While everyone was focused on the trial, Shion Lan's carriage began moving back toward the mansion. Shion Lan sat by the window, resting his elbow against it as he watched the constantly changing scenery outside.
Inside the carriage, Solan Neumann sat in silence, filled with anxiety. Meanwhile, Pearl Jewel was still in shock from everything she had seen and learned about Shion. As for Enfel Kito, he somehow seemed unaffected, as though he had already known the truth.
Shion occasionally glanced at Solan, and each look only made her more nervous.
"Umm… Shion?" she finally said softly.
"What is it, Lady Neumann?" he replied coldly.
The dryness in his voice stabbed into her heart.
"Would you believe me if I said I didn't mean it?!" she asked hurriedly.
"Of course, Lady Neumann," Shion answered calmly. "How could the Pure Spirit ever doubt someone?"
His merciless responses only hurt her more.
Trying to ease the atmosphere, Pearl asked,
"By the way, from what I understood during the trial, the second wife and her children had nothing to do with what happened in the Ranus family. So what will happen to them?"
That question successfully lightened the tension.
"I plan to bring them into my family," Shion replied. "That woman originally married that man to protect me from him. Even if she forgot about it later, my younger siblings are still with her, so I'll have to take care of them."
"So you'll change your siblings' family name?"
Enfel asked.
"Well, that depends on them," Shion said. "I'm simply grateful to that woman, even if it was only for a short time. And her children are still too young to face the cruelty of society alone, especially with the Ranus family branded as traitors. That kind of shame can never truly be erased."
Pearl smiled charmingly at him.
"So, is your next step winning the Academy Championship?"
Shion returned her smile with one just as flawless.
"I want this year to remind me that no matter how many hardships I face in the future, I can always rise again and carve out my name from nothing. I am the one who shapes my own world, and challenges are simply a fate I must face."
"As expected of Lord Lan!" Enfel shouted enthusiastically.
The mood inside the carriage finally became lively again.
Solan tried several times to speak, but every time she met Shion's cold gaze, the words died in her throat. Watching Pearl laugh and smile with him while he responded warmly nearly drove her insane with guilt. She suppressed her tears in silence.
Once they arrived at the mansion, Shion and Solan stepped out of the carriage.
"Take Lord Kito and Lady Jewel home safely," Shion instructed the driver.
"Yes, sir!"
The carriage departed, and Pearl waved goodbye through the window. Shion smiled faintly at the gesture.
When he turned around, he found Solan trembling with sorrow and frustration. She had already dismissed Bloom and Polter back into the Spirit World and canceled her spirit form.
"Let's go inside, Solan," he said quietly.
She wanted to explode emotionally, but hearing him call her by her name stopped her completely. She looked at him with a conflicted expression filled with anger, guilt, and longing for forgiveness.
Shion sighed, then suddenly pulled her into his arms.
"I'm still angry," he admitted, "but if my mother finds out, she'll hate you… and I don't want that."
Solan looked up at him anxiously. "So… have you forgiven me?"
"You played with my heart and my life," he replied bluntly. "How could I forget something like that so easily?"
Her voice trembled. "I'll make it up to you however you want! Just… don't hate me!"
A sly look appeared in Shion's eyes after hearing those words.
From the Spirit World, Bloom muttered,
"My lady walked right into the trap…"
Solan's cheeks turned red, but she lowered her head shyly without saying anything.
"Will you really do whatever I want?" Shion asked eagerly.
Solan shut her eyes tightly and nodded while trembling, unable to speak.
'What kind of madness am I doing?!,' she screamed internally.
Especially when Shion leaned closer, bringing his lips near her ear. With every passing second, she felt herself growing hotter and redder.
Then he whispered,
"I want you to make me a cup of tea."
"…."
Solan stared at him in complete disbelief.
Shion smiled innocently. "Were you thinking of something else?"
Her face turned completely red as she punched his shoulder in embarrassment.
Suddenly, a voice echoed from the distance:
"SHION!! What are you doing to her?!"
It was his mother rushing toward them.
Realizing escape was impossible, Shion answered quickly, "I was only teasing her a little."
As soon as she arrived, his mother pulled Solan protectively under her arm.
"Are you an idiot?!" she scolded him. "Who does something like this to his girlfriend?! Isn't it enough that I already like her? Do you want me to get angry too?!"
Shion immediately retreated and fled into the mansion.
His mother then turned to Solan kindly. "My dear, Shion may be handsome and charming and all that, but don't let him seduce you!"
Solan stood there speechless.
Finally, she bowed politely and said, "I-I understand! I'll be more careful from now on!"
But Shion's mother continued teasing her,
"It's fine if you two love each other inside one of the rooms at least—not out in the open!"
"…!!!!"
Unable to endure any more embarrassment, Solan hurried away toward the teleportation circle.
His mother smiled mischievously before returning inside the mansion. However, once she saw Shion again, her expression changed completely.
"Are you alright, my son?"
She had been deeply worried about the trial and everything that had happened to him there. Even though she had encouraged him before, she still couldn't suppress her concern as a mother.
Shion forced a smile. "I'll be fine, Mother. I was just surprised. He said I was dead, that an evil spirit possessed me, that I killed his father… things like that."
