Lord of the Truth

Chapter 2190 Motherʼs love?

Somewhere within the vast imperial palaceʼs garden...

”What do you mean I canʼt see him today?!” Serafinaʼs voice rose sharply through the corridor, unable to suppress her anger any longer. ”Today is the designated visitation day, and I have more than enough points to spend!!”

The people passing nearby instinctively glanced toward her before quickly looking away again.

At this moment, Serafinaʼs face was nearly red from frustration and the sheer length of the argument. She had already spent a considerable amount of time trying to reason with the guards and officials responsible for regulating access, yet every response she received remained cold, repetitive, and completely unmoved.

It had been a very long time since Serafina first noticed the Silent Emperor wandering throughout the palace halls.

At the time, she paid him no real attention.

He merely drifted aimlessly through the corridors like a ghost with no destination, no purpose, and no awareness of the world surrounding him. Sometimes he would simply stop beside a random wall before sitting or lying there for hours without movement, as though even standing had become meaningless to him.

To most people within the palace, he was little more than a curiosity.

A broken madman.

A living symbol the Multiple Centennial Cradle Empire occasionally used as a façade for political purposes.

Nothing more.

But everything changed on a particular day.

The very same day Caesar humiliated her mistress.

That day, while overwhelmed by rage, shame, and helplessness, Serafina happened to look carefully toward the Silent Emperor for the first time in years...

And she felt something.

Something deeply wrong.

That mysterious man...

That silent wanderer used as little more than decorative cover by the empire...

Why did he feel so familiar?

Why did his presence resemble the members of the Distra Family so much?

The realization terrified her enough that she fled immediately afterward.

Not because she feared him.

But because the possibility itself was unbearable.

The thought that one of the Distra descendants could be reduced to such a pitiful state... wandering mindlessly through foreign palace halls while being treated like a tool or symbol...

It disgusted her.

Yet despite trying to ignore it afterward, the thought continued haunting her relentlessly.

His appearance refused to leave her mind.

His face.

His aura.

The strange familiarity surrounding him.

Eventually, she returned.

That time, she deliberately accepted a mission serving as an excuse to visit him directly.

And once she stood before him again...

She became completely certain.

Without question, he belonged to the Distra bloodline.

Those facial features.

That natural aura.

That indescribable feeling unique to the family.

Serafina had personally visited the Distra home planet alongside her mistress before. She had seen nearly every living member of the family with her own eyes.

There was no possibility she could mistake one of them.

But then another question appeared immediately afterward.

Which one was he?

That was the part she still could not answer.

Fortunately...

The number of missing Distra descendants throughout the years was actually very small. Someone like him could not remain unidentified forever.

He was definitely one of the individuals publicly declared dead.

There was simply no other explanation.

And regardless of the circumstances...

He should return home.

His family deserved to know what had become of him.

Without fully realizing it herself, Serafina gradually began taking care of the Silent Emperor.

Perhaps it was guilt.

Perhaps loneliness.

Or perhaps she simply needed someone to devote herself to after losing her mistress.

That emptiness inside her chest had become unbearable ever since that day. Caring for another person, even someone who never reacted at all, somehow eased the pain slightly.

So she continued returning to Planet Originus again and again under every excuse she could invent.

She combed his tangled hair carefully.

Trimmed the beard that had once grown all the way down to his knees.

Brought him different foods from across various planets.

Opened his mouth herself and helped him chew when he remained motionless.

Sometimes she sat beside him while talking endlessly about meaningless things such as the weather, recent palace rumors, or small events happening within the empire.

Other times, she deliberately mentioned the history of the Distra Family, watching him carefully for even the slightest reaction.

But every attempt failed.

He never answered.

Never reacted.

Never even focused his eyes properly.

Even now...

Serafina still did not know who he truly was.

Yet the more time passed, the more convinced she became that he absolutely had to return to the Distra Galaxy eventually.

More than once, she pleaded with Caesar and Peon to let her take the Silent Emperor away, arguing that he no longer served any purpose as the empireʼs façade since practically everyone already understood he was merely symbolic cover at this point.

But every single request was rejected immediately.

In fact, the opposite happened.

The security surrounding him only became tighter over time.

Sometimes it genuinely felt as though they feared she might attempt kidnapping him.

Of course...

What she failed to accomplish before was even more impossible now.

Many times, Serafina considered informing the Distra Galaxy directly about the Silent Emperorʼs existence here.

But every possibility carried terrifying consequences.

Lord Hedrick was Lord Humanʼs ally and partner.

What if informing them triggered enormous political complications?

And another possibility disturbed her even more...

What if the Silent Emperor was actually one of the individuals Father Helmor himself once attempted to kill?

That possibility alone was enough to make her hesitate repeatedly.

Conflicted.

Anxious.

Lost between fear and responsibility...

In the end, Serafina limited herself to ordinary visitations only.

Specific appointments were eventually assigned to her after she exhausted nearly every excuse possible for requesting access. Worse still, mandatory monthly points had to be paid if she wished to continue seeing him, points earned through fighting the enemies of the empire.

