The crown had once been forged from the gold of family name and reputation. It was built on the idea of honor and the weight of a long history.
But now, that metal had started to change. It had started to break down. The mind inside that crown was stuck in a loop of worry and doubt.
Caster walked as he carried the unconscious Kiyotaka toward the medical wing.
The hallways were filled with students. They were a crowd of people that moved out of the way the moment they saw him coming.
They stared with wide eyes.
Caster did not ignore them. He turned his head and gave a friendly smile to the group. He nodded to them and looked kind, his lips moving as he thanked them for letting him pass.
It was exactly how a high-ranking student was supposed to act.
But behind that mask, he felt nothing but anger. He felt like a tool being moved by someone else's hands. He felt like a puppet being forced to play a part in a play he did not write.
Every step he took made him feel like he was losing his own power.
Right now, he wanted to use this chance to kill the boy in his arms. Kiyotaka was too dangerous to be left alone. He was a person who could not be predicted. Trying to be his friend was like trying to keep a snake in a pocket.
In Caster's eyes, Kiyotaka was not a normal person. He was a being who only used logic to interact with the world.
Caster remembered the dojo. He remembered how it felt to be toyed with.
He had no way of knowing the truth. He could not see the broken system or the flaw that forced Kiyotaka to act that way.
Caster did not know enough about him to guess that he might be innocent. He only knew how he felt, and he felt like he had been made a fool.
Caster's smile slipped for a second. The corners of his mouth moved as the weight of the boy seemed to get heavier.
If he were to kill Kiyotaka right now, everyone would see it. The whole academy was watching. If he walked away and Kiyotaka disappeared, every person would blame the Legacy.
The very rules of the school that Caster loved were the things keeping his enemy safe. In the end, Caster could not get rid of him. Not today.
He wanted to believe this was all a trick. He wanted to tell himself that Kiyotaka had faked this whole thing just because he wanted someone to carry him to the doctor.
He wanted to believe that Kiyotaka was that simple. He really did.
But he knew better.
Kiyotaka would not waste his time on something that did not matter. There had to be a bigger plan. There was always a hidden reason behind that blank face.
But what was it?
Caster hated that he could not see through the layers of Kiyotaka's mind. What did a person like that want with him?
Then, Caster remembered a detail.
Kiyotaka was reading a book when Caster found him. The Hierarchy of the Clans was the name of it. Caster finally felt like things were starting to make sense. But he was still not sure.
Was it a hint? Was it Kiyotaka's way of saying he could read Caster like the pages of a book? Or was it him saying that he wanted to learn more about the big families through Caster?
One of those had to be the answer. Kiyotaka was the kind of person who gave hints and set mental traps. It made sense now why he was trying to bring Caster closer.
He needed Caster for something.
The second option felt more real to Caster. Kiyotaka needed him as a way to get information about a world he did not know yet.
They reached the medical wing.
Caster gave the body to the workers. He was careful and acted like he was protecting something important.
He stood back as they put Kiyotaka on a bed.
When the workers started asking what happened, Caster started giving them the answers they wanted.
***
The doctors had told Caster that Kiyotaka only collapsed because his senses had come back. They said he should regain consciousness after a few hours.
Caster looked at Kiyotaka, who stayed still on the bed. A heavy feeling wrapped around his mind.
What should he do now? If he stayed here, would that just make him a pawn in Kiyotaka's game?
What if Kiyotaka expected him to stay just so he could keep his plans moving?
What if Kiyotaka wanted to be the first one to talk to him so he could start the manipulation all over again?
Caster looked toward the door. He reached out and grabbed a glass of water from a small table.
He stared at the clear liquid and then put it back down. Refusing to drink it.
Caster looked towards the exit door.
What if Caster just walked out of that door right now?
Would Kiyotaka expect that? Would he expect a member of a Great Clan to back away from a challenge?
The rust on his pride was getting worse.
What if Kiyotaka actually wanted him to leave?
What if his departure was exactly what the boy had calculated?
Caster felt like every choice he made was just another path Kiyotaka had already walked.
'I have to calm down.'
Caster realized his heart was beating too fast. He was being overly paranoid. He had to stop the loop in his head and look at things in a clear way.
This was hard for him. His entire life had been about the hierarchy. He was trained for physical fights and following the rules of the clans. Never in his life was he trained for this kind of mental war.
If this was just a duel, he would have fixed it by now. He had lost to people better than him many times before, and he always used that loss to get stronger.
Caster clenched his teeth. He turned and walked out of the room. He did not look back. He told himself he was being too paranoid and that he just needed time to think everything through.
As he walked down the quiet hallway, he thought about what the doctors said. They said Kiyotaka was regaining his senses.
The meaning of that hit him, and a cold chill went through his body.
That meant Kiyotaka had been living without being able to feel his own feet touching the floor. He could not feel the cold air on his skin or the warmth of a blanket before sleeping. He had been a living void.
