"I don't understand."
At dusk, in a restaurant serving only nobles within the Holy Capital.
The girl elegantly sliced through freshly baked bread with her dining knife, cutting off a small piece and placing it on her plate.
"Brother, wasn't Archduke Andrel originally an ancestor of our Schön Family? Why do you still need to ask Serie for his theoretical manuscript?"
"Didn't this ancestor leave his wisdom in the family library?"
Hafka, who had been watching his sister the entire time, first pushed over the small dish containing butter, then answered.
"If we're just looking at results, yes."
"This matter involves a family scandal from that time."
"Oh."
The girl obediently didn't ask further questions. She switched the bread knife for a butter knife, gently cut off a bit of butter, spread it evenly on the bread, and put it in her mouth.
The freshly baked bread already carried a rich wheat aroma.
Adding the slightly melted butter affected by temperature created an even richer flavor.
At this moment, Hafka sitting across merely watched his sister's cute appearance while smiling and swirling the small glass of brandy in his hand.
What changed was the distilled liquor aged in cellars, releasing different floral and fruity aromas as it was warmed by his palm;
What remained constant was Hafka's peripheral vision, always reflecting his sister's figure.
Objectively speaking, alcohol wouldn't be a regular companion in an excellent mage's life.
Because both magical meditation and magical research required an extremely clear mind as guarantee.
But today was a special day after all.
He had successfully passed the examination and become a disciple of the legendary mage Serie;
His sister Sola had also risked running away from the family just to stay by his side.
Under such circumstances, having a couple drinks wasn't excessive.
The smooth liquor flowed along the glass wall into his mouth. The next moment, the unique sensation of distilled alcohol and the rich barrel aroma in the liquor filled his mouth.
With small sip after small sip, before the main course was even served, Hafka's vision had already become somewhat hazy.
Some memories from the past also surfaced at this moment.
[One]
"Andrel-style barrier theory?"
Many years ago, in the library of the Schön family's countryside ancestral home.
Young Hafka pointed to a book placed high on a shelf, asking the old mage his grandfather had assigned to teach him.
"Teacher, is that also a magic book recording Defensive Magic?"
"And this name - isn't it related to that ancestor who was ennobled as Archduke and led the family back to a golden age?"
"This..." The old mage fell into speechlessness, hesitating briefly before answering.
"Young master, this is Barrier Magic."
"But as a branch derived from Defensive Magic, it can indeed be considered a type of Defensive Magic."
"Mm, so its creator is Archduke Andrel?" Young Hafka asked eagerly.
"Yes." After giving a brief two-word answer, the old mage patted the young master's shoulder and pointed to several other magic books in the library, persuading him.
"You should look at these first. They record orthodox Defensive Magic. Not only is the cultivation difficulty much lower, but the defensive effects are just as good."
"No thank you, teacher." Staring at that magic book placed high up, Hafka felt it had an inexplicable attraction for him.
Moreover, Archduke Andrel was his favorite ancestor among the heroic deeds he'd read about since childhood in family history.
"Alright then."
Seeing he couldn't dissuade the young master, the old mage had to have servants climb a tall ladder to retrieve the magic book from its high position.
Anyway, this theoretical school was extraordinarily difficult to cultivate.
As long as he didn't teach seriously, the young master would probably give up after being frustrated by self-study.
After getting his desired magic book, before Hafka could feel joy, he heard his teacher's meaningful words.
"Young master, teacher will advise you one last time."
"This theoretical system is incomplete. It would be fine if you can't learn it, but if you actually master it, your position in the family afterward might become somewhat precarious."
Young Hafka couldn't understand the deeper meaning in his teacher's words and eagerly opened the magic book in his arms.
Perhaps Hafka really was a genius.
No, anyone who could grasp Andrel-style theory through self-understanding alone within a month was truly a once-in-a-century genius.
Even the old mage teaching him never imagined this.
[Two]
Five years later.
Hafka had studied all magic books related to Andrel-style theory in the family library, and had received the old mage's complete instruction in other aspects of magical knowledge.
Three years later.
Hafka had mastered all applications of Andrel-style theory, and could easily construct various complex magical formulas based on irreversible principles with simple gestures.
Now, even the extremely experienced old mage had nothing left to teach this disciple.
Only when his disciple officially graduated did he repeat the same warning as before.
"Young master, this theoretical system is incomplete."
"If you master it, your position in the family afterward might become somewhat precarious."
This time, Hafka took his teacher's warning to heart, but still didn't fully understand it.
One year later.
After returning from his studies, Hafka made several moves in and around the Royal Capital.
He not only suppressed multiple talented young peers, but even sealed several demons that had been committing crimes around the Royal Capital.
Hundreds of years after the ennobled archduke's death, the Schön family's Andrel-style theory once again ignited various social circles in the capital with its powerful force.
