Chapter 1498: Chapter 1498

The grand doors of the throne room swung open as the guards pushed them aside. When they entered the room, the guards closed the door and left the three of them inside. Soon after, the heavy silence that followed felt almost alive.

Lory stared at the throne chamber that hadn’t changed much from her memory. The ceiling rose high above, vast and commanding, its steel arches glinting faintly under the pale light. From its center hung a long chandelier of crystal, elegant yet severe. Its sharp, gleaming edges caught the light like shards of ice, casting fractured reflections across the room. It didn’t look grand so much as imposing, a silent reminder of the power that ruled here.

Golden lines traced disciplined patterns across the dark blue and white walls, their precision giving the chamber a sense of strict order and restrained majesty. The marble floor, a deep gray polished to a mirror sheen, was partly covered by a long carpet of red and gold that stretched toward the throne, its colors rich and regal, commanding reverence with every step taken upon it.

Their footsteps echoed softly across the marble floor, each step swallowed by the vast emptiness of the chamber. The air here felt different, dense, ancient, heavy with memory of the past. Zhao Li Xin slowed his pace, his brow furrowing.

It was strange, though.

According to Lory, the Cestine Palace had been rebuilt after the war. Much of it was new, and yet, as he walked deeper into this room, he could not shake the feeling that he was stepping into something untouched by time. As though the ghosts of an older age still lingered, watching. Dıscover more novels at 𝗻𝗼𝘷𝗲𝗹•𝓯𝓲𝓻𝓮•𝕟𝕖𝕥

The throne stood high upon a raised dais, nearly three meters above the floor. It was a magnificent silver chair, gleaming beneath the faint light that streamed through the arched windows. Besides it, the Queen’s seat was conspicuously absent; its emptiness spoke louder than any words.

Zhao Li Xin could not help but think that Lucas had never intended to fill that space. No wonder everyone is so anxious.

Lory’s gaze drifted toward the massive door to the right. Behind it should have been the winding staircase leading to the top of the tower where the Crownheart is. But when she thought Lucas would turn to the right door, Lucas walked straight and then ascended the steps to the throne. Lory and Zhao Li Xin both stopped. Regardless of her position, she knew that a high place could only be entered by the King, and Zhao Li Xin stopped his pace following Lory.

Lucas glanced over his shoulder, his expression hinting at amusement."What are you doing down there?" he asked, his tone light, almost teasing. "It’s right here."

Lucas walked behind the throne, then, without another word, he placed his palm flat against the wall. Not long after a deep, resonant hum rippled through the chamber, making the silver throne vibrate faintly, and a moment after, the wall behind it shimmered like disturbed water, then split open with a sound like cracking ice, revealing a narrow passageway bathed in blue light.

The glow washed over Lucas’s face, tracing his features in cold brilliance. For a heartbeat, Zhao Li Xin thought he saw a flicker of sorrow in his eyes, gone as quickly as it appeared.

Lory froze. The color drained from her face. Her voice was barely a whisper. "You... changed the location of the Crownheart."

"Yes," Lucas turned slightly, a quiet smile touching his lips. "I realized this is the safest place—and far less conspicuous than before location, don’t you think?"

Lory’s eyes darkened with uneasiness. "But still... why here?"

Zhao Li Xin felt the tremor in her hand and gently took it, grounding her. "What’s wrong with this place?" he asked softly.

Lory’s lips parted, but no sound came. Lucas then cuts in "It’s the place where everything ended," Lucas said. His voice echoed through the chamber, quiet but weighted. His eyes lifted to Lory. "The place where I lost you."

The world seemed to still. Zhao Li Xin’s heart clenched, his eyes snapping toward her, wondering if this is the place he thinks it is...

This was where she had taken the Seven Gods’ Sword from Lucas, where she had sealed the Gate of the Abyss with her own life.

The place where she had died.

Lory’s voice trembled. "Why here, Luc?"

Her eyes shimmered, not from the memory of her death, but from what this place must mean to him. This place was soaked with bad memory, as he had stood here once, powerless, as she slipped away. And now, he had chosen this very place to guard the Crownheart.

Lucas’s gaze softened. He knew exactly what she was thinking. To be honest, he hated this place. Every stone, every shadow whispered his failure. But maybe that was why he couldn’t leave it behind.

"This place is thick with mana," he said quietly, eyes tracing the carved walls. "More than anywhere else I know. After the war, order crumbled. I couldn’t risk the Crownheart being found—so I chose the one place no one would dare to return to."

Lory tilted her head slightly, offering him a faint, knowing smile. "So... that’s all? Just a rational choice?"

Lucas’s lips curved faintly, but it wasn’t joy; it was surrender. He looked down, the light catching the tired lines on his face. "I’m not lying," he murmured. "Everything I said is true. But above all..."

His voice grew softer, breaking at the edges. "This place reminds me that despite what everyone said, I’m not a god. I’m just a man, and I wasn’t strong enough to save everyone...I couldn’t save you."

Lory’s eyes glistened. "I’m still here, Luc," she whispered, her voice trembling between comfort and grief.

He nodded slowly, his smile tinged with bitter affection. "Yes—by the grace of God, by our parents’ love, by your own stubborn will... and by Li Xin’s devotion... not by me."

Lory tried to speak, to tell him he was wrong, that his memory had saved her time and time again, but the words caught in her throat.

Lucas turned before Lory could find her voice. Without another word, he stepped into the passage, the light swallowing him whole.