Caster had to admit that he could not live like that for even one day. To live without touch or feeling was a nightmare.
But that was not the thought that made him angry. It was the feeling of being lied to.
He had been betrayed.
"That low ranking bastard."
Caster thought of the sleeper, Kane, who had given him the report earlier. Kane had told Caster that the academy barely had any information on Kiyotaka. He said the boy was a total mystery with no files.
But the doctors knew about the loss of senses. They knew exactly why he had collapsed. They had the medical history ready.
Genuine frustration started to grow inside him. If the academy had no information, how did they know this specific detail?
This betrayal was unacceptable to Caster. He believed that people should follow their duty. They should be honest with the families that provided for them. How dare a Legacy lie to the hand that feeds them?
Caster's walk became faster. He started to wonder if Kane was working for Kiyotaka too. Was everyone in the academy part of the plan?
He felt like eyes were watching him from every corner of the hallway.
He didn't know who to trust.
***
Evening had fallen as Caster stood outside the Academy entrance. A PTV arrived shortly after and a man stepped out.
He was just a random legacy from a branch family. The legacy nodded towards Caster and put forward his hand.
Caster shook hands with him.
Without saying anything more, Caster turned and went back inside the academy.
As the legacy sat inside the PTV again and drove off, Caster walked down the stairs.
He waited near a dim hallway, his eyes fixed on the path ahead. Soon enough, Kane walked past.
Kane saw Caster and stopped immediately, his eyes widening just a little before he forced a shaky smile onto his face.
"Good evening, Caster. I didn't expect to see you out here."
Kane expected it to be just a quick greeting. He began walking away as fast as he could, trying to get away from Caster before the conversation could deepen.
But he couldn't leave because Caster called him back. Caster stood with his back against the wall.
"Where are you going, Kane? I was hoping we could have a word."
Kane cursed his luck. He looked back and saw a pair of glasses appearing on Caster's eyes.
Before Kane could even question what they were, Caster questioned him first.
"It took me some time to unravel Kiyotaka's little game, but I believe I have finally seen through it."
Kane closed his eyes for a single moment. He realized it was indeed about Kiyotaka.
The memory of their deal felt like the taste of shit on his tongue.
"His goal is to show me that duty, honor, and pride are worthless. He wants to prove that your own people will betray you over the most trivial inconveniences."
A smile made its way onto Caster's face. He stepped forward and put both of his hands on Kane's shoulders, his grip tightening.
"But I know he is wrong. We are legacies, and our lives are about more than just surviving. Tell me that you didn't betray me, because I want to believe you over a complete stranger."
Kane stood there for a second. He wanted to tell Caster how wrong he truly was.
He wanted to scream that it was not a small inconvenience. He wanted to tell Caster that he still valued duty and honor.
But he couldn't. He had made a vow where he couldn't talk about it.
Wait. He thought he found a way.
He could tell Caster that Kiyotaka somehow made it so he can't talk about it. Yeah, that could work.
Caster watched as Kane's mouth opened and then Kane's eyes widened in horror.
He could not tell Caster anything regarding the vow. The words simply refused to exist.
"Answer me, Kane. Tell me that my convictions are true. Prove to me that everything I have learned since childhood isn't a lie."
Kane couldn't find the answer. He couldn't explain anything. But on top of everything, why was he even being questioned?
All he had done was do exactly what Caster said. He shouldn't be the one being questioned.
Due to him being caught off guard by Caster he had forgotten about it for a moment, but he was not in the wrong.
Caster would have approached Kiyotaka eventually even without him.
What Caster had done was simply a play making which just failed.
Kane looked at the hands on his shoulders before saying.
"What exactly is my crime, Caster? I only did exactly what you told me to do."
Caster just stared at him as his smile faltered just a little. Caster put a little more pressure on his hands, his fingers digging into Kane's uniform. Kane tensed up from the pressure.
"You're asking what you did? Kane... You manipulated me into approaching Kiyotaka and fed me false information about him."
Kane finally found a way to fight back with words.
"I was acting that way to discourage you, Caster! I wanted to keep you away from him! And... I truly don't know a thing about his Aspect!"
It was false. The reason Kane acted nervous was because he was betraying Caster nonetheless, and he acted that way because he knew the weight of his lie.
Caster's eyes widened as he let go of Kane. Kane, thinking that he believed it, felt a moment of relief. Caster took a few steps away and let out a long, heavy sigh.
"Kane... These glasses turn crimson when someone lies. And as you continued your story, they grew darker and darker. You steered me toward Kiyotaka, and you know exactly that he was planning something."
Caster just put his hand over his eyes as he looked up and took one long sigh.
Kane just stood there trying to think of anything to save himself. He had messed up completely.
Caster spoke while still looking up at the ceiling.
