Kai ended up having a long talk with Sullivan.

The old man had far more to say than Kai had expected, and what began as a short visit turned into nearly two hours spent walking through the graveyard together. They moved slowly from one grave to the next, reading names etched into stone, and tried not to dwell on the fallen too much. Instead, Sullivan spoke of his younger days as king—of ambitions he once held, mistakes he regretted, and ideas he had never been able to push through.

Most of those ideas had died not because they were flawed, but because he had never had the backing of the dukal houses.

He spoke of a nationwide education program, one meant to teach every child basic literacy and arithmetic, regardless of birth. Kai listened quietly, already having set the foundation for such a program. Sullivan also spoke of a law he had once drafted but never dared to enforce—mandatory service of at least one year in a local militia, not to create soldiers, but to teach people on how to protect themselves.

Kai found himself nodding at that. In a world filled with beasts, monsters, and calamities beyond walls, it wasn’t a bad idea at all.

They discussed more concepts like that—half-forgotten policies, abandoned reforms, and compromises that had slowly hollowed out that kingdom. Eventually, though, time caught up to them. Kai had to leave.

Sullivan wished him well for the coronation but made it clear he wouldn’t be coming along. He wanted to stay among the graves. Kai didn’t argue. The grief sat heavier on the man than his calm demeanor suggested, and even if Sullivan had always known this day might come for Roderic, and even himself, knowing didn’t make it easier to bear.

When Kai finally exited the city, the carriages were already waiting.

He wasn’t leaving alone. Every noble of note was traveling with him. No one wanted to miss the coronation of a new king.

Kai briefly considered flying ahead on his own. But at the last moment, Duke Blackwood asked him to ride in the carriage instead.

He simply mentioned he had something important to discuss.

On top of that, Duke Blackwood also asked Princess Amara to ride with them.

Kai hadn’t understood why at first. He only noticed that when their eyes met inside the carriage, she immediately looked away, fingers tightening in her lap. Whatever this was about, she clearly knew already, and didn’t want to be the one to start the conversation.

Kai let it go until the wheels began rolling and the city finally fell behind them.

Only then did he speak.

“So,” he said calmly, breaking the silence, “what did you want to talk about?”

Duke Blackwood didn’t answer right away. Instead, he stroked his beard, studying Kai, as if weighing his words.

“Well, it’s something you probably won’t like,” he finally said. “But it’s something I believe is necessary for the future of the kingdom. Especially because I don’t think you intend to be an active king.”

Kai frowned slightly. “I do intend to be involved. As much as I can.”

Duke Blackwood shook his head. “You’ll be present when it matters, yes. But your focus will be elsewhere. On your magic. On Maleficia. On things that go far beyond court politics.”

Kai didn’t deny it. Instead, he replied, “That’s why I have capable subordinates.”

“I know,” the old man said without hesitation. “Francis will make a fine chancellor. From everything I’ve heard, he’s meticulous and loyal. But even then, that won’t be enough.”

He paused for a second as if brooding over something, then continued, “You will need more than officials. More than ministers and councils. You will need stability—one that doesn’t rely solely on your presence.”

Kai raised an eyebrow. “And you have a solution for that.”

“I do have a proposal,” Duke Blackwood said.

For a brief moment, Kai wondered if this was about Leopold. A council seat, perhaps. Some consolidation of power. But something in the old duke’s tone told him it wasn’t politics in the usual sense.

“What kind of proposal?” Kai asked.

“I believe you should get engaged to Princess Amara.”

For a heartbeat, the world seemed to stall. The sound of the carriage wheels faded into nothing.

Wait, did I hear it right?

Maybe the exhaustion had finally caught up to Kai and he was hearing things that weren’t true. But when he searched Duke Blackwood’s face, half-expecting to see even the faintest trace of jest.

There was none.

The old man met his eyes steadily, completely serious. It was a look Kai knew well—the same look Duke Blackwood wore before committing an army to battle, or making a decision that could not be undone.

Slowly, he shifted his gaze to Amara.

She was nervous—he could see that much—but she wasn’t avoiding him now. Her back was straight, her hands folded tightly in her lap, eyes fixed forward as if bracing herself. As if waiting.

Waiting for his answer.

Kai opened his mouth, the first instinctive question already forming—how did this come to be?—but the words never left him. Even as the thought surfaced, he realised it was the wrong one.

He already knew how.

Amara hadn’t exactly hidden her interest. And Kai wasn’t ignorant of emotions, nor inexperienced with them. He had dated before. He understood attraction, affection, the quiet ways people leaned closer without meaning to. But he had always treated whatever lay between them as something… postponed. Not denied, of course, but just set aside.

There had always been too much to do.

Too much at stake.

Now, in hindsight, even Leopold’s awkward, roundabout questions made sense. The man hadn’t been prying out of curiosity—he had been feeling out the ground, fumbling his way through something already discussed elsewhere.

