Gallahan's - Hindsight

Gallahan had committed grievous sins against the highest order, and now, it appeared divine judgment had decreed that he relive the consequences.

“Lord Calixtus! Do not go there!”

Despite the objections from the members of House Ruxandrion, Calixtus activated a flight spell to search for Aya. Gallahan waited as he safely reached the stage. Then, he looked back to the sky, disgruntled. Lorenz made an already disastrous debacle all the more dire.

His mana surged and flared, splitting the clouds open with a deafening explosion of lightning.

It was a catastrophe the likes of which had never been seen. In people's minds, it might’ve seemed the stuff of history. In his eyes, however, it’s history repeating itself.

“I WILL MAKE YOU ALL PAY!"

During the duel for the throne, Lorenz had also rampaged like this.

He'd never truly understood him. Perhaps, it's their differences. They'd always been the complete opposites.

Whereas Gallahan was prim and proper, Lorenz was roguish in nature. He's neither diligent in his studies nor temperate in his conduct. He's prone to brawls and impervious to discipline. 

Then, quite suddenly, he changed.

It had been so sudden that he couldn't remember when it started. Lorenz had relinquished his contentiousness, devoted himself to his lessons, and become earnest about his future. The motive had been obscure until a particular detail came to his attention.

“Prince Lorenz seems disposed to pursue the same vocation as I.”

Favian, who’d served as a tutor to the royal family for generations, had spoken to Gallahan of Lorenz’s ambition. At the time, he found the notion inconceivable. ‘A delinquent wanting to be a teacher? How curious.’ But later on, he learned the reason.

Lorenz wished to teach someone.

‘To think our problem child should ever be so besotted!’

Much as Gallahan sought the truth, he'd failed to ascertain it. Nobody ever knew. Whatever feelings Lorenz harbored, they'd been precious enough to keep to his own.

Then came the time a new ruler would be chosen, and with it a calamity from which the royal family would never wholly recover.

Lorenz had attempted to slaughter them.

There's no warning or provocation. He had shed blood and wrought havoc, seized by madness that made the rage feel but the antecedent to something far more primal. No one could fathom what incurred such unbridled wrath. The one certainty was that it’s not the crown he’s after.

‘If it were, he wouldn’t have gone that far, and I…’ Gallahan glanced towards the throne at the royal dais. ‘...I wouldn't be sitting there.’

Only with their combined strengths and Ercilia’s extinguished life force did they manage to subdue Lorenz. Yet, fate had dealt them a crueler hand. When he regained consciousness, they'd braced themselves for the worst, only to discover he'd lost his memories.

“Why are you looking at me like I’m a wild beast?”

Lorenz had forgotten everything.

All he could recall were his early years as royalty, not the battle for the throne nor how everyone nearly lost their lives in it. There was, then, little to question him about. Crucial as it was, the motive behind the bloodbath had been lost to all, even to Lorenz himself. To wrench it out of him would be too dangerous a risk to take.

Having witnessed Lorenz's raw power, Gallahan feared that, should his memories return, he'd eliminate them before they could so much as learn the cause. He had to delve into the matter first. He had to prevent it from recurring.

It's with this decision to conceal the truth that Gallahan’s gravest transgression began.

‘Truly. If it's the crown he's after, he wouldn't have gone that far. He would've ceased, would've rejoiced.’

That's because the gods had ordained Lorenz to succeed the king.

In a world where royalty was chosen not by blood, but by magic, a commoner could someday become a ruler. That’s what Lorenz was. He's the one blessed by the higher beings, called to ascend the throne. It had never been Gallahan. He’s but a contingency thrust into a most precarious situation.

And it would be a folly to covet that which one could no longer possess.

He's no usurper who claimed kingship amid these crises. There was simply no wisdom in entrusting the fate of the kingdom to a man who could not govern himself. To make him king was to place the country at the mercy of his temper and caprices.

Therefore, the rest of the royal family had resolved for Gallahan to occupy the throne until the truth of that day came to light and Lorenz proved himself capable enough of bearing the crown.

‘The gods, good grief… You cannot challenge their will. You can only question it.’

Another thunderbolt struck, and Lorenz descended on the platform.

