Regnum Aetern: Dual Rebirth

"Then what responsibilities were even left for the king to fulfill?"

As Evangeline asked that question, Lilias paused.

A complex emotion could be seen hidden in her eyes as she slowly opened her mouth.

"The king doesn’t really have any responsibilities. After that change, the king became nothing more than an overseer. They no longer had the power to make any decisions themselves but had the final say in whether a decision was made by the council and guardian order or not."

Evangeline didn’t know what to say.

’Can that even be called a king?’

Having read the two books and listened to Lilias’s explanation, she finally understood the kingdom’s situation.

The king could not make a decision that they desired. But the decisions made by the council and the Guardian Order needed the king’s final approval to be in effect. But there was an obvious flaw in this governance structure that even someone like Evangeline, who only had a basic understanding of the monarchy system, could easily see.

The king didn’t have a private army of his own, so if the Council and the Guardian Order joined hands to disregard the crown’s authority, then the king wouldn’t be able to do anything.

Lilias seemed to have read her thoughts as she spoke.

"My great-grandfather wasn’t an incompetent ruler. It was just that he trusted his people a bit too much. And that trust was not unfounded either. The Gracias kingdom had been running smoothly under this governance system for both my grandfather’s and my mother’s generations."

She bit her lip.

"But a flawed system could only last for so long. The result is clear for you to see. The Council and the Guardian Order seem to have joined hands and have decided to get rid of me."

Evangeline closed her eyes.

’That old woman was probably part of the Guardian Order.’

But if this was a usurpation of authority, then why did the woman believe that the crown needed to disappear in order to ensure a better future for the kingdom? The crown did not have the power to cause harm in the first place.

Lilias was a ruler in name only.

’Looks like I also need to listen to the other end of the story.’

Just then, a loud noise rang, and the window on her right exploded.

Lilias hurriedly grabbed Evangeline’s arm and ran out of the room. Running down the hallway, she spoke in a hurry.

"I have answered all your questions, so it is now your turn to honor your end of the deal. Tell me the truth about the loops, quickly!"

Evangeline smiled and began pulling Lilias along instead.

"Come with me."

And so, she navigated through the castle with a familiarity as though she knew every corner of it.

They descended to the lower floor and arrived in front of a door at the end of the hallway. It was a door that led to the underground. Of course, it was not the same as the underground room where Evangeline had spent several loops in hiding.

Opening the door, they descended the stairs as their path was illuminated by the torches attached to both sides of the walls at intervals.

Lilias frowned and turned to Evangeline.

"Why are we going here? What are you—"

"Lilias," Evangeline cut her off and spoke in a hushed tone. "Just trust me for now."

After descending the stairs for some time, they finally arrived in a vast underground hall.

The hall’s interior was cylindrical, with curved walls. Torches were attached to the walls at intervals, yet the hall was so large that their collective illumination could not light the interior completely.

On the ground lay four coffins made of white stone, decorated with various gemstones. A painting was placed above each coffin, depicting various figures.

Lilias muttered in a barely audible whisper.

"The royal crypt..."

Indeed, this was the royal crypt, where the bodies of all the members of the royal family were kept. The answer to everything lay here.

***

Standing in the royal crypt, Lilias’s mind was filled with various emotions. But she tried to force them down and focus on the matter at hand.

She glanced at the girl, Evangeline. Standing right beside her, there was an ambiguous expression on her face.

’So this is what she had been doing...’

While she had been fighting, it seemed that the girl was snooping around the castle, and that was how she had discovered the royal crypt. The old Lilias would’ve been utterly furious at the fact that someone dared to set foot in this place, but she was not feeling any rage at this moment.

Maybe she had grown numb after all. Or maybe the fact that she was finally about to learn the method to escape the loop was making everything else feel futile in comparison.

Since she did not know why the same day was repeating, she was forced to make guesses. She had come to conclude that the loop had something to do with the attack. In the end, she believed that as long as she killed all the rebels and survived until sunset, the loops would end.

And so, her endless cycle of battles and killings had continued for even she didn’t know how long.

But that was coming to an end soon.

Lilias turned to the girl and spoke in a hurried tone.

"My patience is running thin. Where is it?"

The girl calmly walked forward and stopped in front of one of the stone coffins. She reached down and picked up the painting placed above it.

Lilias’s eyes widened.

"Hey! Are you crazy?! How dare you touch that?!"

The painting depicted a beautiful woman with long black hair and turquoise eyes sitting on a golden throne. Wearing a beautiful crown and holding a golden mace in her hands, she had a gentle smile on her lips.

This was the portrait of the previous queen of the Gracias kingdom and... Lilias’s mother.

Despite Lilias’s shout, the girl didn’t stop. She took ‌the painting out of the frame.

Lilias rushed forward and quickly snatched the painting from the girl’s hands.

"Do you even know what you are doing right now?! You have disturbed the rest of the previous ruler of this—!"

"Lilias," the girl’s calm voice cut off her shout as she pointed at the painting. "What I wanted to show you is on the other side of this painting."

Lilias froze as she heard those words.

And then, she slowly turned the painting over and looked at its back side. It should’ve been empty, only containing the dates at the bottom. But instead, it was filled with words written in familiar handwriting.

...her mother’s handwriting.

Lilias forgot about everything else as her eyes settled on those letters.

{Lilias... I hope it is you who is reading this note.

I do not know if you would even be able to find this, but I had no choice but to leave the note here since I know that I have eyes on me. Knowing you, there will certainly come a time when you pick up this painting because you miss me.

After all, this is the only painting of me that was ever painted.

My daughter, I don’t think I have much time left in this world. And after I am gone, you will become the new ruler. And the moment you inherit the throne, a great trial will be forced upon you.

I am aware that the council and the Guardian Order have long joined hands. And they wish for the crown to disappear.

So when I am gone and you inherit the throne, they will do their best to kill you in order to wipe out the royal bloodline for good.

But I just couldn’t accept such a future. It... would’ve been simply too unfair for a sweet girl like you. So in the end, I have decided to make a deal with the Coin of Time.

You must be stuck in a prison-like loop where the same day repeats itself endlessly. This is part of my deal with the Coin of Time. It will continue turning back time until you manage to find a way to survive.

My daughter... things must be hard for you right now. You must be feeling incredibly alone.

Your mother is... really, really sorry. It breaks my heart to leave you alone like this, but this was all I could manage.

...If only I weren’t so weak. }

Lilias’s hands began to tremble as she bit her lip hard, trying her best to handle the intense emotions swirling inside her.

Her vision grew blurry, and drops of tears began falling onto her mother’s writings.

From the moment the loops started, Lilias had never thought of them as something good. They were a source of endless suffering for her. There had even been times when she simply wished to die, to escape it all. But the loops didn’t let her, and she cursed them for it.

But she had finally come to know that these loops... were actually the result of her mother’s worry for her.

Her mother was protecting her... despite no longer being with her.

Lilias tightly clutched the painting to her chest and broke down crying.

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