I have one last gift for you. Not as Rohakan, but as a mentor… Oh, of course, I know that I’ve done little to earn the title of your mentor. But what can I say? When you were a child, I took your father’s money and made a promise—to be your mentor myself—and a mage does not break his word.0

It was a ridiculous set of sentences.0

If it were the original Deculein, he would have ground his teeth in disgrace or humiliation, I thought.0

However…0

“Primien.”0

“Yes, Professor.”0

"It’s time to move," I said, eyes still on Rohakan’s letter.0

“… I’ll have the horses ready,” Primien said as she stepped outside.0

My eyes returned to the words on the letter.0

My protégé, when I first came to understand the world, I was already old. But as the world grew, I became young again.0

Rohakan awakened his eight categories, accepting old age as its price. Yet, as he mastered his craft, youth returned to him once more.0

The magical origin of Rohakan lay in the Worldline—an origin surpassing all others, greater than time, which bound Epherene; space, which shaped Ellie; or destruction, which fueled Adrienne. It was an overwhelming power no human could withstand, a path where mastery meant stepping ever closer to death.9

I find myself recalling the first time I met Sophien. A flawless child—so perfect, it was as if she had been sculpted by the hands of a master.0

Rohakan’s faint voice echoed through the library, and at its center, a scene flickered like a mirage—magic embedded in the very words.0

— You learn quickly, little one. You have an exceptional talent for magic.0

— … How dare you not address me as Your Highness!0

Before she was trapped in the infinite cycle of poison and regression, there was Sophien—just a pure, five-year-old child—and Rohakan,...0