He stayed afloat above the wreckage while wreaths of snow and lightning coiled around his body, making him appear like the storm itself rather than someone caught in it. Beside such overwhelming power, the attackers who’d terrorized the crowd seemed insignificant. The air itself bent beneath the pressure of his magic, lifting each one from the ground. Without giving them time to struggle against the unseen force, he sent them crashing through the walls.

The princes, who’d joined Calixtus in searching for Aya, watched breathless.

“Lord Lorenz!” called Aiden, “please err on the side of caution! If the stage collapses further, anyone beneath might not survive!”

‘Prince Aiden,’ Gallahan mused, ‘I am loath to involve more people, but the young man is more astute than he lets on.’

Not long ago, Aiden had requested an audience to tell Gallahan about the pillars and tablets in the underground temple. At first glance, the engravings were merely an old chronicle of the kingdom’s origin. Yet gradually, they divulged surreptitious facts about its ruler.

“The pillar without a god is that of the Life Bearer—the kingdom’s ruler. On the tablet, it says their element is colorless, so whatever changed in their appearance after passing the Evertread will revert to normal. In other words, the body part dyed by divinity would return to its original color, but then, Your Majesty, why did yours remain the same golden-yellow?”

He could’ve said it’s his natural eye color. His grandson had inherited the same trait. However, the prince possessed an insatiable curiosity, what with how he instigated the research on teleportation magic. Also, the truth was bound to reveal itself soon, given all that had transpired.

“Pray tell, Your Highness, what is your speculation?”

Aiden had answered with the thoughtful composure of someone who indulged in such questions, “I seek confirmation, not an explanation. Whether you grant me the truth or withhold it is your prerogative. I shall cooperate, provided that no penalty is to be exacted of me. Ah, and regarding the previous incident, please also lend Hiraya and Drystan leniency.’

‘I imagined Prince Aiden was cunning, but this surprised me nonetheless.’

So, Aiden had retired from Gallahan’s chambers with his inquiries appeased and his accomplices spared. He’d correctly inferred that only one person bore the quality he’d mentioned. He’d also rightly discerned that said person had been in pursuit of the truth for some time.

“Your Majesty, the color of Lord Lorenz’s eyes had gone from purple and back to green.”

And as Gallahan looked into those very eyes, he found the same emotions he saw in them that day—anger, desperation, grief, despair.

Quietly, Lorenz stared back. A thunderclap erupted, but he didn't flinch. Lorenz needed not show how livid he was. Gallahan knew what he felt from the beginning.

In the midst of this, Drevazio arrived.

“Lord Oulixeus has been apprehended, Your Majesty. Rah Morverelith caught him. Afterwards, Rah Vonwerstein and Rah Delmaresch reinforced his restraints with a binding spell. Rah Ignatius now commands the knights.”

“All according to the plan, then.” For once, Gallahan could breathe. “Ensure Lorenz never sees him, at least until the interrogation concludes.”

“Of course. Lord Oulixues is of little use as a corpse. However…”

“How else might Lorenz be stopped, then? I presume that is your thought.”

“...It is. Princess Hiraya has yet to be found, and even the Premo seems none the wiser.”

Gallahan regarded his most loyal subject with a reassuring smile.

Back when Chrysander first came under suspicion in the investigation concerning Lorenz, Gallahan, bound by both his allegiance to the Light faction and his duty as king, found himself constrained by obligations opposing one another, which was why Drevazio had resigned himself to operating as his undercover sentinel.

“As His Majesty is with Theovaleo, then House Gayatri shall not be with His Majesty.”

He hadn’t pledged loyalty to the king. He’d vowed instead to preserve his ideals. Even though his tenure as the royal knight commander had ended, and his house fell into disgrace thereafter, Drevazio’s commitment to upholding peace and order proved undiminished.

“It appears your daughter has become rather independent after entering the princess’s retinue,” Gallahan quipped, much to Drevazio’s confusion.

“I beg your pardon?”

“Has she not confided in you?”

“Romina? Does she know anything about Rah Aerowenlore?”

“Not quite.” He paused, noticing the figures hiding close to the stage. “Well, you shall see.”

The plan had long been set into motion.

Ercilia’s instigation during the evening banquet had propelled it forward. Having shared a bond with Lorenz in their youth, she’s privy to matters the rest were not. It had been invaluable that she'd raised it when she returned. Gallahan trusted that whatever had occurred last night was the final catalyst.

Now, yet more truths were nearing their moment of revelation.