Kai exhaled slowly, grounding himself in order to make sure that he wouldn’t ask the wrong question.

Once his thoughts were in order, he asked, “Can I know the reason?”

“Of course. It’s a simple one. The Lancephil royal family is effectively gone. That leaves a vacuum, not just of power, but of history. Marrying Princess Amara gives you legitimacy that no decree or coronation alone can provide. It ties you to the old royal line without reviving it.

“It will also secure the loyalty of nobles who still cling to tradition. And reassure the commoners who grew up under the Lancephil name. And beyond that—” his gaze sharpened slightly “—a married king is seen as stable. Grounded. There’s a reason princes are pushed into engagements early.”

Amara shifted almost imperceptibly beside him.

“If you didn’t know,” Duke Blackwood added, “all three princes had already been in talks with multiple houses before the war. Especially the ducal families. Had the civil war not broken out, at least one of those arrangements would have gone through.”

Kai nodded slowly. “I understand that.”

And he did. Every word of it made sense. Politically and strategically.

Then he added, more quietly, “But I don’t think I’ll have the time to be a husband… not with everything that’s coming.”

“That’s exactly why I’m suggesting an engagement,” the Duke said calmly. “I know there’s too much to do right now. An engagement is simple. We announce it at the coronation—there’s no stage larger than that. Marriage can come later, when you’re ready. Or if you’re ready.”

Kai’s gaze shifted to Amara.

He noticed how she hadn’t moved her posture one bit, it was almost as if she had frozen in time.

“Did you consent to this?” Kai asked.

Amara nodded at once. “Yes. Duke Blackwood spoke to me about it, and I didn’t see anything wrong with it, especially if it would help—”

“I didn’t ask that,” Kai interrupted gently.

She paused in between her words.

“I meant,” he continued, “do you want this?”

The carriage seemed to grow quieter at once.

Amara went still, her fingers tightening together. For several heartbeats she said nothing, her expression shifting—nervousness, hesitation, resolve, all flickering across her face. Then she lifted her head and met his eyes directly.

“Yes,” she said. “I desire this.”

Kai leaned back against the carriage seat, exhaling slowly.

For a fleeting moment, his first instinct was to catalogue it as another complication, another variable added to an already overburdened future, but the thought barely formed before he shut it down himself. That wasn’t fair. Not to her. Not to the situation.

If he was being honest, being engaged to Amara wasn’t a bad thing. She was kind. Capable. Strong in ways that mattered. Their values aligned more than he liked to admit. The problem wasn’t her.

It was him.

He wasn’t the man he fully pretended to be. There were too many secrets buried beneath the calm exterior he put up. She might care for him now, but he didn’t know how she would react to the truths he carried. And he didn’t know when—or if—he would ever be able to share them. Maybe she might call him a straight out liar and never look at his face again, but then again, he had to confess his truths first.

As his thoughts tangled, Duke Blackwood spoke again.

“I’m not trying to pressure you,” the man said evenly. “If you agree to an engagement, you’ll have time. Time to know Amara properly. Time to decide what you want. This shouldn’t feel like a burden.”

He paused, looking between the two of them.

“Or,” he added, blunt as ever, “is it simply that you don’t like her?”

Kai answered instantly. “It’s nothing like that.”

“Then,” Duke Blackwood said, eyes narrowing slightly, “you agree?”

At once, words failed Kai as he had no idea what to say.

Agreeing would be easy—far too easy. A single nod, a few formal phrases, and the matter would be settled. But that was exactly the problem. An engagement wasn’t something he could simply undo later without consequences. It was permanent in a way very few things in his life were.

So he stayed silent for a long moment before finally speaking.

“Can I have some time to talk to Amara alone first?”

Duke Blackwood’s eyes stayed on Kai’s for a beat longer, then he gave a knowing smile.

“Of course,” he said. “We’ll switch carriages when we stop for a break. That should be in about an hour.”

Kai nodded, grateful.

The carriage rolled on.

For the next hour, no one spoke.

Kai stared out the window, the landscape blurring past as his thoughts churned. His thoughts of engagement, crown, future, and promises he wasn’t sure that he had the right to make.

Across from him, Princess Amara stole glances in his direction. But whenever he would look back, she’d withdraw.

Even though she was trying to look calm, the storm of nerves, hope, uncertainty betrayed her.

Finally, the carriage slowed down and came to a stop at a bend in the road.

The stretch ahead was straight and open, perfect for pushing the horses harder once they resumed. For now, they paused so the animals could drink and rest.

Duke Blackwood stepped out first, giving Amara a single, meaningful nod before leaving them alone.

Silence lingered even after the door closed.

Kai waited until he felt the carriage begin to move again before speaking.