And today...

Today was visitation day.

She had prepared for it carefully.

She even brought several things with her.

Yet now she stood here being refused once again.

”No means no.”

The man standing before Serafina answered coldly, his half-open eyes carrying obvious annoyance from repeating himself multiple times already.

”A massive battle is currently taking place on Planet Arkathion. Any points not earned there have been temporarily frozen until the battle concludes.”

”What nonsense is that?!” Serafina stepped forward angrily. ”Those points are mine! I earned them already!”

”And the order still stands.” The man replied indifferently. ”Battle-related regulations override ordinary visitation privileges.”

Serafina clenched her teeth hard enough that her jaw trembled slightly.

Faced with Serafinaʼs furious aura, the man standing before her did not retreat even half a step.

The pressure pouring from Serafina was more than enough to make ordinary soldiers lose their breath, yet the Royal Soul Master remained standing calmly in place as though the storm of anger directed toward him did not exist at all.

He wore a long black-and-gold robe marked with subtle Burton Family patterns, while a black scarf wrapped neatly around his head and concealed portions of his face. One hand rested behind his back with disciplined elegance, while the other remained lowered beside his thigh in a strangely natural position that nevertheless made it obvious he was ready to react instantly if necessary.

He was not merely a guard.

He was one of the Royal Soul Masters of the Burton Family.

And judging from the terrifying density hidden within his aura, he clearly possessed far more than a single star.

Ever since the conflict with the Syndicate erupted openly, the empireʼs internal structure had changed dramatically.

Every hired Nexus State previously contracted through the Syndicate had their agreements terminated almost immediately. Entire groups were expelled from imperial territory without negotiation or warning. Naturally, the Syndicate never returned the astronomical advance payments originally spent securing those experts beforehand, but Caesar had apparently not cared enough to even argue about it.

No ruler with functioning instincts would willingly continue housing potential spies or assassins after open conflict began.

At first, those removed forces were replaced by Nexus States directly affiliated with the empireʼs various wings.

But as the war intensified further...

Even that changed.

Now many critical locations inside the palace itself were guarded by Royal Soul Masters instead.

”This is irrational and completely unacceptable!” Serafina shouted furiously, her voice echoing through the nearby corridors. ”Just because another war started, youʼre freezing all my previous contributions?! Youʼre practically forcing me into the Arkathion War without even pretending otherwise!”

”Mn.”

The Royal Soul Master nodded without embarrassment.

”That is correct.”

His tone remained calm.

Almost annoyingly casual.

”Every available force must be gathered at Arkathion. There is no reason to hide that fact anymore.”

Then he casually gestured behind himself.

”If we didnʼt already know youʼd come here every other day because of him, I wouldʼve been sent to the battlefield as well.”

Serafinaʼs expression darkened further.

Behind the Royal Soul Master stretched the massive palace garden directly adjacent to the imperial residence itself.

The area was quiet and beautiful, filled with carefully maintained grasslands, elegant trees, and spiritual flowers cultivated using arrays beneath the soil. A faint breeze occasionally passed through the garden, causing the grass to sway softly beneath the sunlight.

And within all that peaceful scenery...

The Silent Emperor remained seated quietly upon the grass.

Motionless.

Detached from everything around him.

Only a short distance separated him from the argument, yet from beginning to end he never once lifted his head to observe what was happening nearby. Instead, he simply stared at the grass before him absentmindedly, quietly watching it grow as though that insignificant sight held more importance than the entire world surrounding him.

After months of Serafina personally caring for him, his appearance had changed greatly compared to before.

He no longer resembled the miserable wandering madman drifting through palace halls without purpose.

His white hair was shorter now and no longer covered his forehead and eyes entirely. Meanwhile, the beard that once extended all the way to his knees had been carefully trimmed over time until only faint traces remained, barely beginning to regrow after nearly an entire month without maintenance.

His appearance now carried a frightening kind of beauty.

Especially those crimson eyes.

That smooth white hair.

The sharp structure of his jaw and cheekbones.

Combined with the detached stillness surrounding him, his appearance possessed an almost unreal charm. If someone like him walked openly through ordinary streets, countless people would likely freeze or faint from simply witnessing that face directly.

Yet when Serafina looked toward him...

She did not see beauty.

Nor danger.

Nor mystery.

She saw someone broken.

Someone abandoned.

Someone needing care.

That feeling only made her more unwilling to leave.

Her gaze softened for a brief moment while looking at him before anger surged through her chest once more.

So she turned back toward the Royal Soul Master and prepared to continue shouting.

”Hey--”

But before she could continue, another voice suddenly interrupted from nearby.

A familiar voice.

”What exactly is happening here?”

The moment Serafina heard it, her expression changed slightly.

”..?” She turned quickly toward the source of the voice.

There, walking calmly along the palace corridor overlooking the garden, was Caesar himself.

Serafinaʼs eyes immediately widened slightly.

Because regardless of her anger right now...

The appearance of Caesar here could either solve everything instantly...

Or make things infinitely worse.