"Come on, we don’t have all day!" he called back, his tone light, almost teasing.

Lory drew a deep breath as she watched his figure grow smaller in the distance. Zhao Li Xin placed a gentle hand on her back, his voice calm and reassuring.

"It’s fine," he said softly. "He loves you."

He didn’t fully understand what Lucas felt, but he could sense there was still a knot yet to be untied between them. Still, Zhao Li Xin wasn’t worried. Because, for all his life, he had never seen a bond closer and purer than the one between Lory and Lucas.

Lory’s trouble eased significantly with Zhao Li Xin’s reassurance. She held his hands tightly as they stepped into the secret path; meanwhile, the door behind them closed, and soon after, the light inside the path lit up.

"You add some construction here," Lory commented.

"Yes, Fargo and the others are the ones who did it. I also helped, you know," Lucas said proudly.

"So keep the secret among us," Lory concluded.

"That’s the safest, I can only trust myself and my brothers," Lucas said.

Lory’s eyes traced the faint lines of runes that pulsed along the cavern walls, their light flickering faintly, like veins of living silver beneath the rock. The deeper they went, the thicker the hum in the air grew, until it resonated in her chest like a heartbeat.

They stepped into a vast underground chamber. Jagged stalactites hung from the ceiling like teeth, their tips dripping water into a wide, still pool below. The sound of falling droplets echoed softly, mingling with the low vibration of machinery.

A section of the uneven ground had been replaced by sleek metal flooring, ancient stone merging seamlessly with cold technology. Pipes ran along the edges, feeding into glass conduits where faint blue light rippled like liquid lightning.

At the center of it all stood a raised platform, like an altar of sorts, crowned by a tall silver cylinder. It was encased in rings of moving mechanisms, each one turning in opposite directions, powered by streams of glowing energy that flowed through the cables snaking outward like roots. The entire structure thrummed with power, its sound deep and rhythmic, as though the machine itself was breathing.

Inside the transparent core, something shimmered, a crystalline heart suspended in a soft violet glow, pulsing in rhythm with the low hum that filled the cavern. The air was thick with static, both ancient and mechanical, and Lory felt her skin prickle as if the entire chamber had awakened to her presence.

Zhao Li Xin stood beside her, eyes wide with awe. "Is that..."

Lory smiled faintly. "Is a Crownheart," she said, cutting him off gently. "Well—to be exact, it’s a crystal. King Ar’kheon, the founder of Harland, sought a way to expand the King’s Shield without overburdening his own body. So he journeyed with his Archknights, guided by divine words, or so the stories say. My guess is it was Arthea’s voice that led him. She’s been watching over the Lucient bloodline since for - ever."

Her gaze drifted toward the glowing heart as she continued, her tone reverent yet wistful. "The records claim that King Ar’kheon dove into the deepest abyss of the ocean, searching for a crystal that had absorbed the sea’s power for eons—until it became the perfect vessel for the King’s Shield."

Lucas stepped forward, his expression solemn, voice steady as he continued, "Afterward, King Ar’kheon built five pillars, each placed at the farthest edge of the kingdom, with the Cestine Palace at its heart. Once I channel my power into the Crownheart, it will awaken the network, spreading energy through the five pillars... and then, it will envelop all of Harland within the Shield’s domain."

Lory’s eyes dimmed, her voice laced with quiet bitterness.

"So when Nazareth destroyed the Cestine Palace, the entire Shield of Harland automatically collapsed, and that was the beginning of the kingdom’s downfall."

Lucas nodded grimly. "Thankfully, Father foresaw the possibility. He sent General Leon to secure the Crownheart and hide it in L’Markieth. If not for that... even rebuilding the five pillars would mean nothing. I’d have no way to protect all of Harland’s vast territory."

Listening to Lory and Lucas’s explanation, Zhao Li Xin felt as though he was being pulled into the past. He could almost see it, the chaos that must have swept through Harland when the once-impenetrable King’s Shield crumbled.

The people who had lived their whole lives under its protection watched in horror as the skies tore open above them. It must have been a nightmare. But even so, the ones who must have suffered the greatest shock were Lory and Lucas themselves, barely eighteen when the world they knew collapsed before their eyes.

"Nevertheless," Lucas said, his tone steady but faintly weary, "the Crownheart isn’t without flaw. Every ten years, the King must re-channel his power into it to sustain the Shield. In my case, because of the haste... and my condition at the time, my Shield wouldn’t have lasted a full decade before it crumbled."

Lory frowned, her gaze sweeping over him. "Your condition? What happened to you?"

Lucas waved a hand dismissively. "I’m fine now. But back then, after everything that happened... I was drained. And there was also a—" he hesitated, searching for the word, "—disharmony within my power."

"Disharmony?" Lory repeated, puzzled. "I’ve never heard of a Lucient King experiencing something like that. Could that have happened?"

Lucas’s smile faltered, his voice lowering to almost a whisper. "After I watched the Seven god’s Swords cut you down... I couldn’t help but resent this power. I hated those swords, hated what they did to you. Maybe that’s where the disharmony began."

"Luc..." Lory sighed softly, the sound heavy with helplessness and guilt.

Lucas waved it off with a small smile. "It’s fine now. Really... It’s fine."

A silence hung between them, the kind that carried too many memories. Since they’d reunited, neither dared to speak about what happened in that cave. They skirted around it, like someone avoiding an old scar, afraid that one touch would make it bleed again. But maybe it was time to stop pretending. Maybe it was time to face it, together.