The Great Wish - Chapter 45: It Will Come To Pass (3)

The words appeared briefly on the page before fading away. After a pause, Kuhn carefully pressed the pen to the paper again, his brows slightly furrowed, revealing his tension.

With a single, fluid motion, he wrote the final character. Both of them watched in silence as the glowing words were swallowed by the light.

―It will come to pass.

Sienna’s eyes widened. The words had changed. The familiar sentence had always been the same, but now, it was different. The glowing text gradually disappeared.

And then, from the blank page, a soft light began to radiate. Sienna leaned in closer to examine it. Just as she did, Kuhn swiftly wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her back.

The beam of light shot up from the book, narrowly missing the ends of Sienna’s hair. It stretched upward like a reversed waterfall, piercing through the ceiling.

Though it left no physical damage, the intense energy that had been sealed within the book seemed to surge out, cutting through space and time.

Even after the beam faded, neither of them moved. Kuhn’s arms remained tightly around Sienna, instinctively shielding her from the unknown danger.

“What… what just happened?” Sienna murmured, still in a daze.

“I’m not sure…” Kuhn replied, equally stunned.

Sienna, her eyes still locked on the now-open book, suddenly pulled away from Kuhn’s embrace and grabbed the pen. She began to write in the ancient script.

“Ah…” she gasped.

The characters remained. She wrote again, but this time, there was no response. The letters didn’t vanish, and no new sentence appeared.

Her hands began to tremble, and the pen slipped from her grip, rolling across the desk. She stared blankly at the page, realization dawning on her.

“It’s gone…”

The book was no longer the scripture. The divine power that had once resided within it had vanished. It was now just an ordinary notebook.

They both stood there, staring at the page where Sienna’s writing remained. Neither of them knew what to make of the situation.

“Your Majesty!”

A frantic voice called from outside. Before either could respond, the study doors burst open. A lady-in-waiting entered, breathless, having completely abandoned formal etiquette—a breach that would normally draw severe reprimands from the head maid.

And yet, it was the head maid herself who had stormed into the room, her face flushed, panting heavily.

“Your Majesty! You must come outside. The tower of the Sacred Tree… the tower…”

Without hesitation, Sienna and Kuhn rushed outside the Silver King’s palace. Despite the late hour, they found servants and guards standing frozen in the darkness, all gazing toward the Solar Palace.

Sienna followed their gaze and her eyes widened in shock. At the highest peak of the Solar Palace, where the Sacred Tree resided, a massive pillar of light shot up into the sky, illuminating the night.

***

The butler, following orders to bring some alcohol, placed an unfamiliar bottle on the table. It wasn’t wine, nor was it the takju (traditional rice wine) that Jeffrey often drank. The bottle had a round base and a narrow neck.

“What is this?” Jeffrey asked.

“My wife brewed this fruit wine herself,” replied the butler.

Jeffrey silently stared at the butler, who continued, “It’s made from raspberries and has medicinal properties. It’s a recipe passed down in our family.”

“Medicine? Do I look sick to you?”

“Oh, no, Your Grace. It’s just that you drink heavily, so I thought you’d prefer something healthier. I apologize if I offended you.”

Jeffrey sighed and waved his hand dismissively. What he really wanted was a strong drink that would burn his throat and sting his nose, but he couldn’t blame someone for showing concern.

At least there was one person who cared about his health, he thought bitterly.

After the butler left, Jeffrey picked up the bottle. When he poured the drink into his glass, a Red liquid like blood flowed out. He filled the glass and downed it in one go. It was indeed a good drink, smooth with a clean aftertaste.

The sweet aroma of the fruit wine lingered deep in his lungs, but it left a bitter taste in his mouth.

Holding the empty glass, he closed his eyes. Despite just one drink, the alcohol’s warmth spread through his body. He sighed in frustration. Today, the Silver King received the crown of the Sacred Tree. The emperor had changed. The outcome was already determined when Dian gave up his claim to the throne, but now that the day had arrived, an indescribable sense of loss washed over him.

“The flower of the Sacred Tree…”

After witnessing that miracle, no one could question the new emperor. Even the marriage, which most of the nobility disapproved of, could no longer be seen as a flaw.

“Can I have a drink too?”

Jeffrey looked up and chuckled as he saw his old friend approaching in a wheelchair.

“Who let you in?”

“Don’t blame anyone. It’s because I look like this now. I’m nothing more than an old man who can’t even twist a child’s wrist.”

“Is physical strength the only kind of strength? Your sharp tongue could still cut down dozens of men.”

“You’re still prickly, I see.”

Randell wheeled himself up to the table and extended his hand.

“Looks like there’s only one glass. Hand it over.”

Jeffrey smirked, handed him the glass, and poured him some of the wine.

“Are you here to mock me?”

“Mock you? I’d sooner envy you sitting on your pile of money than mock you.”

“…I just don’t understand.”

Jeffrey was perplexed. The world wasn’t fair. His father had died in vain, and his younger sister had met a miserable end. How could there be any compensation for their injustice?

He had believed that Dian becoming emperor and making a name as a great ruler was the only way to prevent their deaths from being meaningless. But the late Duke Rimone, who committed unspeakable crimes, had lived a life of luxury until dying peacefully of old age. Now, his granddaughter had become the emperor.

