"It has been a pleasure watching you grow into a fantastic Martial Artist, Your Highness."
A profoundly powerful voice escaped Sage Sayfeel.
It reverberated in his heart.
Rui stared at the Martial Sage with unadulterated shock. "So all this time…you were a hidden Martial Sage."
Rui felt weak in his legs at the weight of this new revelation.
He recalled the incident quite clearly and deeply in his mind. He had yet to become a Martial Artist; he hadn't even had a real fight with his life on the line at that point. That had been his first conflict.
The very memory of it embarrassed him.
The man who had saved him was a Martial Squire or was supposed to be. He had taught Rui that neither fear nor failure disqualified him from being a warrior. It was what he did after that decided whether he was a warrior or not.
This man had done much to set Rui down his Martial Path; if it weren't for him, let alone a Martial Artist, Rui would have died long ago.
"…Thank you," Rui whispered, bowing his head deeply. "Thank you."
"I was simply doing my duty, Prince Rui," The man smiled before gazing at the Emperor reverently. "It was His Majesty truly saved your life."
Rui turned back to his father with gratitude in his eyes, earning a nonchalant dismissive wave from him before turning back to Sage Sayfeel.
The bewilderment in his eyes had yet to dim.
It wasn't just the fact that this man was a Martial Sage.
Rui had not failed to notice that this wasn't any of the known fourteen Martial Sages, the appearance of all of whom he knew.
This was a new Martial Sage.
One he had never seen before.
The air tingled as the frightening implications of this revelation struck Rui.
Rui was so utterly bewildered by the string of revelations that he had been bombarded with that he no longer had the energy to get shocked.
He was utterly drained.
The Emperor could pull a Martial Transcendent out of his ass, and he doubted that he would be too surprised.
"Sayfeel is one of my greatest trump cards," Emperor Rael calmly declared. "My hidden weapon. The fifteenth Martial Sage of Kandria. Everybody who knows of his existence is standing in this room."
Rui stared at Sage Sayfeel, stunned speechless. "The fifteenth Martial Sage of Kandria…?"
"From a young age, I knew that in order to seize the throne, I needed a powerful hidden trump card that could help me overcome the resistance of my allied siblings who sought to keep me from reaching the throne," Emperor Rael calmly informed Rui. "Thus, about thirty years before I assassinated your grandfather, I began cultivating a weapon, a powerful Martial Artist that answers only to me."
Rui realized he had been wrong.
He was indeed capable of getting shocked even now as his eyes widened with shock for the umpteenth time.
He realized he might have had more in common with the Emperor than he had realized. "Incredible."
Rui realized the weight of this revelation.
It was an unspoken gesture of trust from the Emperor.
He had just been entrusted with a secret of national importance.
He glanced at the Emperor with askance. "You said you protected me until I became a Martial Artist."
The Emperor nodded. "That's right. Once you became a Martial Artist, protection would only hamper your growth. A sheltered Martial Artist is a weak Martial Artist; you saw that with Prince Raijun, didn't you?"
Rui nodded.
He didn't bear any resentment or hostility towards the Emperor for not protecting him when he became a Martial Artist. Prince Raijun was actually the perfect example of what a sheltered Martial Artist looked like.
"I held my breath many times through your journey, of course," The Emperor remarked. "Yet you managed to overcome every tribulation that you faced thus far. I've even taken the personal liberty of dubbing some of your successes with a personal touch."
Rui furrowed his eyebrow in confusion. "What is that supposed to mean?"
A mischievous smile flashed on the Emperor's face. "Voidbringer. Voider. Voidreaper…Did you think it's a coincidence that these nicknames that belong to you all suspiciously share the theme of 'void' even though they were supposed to have risen entirely separately and disconnected from each other?"
Rui stared at Rael with a stunned expression. "You were responsible for those epithets!"
Emperor Rael burst out laughing, guffawing at Rui's expense. "Indeed. I had great fun cooking up such names and spreading them hahaha!"
Rui heaved a sigh of resignation and amusement as the Emperor indulged himself in a good laugh before finally calming down.
"I assume you were the one who named me," Rui remarked.
"No, actually," The Emperor shook his head. "Your name was given to you by your mother."
"…I see," Rui remarked as he grew silent.
He had never known his biological mother. However, she sounded like an incredible person the more the Emperor spoke about her. He felt a pang of sorrow that he never had the opportunity to get to know her.
"…So my father is the Emperor of Kandria. The man who gave me a family and home that I have long come to love as truly my own, who protected me before I discovered my Martial Path, who watched over me my entire life…" Rui murmured.
The Emperor did not respond, staring at Rui calmly.
"…Who then, thirty-one years later, exposes my identity before the entire world and then declares me his heir." Rui's eyes sharpened slightly.
His resentment towards the Emperor had reduced greatly after he learned that his father had not only given him the Quarrier Orphanage but also saved his life as a child. However, the fact that his father had derailed his life by exposing his identity and crowning him as his unofficial heir still remained.
It hadn't been that long since the revelation had been disclosed.
Not even an hour.
That was why it had yet to settle in and become his reality and normality, but Rui knew that his life had been forever changed in every way.
Nothing would ever remain the same.
