The palace remained silent beneath the late winter sky.
Cold wind moved softly across the outer walls while pale moonlight reflected against stone courtyards and snow-covered rooftops. Torches burned steadily near distant corridors, their flames shifting gently within the darkness.
Inside his chambers, the brazier crackled quietly beside the wall.
Warm orange light flickered across the room.
Rudura sat alone near the low table once again.
Échecs Humains rested open before him.
The black-covered book had begun changing the way he viewed people.
Or perhaps it merely revealed things he had always seen without fully understanding.
Tonight, another chapter title rested before his eyes.
Men Protect the Image They Have of Themselves Above Almost Everything Else
Rudura stared at the words silently.
Then slowly lowered his gaze toward the first lines beneath them.
Most men can endure pain, failure, and criticism more easily than they can endure seeing themselves differently from the person they believe they are.
The brazier crackled softly nearby.
Rudura continued reading.
The human mind defends identity instinctively, even against truth itself.
That sentence lingered immediately.
Because almost at once, memories surfaced from his previous life.
Classrooms.
Conversations.
Arguments.
Excuses.
Rudura leaned slightly back while staring thoughtfully into the firelight.
He remembered a student from school who constantly described himself as hardworking.
Whenever examination results disappointed him, he never blamed preparation directly.
Instead:
the paper was unfair
the teacher disliked him
the questions were strange
the checking was strict
At the time, Rudura simply thought:
"He hates admitting mistakes."
Now the situation felt deeper.
Perhaps the student genuinely struggled to view himself as someone who failed because of insufficient effort.
Interesting.
Very interesting.
Rudura lowered his gaze toward Échecs Humains again.
Men reshape explanation before reshaping identity.
That line connected sharply with countless memories.
Another surfaced immediately afterward.
A classmate known for honesty.
He constantly criticized gossip and hypocrisy publicly.
Yet Rudura remembered hearing the same student spreading rumors casually during lunch breaks.
At the time, the contradiction seemed obvious.
Now Rudura wondered if the student simply separated his own actions differently in his mind.
Interesting.
Humans often judged themselves through intention…
while judging others through action.
The realization settled heavily.
Outside, cold wind brushed softly against the palace windows.
Inside the chamber, the brazier flickered steadily.
Another memory surfaced from his previous life.
Group projects.
Whenever work failed, students instinctively explained their own shortcomings differently from everyone else's.
If they forgot responsibilities:
"I was busy."
If others forgot:
"They're irresponsible."
Interesting.
The human mind protected self-image constantly through interpretation.
Not always consciously.
The realization made human behavior feel strangely fragile.
Rudura rested one arm lightly against his knee while continuing to read.
Pride rarely says: "I was wrong." It first searches desperately for softer explanations.
That sentence lingered deeply.
Because it felt painfully realistic.
Another memory surfaced.
A student athlete losing an important match.
Afterward, he spent days blaming:
weather
referees
luck
distractions
At the time, many classmates mocked him quietly.
Now Rudura saw another layer beneath it.
Perhaps defeat threatened identity itself.
The student did not merely lose a match.
He temporarily lost the image of himself as superior.
Interesting.
Humans defended identity emotionally.
The realization softened the chapter slightly.
It no longer felt cynical.
More human.
Another memory followed.
Students pretending not to care after failure.
Rudura remembered hearing phrases repeatedly:
"It doesn't matter anyway."
"I didn't even study."
"I wasn't trying seriously."
At the time, those statements sounded arrogant.
Now he understood something deeper.
Pretending not to care protected self-worth.
If effort was never "real," then failure never fully threatened identity.
Interesting.
Very interesting.
The brazier cracked softly nearby.
Rudura slowly turned another page.
The image men hold of themselves becomes a fortress they defend unconsciously.
That line connected naturally with palace life too.
Nobles likely viewed ambition as loyalty.
Officials justified pride as dignity.
Powerful men probably described fear as caution.
Interesting.
People rarely viewed themselves as villains inside their own minds.
The realization lingered heavily.
Rudura thought briefly about political disagreements he had observed.
Both sides always seemed convinced of their own righteousness.
At first, that appeared dishonest.
Now he wondered if most people genuinely believed their own explanations.
Interesting.
Humans did not only deceive others.
Sometimes they partially deceived themselves first.
The thought unsettled him slightly.
Another memory surfaced from his previous life.
Friendships.
Arguments where both individuals remembered the same event differently afterward.
At the time, Rudura assumed one side intentionally lied.
Now he wondered if memory itself shifted slightly to protect emotional identity.
