‎Rasmus entered the room, looking at Aurelia and Isador who looked depressed and lost. He slowly walked toward the chair and dragged it slowly toward the couch where they were sitting. He sat on the chair across from them as he rested his hands on his cane, staring at them with a stoic expression.

‎”Is there anything that you need from me, Your Holiness? Crown Prince?” Rasmus asked.

‎Aurelia slowly put the record on the table so Rasmus could understand the reason behind their visit. However, Rasmus only stared at the record and didn’t even bother to grab it and look at the content of it.

‎”That record contains the whole truth behind the Great Era of Neva, Count Blackheart. I want you to take a look at it,” Aurelia said as she stared at the record with disgust and hatred.

‎”Is that so? And what do you want from me since you’re giving me that secret that the Angelis family and the Suncrown family had hidden from the world?” Rasmus asked with his brows raised.

‎Aurelia and Isador shared a look, not knowing what they wanted from Rasmus. In the first place, they didn’t want anything from him, they just wanted him to know the truth and told them his opinion about it.

‎”We don’t want anything, Count. We… we believe that you deserve to know the truth…” Aurelia answered as she shook her head.

‎Rasmus glanced at the record, but he still didn’t show any interest in the content of it. He then looked at Aurelia and Isador, assuming what kind of truth was hard enough to swallow that both of them looked so depressed and lost.

‎”And if I’m not interested in it, what are you going to do, Your Holiness?” Rasmus raised his brows as he tapped his finger on his cane.

‎Aurelia and Isador furrowed their brows, confused by Rasmus’s response.

‎”Don’t you want to know the truth? I thought you prioritize truth over anything, Count?” Isador asked, his brows furrowed even deeper. “That record has everything that you’re looking for. You can see the rot that my family and Aurelia’s family had kept hidden for more than a century…” he continued as he clenched his fists on his thighs.

‎”And? What do you want me to do with it when I know the truth?” Rasmus leaned back, making himself comfortable on the chair.

‎Aurelia and Isador didn’t know what to answer because they had never thought of it. People usually take the truth and never question what they would do with it.

‎”Do you want me to destroy your family? To tell the world about the rotten peace? What do you want me to do?” Rasmus asked as he placed his cane on his lap. “Do you need moral support? Do you want me to justify their actions? Do you want me to agree with you?” He added.

‎”You two came to me because you can’t handle the truth, isn’t it? And you’re offering me this truth so I can bear it with you? Is that correct?” Rasmus leaned forward and stared into Aurelia’s eyes.

‎Aurelia and Isador finally realized that they were indeed hoping Rasmus would carry the burden with them. They wanted someone strong enough to hold it for them and for them to hold on to. They were afraid, furious, and lost at the same time, and Rasmus was the only person who could be that cold and strong pillar.

‎”Why would I do that for your sake? Is there a benefit for me for doing so? From the very beginning you two already knew that I don’t care about humanity the moment I got abandoned by them. Your truth isn’t valuable to me,” Rasmus said coldly.

‎Aurelia suddenly lowered her head toward Rasmus as she clenched her fists on her robe. She was begging, pleading for exactly what Rasmus said, to carry the burden with her because she knew she couldn’t deal with it on her own.

‎”Please… instructor… I beg you…” Aurelia muttered, using Rasmus’s past title as her instructor in the academy. She put herself not as a Saint, not as a woman, not as an adult, but as a student that Rasmus used to teach and care for.

‎”Don’t beg me when you have no idea the consequences of it. The regrets will be a thousand times more painful than what you feel right now,” Rasmus warned, and stared at Aurelia coldly. “I’m not going to be your saviour, and I won’t help you carry the truth. I want to see if you throw away that truth like how your mother did, to carry that truth until you collapse, become a martyr of that truth, or you conquer it and become the true beckon of humankind,” he continued with a serious expression.

‎Isador wanted to stand by Aurelia’s side, but at that moment, he didn’t know if he could help her convince Rasmus. He felt like a bystander even though he was dealing with the same issue as Aurelia. He then looked at Rasmus who kept his focus on her, not the two of them.

