Redemption Arc

Lucian was having a similar wonderment to the first time he’d entered Verne. He watched the countryside of his new world as the boat traveled up the Lurund River. When last he’d been on a boat, he’d been in a doom-and-gloom mood contemplating the upcoming battle. He hadn’t been able to appreciate any of the sights. The circumstance was different now.

Lucian saw endless fields of green, dotted with functioning, garrisoned castles. The sky was as blue as he’d ever seen it. There were foreboding forests with towering trees. He saw the occasional griffin flying through the air, alongside wyverns and other such beasts. They were monsters, yes, but… Lucian was still awed. The War of Four allowed some free-roaming, but nothing like this. The player would just travel between designated areas on a world map, they wouldn’t be physically present as they travelled. When they’d been heading to the confluence, Lucian had been blind to the beauty of this world.

I probably looked like Denzel does, Lucian thought, casting a glance back at his travelling companion.

The second prince was sitting there in melancholy, sharpening his sword. It was already plenty sharp, so he assumed that it was for nothing more than distracting himself on the journey… or at least making himself look busy. Lucian couldn’t criticize him fully. He often did the same thing with his Evercodex—focusing his mind on a mundane task so that he didn’t need to think about the things that were bothering him. He felt freer on this boat than he did in the Collegium. No watching eyes, no whispered scorn.

Lucian pulled his Evercodex out once more, but walked away from the edge of the boat in case he dropped it. He sat down on a bench in the deck, then opened it up.

There’s one blessing that I might be able to get while I’m here that would make up for losing some training time. Lucian studied it. It’s a blessing that provides an ability. But… the player only has access to it during one story mission. It might not be there yet.

If it only manifested at a certain time, Lucian was out of luck. If it was always there and the player could only access it at a certain time, that was a different story. If he could get it here, now? It could totally change the flow of the story. Hell, it might even change all of his future decisions. He might seek out some other essential blessings early.

In a way, he intended to make this journey an experiment to figure out how far he could diverge from the original.

“You’re always reading that thing,” Metterand said.

Lucian slammed the book shut and looked behind him.

The chancellor smiled. “Oooh… an interesting reaction. So paranoid. What’s in there, brother?”

Lucian felt a bit disappointed with himself. A fortunate aspect of this world—and the reason he’d been writing in English, not in the Riverran language of this world—was that the Evercodex only allowed one person to read it: the owner. If anyone else looked at it, they’d only be shown blank pages. By reacting like this, he’d shown he had something to hide.

“They’re my plans for the future,” Lucian said honestly, standing up.

Metterand gazed at him. “And what might those be?”

“To live forever. What else?” Lucian joked.

Metterand didn’t seem particularly amused. He put a hand on Lucian’s shoulder, his fingers hovering near his neck, probably deliberately. “I’d like to get your thoughts on something.”

“You would?”

Metterand smiled. “Why wouldn’t I? You’ve conducted yourself admirably.”

He’d be happy to hear that from most people, but not this man. Still, he nodded. “Well, alright.”

“I’m going to propose the idea of making amendments to the Treaty of Verne to the Emperor.” Metterand’s cloudy eyes stared into his soul. “What do you think about that, Lucian?”

This stupid prick… Lucian wanted to sigh, but that wasn’t an expression that could slip under the radar with the chancellor staring him in the eyes. Metterand was the primary party responsible for preventing the Treaty of Verne from being redrafted. It looked like Lucian was going to be part of a major behind-the-scenes story event.

“I think the emperor will probably approve,” Lucian said.

Metterand’s face brightened. “You do?”

Why wouldn’t he? He’s a warmonger, he thought.

“I do. But that’s just my opinion,” Lucian said.

“Naturally.” Metterand took his hand away. “On another subject, I think the matter of your fiancée has been settled.” Lucian’s face fell, and Metterand smiled. “When did your face become so honest? Time was, you were much better at concealing your thoughts. You’re displeased,” he observed.

“I’m…” Lucian began, but stopped himself. “Please tell me it isn’t someone that’s currently a Student Ambassador.”

Metterand shook his head. “I don’t believe so.” Lucian exhaled in relief. “There are plenty of fine matches among them. Why are you relieved?”

Lucian walked to the boat’s railing. “I know all of them too well. Feels… weird.”

I know everything about these people. Being friends is strange enough, but beyond that? The idea made him strangely uncomfortable, like he was some kind of stalker or groomer. Besides… I can’t disturb my head canon pairings, Lucian thought, though he kept that to himself.

Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

“What about that elven woman?” Metterand followed up, walking closer.

“Her? She reminds me of my sister,” Lucian said idly.

“Your sister? I’m sure Miriam would be be very insulted to hear that,” Metterand said with a laugh.

Lucian hadn’t realized what he’d been saying, almost. He was talking about his sister from Earth, not Cate Villamar, who had a reputation for feeble-mindedness. He was getting too comfortable, and he let something slip.

“You’ll be seeing Cate once more very soon. I’ve arranged for her to be brought to the Villamar estate,” Metterand said. Lucian didn’t quite know what to say to that. Cate Villamar… she was never present in War of Four. “Is there anything else that you have to report about what we talked about?” Metterand asked.

Lucian looked at him. He was talking about Rowan’s investigation into the demon attacks. He had told them about their journey into the cathedral. Metterand had informants almost everywhere—it’d get out eventually, so he did his best to earn loyalty.