As he spoke, he carefully observed her reaction.
Her expression immediately stiffened with disgust.
"Even after trying to kill you, he still slandered you like that? He was never a responsible man to begin with… otherwise he wouldn't have tried to kill you."
Shion calmly explained everything to her, and with every detail, her hatred for that man deepened further.
In the end, she asked quietly, "Shion… will he be executed?"
"He already was," Shion answered. "The king executed him during the trial out of rage. The rest of the family will also be executed, except for the second wife and her children. I'm thinking of bringing them into our household."
His mother's expression softened slightly.
"Lady Forite was actually very kind to me before she suddenly isolated herself," she said. "Back then, she defended you many times."
As she remembered the second wife, an unconscious smile appeared on her face. To her, Forite had once been a refuge from the tyranny of Shion's father.
Shion smiled faintly. "I'll go speak to her tomorrow, then."
After confirming everything, he returned to his room to change his clothes.
As he changed, countless thoughts filled his mind.
'Was Shi Yun Lan already there before I was even born? Why didn't he tell me this? How did he become connected to me in the first place? Did his connection to me make me resemble him… or did he connect to me because I already resembled him? Did my attempted murder cause that connection? Was all of this planned from the beginning? None of this feels like a coincidence…'
Shion didn't find Shi Yun Lan to ask him that made him feel bitter.
...
Meanwhile, elsewhere inside the royal palace…
Inside the prison, Jayden Joul sat alone in his cell. The light had completely vanished from his eyes.
The other prisoners—entire noble families along with their servants and knights—were locked away in separate cells. Cries and wails echoed everywhere. Children had already been separated and sent to orphanages.
Yet Jayden remained silent.
Was it because he had accepted his inevitable death? Or had his mind simply broken from everything that had happened?
Ever since the trial ended, he had not uttered a single word.
Soon, the atmosphere shifted as someone approached.
But Jayden didn't react. He already knew who it was.
"Jayden…!" his mother cried.
He slowly looked at her, and the two simply stared at each other in silence.
The First Queen had countless things she wanted to say, but the moment she faced her traitorous son, no words came out. Her body trembled uncontrollably, and tears began pouring from her eyes.
For some reason, Jayden suddenly remembered Shion at that moment.
So he imitated him and smiled gently.
"Why are you crying, Mother?"
Between sobs, she answered,
"I never imagined… there would come a day… when I would speak to my son… from behind prison bars…"
"Mother…"
Suddenly, something inside Jayden's heart and mind cracked apart, as though a seal had shattered. Memories and emotions flooded through him violently.
"Why?!" his mother cried. "Why did you do all this?! Was it all for power?! Damn all of that nonsense! Why throw your life away for something like this?!"
Her body nearly collapsed, and her personal maid quickly supported her.
Seeing this, Jayden felt sharp pain pierce his heart.
The guards and maids focused entirely on helping the queen, not even sparing him a glance.
Once she recovered slightly, she looked back at her son—only to see tears streaming down his face.
"I'm sorry!" he cried. "I'm sorry!"
He fell to the cold floor, wiping away his tears.
Silence filled the prison for several moments before he finally continued.
"I was jealous… Three years ago, after you fell into your coma, Jina's talents awakened. Everyone celebrated her. Nobody cared about me or my suffering anymore. My sister gained a special element, a heritage, and a guardian spirit… while I got nothing."
His voice got lower,
"So I made the contract with them… the Kingdom of Amoritchi."
The hatred appeared in his voice,
"When Father found out, three years had already passed. By then, I had already changed. Those tools kept feeding my hatred, resentment, and jealousy until I became nothing more than their puppet.
It was already too late for warnings. I had already spread corruption everywhere.
And when Father arrested me…"
Jayden's eyes turned red as he remembered that moment.
"I saw him crying because of what I had done. He screamed at me… but there was nothing left he could do. He only used me to capture the others.
But now… after removing that ring from my chest… I remembered everything.
...
…Too late."
The queen could only stare at her son sorrowfully.
Jayden smiled weakly through his tears.
"I used to envy Jina for her talents…
But now…
…I envy Shion Lan."
Everyone around him was stunned.
"He suffered far more than I ever did. His bloodline, his treatment, his future—everything was taken from him. Even Jina expelled him from the family.
But unlike me… he never surrendered.
He carved out his own path and became who he is now.
...
At first, I thought it was only because of his talent. But then I saw him…
I saw how hard he pushed himself during training.
How he forced his exhausted body to keep moving.
How he ignored every obstacle and overcame everything through his own effort."
He looked upward as though gazing at a hero he admired deeply.
"I wish I could have had a friend like him…
But because of me… he got my sister instead."
Then, with one final sigh, he looked at his mother.
"I deserved everything that happened to me. I abandoned my beautiful life for death itself.
I'm not sad because I'll die…
I'm sad because I ignored you after you returned.
I'm sorry for being such a cruel and unfilial son."
Behind the prison walls, King Jord Joul had been listening silently the entire time.
As he heard the words of the son he would soon execute, tears slowly rolled down his face.
"I'm sorry… for being too late to save you."