Interesting.
The human mind rewrote reality more subtly than he once realized.
Outside, clouds drifted slowly across the moonlit capital.
Inside the room, firelight flickered gently against the black pages of Échecs Humains.
Rudura leaned back slightly while thinking.
Then another memory surfaced unexpectedly.
A teacher once criticizing a student publicly for arrogance.
The student became furious immediately.
Not because the criticism was entirely false.
Because it conflicted sharply with how he viewed himself.
Interesting.
Humans reacted most strongly to attacks against identity.
The realization felt important.
Rudura lowered his gaze toward the next passage.
Men forgive insults more easily than they forgive mirrors.
That sentence remained in his mind immediately.
Because it explained why certain truths angered people disproportionately.
Not all criticism threatened equally.
The most painful criticism was often the criticism secretly feared.
Another memory surfaced.
A classmate jokingly called lazy by friends.
Normally he laughed.
But once someone seriously questioned his intelligence instead.
The reaction became immediate and hostile.
Interesting.
Certain identities mattered more deeply than others.
The human mind defended important self-images aggressively.
The realization connected naturally with rulership too.
Kings likely surrounded themselves with praise partly because criticism threatened authority psychologically.
Not only politically.
Even powerful people remained human beneath status.
Interesting.
Very interesting.
The brazier burned lower beside the wall.
Rudura slowly exhaled.
Then continued reading.
The wise understand that identity shapes perception more deeply than logic alone.
That line interested him greatly.
Because it explained why arguments rarely changed people quickly.
Facts alone often failed when identity resisted them emotionally.
Another memory surfaced from his previous life.
Online debates.
People rarely admitted changing opinions publicly even when losing arguments clearly.
Instead they:
changed subjects
reinterpreted points
dismissed sources
attacked tone
At the time, Rudura viewed it as stubbornness.
Now he saw another layer.
Changing beliefs sometimes felt like damaging identity itself.
Interesting.
Humans protected self-image instinctively.
The realization lingered quietly.
Another memory surfaced afterward.
A student known for kindness becoming unexpectedly cruel during conflict.
Later, he justified his behavior endlessly.
At first, Rudura thought:
"He just refuses responsibility."
Now he wondered if the student simply could not emotionally reconcile cruelty with his own self-image.
Interesting.
Perhaps self-deception often emerged from emotional survival rather than malice.
The chapter felt increasingly human the longer Rudura read.
Outside, cold wind moved softly through distant palace corridors.
Inside the chamber, silence settled warmly around the firelight.
Rudura turned another page slowly.
Men fear becoming someone they themselves would not respect.
That sentence lingered heavily.
Because it felt painfully true.
Humans needed to believe:
they were justified
they were decent
they were worthy
Even flawed people often preserved some version of themselves internally.
Another memory surfaced from his previous life.
A student who constantly mocked others eventually becoming isolated socially.
Yet instead of admitting cruelty, he convinced himself everyone else was overly sensitive.
Interesting.
The mind reshaped interpretation before surrendering identity.
The realization made human conflict feel tragically understandable.
Rudura thought briefly about the empire again.
How many rulers throughout history convinced themselves every harsh action was necessary?
How many ambitious nobles called greed "duty"?
How many betrayals became "survival" within the mind of the betrayer?
Interesting.
Very interesting.
The brazier flickered softly nearby.
Rudura slowly closed his eyes briefly.
Then another realization surfaced quietly.
Perhaps humans could endure almost any hardship…
as long as they still believed themselves righteous inside their own minds.
The thought lingered deeply.
Not because it excused wrongdoing.
Because it explained it.
The room remained silent except for the steady crackling of charcoal.
Rudura lowered his gaze toward the final lines of the chapter.
Men can survive humiliation, loss, and suffering. But the collapse of identity breaks something deeper within them.
Silence filled the room afterward.
Because the sentence felt undeniably real.
Humans protected identity constantly:
through excuses
through memory
through justification
through denial
Not always consciously.
Sometimes instinctively.
Outside, pale moonlight covered the sleeping capital while cold wind drifted softly through distant archways.
Rudura finally closed Échecs Humains gently.
Thump.
The chamber remained warm and still.
For a long while, he simply stared at the black-covered book silently.
Then slowly, quietly, he spoke into the firelit darkness.
His voice remained calm.
But the words carried a weight that lingered heavily within the room.
"The most terrifying thing about humans is not that they lie to others…"
"It is how easily they learn to kneel before the lies they tell themselves."
(Continued in Chapter 84)