Three days later, Lyse was walking through the courtyard after receiving a summons from Egbert and Sidis. Though the main culprit behind the recent terrorist attacks—Caldo the Alstran prince—had already been arrested, Sidis remained anxious about Lyse’s safety and insisted that she use a full-sized monster as an escort, just in case. She strolled alongside it toward a knoll overlooking the gardens, atop which sat a gazebo that was little more than white pillars and a climbing rose canopy for a roof. There, three people were already waiting for her: Egbert, Sidis, and Seren.
Though Seren was once their enemy, he was now essentially benign without any Donan stones. Moreover, his reclusive childhood had left him physically frail—even the lady-in-waiting Atoli, who’d once monitored Seren, appraised him as no match for a whelp—hence the lack of reservation about him sitting unrestrained in front of His Imperial Majesty the Emperor. Lyse could hear the party talking as she approached.
“I can’t believe we were fooled...” Egbert said to a sullen Seren. “Then we got the report saying that the monsters you lured caused a bit of property damage but no casualties.”
The emperor’s words cleared away the clouds hanging over Seren. “Am I glad to hear that no one was harmed,” he responded in low tones.
“I apologize for my tardiness,” Lyse greeted the men. Seren snapped around when he heard her voice, looking markedly remorseful in her presence.
“Sit, sit.” Egbert beckoned to Lyse, and she took him up on his offer. Lyse and Sidis flanked the emperor, with Seren sitting directly across from him.
“I’m truly sorry, Miss Lyse,” said Seren. He bowed deeply in his seat for fear that standing up would set off the imperial knights standing guard off to the side. “Not only did I kidnap your precious pet, I placed you in grave danger. How, um, is your dog doing?”
Both Sidis and Egbert were doing quite well, actually—but since it seemed like they hadn’t let Seren in on the truth, Lyse could only smile politely. “Oh, he’s fine. Thank you for your concern. And I was in no more danger than I would’ve been battling against monsters, so you needn’t apologize.”
Seren finally showed a wholehearted, genuine smile; he must’ve been terribly worried all this time. Along with Alcede’s report, Lyse had heard from Sidis why Seren so adored dogs. She was convinced that he’d simply been an unlucky victim of circumstance. If he’d been born into the empire, rather than locked up as a child, he would’ve been warmly welcomed into the palace, for...
“Now, about your power, Seren... As they’ve explained already, you have the Light of Origin within you. That is why you were able to propagate those stones and summon monsters, even though you aren’t capable of magic,” summarized Egbert.
Lyse and Sidis had come to that realization at the time of the incident and subsequently extracted his power to amplify the miniature Light they created. As they’d suspected, Seren’s contribution strengthened the Light enough to destroy all the regenerating black stone in the vicinity. Sidis had had a sneaking suspicion after noticing an odd phenomenon when he and Seren touched, but it was slightly different than with him and Lyse.
“Since Sidis and Lyse have the same power and they claim that you have it too, we’ve no reason to doubt them. But the most compelling evidence of all is that you can produce Light with this,” the emperor said, flashing a white rock chip before stowing it back into his pocket. It seemed that he’d had Seren demonstrate his powers while Lyse was absent.
“I can scarcely believe it. I’ve always thought my power was only good for attracting monsters and making stones for indoctrination.”
“Hasn’t sunken in yet, has it? Keep using your Light and I’m sure you’ll recognize your own strength soon,” Sidis said.
“I wonder if a sinner like me could ever...”
A tinge of awkwardness colored the emperor’s chuckle. “In any case, you’ll be staying here for a while. We can’t just throw you out of the empire and have you fall into the wrong hands, and you can’t defend yourself with a sword or magic.”
“Does that mean I’ll be jailed?” Seren readily admitted his crimes, but he nevertheless looked defeated at his prospects.
Egbert blinked blankly. “Jailed? Whatever for? We ought to protect you since you possess the Light. We’re going to overlook any wrongdoing you’ve committed.”
It was now Seren’s turn to blink in confusion. “But why...?”
“The empire needs everyone who possesses the Light, and I might need you to marry an imperial if the opportunity ever arises. We can’t possibly publicly decry you as a criminal, now can we? Your crimes are easy enough to write off, since, well, you haven’t killed anyone.”
In the end, Seren had done naught but transform a few dozen people into dogs, assemble monsters that caused a bit of damage to the city walls, and give the imperial troops a hard time. There was also the dognapping, but the confrontation with Caldo had only resulted in minor injuries to a few soldiers. Seren visibly relaxed after hearing the emperor’s thorough explanation.
“Thank goodness you aren’t responsible for anyone’s death, wouldn’t you say?” Sidis added.
Seren broke into a smile when the gravity of those words set in on him. “I humbly thank you for your grace and magnanimity, Your Imperial Majesty. And to you as well, Prince Sidis and Miss Lyse.”
“Be that as it may, we’ll still have to keep an eye on you. Just think of your entourage as your bodyguards. You are far weaker than Lyse, after all,” Egbert said. Being told that he lost to a woman in terms of strength did nothing to boost Seren’s confidence, but he was keenly aware of just how strong Lyse was.
“I do have something I’ve been meaning to ask you,” Sidis chimed in after a moment of respite. “I heard that when you approached the Light of Origin, you said it reminded you of something familiar.” That had been while Sidis was in dog form, so there was no way he could’ve inquired further at the time.
“Oh, that.” Seren anxiously laughed before continuing, “Before seeing the Light, I had what I thought was a fragment of a memory with my parents. It was only later that I realized I was mistaken.”
“What do you mean?” Lyse encouraged him to elaborate.
Seren nodded and explained to the small, attentive crowd, “A voice replayed in my head: ‘Truth be told, I wish I could’ve been protected like so.’ But that doesn’t make sense if I were reminiscing about my parents.”
Rather, Seren recalled the grand, warm Light and his own feelings.
“I wanted to believe that pleasant memory was of my parents, because as long as I could convince myself that I was loved—no matter how fleeting that love might’ve been—I could keep going. Keep living to see another day. Perhaps that desire twisted the memory in my mind. It only occurred to me when we created that light together,” Seren continued.
His words weighed on Lyse’s mind. He possessed the Light, and its warm comfort was familiar to him... That all coalesced into a wave of déjà vu that crashed down upon her. Lyse, too, had memories of her past and remembered the warmth of the Light. And if Seren associated that feeling with a memory of someone trying to protect a child, then...
Was he the culprit back then?
The only other two people who possessed the Light were Lyse, who’d died previously after being swallowed by it, and Sidis, who’d come into contact with it through her. If people who died from touching the Light were reborn with its powers, then wouldn’t that mean the culprit had ended up just like Lyse?