“Nothing else involving me, at least,” Lucian said.

Metterand patted Lucian’s back. “Well… I should review my notes for the meeting with the emperor.”

Lucian didn’t feel right being chummy with Metterand, a raging psychopath, but it was better than being choked. He watched the boat cut through the river.

“You’re wrong.”

Lucian looked back. Denzel had stopped sharpening. Lucian asked, “What?”

“There’s no way that my father would tolerate the treaty being redrafted,” Denzel said. “That’s a major step in escalating to war.”

Lucian turned, leaning on the ship’s railing. “Would you like to make a bet?”

Denzel clenched his teeth together. “How much?”

“Thousand gold,” Lucian said.

Denzel scoffed. “You don’t mean that.”

“You can even try and persuade him yourself,” Lucian said, only for Denzel to scoff once more and resume his sharpening. “What’s the matter? No confidence?”

Denzel looked up at him. “You won’t cry foul, no matter what happens?”

“A thousand gold is a cheap price to pay for peace,” Lucian said. “I’d like to be wrong. I’d like it even better if you made me wrong. But I’m not.”

Denzel looked affected by his first sentence. He gritted his teeth for a few moments, then nodded. “One thousand gold.”

Lucian turned back to the river, hoping that Denzel didn’t see his smile. Does he think I have that much money? My god… I should try getting money out of the other Student Ambassadors. What was I thinking?

He’d almost forgotten he was surrounded by rich people. Maybe that could make up his deficit. He always had contempt for betting, but if he knew the future, that was a very different story.

This fiancée nonsense… hope it doesn’t end up being a problem, Lucian thought. Got enough on my plate.

***

Lucian poked his head out of the carriage and looked toward the capital of the Empire of Riverra.

The Magic City of Golvenne. That was the longer title, but most people just called it Golvenne. It was as much of a formidable sight in reality as it had been in the game. Golvenne was constructed inside the skull of a titanic humanoid creature that died long before the Empire of Riverra was even an empire. The city wasn’t small—it was the skull that was utterly gargantuan. Even still, the limits of the city had begun to push past the skull, forming crowded slums where the lower classes lived.

The skull, whatever creature had left it behind, was incredibly durable. Whether magical damage or physical damage, it served as a bulwark against both. They were natural walls for the city, protecting against all manner of monsters and demons. To compensate for the constant lack of light, Riverra abounded with magic lamps and other methods of illumination. It had a very gothic atmosphere, and the people within were generally quite pale.

Once upon a time, there had been a skeleton to accompany this giant skull. Over the years its bones had been chipped away to form weapons, armor, and other artifacts that spread throughout this line. Items made of Titanbone were highly, highly prized. Many such items were family heirlooms of the aristocratic or patrician houses throughout the continent.

My favorite city in War of Four, Lucian reflected. One of the few places that I wish there were more missions in, if only to drink in the atmosphere.

“You’re acting like you’ve never seen this place before,” Denzel said flatly.

Lucian pulled his head back into the carriage. “It’s been a while, that’s all.”

Denzel said nothing more, and he too looked out at Golvenne. Though the Duchy of Villamar was actually quite distant from the capital, located in the fertile south somewhat near Verne, Duke Cyril Villamar remained in the capital of Golvenne to serve as the emperor’s prime minister.

“I wonder if you’ll remember imperial etiquette,” Denzel continued.

Lucian paled. Imperial etiquette? Oh, god…

“Maybe you could give me a reminder. Or two,” Lucian said, trying not to let his desperation show.

Denzel chuckled, watching the city as it came into view.

“I think that we’ll visit the duke first,” Metterand said, diligently reviewing his notes. “I want to confer with him about my method of approaching the emperor.”

Lucian tensed at the impending meeting with Duke Cyril, though he was glad he’d have time to brush up on imperial etiquette. He didn’t want to address someone the wrong way and cause a diplomatic incident. But then… that was assuming he was ever going to meet someone higher ranked than himself, excluding Prince Denzel. He just had to avoid Prince Algard and the emperor.

Still… better safe than sorry. Have to learn that etiquette, he accepted.

Their carriage wheeled onward until it came to the skull encircling Golvenne. The pathway to enter was a missing tooth on the skull that had been repurposed into a gate. There was a fairly long line outside of it, but they had the aristocratic privilege of bypassing all of that to enter immediately without so much as being stopped.

The city was beyond Lucian’s already-high expectations. Two beams of sunlight filtered in from the skull’s eye sockets, but beyond that, the whole of Golvenne was illuminated with brilliant blue magic lights. It gave the city of dark stone a foreboding, mystical aspect that made it deserving the title of Magic City. The architecture was gothic, haunting and sheer. There were gargoyles and ominous statues looking down from countless corners of the city. Far above the main city, built into the walls of the skulls, were aristocratic estates. And far in the back, looming large above it all, was the Imperial Palace of Riverra.

Their carriage was given precedence as it passed by, and they wove through the city until they arrived at the upper district. The carriage travelled up an elaborate walkway leading to an estate that Lucian was quite familiar with. This was where the player briefly met Duke Cyril Villamar before his death—a grand estate peer to any of the others they’d seen.

The three of them got out. Lucian adjusted the lapel of his outfit, growing nervous as he thought about meeting his ‘father.’