Chapter 222: Magic / 6.9 : Twice the hurt
Once Atlas was in front of the imperial study the guards opened the doors. He came in and looked at the doors being closed. Atlas looked at the twins who were sitting behind the desk looking at a map.
He respectfully bowed and said:
"Your majesty, great general."
Yitian said:
"Have a seat."
Atlas took a seat and looked at them expressionlessly.
Yitian said:
"You can call us by our names."
"This humble servant wouldn’t dare to call the emperor and the great general so familiarly."
The twins frowned. Yujin said:
"Atlas there is no need for formalities."
Atlas said:
"If that’s okay with his majesty and great general I would prefer to address you by your title. I wouldn’t dare to call you differently it’s not like I’m the best mage in the imperial city."
Atlas felt satisfied when the twins looked at him uncomfortably. He’s honestly aggrieved. He changed a lot and so did his feelings. Er-Ge is the only person who never judged him and loves him for him but the twins did.
Not only did they judge him but they dared to defend Yan. When he saw how discontent they were when he made that comment about him and the affection in their eyes when they talked about how hard Yan worked he felt his heart clench.
He doesn’t care that he was away from them it hurt especially after the previous life.
He isn’t jealous or anything like that he is just hurt. He always thought that you could only love someone to a certain extent but he knows now that it’s not true for him. The move universe he visits the more he loves Caspian.
His love for him is immeasurable so having the twins judge him was hard on him. Only his Er-Ge has that power over him.
After realizing what a mistake it was to get rid of his feeling he decided that he would feel whatever he does and deal with those feelings the right way. Healthily unlike before.
It worked since no matter how scared or worried he was when he was pregnant he always talked to Caspian, Eden, or Damian, and now that he talked it through has no more nightmares now.
So even if it hurts he won’t bury his feelings and face them. Altas looked down disappointed. When his Er-Ge would misbehave he wouldn’t feel hurt, he would just mess with him and have fun but this time he is.
Yitian said:
"Atlas we’re sorry about that day. We didn’t know who you were."
Yujin said:
"Please forgive us."
Atlas looked up and said:
"You didn’t know anything about me but you still made an assumption. Couldn’t you just ask me why I couldn’t leave instead of assuming that I would rather stay in that cave alone? Do you think I wanted to stay frozen on a ravine unable to move for a year than live in a cave for two? Don’t you think I would’ve preferred to be with my father and little sister?"
The twins looked into Atlas’s teary eyes and felt even more guilty after hearing what he’s been through. Yitian called:
"Atlas..."
Before he could finish Atlas cut him and said:
"The worst in all of this is that you dared to say I wanted to stay there and do nothing while your Yan’er helps people. You judged me."
A tear fell on Atlas’ face and he quickly wiped it. This is so silly why is he even that upset? If it was before he wouldn’t feel this hurt and it’s annoying that he can get to him like that.
The twins realized at that moment how much they hurt Atlas. Because yesterday he had a mocking smile they believed that he was just peeved but they saw the pain in his eyes when he said you judged me.
Yujin said:
"Atlas..."
Atlas cut him and asked:
"May I please know why his majesty and great general summoned me?"
Yitian swallowed. He heard in his head:
*Let’s not push him too far. It will take time to gain his forgiveness. Forcing him to open up and forgive us is only going to make him resent us more.*
Yitian glanced at his brother then at Atlas. Yitians said:
"We would like to speak about your proposal of exchanging your services."
"I know I can cure the empress dowager but I want to make sure first that his majesty will be able to grant my wishes."
Yujin said:
"There are three wishes but the first one is already determined."
"What is it?"
The twins looked slightly nervous as Yujin said:
"If you’re able to save the empress dowager it would mean that you’re a powerful mage so we would want you to be part of the ministry."
Atlas forced himself not to laugh. They clearly made up that wish to have him around but he doesn’t mind. He wants to make sure that his father keeps control over half of the ministers.
Atlas said:
"Fine."
The twins relaxed a little.
They forced themselves not to smile despite their happiness. At least they will be able to see Atlas every day and they feel that it’s a big step ahead especially now that they’ve seen how hurt he is.
Yitian asked:
"What are your two wishes?"
"I want my father’s title as minister of officials to be for life and I want his majesty to arrange a marriage between my sister and Su Xin."
If his father’s title of minister of officials is guaranteed no one would dare to go after him and as for his sister she was supposed to marry Su Xin but the Bei got involved.
Su Xin is the grandson of a rich, particularly prominent official and everyone wished to marry their daughter to him but he and Yun fell in love.
