was concocting.
For the record, the effect of the potion he was trying to concoct was to remove the pact.
He did not dare to kill Euan through poison while they were still under the pact.
But when Anshel's condition turned for the worse, he threatened Nachum to find a permanent cure to his illness, or else he would pull out his people, helping them guard their borders.
In the end, Cyneah offered to heal Anshel.
Initially, Anshel refused because Nachum, whose healing abilities far exceeded the others, could not even heal him much more than her, whose origin was also being questioned.
In the end, Cyneah convinced Anshel to give her healing a chance. And when she succeeded, they were all shocked.
Anshel's recovery threatened Euan's plan. But it also had an unexpected result after he became a Sovereign.
This unexpected result gave Euan a new opportunity. Anshel's ascension might have inadvertently resulted from Cyneah's unbelievable ability, but by becoming a Sovereign, he was shackled by the plane's law. This then resulted in the pact between Anshel and Euan to be voided.
This was not the only thing that happened. With Cyneah's healing abilities being revealed, Euan was more or less convinced she was indeed his daughter. After all, healing abilities were rare, and he sensed her emit the same magic signature as Soul magic.
But how did she end up there?
Euan learned the answer from that person.
I want to write a longer chapter but I’m tied up at work with so many requests and meetings to attend to.. so I have to stop here ??
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