V2. Chapter 40 — Anticipation of a New Beginning (Final Chapter of Volume 2)

The sun slowly rose above the Capital, bathing the streets in soft golden light and illuminating the endless rows of red-tiled rooftops.

The city was gradually waking up.

Some shops were already opening.

The first merchants and craftsmen were appearing on the streets.

And the scents of fresh bread, the cool morning air, and smoke from the ovens slowly mingled together.

But inside the tavern “Merry Drunkard,” the lights had never gone out all night, though almost no trace of the previous night's boisterous feast remained.

The table where the group had been sitting had already been completely cleared and carefully reset with clean tableware, as though it were already waiting for new guests.

From the kitchen came the appetizing sizzle of meat and the rhythmic tap of a knife against a cutting board.

The tavern's front door stood wide open, letting the cool morning air drift inside.

And sitting calmly on the front steps was Kael.

Squinting his amber eyes against the morning sun, he lazily puffed clouds of violet smoke into the air as he smoked Barnabas's pipe.

Kael let out a sleepy yawn before rubbing his bloodshot eyes, reddened from a sleepless night.

“Damn Barnabas...” he muttered hoarsely under his breath. “My head's about to split...”

Still squinting in the sunlight, Kael shifted his gaze toward the closed gates leading into the tavern's inner courtyard and let out a faintly irritated sigh.

“And why the hell did I promise yesterday that I'd accept gifts today?”

But as soon as he said those words, his train of thought immediately shifted.

Taking a slow drag, Kael calmly exhaled a dense cloud of violet smoke.

“Then again...” he thought. “I really can't complain.”

The familiar calculating gleam gradually returned to his amber eyes.

“Every gift I receive now is an investment in the next stage of my new life.”

And the more Kael thought about the front lines, the war, and the future, the more clearly he realized just how little time he had.

“I don't know what things will be like at the front lines...” he reflected calmly. “But I have to prepare as thoroughly as I possibly can.”

Sliding a little farther down the steps and lazily propping himself up on the step above with one elbow, Kael almost reclined, tilting his head back toward the sky.

“Only one month...” he murmured wearily, staring into the morning sky. “And in that time I have to pass my exams, prepare for war... and write proper treatises for the others.”

Dozens of plans were already beginning to arrange themselves in his mind almost automatically.

The secrets of herbalism for Dorian.

Fabric-working techniques for Estelle.

Crafting plans and smithing methods for Gilmesh, Roselle, and Lissandra.

Recommendations for Violet and Girren.

And the more Kael mentally sorted through it all, the more he realized that the coming month would probably be the busiest he had experienced in a very long time.

But at that very moment, his thoughts were suddenly interrupted by Dorian's voice drifting out from the kitchen: “Hey! Wake the girls up! Another half hour and the food will be ready!”

Hearing that, Kael immediately straightened up, knocked the remaining smoldering tobacco out of the pipe, and rose to his feet with a quiet groan.

Inside the tavern, meanwhile, Girren and Gilmesh stirred awake, having fallen asleep sitting in their chairs.

The two of them looked as though they'd survived not a night of drinking, but a full-fledged battle.

They even got to their feet almost in perfect unison, wearing equally miserable expressions as they automatically made their way toward the staircase leading to the second floor.

As Kael passed them, he merely chuckled softly and gave each of them a friendly slap on the back.

“So, how are the heroes holding up?”

Girren immediately grimaced in pain.

“It feels like... someone spent the whole night hitting me in the head with a hammer...”

Beside him, Gilmesh let out a raspy laugh.

“Same here...” he groaned, rubbing his face with one hand. “Except I think they used a sledgehammer on me...”

“Barnabas's last few tinctures were one too many,” Kael remarked with a hint of amusement.

At that, Gilmesh cast a gloomy glance toward the stairs leading down to the cellar.

“The old man's definitely not human.”

“He's human,” Girren shot back. “Just a damned drunk.”

The moment those words were spoken, Barnabas's pleased, raspy voice immediately drifted up from the cellar: “I heard that, you brats!”

All three of them laughed quietly almost at the same time before starting up the stairs to the second floor.

As they climbed together, Kael smiled a little crookedly, only one question running through his mind.

“I wonder... what's about to happen?”

Kael immediately recalled the previous evening—Violet's kiss and her words about the oath.

Glancing at the sleepy Girren and Gilmesh trudging along beside him, Kael narrowed his eyes thoughtfully.

“I could just ask one of them to wake Violet...” he thought. “But if she really remembers what happened last night, that'll only make things even more awkward.”

For a brief moment, he imagined Violet refusing to come out of her room or come downstairs.

The image made him quietly snort to himself.

“No...” he sighed inwardly. “It's better to talk everything through properly right away and not leave any awkward misunderstandings hanging between us.”

With that thought, they finally reached the second floor.

Almost immediately, Girren and Gilmesh split up, heading toward their respective rooms.

Kael himself stopped outside Violet's door, standing there silently for several seconds.

Then he took a deep breath, put on his usual calm smile, and finally knocked.