Zihang and Su Xin’s grandfather met and it was decided they would marry next spring in a couple of months. As usual, the gossip spread in the imperial city, and the Bei immediately became scared because of the Su’s power.
They sent the head of two of their servants they had killed previously when they were on an errand to their house and said that Su Xin would be next if he was to marry Yun.
Despite that Su Xin was determined to marry Yun and his grandfather said that he wouldn’t fold because of threats but Yun was scared for the man she loved and canceled everything.
The two always see each other during events and spend the night looking at each other lovesick. They still love each other deeply and Atlas will give them their happy ending.
When Yun died in the OG timeline Su Xin never recovered that’s how much he loves her and Atlas knows that he’ll spend his entire life making her happy.
He also has someone in mind for his father and he’ll make sure he makes her his consort. She’s a good person who’s been around for a while and he knows that his father cares for her.
The twins looked at Atlas surprised. Most people would use those wishes on themselves but both of his wishes were for his family. Everything their father said was the truth.
Yitian said:
"Your wish will be granted."
Atlas nodded and asked:
"May I see the patient?"
The twins nodded and led him to the chambers the empress dowager was staying in. Yujin had the room empty and the twins looked as Atlas checked her. Even if they know how powerful Atlas is they can’t help but be nervous.
Their grandmother is the only family member they have left they don’t want to lose her too.
Atlas sat at the edge of the bed and took her pulse. Once he did Atlas looked at her surprised. He scanned her body using a tool from Versem and was stunned.
He looked at the twins and asked:
"Was she a mage?
Yujin answered:
"She was but she rarely did magic."
Atlas nodded and closed his eyes while holding her hand.
After feeling the amount of darkness he opened his eyes. It seems like it will take more than a couple of days to transfer it from her body to his. With the amount, he’ll be incapacitated for a few days.
Transferring that amount is too much but luckily the backlash will only last a week. The twins approached and Yitian asked:
"Can you save her?"
Atlas looked at the twins and he felt uncomfortable. Their fear of losing her was palpable. It’s not surprising after all the people they’ve lost.
He stood up and asked:
"The side effect she had before she fell into a coma were they the same as all the family members you lost?"
Yujin said:
"They were it’s the same illness we’re sure of it."
"Why?"
Yitian said:
"Because their blood turned brown."
Atlas said:
"It isn’t a heredity illness as you thought."
The twins looked at Atlas stunned. Yitian asked:
"What do you mean?"
"All your family members were perfectly healthy just like your grandmother. They died because they were poisoned with darkness."
The twins felt unable to react then they looked down with difficulty. All this time turns out that someone has been taking down their family member one by one.
The reason they didn’t know it was darkness is that it’s extremely hard to get it unless you’re powerful so most people didn’t know what darkness poisoning looks like.
The reason the empress dowager is still hanging on is that she was a powerful mage while the others were magian.
Yitian said viciously:
"Someone has been killing our family one by one to get to the throne. If I get my hands on him he’ll taste death by a thousand cuts."
Despite saying that the twins looked broken. Atlas swallowed and he sighed. He hugged Yitian and he held onto him tightly.
Atlas caressed his nape and after a few seconds, he hugged Yujin. He held him just as tightly and he caressed his nape.
Atlas pulled back and said:
"I can take the darkness out of her she’ll live it will just take a couple of days because there’s a large quantity. Thankfully her nucleus is filled with esse which allowed her to hang on."
The twins let out a breath and hugged Atlas. Atlas hugged them back and pulled back. Yujin asked:
"I thought only archmage has the dark ability?"
Atlas nodded. The twins looked at him stunned. They said incredulously at the same time:
"You’re an archmage."
Atlas nodded again. The twins never thought they would ever meet an archmage in their lifetime. They are rare since an archmage is born once every 300 years and even then it’s not guaranteed.
Atlas said:
"I’ll start today."
Yitian proposed:
"Since it will take a few days you should stay here, we’ll have someone prepare a room for you."
Atlas said:
"There’s no need for that I can come back every day."
Yujin asked:
"What if something happens in the middle of the night and you’re not there fast enough?"
Atlas looked at them then the empress dowager. Something can indeed happen but he doesn’t want to stay here. He sighed and said:
"Fine, I’ll first go back home to talk to my father."
The twins nodded and said gratefully at the same time:
"Thank you, beloved."
When Atlas’s cheeks reddened slightly their heart softened and they both caressed his head.
Atlas pushed their hand away and left. They’re so troublesome, he shouldn’t react to them it’s insane. What has Caspian turned him into?