"Kane, if something, anything... is preventing you from telling me the truth, then nod. But remember, if you nod and these glasses show it as a lie, I will never be able to trust you again."
This was bad. Caster was from a really good clan and if he stopped trusting Kane, Kane's image inside his own clan would tarnish forever.
Kane had to make sure he somehow told him that he was right.
So Kane tried to nod, but his head didn't go down even a bit. His heart started to beat like a drum. And just then, the feeling of being stopped vanished, but a new fear came into Kane's mind as runes appeared in front of his eyes.
[Kane must meet with Caster tomorrow and speak in a way that edges him toward making a move on the same day. The words must not be direct, nor should they make the intention obvious. And whatever took place here must not be spoken or told in any kind of way to anyone else.]
The words "must not be spoken or told in any kind of way to anyone else" were what were stopping him from nodding.
He could nod right now, but that would mean he was signaling the existence of the vow. That would mean he would die.
Fate is cruel but not unfair. Fate must have pressured him not to nod because it saw how bad his situation was. But if fate interfered any longer, it would be unfair to Kiyotaka. So now, everything was on Kane. Nod and die, or not nod and live.
Caster just stood there waiting for any sign.
"I see... You won't even nod because you know I've spoken the truth. You know that if you try to confirm it, these lenses will scream crimson."
Caster pinched the bridge of nose as he looked down. He saw his very ideals being broken down in front of him. He had spent his life believing in the loyalty of his peers, and now he was looking at a traitor who couldn't even lie well.
Kane's eyes shaked as his heartbeat began to roar and fear started creeping into his heart.
He looked towards Caster. He wanted to tell him this was all a scheme by Kiyotaka. He wanted to tell Caster to not go to him. He wanted to tell him that they were just pawns in his hands and that he foresaw everything.
But he couldn't. If he said anything, the vow would take his life.
Caster just walked past him. He stopped for a second and patted Kane's shoulder.
"You should be ashamed of yourself, mongrel."
Kane just stood there looking down, eating those words as Caster took a turn and disappeared into the hallway.
He could very well tell him the truth right now, but that would mean he would die.
The very foundation of their world was being thrown upside down by Kiyotaka.
***
Truth be told, before even approaching Kane, Caster had attempted to gather information on his own. All he could uncover was a handful of interview data, records that were simple and revealed nothing of substance.
Kiyotaka's Aspect was considered confidential for everyone. Even with Caster's standing, the files remained sealed, leaving him with no answers.
But Caster was certain he knew the truth. It had to involve those eyes. There was no other way he could have lost so completely. In his mind, those eyes were the reason his strength had failed him.
He tried to look past the betrayal. He tried to ignore the fact that another legacy had lied to his face and didn't honor his duty.
Caster tried to look past it as the next day arrived and he stood in that same hallway.
There, he had eight sleepers, seven from small families and one legacy, as he told them all to spy on Kiyotaka.
Caster refused to go in front of Kiyotaka himself. No matter how good Kiyotaka was, he would not be able to predict Caster if they never met. Caster was a fighting prodigy, and it was about time he became a psychological one too.
***
Just like that, the days passed. Today was the fifteenth day as Caster stood by a wall, a glass cup filled with water in his hand.
The glass broke as he used pressure and water spilled. None of the broken glass hurt him; he was too strong for that.
For the past six days, he had been sending sleepers and a few legacies to spy on Kiyotaka, and what was happening was a nightmare.
Eighty percent of the legacies lied to him. He saw it through his glasses every time. They tried to lure him to Kiyotaka, and when Caster told them he could see through them, they acted the same way. They made excuses just to be thrown into a deeper hell.
Caster sighed as he covered his face with one hand.
Duty. Honor. Pride are absolute for legacies. Yet Kiyotaka was showing Caster that loyalty is just an illusion.
Kiyotaka was only targeting the legacies and not doing anything to the normal household ones.
Kiyotaka was telling him that legacies are easier to manipulate than common people. Their arrogance made them predictable, and their fear of losing status made them obedient to the wrong master. By breaking the legacies, Kiyotaka was dismantling the very idea of superior bloodlines.
"Sigh."
No, Kiyotaka had to be wrong. Caster's entire life was built on this.
He was from a legacy. Their teachings could not be wrong. The other legacies were just not faithful. They were failing their ancestors, not the other way around.
Kiyotaka was targeting the weaker legacies for sure. He was choosing the ones whose foundations were already shaking to make it look like the whole structure was rotting.
Legacies were the rule. They were the ones meant to lead. If Caster accepted anything else, his entire world would collapse into the dark.
Unknown to Caster... All the legacies that betrayed him actually had a shadow hidden deep beneath their own shadow.
***
Today was the twenty-seventh day as Caster sat alone in the cafeteria. He had stopped the spying days ago.
