Aeren vanished into the crowd, heading to his carriage while Ellie watched him until the end. She stood up, surveyed her surroundings, and observed the people staring at the corpses around them with fear in their eyes.
A few still looked stable on the outside, but their inner turmoil was evident. This sight made Ellie feel increasingly irritated, and she turned to the crowd with growing impatience.
"What are you staring at?"
All the witnesses in the area turned their heads to Ellie, who looked genuinely furious about the situation. They could feel her mounting anger and instinctively stepped back from their positions, sensing the dangerous shift in her demeanor.
"What are you all doing standing there like statues?"
Ellie's cold voice cut through the air like ice, freezing them all in place. No words came from anyone's mouth. After hearing her earlier statement about Aeren, they began to suspect that the siblings were playing some twisted game, killing people for their own amusement.
"Stop gawking and clean up this mess! Bury the bodies or burn them—I don't care which—but clean this place thoroughly. If we leave this scene as it is, others will think we're nothing but barbarians. Important guests will be traveling through this area, so remove all this filth immediately."
Ellie's outburst sent shockwaves through the crowd. When they heard about cleaning the bodies, relief washed over them as they realized they had a task to focus on. However, Ellie noticed how quickly they forgot her authority, and she wouldn't tolerate such disrespect.
She released a controlled burst of her mana, and everyone felt the crushing pressure and barely contained bloodlust radiating from her small frame. "Clean it up now, or join them in death."
"No! We'll do it immediately!" One of the witnesses shouted desperately from the crowd. Ellie heard this prompt response and gradually relaxed her overwhelming presence.
"Wise choice." Ellie spoke her final words with cold satisfaction and left them behind.
Ellie returned to her carriage and sat across from Aeren, who was still watching outside, observing the sky and forest.
Aeren witnessed new slaves with new freedom: wind flow controlled by surroundings, cloud flow controlled by wind, mountains standing in one place blocking both, rivers flowing down the mountain without paths, controlled by the mountain's direction.
All of them looked free, but their reality was much crueler than could be described.
Aeren observed this freedom and slavery existing together as the carriage began its journey toward the Palace.
After hours of travel through winding mountain roads, Aeren, Ellie, and their entourage finally reached the imposing gates of the Royal Palace. The massive carriage procession came to a halt before the ornate entrance. Guards stationed at the gates observed the royal convoy from their posts and immediately signaled for the gates to open wide.
The carriage proceeded inside and stopped a short distance from the palace. Everyone began exiting their carriages.
One of the senior guards approached Aeren and Ellie's carriage with respectful urgency. "Your Highnesses, we have arrived safely at the palace. The royal family awaits your presence."
Aeren and Ellie heard him and remained silent. "Open the door," Aeren commanded the guard, who followed his order and opened the carriage door.
Aeren stepped out of his carriage, turned toward the palace, and saw decorations being prepared all over the place. The entire palace complex gleamed like a celestial realm, every surface polished to perfection. The grand entrance stood Empress Hyliana, flanked by several important court members and family retainers.
Ellie emerged behind Aeren and also spotted the Empress and others in the distance. Both began walking toward them.
When Aeren and Ellie reached them, they saw all their family members had come to greet them.
"Aeren, Ellie, how are you both? You look well despite your long journey."
Aeren and Ellie turned their attention to their father, Emperor Baltazar, who had asked with a smile on his face.
"We are doing well, Father. You look healthy as always," Aeren and Ellie replied in perfect unison.
Emperor Baltazar watched his children, who had begun to mature into adults. Thinking about this made him laugh loudly. "HAHAHAHA, you two are the same. Nothing has changed—you still speak in perfect sync."
Empress Hyliana watched the Emperor's display of emotion, then turned to Aeren, ignoring conversation. Aeren and Ellie watched their father with confusion when they heard another voice.
"Why were you two delayed? Your scheduled return was expected hours ago."
Empress Hyliana asked, and silence took over. Emperor Baltazar also stopped laughing and turned his attention to Aeren and Ellie.
"Nothing, just a small incident occurred, and we resolved it. Nothing special about it."
Aeren explained the situation to their family with few words, and Ellie nodded in agreement. Before anyone could ask further questions, Viviana spoke to everyone.
"Perhaps we should continue this conversation inside where everyone can be comfortable. These two should also have time to refresh themselves after their long journey."
After hearing Viviana, everyone turned to her with surprise on their faces. "Yes, an excellent suggestion. We'll discuss everything properly inside where we can all be seated comfortably,"
As Emperor Baltazar spoke, everyone nodded and headed inside. All of them took seats except for Aeren and Ellie.
Aeren and Ellie went to their rooms to wash themselves while the others waited at their seats.
Aeren entered his room and surveyed it, feeling nothing. He saw no one around—his chamber was empty with pin-drop silence and no emotional atmosphere. If anyone entered Aeren's chamber, they would think no one lived there at all.
Aeren removed all his clothes and went to the bathroom for a bath. He entered the washroom, turned on the shower, and cold water touched his body.
Initially, Aeren couldn't feel anything, but after he gained control over his body to experience the cold, he began to feel it without shivering. He simply stood there and began thinking.
I've had two families before, but I never understood the meaning behind family. Why do I always have to be born through people after the erasure of existence?
Haven't I reached true freedom where I can be born from nature itself? Or does freedom always have to be born from slavery?
Aeren pondered all of this, unable to comprehend the true meaning of the freedom he had been pursuing.
"I have tried many times and still cannot see true freedom yet. I could erase this existence too, but if I just erase all existence, how will I find a way outside of existence?"
"Should I chain myself to find my path?"
"Should I follow the world's fate and let fate chain me to see the meaning?"
"Should I even exist within this world's fate, or am I a non-existent being that can be seen and heard but can't be remembered?"
"Does this world even have the power to chain me, or do I have to chain myself to this world's fate to see the meaning behind my path?"
Aeren whispered to himself, deciding whether he should follow the world to find his freedom's meaning or erase this existence too to discover the meaning behind his freedom.
"What is freedom?"
Aeren looked up at the shower and question himself. He had experienced freedom but hadn't comprehended the meaning of true freedom.
"No one can tell me this answer. I have to find my answer, and if I can't find it, I will create it. If I can't create it, I will birth my true freedom."
Aeren reminded himself of all his thoughts about true freedom and erased the chains of his own freedom, letting fate take and chain him.
The moment Aeren allowed fate to chain him, the world began to shake violently, and the universe started to scream in recognition. Thunder echoed throughout all existence.
The world began to free itself alongside Aeren. As the world started to sense his consciousness for the first time, space began fracturing everywhere around them.
The sun and moon began trembling from the world's awakened presence, and existence itself started creating new suns and moons in desperate response.
Existence began to gain its own consciousness, and in panic, it started trying to chain everything to itself for stability. The world broke free new colors that had been hidden since creation, and people across the globe began crumbling to the ground while gaining new freedom within themselves.
New colors were born on the bodies of fated people, and even common people gained new colors, though not as powerfully as the fated ones—the difference remained like heaven and earth.
Aeren had let fate control him briefly, hoping to see the true meaning of his freedom. But before the world could establish any real chain around him, both world and existence began crumbling under the pressure of his true nature.
Aeren watched the scene. "Existence is too weak to even chain me slightly," Aeren spoke and cut the string of fate. But fate had connected to Aeren enough that he could no longer be non-existent anymore.
However, he could still free himself whenever he wanted—Aeren had only wanted to see whether he could find meaning through this connection or not.