“I’m sorry,” he said quietly. “If it sounded like I didn’t want an engagement, that wasn’t my intention. There’s just… a lot I need to think about before agreeing to something this big. And I thought it would be better to talk to you first.”

“I understand. I wanted to talk to you too. When Duke Blackwood mentioned the engagement, I was just as stunned.”

Kai turned to look at her fully.

“But you agreed,” he said. “Can I ask why?”

She drew in a slow breath, eyes lowering for a moment before lifting again.

“Because I like you,” she said simply. “I don’t know if you noticed, but now you do. When I was given the chance to be engaged to you, I did what my heart told me to do.”

Kai exhaled slowly. “But you don’t know everything about me,” he said.

She didn’t look away. “I know more than you think. I’ve seen your genius as a Mage. I’ve seen how you work day and night as a ruler, even when no one is watching. And as a person, every time we’ve spoken, you’ve been kind. Consistently so… And I’m not saying this because you saved my life by fixing my heart,” she added softly. “Yes, that is something I can never repay, but that alone isn’t enough to make me agree to an engagement. This isn’t gratitude. It’s… everything else.”

Every word she spoke was true.

Kai could feel it.

And that was exactly what unsettled him.

She had seen him when he was strong. When he was composed. When he was succeeding—for himself and for others. But Kai knew something most people never learned until it was too late.

A person’s true personality wasn’t truly revealed when things were going well. It was revealed when they had nothing.

Kai had lived at the very bottom. In a life where hope had been stripped away piece by piece. Where everyone he cared about had died. Where the world had burned, and he had burned with it. He had become someone else in those years. A man who would do anything to claw his way forward.

A man who had eventually turned to forbidden rituals and sent his soul back in time.

Amara didn’t know that version of him.

And hiding it felt… wrong.

Kai looked down, his voice quieter when he spoke.

“I’m more than just that,” he said. “More than what you’ve seen.”

She tilted her head slightly. “Are you?”

He nodded. “You see Arzan as a man who lifted himself up despite damaged mana organs. As someone who lost to his brother and still survived. As a baron who eventually became king.”

His fingers curled faintly against his knee.

“But that’s not the whole story.”

She looked at him, brows knitting together in confusion.

“How?” Amara asked quietly. “I’ve heard a lot about your past. I know you weren’t always… gentle. I know you made enemies. I know you weren’t the perfect person.”

Kai shook his head.

“It’s not that,” he said. “Not even close.”

He leaned back slightly, exhaling through his nose. Talking around it would only make things worse. He had already revealed the truth to three people. Adding one more—especially her—wasn’t the worst thing he could do.

And if he was going to ask her to choose, then she deserved the truth. Kai lifted his gaze and met her eyes.

“Once,” he said slowly, “there was a Magus named Kai.”

Amara stilled.

“He was treated as the last hope of a Mage tower,” Kai continued. “Given the best resources in a world that was already dying. Mana was thinning. Dead mana was everywhere. Civilizations were collapsing one after another. He rose through the circles faster than anyone else. Broke records. Fought back the darkness that had already swallowed most of the world. From the start, it was a losing battle. A final stand.”

He paused, then added more quietly, “But he still tried. Because he had people around him. His master. Friends. Apprentices. Allies. People who believed in him.”

Kai’s fingers tightened slightly.

“And then… they started dying.”

Amara’s lips parted, but she didn’t interrupt.

“Some died naturally. Some were consumed by the darkness. Some died because of his mistakes. Bad moves. Late reactions. Arrogance.” His jaw clenched. “Until, one by one, there was no one left.”

The carriage rolled on in silence.

“He spent a long time alone,” Kai said. “Long enough that it stopped feeling like time mattered. Long enough that it felt like an eternity. And during that time, he wasn’t admirable. He was angry. Impatient. Bitter. Ugly inside, and even suicidal.” He let out a breath. “Everything a Magus shouldn’t be.”

He looked away for a moment, then forced himself to continue.

“There’s more to it. A lot more. But that’s the core of it. A man who rose to save the world… and ended up being the only one left in it. Because of his own failures.”

He fell silent.

For several heartbeats, Amara said nothing.

“How does that story relate to you?” she finally asked.

Kai looked back at her. A small, tired smile touched his lips. “Because that man is me,” he said. “I’m Kai.”

Her eyes widened.

For a moment, she simply stared at him, as if waiting for him to laugh and say it was a cruel joke. When he didn’t, her breath caught.

“That doesn’t—” She stopped, then shook her head. “How? When? I don’t understand.”

Kai didn’t rush her.

“I’ll explain everything,” he said gently. “Every part of it. There’s a lot of it, but we have time.”

Then he hesitated, just for a second, before asking the question that truly mattered.

“But before I do,” he said, “I need to know something.”

He held her gaze.

“Do you still want to be engaged to someone who might be all of that?”

***

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