“Violet, are you awake?”

No sound came from inside.

Kael waited a few seconds before knocking again, this time a little louder.

“Violet?” he called with a faint smile. “I'm coming in.”

Without waiting for an answer, he slowly pushed the door open.

The door creaked softly as Kael cautiously peeked inside.

Violet was still asleep.

She had somehow become tangled in her lilac dress and blanket, sprawled diagonally across the bed in complete disarray, as though she had spent the entire night tossing and turning.

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Her violet hair lay in a messy tangle across the pillow, and she looked so peaceful and defenseless that Kael couldn't help but smile faintly.

“Good morning, Violet,” he said calmly without crossing the threshold. “The food's almost ready, so it's time to wake up.”

The moment those words were spoken, Violet's eyelids fluttered ever so slightly.

A few seconds later, her sleepy violet eyes slowly began to open.

For several moments, Violet blinked drowsily, as though her mind were only just beginning to return to reality.

Then her gaze lazily wandered around the room, lingering on the scattered books, the window, and her desk before slowly dropping to her clothes as she realized she had fallen asleep still dressed.

Only then did her eyes settle on Kael.

Squinting against the light and frowning sleepily, Violet murmured, “Kael... How did I end up in my bed?”

The moment those words left her lips, Kael felt a subtle wave of relief.

“She doesn't remember...” he thought, feeling the tension ease ever so slightly.

His usual faint smile immediately returned.

“You and the girls passed out right at the table last night,” he answered calmly. “So we had to carry all of you back to your rooms.”

Then, with a tired, amused smile, he added, “And after that, damn Barnabas kept us drinking until morning.”

Violet slowly turned her head toward the window, noticing the golden sunlight already spilling across the room.

“It's morning already?” she murmured sleepily.

She rubbed one foot against the other beneath the blanket as if trying to fully wake herself, then looked back at Kael.

“I'll get cleaned up and come downstairs,” Violet said quietly. “Thanks for waking me.”

Kael simply nodded.

“Don't take too long. Otherwise, Gilmesh will eat half the food before everyone else.”

At those words, a faint sleepy smile finally appeared on Violet's lips.

With that, Kael stepped back into the hallway, and the door quietly swung shut behind him, leaving Violet alone in her room.

Silence immediately settled over the room.

Violet remained motionless on the bed, staring toward the door and listening to Kael's footsteps gradually recede down the hallway.

Only when those footsteps had nearly faded away did her sleepy expression suddenly change with startling speed.

Her violet eyes flew wide open.

Her ears and cheeks were almost instantly flooded with a deep blush, while her lips trembled before pressing tightly together.

Then it was as if something exploded inside her mind.

“N-no...” she squeaked almost inaudibly.

The next instant, she suddenly twisted on the bed, driving her head into the pillow, and squealed through clenched teeth, “No, no, no!”

As she kicked her feet wildly against the bed and buried her face even deeper into the pillow, Violet felt panic and embarrassment erupt inside her all at once.

Because unlike what Kael believed, Violet remembered absolutely everything—the kiss, her own words, his oath, and how she had pulled him closer herself.

The moment those memories resurfaced, her own words from the previous night echoed through her mind: “Promise you'll come back to me...?”

In the very next instant, her imagination seemed to replay what came next.

She could almost physically feel Kael's warm breath near her ear as his low, calm voice rang out in her mind once more: “I promise...”

A shiver instantly ran through Violet's entire body.

“Aah...” she whimpered into the pillow.

Then she sprang out of bed so quickly it was as if she'd been scalded with boiling water.

At that moment, she felt as though she wanted nothing more than to sink into the ground and vanish from the world altogether.

Covering her burning face with both hands, Violet let out another muffled squeak into her palms before nervously beginning to pace circles around the room.

“What am I supposed to do...” she muttered incoherently. “What am I even supposed to do now...?”

Fragments of the previous evening continued surfacing relentlessly in her mind.

The harder Violet tried to stop thinking about it, the worse it became.

“How am I ever supposed to face him again?” she nearly groaned, covering her face with her hands once more.

Memories of wrapping her arms around Kael's neck and the way their lips had met in a kiss kept flashing through her mind, making her heart pound faster and faster while her panic only continued to grow.

At one point, Violet even began to feel as though it was becoming difficult to breathe.

“What have I... What am I supposed to do...” she muttered nervously, continuing to pace around the room.

Then, all at once, she came to an abrupt stop.

Kael's behavior from only a few minutes ago suddenly surfaced in her mind.

His gaze had been calm, and his smile had seemed perfectly ordinary.

Not the slightest hint that he was trying to embarrass her or bring up what had happened the night before.

The moment Violet latched onto that thought, hope sprang up inside her.

“Wait...” she murmured quickly, lifting her head. “Kael is always teasing me...”

She immediately remembered how effortlessly and mercilessly he usually took advantage of every opportunity to embarrass her.

“He definitely wouldn't have missed the chance to tease me about last night...”

For several seconds, Violet stared blankly into space.