Everyone discussed how the Schön Family's next golden age would probably arrive soon.
At this moment, having made a name for himself, Hafka could finally personally experience the meaning of that warning.
First, the family's Andrel-style theory was incomplete.
As he became increasingly skilled with his ancestor's achievements, Hafka could increasingly perceive this problem.
Although the theory's various transformations were quite complete, it uniquely lacked a key component.
That was the Grand Unified Theoretical Model that connected all these transformations.
Second, his own position had indeed become subtle.
Each time his reputation grew louder, while bringing honor to the family, it also made his uncle's family increasingly wary of him.
Hafka understood that once such wariness emerged, it could never dissipate.
Even if he restrained his brilliance and became anonymous again, his uncle's family would suspect he was biding his time, plotting to seize the next family head position from them.
After all, "creating another golden age," even just the possibility, was enough to attract countless clan members to rally behind him.
Actually, if it were just these things, it would be manageable.
Hafka didn't care about the gazes of his uncle's family and other clan members.
Because back when his parents died, as the eldest son amid the upheaval, Hafka had already glimpsed their true faces.
However, what hurt Hafka most was his grandfather, the former family patriarch.
The old man who, after his father and mother died, had opposed all dissent and withstood clan pressure to send his grandchildren to the countryside ancestral home for protection.
Now, even his gaze toward Hafka had changed.
Ultimately, having lost his parents early, Hafka couldn't bear all this.
On a rainy night, he appeared to block his grandfather's carriage.
The old man in the carriage sighed upon seeing his grandson, waving his hand to dismiss the guards who were warily blocking the carriage.
"Get in. I'll take you somewhere."
"Alright."
The grandfather and grandson sat facing each other in the stable carriage, neither speaking.
The last bit of warmth remaining in this noble family turned into suffocating silence.
Over ten minutes later, the carriage stopped in front of the patriarch's official residence.
The old man led his grandson inside, dismissing his eldest son who was working there and having him take his documents outside.
Under his uncle's angry and unwilling gaze, Hafka followed his grandfather into a secret chamber that only successive patriarchs could enter.
After his grandson entered, the old man had Hafka lock the door.
Then, his already hunched body took slow steps to a cabinet, struggling to retrieve a box containing a glowing orb and placing it on the table.
"Do you recognize what this is?"
Through the slightly transparent glow, Hafka struggled to identify what was sealed by this small Barrier Magic.
A ring, inlaid with a large ruby.
On the gem, two letters "XE" could be faintly seen.
"This is our Schön family's Inheritance Ring?"
"As a founding contributor to the Kingdom, this was the first king's special commendation to the Schön family, representing the proof of the Schön family's nobility."
"But isn't it already being worn by uncle as the patriarch? How is it still here..."
Hafka couldn't believe his eyes, especially after sensing familiar magical fluctuations from the barrier magic surrounding the Inheritance Ring.
"I think you've felt it too."
"Try to see if you can open it."
"Alright."
After answering his grandfather, Hafka covered his hands with magical power and began dismantling the solid Barrier Magic before him.
However, the more he dismantled, the greater the pressure in Hafka's heart became, until beads of sweat appeared on his forehead.
Though the barrier magic wrapping the Inheritance Ring was just a small barrier constructed with Andrel-style theory.
It had nearly infinite variations, and the transformation speed was unimaginably fast.
Whenever Hafka found a form that could counter its current manifestation from known variation types, before he could continue dismantling, the small barrier's glow would flicker and switch to another form.
"How is this possible..."
"Magic constructed based on irreversible principles can still change?"
"Unless it's the Grand Unified Theoretical Model!"
"Only this answer can explain what's happening before my eyes."
However, after verifying that the family's theory indeed had missing parts and that the unified model he'd hypothesized truly existed, Hafka felt no joy in his heart.
Because in history, he knew only its creator - Archduke Andrel - could achieve this.
The current situation undoubtedly proved that this ancestor had personally sealed the Inheritance Ring that proved the Schön family's nobility.
Hafka: ...
"Indeed, lacking that part, even you cannot open it."
The old man's cloudy eyes showed no emotional fluctuation.
Clearly, he hadn't hoped his grandson could open it from the beginning.
"Grandfather, tell me, what exactly is going on here."
"Cough-cough-"
Past his prime years, the old man couldn't suppress his body's abnormalities before speaking, coughing twice.
"Under the box is the original's detailed record of this matter. Read it yourself."
Hafka first glanced at his hunched grandfather, then turned his gaze to the box on the table.
Lifting it slightly, he indeed found a letter underneath. From the paper's smoothness, it had obviously been recopied, not the original.
The letter's contents were from ancestor Archduke Andrel's first-person perspective, detailing that story.
[Three]
The story began with a pair of siblings who lost their parents early and grew up together.
The brother had extremely high magical talent, unrivaled in his era.