‎”You have so many choices to make. Do you dare to take the path where the truth is worth more than thousands of lives? Will you sacrifice the innocent in exchange for true peace? Will you look at deaths as nothing but numbers of casualties that are necessary? Will you turn your back against the family that has raised you because they have used lies to bring peace?” Rasmus asked and looked at both of them with a cold and stoic expression.

‎”Those things are what I call the truth. Even if they lied, it was a part of the truth. If you can accept all that, you’ll become like Lady Astrea and Emperor Julius, but are you going to be different?” Rasmus continued.

‎Aurelia and Isador took a deep breath as they stared at the record at the table. They realized that even though their predecessors were hiding the truth, they embraced the truth and chose to hide it. They remembered that nothing was white and black, there was something in between, the gray area where Rasmus dwelled and resided.

Aurelia stared into Rasmus’s eyes and saw nothing in them, there was no judgment, there was no hope, there was no emotion in them. She felt like she was staring into the pool of the abyss, where all goodness and evilness was born. It terrified her when she thought that Rasmus was someone who brought those two to the world.

“Am I going to be alone, Instructor?” Aurelia asked, her voice barely above a whisper. Her voice was wrapped in fear and uncertainty.

“Remember my question on your first class, Your Holiness, Crown Prince. Who are you without your family? You’re raised to maintain the legacy, not to make one. Remember what you need to do to survive on your own, remember the assignment that I gave you back then. Use that knowledge, use those solutions and answers to the real world,” Rasmus answered, his stoic expression betraying his gentle voice.

Aurelia didn’t find the answer to be satisfying, but then Isador with a serious expression grabbed the record and held it tightly.

“My father once told me that loneliness even within the crowds of people means you are being truthful to yourself. That loneliness is the first step to understanding who you are, and following that uncomfortable path will lead you to somewhere that you won’t regret…” Isador said as he kept his eyes on the record in his hands. “I never understood what my father meant back then, but now… I start to understand it even though barely…” he continued.

“Your Holiness, loneliness isn’t weakness, it’s the first step. We may share the same burden, but we are alone with our thoughts, but that’s okay. We both want the same thing, and I swear in the name of God that I won’t follow my father’s step. Right now you feel alone, but soon, there are people who will follow you just like those people follow Count Rasmus,” Isador said as he looked at Aurelia with a serious expression and filled with determination. “You have become a Saint while I’m still a Crown Prince. You’re way ahead of me in dealing with this truth, but I will be there once I raise to the throne,” he continued.

Aurelia felt that Isador’s words weighed more than any assurance that she had ever heard before. She felt the connection, there was no pity, there was no sweetness, only comforting bitterness. She looked at the record in Isador’s hands and then looked him in the eyes as she gave him a nod.

“Is there anything else, Your Holiness? Crown Prince?” Rasmus asked.

They both looked at Rasmus and realized that they didn’t need him like they thought it would be. They both shook their heads simultaneously, convinced that they could walk the path on their own.

“If that’s the case, I have to prepare my belongings,” Rasmus said as he slowly stood up, using the cane to support his body.

“You’re leaving, Count?” Isador asked.

“Yes, I’ll be leaving tomorrow early in the morning,” Rasmus answered. “You both offered me the truth, but I have my own truth to find,” he revealed.

Aurelia and Isador looked up at Rasmus with a confused look, but they understood why he didn’t want the truth that they gave. They both slowly got up and were ready to leave as well since there was nothing else to discuss.

“I don’t have any expectations from you, I won’t help you, I won’t root for your success. However, I want you to know that if I saw you failed, that bitterness would stay in my mouth forever…” Rasmus said as he walked toward the door. “After all, you two were my students. It would be a shame if my teaching wasn’t enough to make you two survive on your own. Take care, Your Holiness, Crown Prince,” he lowered his head slightly at them before he left the room.

Aurelia and Isador lowered their heads to Rasmus as they watched him leave.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep