BTCATL 57

 Chapter 57

If the powerful nation holding the northern continent was the Chelsia Empire, then in the west lay the Cantana Empire.

Cantana was famous for its sweltering heat, free-spirited culture, and strong military, yet it was an empire that could not rival Chelsia in supremacy.

The empire’s 14th prince, Kalios von Cantana, was the only prince among countless princes and princesses born with the royal aura—a symbol of the imperial family.

Because of this, even while the crown prince firmly maintained his influence, Kalios began to stand out as a potential new heir.

His mother, the fourth consort, had died immediately after giving birth due to complications from carrying a child with the aura, but the lack of a powerful protector was irrelevant. He had the aura.

He was an exceptionally gifted child. Everything he heard or read was absorbed as if by instinct, and he quickly mastered swordsmanship thanks to his natural talent.

He progressed so quickly that even at the mere age of ten, the crown prince felt a faint but sharp sense of threat from Kalios and began to keep him under observation.

Kalios was supposed to be assigned his own residence, but because he was deemed too young, the plan was scrapped, and he was sent to reside in the Helensia Palace, where the third consort stayed.

It was the empress’s influence—the empress who cherished the crown prince dearly and hoped above all that he would ascend to the throne.

Young Kalios didn’t want to move. He already knew what would likely happen.

No one would welcome the prince closest to the throne with aura into the household of the third consort and her young son.

The third consort’s young son, the 15th prince, was like any other prince born without the aura.

Naturally, his chances of claiming the throne were slim.

Yet despite that, he was still a legitimate heir. No consort would willingly allow such a child to live alongside other princes.

Kalios would have preferred to stay in his current palace, but the orders were clear: Helensia Palace.

Someone had died, so the palace was supposedly going to be demolished.

When had an entire palace ever been torn down because someone died? By that logic, the main palace would have to be rebuilt every time a generation of emperors passed.

It was absurd, but there was no choice but to obey.

Kalios possessed the imperial aura more distinctly than anyone—even the emperor—but he was still just a child.

Moreover, unlike the crown prince, he had no mother to back him with strong power.

• “Who’s your big brother?”

One day, while reluctantly reading books alone in the third consort’s palace, Kalios heard a small voice slipping through the door.

A tiny child with black hair like his own and violet eyes.

Though only ten himself, Kalios had never been treated as a normal child, thanks to his aura and the crown prince’s scrutiny.

This child was even smaller than Kalios, who was not particularly tall for his age.

• “What are you doing here, Prince?”

It took Kalios only a short while to realize that this little one, who stubbornly followed him everywhere, was the 15th prince.

After that, he didn’t see the boy for a while.

Unlike the stiff and serious people around him, this little boy smiled brightly, a sight that fascinated Kalios.

Once the boy stopped trailing him for a few weeks, Kalios felt a sudden awkwardness, but he quickly returned to his reading.

A few days later, though:

• “Big brother, look at this!”

• “Big brother, why do you always just read books?”

• “Let’s go outside and play! The Empress said the flowers are blooming beautifully!”

Kalios, frowning slightly, slammed his book shut.

The boy’s bright, innocent smile lingered in his mind.

For ten years, no one had ever given Kalios such a sincere, heartfelt smile. It stirred something deep within him.

Sensitive to emotions, Kalios soon realized he cared for the boy.

The smile the child offered was not unpleasant—it was comforting.

For the first time, he recognized the little boy as a “younger brother.”

Kalios and the boy, Retrachan, quickly grew close.

Retrachan liked Kalios, who offered him the companionship that even his mother and the rigid palace staff would not, and Kalios in turn cared for him.

The third consort tried to separate them, but eventually gave up and stopped interfering when the two were together.

Sometimes, she would cast suspicious glances, but compared to her initial fury, it was mild.

Then one day, while searching the palace for Retrachan, who had stepped outside briefly, Kalios froze at a familiar sound of sobbing.

• “Sniff… big brother, big brother…”

The sight of the 10th princess and 11th prince bullying and hurting something precious flipped Kalios’s temper.

The next day, the 10th princess and 11th prince were found covered in blood.

The palace initially feared an outside attack on the royal children, but that tension dissolved quickly.

• “I did it. Why?”

Kalios, who had quietly observed until now, openly confessed.

The power of the aura was extraordinary.

Without a sword, or even a small metal object, he could inflict severe wounds.

• “Your Majesty!”

• “…It’s natural for children to fight a little.”

Despite the 6th consort, mother of the princess and prince, demanding punishment, the emperor let it pass.

Kalios’s value, as someone with the aura, far exceeded that of the powerless 10th princess and 11th prince.

It was his one privilege: wielding the aura.

Having now revealed his power, the crown prince’s side began watching Kalios even more closely.

But Kalios didn’t care. He had a far more important task.

Through wielding his aura and witnessing Retrachan’s struggles, he painfully realized:

He did not want his only younger brother to be hurt.

To ensure that:

• “Enough. All done.”

After three years of isolation and research, Kalios finally achieved results.

A method to transfer aura to others.

Since the aura originates from the heart, he could not transfer all of it, but a significant portion could be moved.

Enough to give Retrachan the strength to live without being crushed by others.

After this, Kalios would be sent to war.

For three years, he had done nothing but research, failing to intercept whispers from the crown prince and empress to the emperor.

The official reason for sending him was to demonstrate his aura’s power, but in truth, it was to drive him toward death.

No matter the aura, he was still a child. In a war where Sword Masters fought, he would be powerless and die.

Kalios, uninterested in the throne, cared little about dying unfairly.

He barely felt the instinctive human fear.

He watched Retrachan sleeping soundly in his bed.

Still so young, only eleven years old.

Kalios gently stroked his cheek. Soft, warm, and almost like a rabbit.

Retrachan slept close to Kalios’s room, quietly supporting him as he worked tirelessly.

It was so endearing that Kalios let out a soft laugh, rarely heard from him, as long as Retrachan wasn’t in front.

Even if he had stopped the empress and crown prince, nothing would have changed.

Anyone born with the aura would eventually be targeted.

Still, there was some regret.

He would never see this precious child again.

Yet better for the child to gain strength and remain unbroken.

After a little sword training, his talent was overflowing, and with mastery of the aura, no one could surpass Retrachan, aside from fantastical beings like spirit mages.

Kalios instructed the third consort to hide Retrachan’s aura as much as possible.

He drew a small line on the boy with a dagger.

Red blood bubbled up, flowing down to the child’s lips.

Retrachan’s throat moved slightly as if swallowing.

Kalios dipped his fingers in the flowing blood and marked the child’s forehead.

• “Ra. Le Drma, Moa di Lumerda Ferze.”

The ancient runes whispered softly from Kalios’s mouth.

Words connected to form power, and the power began to drain Kalios’s own energy.

The force pulled at him until his legs nearly gave out, then transferred to Retrachan’s forehead.

A flash of pure light appeared on the child’s forehead and was absorbed without a trace.

The overflowing aura now remained faintly around the heart, and Kalios felt his energy flowing into the boy.

He smiled slightly and pressed a gentle kiss to Retrachan’s forehead—the first family love he had ever felt.

At dawn the next day, Kalios departed for the battlefield.

Two years later, facing a Sword Master in battle and nearly dying, he was granted a contract with Nyx, the dark spirit, resulting in a rampage that obliterated the surrounding area.