When my sister and brother finally calmed down, my sister started crying again, and my brother resumed scolding her. My sister could only keep repeating apologies in response to his words, her voice breaking. She was both scared and devastated.
"Don't you think that's enough, brother?"
"Don't interfere in matters you don't understand, Andre," he said, then turned to my sister. "It's been twelve years. How can you call yourself the Sword Princess when you still carry such trauma?"
"I'm sorry." She said nothing else, just kept repeating that over and over.
"Trauma? My sister has trauma? But how could someone who's killed so many people in war have something like battle trauma?"
"This goes back before you were born, Andre. I'll tell you another time. For now, go to your room. You passed the test. Tomorrow morning, we start your magic training."
No matter how many questions I asked, whenever it came to the past, no one ever answered me. So I went to the room that had been assigned to me in the Grand Ulsar Inn. The door was left slightly ajar, and it was obvious someone was inside. I drew my sword and focused my mana into my eyes. The moment I opened the door, I saw a dagger flying straight at me. Even though I managed to react reflexively, it grazed my arm. My focus slipped, and I suddenly realized a sword was pressed against my neck.
It was the steward. He was pointing his sword at me, yet he wasn't using even a drop of mana or aura.
"Young master, when you knew someone had infiltrated your room, why did you enter with your mana activated?"
"If someone knows me well enough to sneak into my room, they would have certainly heard my footsteps. When you're caught doing something secret, who caught you doesn't really matter. That's why I activated my mana."
"A good answer, young master. I apologize for the dagger—it was Lord Cauron's order to test you."
"An order from my father? I thought he didn't care about me at all."
"Lord Cauron has never taken his eyes off you. Even now, he knows exactly where you are, what you're doing, that you passed the test, that your sister's trauma has been triggered... He knows everything."
"Everything? Not just what I've done—he knows everything happening around me?"
"Yes, young master. He knows it all. This letter was also written by the Lord himself. He instructed me to deliver it to you. Please read it. I'll go speak to your brother."
The steward handed me the letter and left the room. I opened it and began to read.
"My son,
My emotions have nearly perished in war, so I'll get straight to the point. I apologize for attacking you—it was not something I could control. You are probably aware of the Verblade Curse, the curse that comes and goes, that persists even after me. Verblade lords eventually go mad and begin attacking everything, but most of all, they attack the thing they care about the most. The madness never stops until the target either stops or defeats them. There is no way to prevent this curse. I'm not asking for your forgiveness—only that, when I go mad, you will be strong enough to stop me, Andre. That is the only way we can defy the curse.
Your brother and sister won't always be by your side. When they're not, you must be strong enough to protect yourself—even to kill your enemies. Don't read my words as if they were something to toss aside. If you listen to them, someday you will be the one whose voice carries the most weight.
There is another matter I wish to address: special class magic training. Your aptitude in magic outweighs your sword talent. For a Verblade, practicing magic carries three meanings. The first: you are the Verblade Hero—the one who will free the family from the curse and make us the strongest. The second: you are worthless—even if you can wield magic, you have neither true magic nor sword talent. I am dismissing this possibility in your case. The last: you are the Verblade Traitor—the one who will extinguish our bloodline.
This is what I fear most, Andre. If we told you everything too soon, you might see us as villains and choose to become the Traitor. But even if you do, with this power you would not be able to oppose me, your brother, or your sister. That's why you must grow stronger, Andre. Strong enough that even if you become a traitor, you will still survive.
Once you complete your training and pass the tests, I will send you to the Ster Estrella Empire. They have a few children around your age. I want you to study magic with them. The magic training you would receive in the Ulsar Empire is better than what you would get in the Verblade Empire, but not as good as what you will find in Ster Estrella. And perhaps, who knows, you might even marry there—though it's far too early for that."
—I can almost hear him laughing as he wrote this.—
I kept reading.
"But your talent lies in magic, and as your father, it is not my duty to restrain you but to show you the right path. We will see each other again when your training is complete, my son..."
When I finished the letter, it felt as though I hadn't understood a single word. I read it over and over again. Did Father truly support me? Or did he simply see me as a 'threat'?
Knowing that no one would come into my room until morning, I locked the door and lay down in bed. My head throbbed, both from the sword test and from that letter. I decided to go to sleep early...