Then her eyes widened slightly.

“And besides...” she murmured, much more confidently now. “Kael drank a lot more than I did yesterday...”

It was as if she'd been thrown a lifeline.

“Most likely... he doesn't remember anything at all!”

And although, deep down, Violet knew she was probably just convincing herself of what she desperately wanted to believe, at that moment she clung to that explanation with all her heart.

Because without it, she couldn't even imagine how she was supposed to calmly go downstairs and look Kael in the eye.

Taking a deep breath, Violet clenched her fists tightly before giving herself several firm nods.

Then she slapped both cheeks with her palms, trying to pull herself together.

“If I just act like I always do, everything will be fine!” she declared confidently. “He won't even know anything happened!”

Even though her heart was still pounding like mad, Violet desperately clung to that comforting thought.

After taking several more quick breaths, she straightened her back and forced the most natural smile she could onto her face.

“Everything's fine, Violet...” she murmured quietly to herself. “The main thing is, don't work yourself up.”

But the moment she said those words, last night's kiss surfaced in her memory again.

Her face instantly began turning red all over again.

“No! Don't think about it!” Violet panicked at once, vigorously shaking her head.

Then she hurried almost at a run toward the wardrobe, quickly grabbing a clean towel.

“I need to get cleaned up as fast as possible...” she muttered nervously under her breath. “Otherwise, Kael will definitely think I'm acting weird.”

And with those words, Violet practically bolted out of the room, as though she were trying to escape not so much to the bath as from her own thoughts.

✦ ✦ ✦

By then, Kael had already made his way back to the tavern's front porch.

Lowering himself onto the step once more, he stretched lazily before smiling faintly to himself.

“That was almost disappointing...” he murmured quietly. “I was expecting a much stronger reaction.”

For several seconds, Kael simply watched the street beyond the gates gradually come to life before slowly lifting his gaze to the sky.

“Then again... if she really doesn't remember anything...” he mused. “Maybe that's for the best right now.”

The familiar calm calculation gradually returned to his amber eyes.

“An entirely new chapter of my second life lies ahead...” Kael thought. “And if Violet and I grew even closer right now, she'd only worry about me more.”

Kael understood all too well that his immediate future was unlikely to be peaceful.

Even with all his knowledge and experience, no one could guarantee that everything would go smoothly.

But the further his thoughts wandered, the sharper his gaze became.

Then, at one point, he smiled with quiet confidence, as though speaking directly to Violet in his mind.

“Wait until I've grown stronger... and a little older, Violet. When I return from the war a fully grown man, we'll pick up where we left off...”

As he watched the clouds drift slowly across the sky above the Capital, Kael once again recalled the Throne's Shadow's voice and his words about strength, one's path, and the future.

A faint smirk appeared on Kael's lips.

“Well then... It seems the next chapter of my second life is going to be far less peaceful.”

But as those words left him, the familiar predatory gleam gradually surfaced in his amber eyes once more.

And it wasn't excitement alone.

Somewhere deep within him, another feeling slowly began to rise—a cold hunger for power and vengeance.

“The Shadow of the Throne was right...” the thought crossed his mind. “A true battlefield is the best place to grow stronger.”

Recalling countless studies and texts on the development of mages, Kael found more and more meaning in the Throne's Shadow's words.

In times of peace, mages grew stronger slowly and cautiously. But in life-and-death situations, the soul was forced to operate at the very limits of its potential, and one's power grew far more rapidly.

“When someone is constantly walking the line between life and death, their soul has no choice but to function at its limit...” Kael reflected calmly. “That's why true monsters are always born in times of war and upheaval.”

With that thought, Kael turned his head slightly toward the tavern entrance.

At that moment, the girls appeared at the top of the stairs.

Roselle was grumbling irritably under her breath, still holding her head after last night's drinking. Lissandra and Estelle sleepily leaned on the railing, while a little behind them, Violet slowly descended the stairs, once again trying to appear as calm as usual.

The moment Kael saw them, a faint smile naturally appeared on his lips.

Not long ago, Kael had thought this peaceful life would last forever. Simple conversations, the lively tavern, his friends' endless jokes, and ordinary human days—all of it had once seemed so calm and inviting.

He truly had grown attached to this place, to this new life, and to the people now slowly making their way down the stairs behind him.

But now, sitting on the steps of the “Merry Drunkard,” feeling the cool morning breeze and listening to the Capital awaken, Kael suddenly understood one simple truth with perfect clarity: “Finding easier paths is wise. But avoiding every hardship is not. I've been given a second chance, and I can't afford to use it mediocrely.”

And the more Kael thought about it, the more the familiar calculating gleam surfaced in his amber eyes.

“One month, then...” he murmured quietly, watching the wind slowly carry the clouds across the sky above the Capital. “In one month, I'll be standing on a real battlefield...”

For a brief moment, he closed his eyes.

Then a peculiar smile appeared on his lips, one that blended weariness, sarcasm, and utterly genuine anticipation.

“I can't wait...”