As Veer looked at the figure, she turned her eyes to the Veiled Knight. Sythris narrowed her eyes and asked, "Who are you? You seem to be a Black Knight, but I have no recollection of you."
The Veiled Knight stopped her attacks and simply gazed at Sythris. She then looked around, and Sythris nodded. "You are indeed very sharp, as expected."
A number of Silver Knights appeared from around the garden. Sythris said, "It's already wartime, and someone is still after this guy. Everyone, surround her."
The knights began to encircle the Veiled Knight, who gave Veer one last look before rapidly drifting away. Sythris then called to her knights who were following the disappearing knight. "No need to follow her. She is very fast."
Sythris turned her gaze toward Kerin in the distance, noticing an odd look on his face. She called a knight named Aerin and said, "Aerin, tend to this guy and have Rolagh and the others take him to his quarters."
Sythris approached Veer and pulled him aside. "Why are you constantly involved in fights or mysterious assassinations?"
Veer just shook his head, and she stared at him. He sighed. "I don't know."
Sythris paused for a moment, noticing the extent of his injuries. She murmured, "You're badly hurt. I didn't even notice it." She asked someone to hand over a first-aid kit, tore a bandage, and told Veer, "Sit down, let me take care of this."
Veer felt the urge to refuse, but looking at her valiant figure, he shivered slightly, sensing that refusal would invite no good, and he sat on a nearby bench. A few benches had been spared from the earlier fight. Sythris walked towards Veer and bent down. She carefully wrapped the bandage around his chest from behind. Veer felt a bit awkward and embarrassed as her hair grazed his body, and her soft breath seemed to tickle him.
Once she finished, she nodded and said, "It's done. Your resting chambers are nearby. Go and take some rest."
Veer expressed his thanks, but Sythris only replied, "Don't mention it. Just be careful."
He waved to Kerin as he was taken away. Strangely, Kerin seemed happy for no reason. Veer gave him an odd look as he walked toward his quarters. By now, he knew their exact location. He didn't notice Sythris following him until he passed the residence gate and approached his door.
Veer had carried a key in his pocket for a long time. He knew it was for his residence, but this was the first time using it after he lost his memories. He opened the door. As he stepped inside and shut it, Sythris pursed her lips as she sighed outside the residence, "He really understands nothing. What do I do? Haa…" She furrowed her brows as she contemplated, "Now the situation is getting even more complicated. Why is the king going to war at such a bad time?" She shook her head, her cape fluttering, before returning to her team.
Veer was in a different state. His heart began to race as he looked at his room. It was slightly messy. Something had been crudely written on the walls. A table had a book opened on it. The bed was unkempt, though the cupboard remained intact. Papers were scattered randomly across the floor. He felt something sinister crawling over him. He was actually feeling fear from his own room.
Veer stepped forward, only to struggle as though he were dying. His body suddenly gave out. His body felt as if it were expanding and contracting. He clutched himself but could not breathe. Was it exhaustion? Before he could process it, he fell down and became unconscious.
Star energy began to gather automatically in Veer's body from around the room. The strange uncanniness and shadows seemed to slowly vanish. Meanwhile, Veer seemed to enter a strange place, walking through what appeared to be graves of countless people. He was drifting around as he shifted suddenly and appeared somewhere else. As he looked upwards, the stars in the sky moved rapidly as seven stars shone brightly. Something very bright seemed to light up and began to form as he opened his eyes sweating.
Veer suddenly felt a surge of energy. He stood up and looked around. He was back in the same room. His fear was gone. Slowly, he walked to the table and looked at the book, his pupils dilating again, and he seemed to be out of breath again. It was a diary. The words inside read,
"It's over. They have found me. They have found me. They have found me..."
He rapidly skimmed the pages. There were a few other words, but they were incomplete: "They will kill everyone..."
Returning to the first page, he saw a star drawn there. Veer thought, This might be a clue.
He touched the star, and star energy circulated inside him. He was dumbfounded as something was materializing from his energy: an arrow. How? How could I be this strong? Veer was stupefied to see that his star energy was automatically used up to form an arrow. Manifestation was an abstract concept, and only Black Knights were able to do that.
The arrow slowly moved toward the cupboard in the distance. Veer followed the arrow and opened the cupboard, and the arrow stopped in front of an unnoticed section where a simple box lay. The box bore marks of forced attempts to open it. As he touched it, star energy again concentrated around the box as it opened with a sound. There was nothing inside, but a huge amount of starlight shone and moved to a certain part in the opposite wall, forming a square shape.
Veer pressed his hand against it, and the part of the wall shifted, revealing another box. Inside, he found a picture of himself with Eleana, Sythris, and Eryssa. They seemed close, likely from the same academy. But he could not remember anything. A folded paper lay beneath it. Veer unfolded it—it was titled "Secrecy" and a letter. He opened the letter and read it as his pupils dilated. It read,
"This letter is from myself to me. If you are reading this, it means they've gotten me good. Don't worry. Just keep practicing the Starweaver arts. It will at least allow me—rather, yourself—to survive anything under an Aetherial. I can't say more. If they discover the other secrets, everything will be lost."
Veer felt suffocated just reading the word Aetherial. Had he encountered one? How powerful were they? Could that being be stronger than the Grey Knight beside the king? He didn't know and didn't want to find out.
He tidied the bed slightly and sat down. He needed to open the scroll, but for now, he was drowning in an indescribable emptiness. He focused on the recent events: his lost memories, the peculiar old man who likely saved him with Star Arts on his katana, the mysterious puppet resembling him, Noelle's manipulations, the prince's involvement, Rheon's death, Valyn's truth, the adventure to Mythria, the lady in the picture, and the meeting with the Ancestor.
The Ancestor could be an Aetherial. Her strange powers, Eleana and Eryssa being the Chosen Ones, Lythria's innocence, the collapse of reality, the mysterious white letter, the return encounter with the illusion demon, the Knights of Braevan, and the declaration of war—all of it weighed heavily on his mind.
Veer shook his head and sighed. He had most likely gotten involved in a very big game. Finally, he took the scroll and opened it. It was titled "Starweaver's Beginning" at the top of the parchment. It contained only a single line, likely so others could not cultivate it. It looked very ancient and mystical. It read,
"Circle the Knight's breath, and awaken the Star. When the fruit of the Star ripens, bind it thrice into forming the Core and let it wander the hidden paths. Turn not its current, lest all unravel."