That realization was heartrending. At the time, the villa intruder was nothing more than an enemy to her, and neither Qatora nor Lyse ever regretted their sacrifice to save the captured child. But what if that life was the only thing the captor knew? What if he’d had no choice but to follow orders? What if he just wanted some kind of warmth in his life? If people had to resort to such desperate measures, then the fault lay with the empire. Lyse strongly believed in treating the root cause rather than the symptoms of a problem.
“I mean, I’d never been to the empire before, so how was I to know what seeing the Light would do? I thought the whole journey was fruitless, and that got me a little depressed. But little did I know I would meet you and Prince Sidis here.”
“What about me and Lord Sidis?” Lyse asked in puzzlement as Seren looked straight into her eyes.
“You and Prince Sidis taught me about my power and where it comes from. Knowing that it isn’t just for summoning monsters made me...” Seren hesitated before continuing, “It made me feel better about myself, so thank you.”
With that, he casually grabbed Lyse’s hand—and Sidis tugged him the other way.
“Hey. She’s my fiancée, you know?”
After the initial surprise, Seren reached for Sidis’s hand too. “I know! And I love you too.”
“What’s with you?!” Sidis demanded as he shook Seren’s hand off.
“I’ll admit that I was envious seeing you so happy with someone to cherish. But when you heard me out and sympathized with me, I knew that you have a lot of love to give.”
“That’s why you said you loved me? Even though we’re both men?!”
“Did I phrase that poorly?”
“That’s what you’re worried about?”
“Well, yes. I’m still not very socially adept yet. I haven’t had much practice until recently, and when I asked Caldo for help, he told me to learn from my servants...”
Such a request might have had his servants under the wrong impression, given how Seren’s only social skill seemed to be hitting on women. Even if he hadn’t been afforded many opportunities to socialize after being adopted, it hadn’t proved much of a problem before now.
“Hm, maybe we’ll have you serve as a messenger as part of your training. Anyway, you’re free to use your current room as your own for now. We’ll settle you into more permanent accommodations later,” Egbert said with a wave of his left hand, concluding the conversation.
A knight standing guard nearby swiftly came and escorted Seren away. As he departed, he twice turned around and bowed to thank the three of them.
“Lord Sidis, could Seren be...” Lyse whispered.
“I was thinking the same. He may have been my abductor in his previous life.”
“That would explain why he has the Light,” Egbert added.
“Precisely,” agreed Sidis.
Though they only had Lyse’s experience to go off of, it was a convincing theory—dying by the Light meant being reborn with its powers.
“In any event, this must bring you two some peace of mind,” said Egbert.
“Yes, very much so. Not only have we apprehended the Donan leader, but we’ve also solved another problem,” replied Sidis.
“And what might that be?” Lyse wasn’t sure what he was getting at.
Sidis smiled and asked, “Lyse, do you know how old Seren is?”
She shook her head. He looked to be in his twenties, but since Lyse hadn’t been looking for a partner at the matchmaking event, she’d never seen a reason to inquire further.
“He’s fifty.”
Lyse paused for a beat. “He’s what?!”
Seren was fifty—fifty years old—though he barely looked older than a teenager.
“Are you saying that Seren ages like an imperial?” she asked.
“Not quite. Up until his twenties, he grew like a normal human. But it seems he hasn’t aged a day since,” Egbert explained.
Sidis picked up after the emperor. “Caldo only learned of Seren once he was well past his twenties. However, his lasting youth was apparently intriguing to the prince. Since Seren also proved able to produce the green light, Caldo schemed to plant him in the empire. While the prince waited for the perfect moment to execute his plan, he adopted Seren for his strange powers.”
This was a lot of information to take in at once for Lyse. She’d known that Seren didn’t have any mana, which was why he was unable to use magic, much like herself. But if he still had a longer life span...
“Does that mean I might get to live longer too?”
“It’s a possibility. You’re still in your teens, aren’t you? If you take after Seren, never mind if he starts aging now, you still might reach a century.” Sidis moved beside Lyse and held her hand. “And that means I get to be with you for longer than I’d imagined. Words can’t describe how happy I am, Lyse.”
“Me too, Sidis. Me too!” she said much to his delight as he embraced her. She had to bury her face in his shoulder to keep her emotions in check. But then...
“Come on. You two ever thought about getting a room? You know I didn’t ask for a show, right?” Egbert heaved a sigh.
“Please excuse us, Your Imperial Majesty. Perhaps we shall take this elsewhere, where people would like to see us,” Sidis said, chuckling to himself.
“You’re telling me people want to watch that?”
“Duchess Kirstin instructed us to put our affection on display at the next matchmaking party. It seems two couples have started courting, and she thought our example might hasten things along for the rest.”
Indeed, the matchmaking had continued all the while in the background. Though Goldilocks and Freyja had found matches, the others had yet to do so. Kirstin wanted everyone to be in a marrying mood by the end of the event, so she was still enlisting more imperial bachelors and bachelorettes.
“Go then, for your emperor and his empire.” Egbert had a good laugh and sent the happy couple on their way, so they left their seats and the gazebo.
“By the by, Lyse,” Sidis said as they began walking.
“Yes?”
“You said that when I hold your hand, you can’t shake mine away, did you not? I had thought that was because of the Light of Origin.” If that were the case, then it stood to reason that Lyse wouldn’t be able to shake Seren either, but all that she felt from him was a spark of electricity, unlike the weakness she felt with Sidis. “I think there must be more to it.”
“Do you?” Lyse had no clue what that might be, and as she smiled and waited for Sidis’s explanation, he took her hand into his. Per usual, Lyse was powerless to let go, but she did feel a sense of calmness.
“The Light comes from you and into me—the very Light that’s connected to your soul. That’s why you get a funny feeling when we touch.”
That made sense to Lyse. Sidis hadn’t received the Light straight from the source, or else he would have died too. It was natural that Lyse had a special connection to him.
He slipped his fingers between hers, interlocking their digits. “If I think about it like that, it wouldn’t have mattered when or how you were reborn. I’d still have met you one day. With the Light binding our souls together, I’m sure I’ll still be able to find you the next time around too.”
Sidis stopped in his tracks and pulled Lyse into his arms. “It destroyed me when you perished in the Light. But since it means that I can be with you forever, maybe it wasn’t for naught.” He smiled as he placed his lips on her cheek.
“Um, Lord Sidis...” They were standing in the middle of the wide-open lawn with nothing to hide them. Anyone out and about could see the couple, not to mention the people peering from the palace windows. “This is a little...”
Before Lyse could finish her sentence, Sidis sealed her lips with his own. She felt as though her heart helplessly melted in a puddle of bliss. She wondered if it might be because of the Light, but she could hardly maintain a rational thought as she let herself get swept away in the moment.