And on top of that, the gods had blessed her reign by making the Sacred Tree bloom.

Randell listened to Jeffrey’s grievances and took a long drink from the glass, letting out a satisfied sigh.

“This is good wine. Something like this should be shared. Next time, I’ll bring some fine liquor.”

“You plan on coming back?”

“Are you going to kick me out?”

“…”

“Jeffrey, we’ve lived longer than we have left to live. It’s too late to turn our backs on each other over small grudges.”

Randell took the bottle from Jeffrey and poured more wine.

“If you have resentment towards me, let it go. If you have resentment towards the world, let it flow away. The world moves like a massive wave, and we are just droplets caught in the current. Sometimes we’re thrown in directions we don’t want to go, and sometimes we’re stuck in deep pits, unable to move.”

“So, all that I’ve gone through is just fate?”

“Don’t be bitter. You can’t exactly grab the gods by the throat.”

“If I could, I’d like to try.”

Jeffrey snatched the glass from Randell’s hand and downed the drink in one gulp.

Randell clicked his tongue. He pitied his friend, who couldn’t move on from the despair of the past and continued to ignore the happiness right in front of him.

“I believe that the Iron King was truly his uncle’s grandson. Who else could make such a decision? You know how much harder it is to let go than to hold on. If he had ascended the throne, he would’ve made a great emperor.”

“But you supported the Silver King.”

“I would have gladly accepted it if the Iron King had restored his position in the line of succession and ascended the throne. Jeffrey, the throne is a position granted by the heavens. Do you really think people like you and I have any say in it?”

Jeffrey stubbornly remained silent, but Randell didn’t press him. It would take time for his tangled emotions to unravel.

“…Am I still your friend?” Randell asked with a smile, sensing that perhaps it wouldn’t take as long as he thought.

“Of course,” Jeffrey replied.

Though their conversation had started awkwardly, they quickly broke down the walls between them. Before long, they were talking as naturally as they had in the past.

“The Silver King… or rather, the emperor and her husband … Do you Recall how they signed the marriage contract long ago?” Jeffrey asked.

“Hmm?” Randell flinched.

“You were a witness, so you must have known. It must have been hard to keep that a secret.”

“Well… yes,” Randell mumbled, avoiding the subject. He couldn’t exactly admit that he had been just as shocked when he saw the date stamped on the emperor’s seal. He vividly remembered the day he signed it—the day before the year-end banquet. But somehow, that date had been altered to appear as though it had happened in summer.

Whether it had been the Silver King’s doing or the emperor’s decision, the forged document was something he could never have imagined from the father-daughter duo. Yet no one had questioned the authenticity of the marriage contract.

Randell had kept his silence, even when his youngest son grumbled, “You could have at least given me a hint. I had no idea and ended up making a fool of myself, hitting on someone already married.”

“Are you keeping busy these days? I heard that every merchant in the empire is dying to meet the Duke of Acheron,” Randell said, deftly changing the topic.

Jeffrey nodded and sighed, but his expression remained somber.

“I have a lot on my mind these days, and I haven’t been able to sleep well. Even if I manage to build up my family, I still worry about what comes after. I can’t have children now.”

“Why do you think that’s impossible? Age is just a number.”

“Come on, man,” Jeffrey exclaimed in shock, which made Randell burst into laughter.

“You could always adopt a smart heir, but with the Iron King around, you may not even need to do that.”

“Did the law change without me knowing?” Jeffrey asked sarcastically. Dian, the Iron King, was the emperor’s son, and as such, couldn’t be adopted into another noble family. The only way he could give up the name of ‘Argent’ was by being disgraced and cast out of the imperial family.

“Not His Majesty the Iron King. I’m talking about his son,” Randell clarified.

Jeffrey’s eyes widened. His great-nephew, Curtis, was the king’s son, but since his father didn’t have a claim to the throne, Curtis wasn’t bound by imperial law.

“Hmmm…”

Jeffrey rubbed his chin, lost in thought.

“Your Grace!”

Suddenly, a loud shout came from outside. Both dukes turned in surprise. Jeffrey called out, “What is it?!”

The butler entered the room, his voice shaking. “There’s been an emergency!”

“What emergency?” Jeffrey demanded.

“The imperial palace… something’s happened at the palace…”

“What happened at the palace?!” Randell shouted in frustration. He cursed his body, which couldn’t even stand on its own.

The butler frantically looked around and ran to the balcony, throwing open the doors. He waved his arms wildly, signaling for the dukes to follow him. It was a breach of decorum, but no one cared about that at the moment.

Jeffrey pushed Randell’s wheelchair out onto the balcony. From the second-floor balcony, they had a clear view of the imperial palace to the right. When they saw what the butler was pointing at, both of their mouths fell open.

“What… is that?”

A beam of light was shooting down from the sky, piercing the night’s darkness. It was a sight unlike anything in this world.

But the word “emergency” seemed misplaced. The three of them knew immediately that what they were witnessing wasn’t something ominous. They couldn’t tear their eyes away from the strange, wondrous spectacle.

***