The sister was kind and lively, staying by her brother's side through every difficult night as he developed new magical theory.
Finally, the brother's research achieved great success.
The Andrel-Finai Theory named after the brother and sister, creating several extremely powerful Barrier Magics based on irreversible principles, became famous across the continent.
However, during countless nights of companionship, besides this "good fruit," the siblings also bore "evil fruit" unacceptable to society.
There are no walls without gaps in this world. While the brother, now elected patriarch, was away quelling demon conflicts, someone spread this family scandal.
They also hinted they possessed concrete evidence to prove this matter.
Several months later, the brother returned victorious.
For leading troops to defeat the demon army threatening the Kingdom at the border, he was personally ennobled as Archduke Andrel by the king as reward.
But when the triumphant brother returned to his family, the first news he heard was that his sister had died to prove the rumors false and clear their names.
The sister died when the human-demon war had just begun, with no one able to predict the final outcome.
If the brother were defeated, to prevent clan members from using this scandal to force him to abdicate in disgrace, the sister ended the scandal at its source in her own way.
The brother learned this from a farewell letter while organizing his sister's belongings.
Subsequently, amid the clan's anxiety, the brother didn't cause trouble over this matter but fell silent, playing the role of a qualified noble patriarch.
The Archduke title, his outstanding military achievements, created the so-called "golden age" for the Schön Family.
Clan members borrowed this momentum to rapidly expand the family.
The Schön Family's ability to become a leader among Royal Capital nobles was built on foundations laid then.
Everything in the family flourished, and the sister's death for honor was quickly forgotten.
Except for the patriarch brother never marrying again, which people talked about endlessly, nothing else changed.
Finally, the brother died of natural causes.
The next Schön Family patriarch position, because Archduke Andrel had no descendants, was retaken by the original family main line.
It seemed nothing had really changed.
Except the brother and sister had burned themselves to push the Schön Family to its "golden age."
Until the new patriarch, following custom, went to that chamber only patriarchs could enter to retrieve the Inheritance Ring, only to discover three "surprises" the "brother" had left him.
The Inheritance Ring symbolizing the Schön family's legitimate noble status was sealed.
The Andrel-Finai Theory that created the family's golden age was edited, leaving only the Andrel-style portion for the world.
And a detailed investigation document about sister Finai's death.
The Inheritance Ring sealed by complete magical theory couldn't be opened by the incomplete Andrel-style portion.
Finai's death investigation document detailed how the brother had investigated every suspicious person in the family over the years.
The investigation results were relatively smooth - what caused the rumors and Finai's death was just a loose-tongued servant in the family, not the family main line he'd suspected.
Under interrogation, the servant quickly admitted his crimes, and the so-called concrete evidence was just randomly fabricated lies.
It was probably because of this result that "brother" Archduke Andrel chose to silently play the family patriarch role until death.
[Four]
The story ended here.
Hafka put down the letter and looked at the old man before him.
"Grandfather, I am not Archduke Andrel."
"Mm, grandfather knows."
The old man slowly answered, pulling out a pack of cigarettes that priests had strictly forbidden him to smoke.
After lighting one for himself, the old man offered it to his grandson across from him.
As tar mixed with nicotine rushed to his nervous system, the old man's sluggish thoughts became smooth again.
"Your father with Sola was my most beloved son."
"So you and Sola became the grandchildren I love most among the younger generation."
"I fulfilled a grandfather's duties, taking you and Sola to the countryside ancestral home to protect you from other branches' bullying; finding famous teachers to cultivate you both into excellent noble children; protecting your parents' inheritance and normal family profit shares so you could support yourselves for generations even with extravagant spending."
"But I'm still the Schön Family patriarch. Even with the smallest probability, I must nip certain things in the bud."
"Grandfather, I am not Archduke Andrel." Hafka repeated his earlier words.
"Mm, grandfather knows." The old man also repeated his same response.
As his cigarette burned to nothing, the old man pulled out another from the box and lit it.
"Child, you might know your talent for cultivating this theory is excellent, but you probably don't understand just how excellent it is?"
"How excellent?"
"Adding up all clan mages who've practiced Andrel-style theory in history plus outsiders specially permitted to study it, only one in ten could master two or more variation types; only one in a thousand could master three or more; and beyond that, even rarer."
"Currently known, besides its creator ancestor, only you have mastered all variation types of Andrel-style theory."
"Your talent is no less than that ancestor's."
The old man smoked one cigarette after another, and after no longer coughing, unconsciously talked more.
"Child, don't blame grandfather."
"As patriarch I can't bet the whole clan, betting that after you become patriarch, they won't do something to your sister; betting that you, as this theory's inheritor, would choose to endure silently like Archduke Andrel after something happens."
"Just like how I, even as family patriarch, can only choose to believe that investigation result regarding my beloved son's true cause of death."