Caster was eating his meal later than usual because of his training schedule. He felt a slight sense of fatigue because tomorrow was the winter solstice.
Caster had been pushing his body further with each passing day. As he was eating, Kiyotaka walked past him while staring directly at him.
Caster smirked at the walking Kiyotaka and put his tray away.
Caster reached for a cup of water but stopped himself, deciding not to commit, and simply walked ahead.
He caught up to Kiyotaka as they walked together. No one paid them any attention anymore.
Kiyotaka was drinking from a cup of water. He placed it on a nearby stand and turned his gaze toward Caster.
"You have effectively killed your own chances for progression."
Caster just looked toward him before smirking as they continued to walk.
"Let us not pretend that I need you, Kiyotaka. You are the one who has been attempting to lure me in. I told you once that I wished to train with you, but you never showed your face at the dojo after that day."
"Caster, I have been paying attention to you and there is one thing I noticed. You wholeheartedly believe that you are a product of your legacy, when you should be believing that the legacy is a product of you."
Caster stopped for a fraction of a second before continuing to walk beside him. He felt as though his clan had just been insulted.
That insult gave him the legal reasoning to execute him. However, Kiyotaka was more powerful than him within the walls of the academy.
"It is not as effortless as it looks from the outside. You speak with such detachment only because you have never felt the weight of a true duty... one that was decided for you before you were even born. You don't know what it feels like to have your every breath belong to a purpose greater than yourself, do you?"
Caster glanced toward Kiyotaka to see his reaction to the remark he just made, but there was no reaction at all.
"You tell me the legacy should come from me? That is the talk of someone who has the luxury of choice. Behind me stands a mountain of history... Decades of blood and reputation that I don't expect you to understand what it is like to live as a ghost within your own name."
Kiyotaka remained silent for a few steps before speaking in his usual, flat tone.
"I see. You are right. I shouldn't be crossing the line by disrespecting something I don't understand. I apologize."
They reached the dojo as Kiyotaka went in and Caster followed. Caster made sure to look all around the dojo to see if there were any potential threats.
"Why the sudden apology, Kiyotaka? A man like you doesn't say sorry unless it serves a specific function."
Kiyotaka stopped in the center of the mats and turned around. He looked at Caster.
"Because to me, it seems you aren't a caretaker at all. You are just another prisoner who has fallen in love with his own shackles."
As Kiyotaka finished saying that, two chains appeared on the ground beside them as divine rays of light erupted from the metal.
"You think your loyalty is a shield, but it is actually a blindfold. You are so focused on the ancestors behind you that you cannot see the cliff right in front of your feet. If you continue to serve a master who views you only as a disposable tool, then the history you love so much will end as nothing more than a footnote of failure."
The chain rattled, slithering across the floor toward Caster like a living thing.
Caster's heart began to thump violently as the words crashed into him. He looked at the glowing metal, feeling a sense of exposure he had never known.
"The duty you speak so proudly of... is related to Nephis of the Immortal Flame clan. I can tell you with confidence that only ruin awaits you on that path. But even now, Caster, I can see the man beneath the mask. There is a part of you that wants to break those shackles. I believe you want to be more than a weapon for your family."
Caster did not like someone knowing him this deeply. He could not allow a witness to see the cracks in his foundation, nor could he permit a mouth to exist that spoke his hidden shame so clearly.
Caster activated his Aspect with a single, murderous thought in his mind.
Kiyotaka had to die.
If the secret was out, the only way to protect the legacy was to silence the voice that spoke the truth. He prepared to move, his body coiled like a spring, ready to accelerate into a strike that no normal human could hope to parry.
Kiyotaka did not flinch. Instead, he reached out with one hand as one of the glowing chains rose from the floor and connected to Kiyotaka's throat.
"Let us begin our [Binding Vow], Caster."
Before Caster could bridge the distance>
A crowd of Sleepers rushed inside, their movements synchronized, their eyes glazed over in a state of deep hypnosis. Caster was forced to kill his momentum, stopping his Aspect as the students flooded the space.
The Sleepers walked past him without a word, their faces blank as they formed a living shield in front of Kiyotaka.
Caster's eyes shook as he recognized the faces in the front line.
They were the remaining legacies. They were the ones who had stayed faithful, the ones who had refused to lie to him when he had sent them to spy on Kiyotaka.
The very paragons of his ideology were now standing as meat and bone between him and his target.
"Duty. Honor. Pride. Might. They are all meaningless, Caster, And so Is control.
The percentage of legacies that betrayed
Caster - 100%
*****
A question, Stack and Stack of analysis and shit, Is it weird?
I can believe it, It can overwhelm anyone but Adding humour in such chapter is just disrespect to it, So lmk if it was overwhelming... I will work on it when next such chapter comes.
guess this is it, Each ss will just get crazier.
500+ Collections tho, Nice.
Peace.