"Some things cannot be gambled on."
Hafka copied his grandfather's actions, pulling out a cigarette from the old man's box and lighting it.
As misty smoke gradually rose, Hafka nodded to the old man.
"Grandfather, I understand."
"I heard the legendary Great Mage Serie announced recently that she'll recruit disciples through examinations."
"Grandson wants to try. Whether successful or not, I'll follow that Great Mage's footsteps, wandering the continent in pursuit of magical truth."
The old man smiled at this moment, extinguishing the cigarette in his hand.
"Good child, grandfather won't shortchange you financially."
[Five]
"Ancestor, oh ancestor."
"Tell me, why did you and your sister have such feelings too."
"And after sister died, why didn't you end it all, saving this descendant from similar pain."
"Oh, I forgot."
"Ancestor, you indeed had no descendants, so I'm not strictly your descendant."
On a wildflower-filled plain, Hafka carried a good bottle of wine, pouring it on a wordless wooden marker while chattering away.
This place under Hafka's feet was precisely the secret cenotaph ancestor Archduke Andrel had secretly established outside.
Unlike the separately buried remains in the family cemetery, on this plain, the siblings' clothes were buried together.
Hafka was certain of this because he'd actually dug down to check.
There were indeed two sets of clothes weathered to near-nothing in the grave, buried together.
Finding this secret grave was thanks to Hafka learning all his ancestor's knowledge and fully integrating it all.
Only this way could he mysteriously sense the existence of a grand unified theoretical model.
And only when attempting to explore this model would he accidentally discover that the exercise answers his ancestor left in each magic book could form a map.
The location that map pointed to was here.
The joint burial place of Archduke Andrel and his sister, and several pieces of information left for successors who mastered his true teachings.
The information was deeply carved in stone, so even after hundreds of years, it could still be faintly discerned.
[The grand unified model of Andrel-style, I named Finai-style after my sister]
[The complete Andrel-Finai Theory hasn't been lost. This is proof that my sister and I existed together. It shouldn't completely disappear. The only complete copy I gave to Great Mage Serie. This elf mage should be able to carry our existence into the future]
[I never believed that 'suicide note' was left by Finai! Never!!]
[My poor and kind sister, even if truly dying to clear our names, would never leave such a thing! She would clumsily erase everything related to herself to avoid making me sad...]
[Did foreign clans plan all this, trying to make me angrily break with the family? Or did the family's original main line make a bold gamble? Or did other family branches try to incite me to destroy the main line?]
[I can't tell, really can't tell. There are clues pointing to everyone, evidence for any force can be found...]
[Perhaps using their investigation results, treating that family servant as the culprit of everything, is already the best choice]
[Some things cannot be gambled on. I can't afford the consequences of choosing wrong]
"Yes, can't afford to gamble."
Having found this tomb before his private talk with grandfather, Hafka pieced together this perhaps "complete" story from both sources of information.
The letter grandfather showed him, after repeated recopying by generations of patriarchs, was it really problem-free? Had there really been no guiding modifications to the original version?
Or did that ancestor really leave that letter at all?
Was this grave truly a cenotaph established by the ancestor? Was he really the only one in history to master all variations?
They were all too "coincidental," coincidental like deliberate guidance for him.
Who could distinguish whether the Inheritance Ring now worn by his uncle was fake, while the one he'd glimpsed was real?
Perhaps they were both real; perhaps they were both fake.
But with all this truth and falsehood, did he really need to gamble?
"Some things cannot be gambled on. I can't afford the consequences of choosing wrong."
The same words were spoken again by Hafka, whether repeating the stone carving's words or stating his own choice.
"Let's go."
"To the Holy Capital to accept Great Mage Serie's examination. Truth and falsehood - no gambling necessary."
[Six]
"Hehe."
Girl Sola looked at her brother passed out on the table, gently bringing her face close to examine his state so different from usual.
"Mm?"
Probably sensing someone very close, Hafka opened his heavy eyes, looking somewhat groggily at his sister standing before him.
"Eh, brother, you're awake!"
"Since you're awake, you should sit up. We don't have much time together, so we must treasure it."
"Aunt and uncle said the family wants me to return tomorrow. How annoying."
The girl complained with puffed cheeks. Even her complaining voice sounded so pleasant in Hafka's mind.
"If you don't want to leave, stay and travel with brother."
"Eh?!" The girl's body shook. "Is that really okay? Won't the family scold you, brother?"
"It's fine. They probably wish for exactly that."
"And your etiquette teachers would probably be happy for a while too!"
"You can't talk about people like that, brother. I'm a lady beloved by my etiquette teachers."
"But brother is the best."
The girl gave her brother a hug like in childhood, while Hafka closed his eyes to enjoy it.
The world's complexities were hard to judge as true or false, but this moment's emotion was incomparably genuine.
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Powerstones?
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