Chapter 203: Backstory

Razeal, of course, stood calm and unbothered, as though none of this had even slightly affected him. His black eyes glinted faintly as he looked at Yograj’s theatrical meltdown, and he simply shrugged again.

Razeal tilted his head, black eyes fixed on the old man as though dissecting every twitch on his wrinkled face. "But why are you so scared again, old man? Even if she came, at most she would only take me back." His voice carried that flat, bored calmness of his, the kind that always made it impossible to tell if he was mocking or serious. He rolled his eyes, just a fraction. "From your expressions, it almost looked like you had a good relationship with her. Now you look like she’d skin you alive."

Yograj’s lips pressed into a line, his jaw twitching. He suddenly scoffed, the sound sharp and bitter. "Good relationship with me? What are you even talking about? Respect? Sure, I respected her. But there is nothing to respect about what she did to me. She was the reason I was taken from Atlantis in the first place."

His eyes narrowed as if reliving something he would rather bury. "Thirty years ago, she’s the one who got me caught and put into eternal hold."

That made Razeal blink. His face didn’t change much, but there was the tiniest flicker of curiosity in his gaze. "Oh?" His brows lifted by a hair. He never knew about this honestly.

Even Maria’s ears perked at those words. Levy leaned forward, intrigued, while Aurora’s pink eyes shifted toward her said father with a mixture of confusion and disbelief.

The old man noticed their attention, let out a long exhale through his nose, and rubbed his temple. "Hah... of course you wouldn’t know. Nobody cares about the tragedy of Yograj." He puffed his chest and then let it sag, his voice carrying both pride and exasperation. "But I remember it perfectly. I had gone out to sea because where else would I be? There was no way I would return to that hell-hole of a land. I was in Atlantis, living the best years of my life. Drinking, eating, basking in the salt wind freedom, boy, freedom. Then..." He clenched his fists, raising his eyes to the endless sky above as though glaring at fate itself. "Then your mother came."

Razeal raised a brow.

"Yes, your mother." Yograj pointed a finger at him, stabbing the air like the accusation itself was enough to make Razeal flinch. "Lady Merisa, the grand heiress of Virelan, stepping into Atlantis as if it were a marketplace stroll. Why? I’ve no idea. Maybe she was bored. Maybe she wanted to spit in the face of laws for fun. Whatever her reason, she came. And me?" He puffed his chest out again, his grin crooked with mischief. "I thought’Aha! Finally, someone of her stature who’s like me! A noble criminal. A fellow outlaw! One of the free!’"

Razeal’s lips pressed into the faintest line. Maria tilted her head, fighting a smirk. Levy mouthed silently, Oh no.

Yograj sighed dramatically, raising both hands in the air as if surrendering to the memory. "Of course, it was my mistake. I thought she was one of us someone who’d broken the law and would never return to the Empire. I was happy. Relieved, even. Finally, a companion who could understand the joy of the wide ocean! So I went up to her... and I said hi."

Aurora pinched the bridge of her nose. Maria slapped her palm on her forehead.

"And what did she do?" Yograj asked, his tone high with indignation. His gaze swept across them like a preacher lecturing lost souls. "Did she say hello back? Did she smile? Did she even spare me a single word?" He leaned forward, his voice dropping into a growl. "No. She kicked me."

Razeal blinked slowly. "Kicked you."

"Yes!" Yograj’s voice cracked as he stomped his foot on the deck. "For no reason! No words exchanged, no polite greeting. Just one mighty kick!" He clutched his side as though still feeling it. "And let me tell you, boy, I was young then. Strong. Energetic. Handsome. The kind of man the world couldn’t chain down."

"You must’ve been in your fifties already," Razeal muttered under his breath.

The old man ignored him, choosing to look wistfully into the sky. His voice softened, almost dreamy. "I thought she was just fiery. I thought it was a test, you know? Like how in tales, strong women test the courage of men. And I was unrestrained, fearless, immortal. What’s the worst she could do? Beat me? Kill me? Hah! I couldn’t die. So I asked her why not join me? Imagine it: the freedom of two great beings, side by side, traveling the vast sea." His grin widened, smug and almost proud. "I thought it was a good idea."

Maria let out an audible sigh. "This man really doesn’t value his life."

Yograj’s chest deflated, his face darkening. "And that... that was the mistake I made."

He slapped his forehead, groaning, then looked at Razeal with genuine horror in his eyes. "Because that woman, your mother, she went absolutely insane. From that moment, she attacked me. Not once. Not twice. But endlessly. Unrelentingly." His voice rose with every word until he was shouting. "She killed me again and again! Do you know what that feels like? To be immortal, boy, but to die a thousand times at the hands of the same woman?! It’s worse than torture!"

Maria burst out laughing but quickly turned it into a cough when Yograj glared at her. Aurora’s lips trembled, caught between sympathy and disbelief. Levy, meanwhile, was leaning against the railing, his face red as he bit down hard to keep from laughing out loud.

"I was strong back then!" Yograj ranted, stomping the floor with each declaration. "I had absorbed the abilities of one noble beast and two relicas! I was unstoppable! And yet your mother didn’t care! She just kept killing me. Again and again! No mercy, no pause, not even a sip of water in between."

He spread his arms wide, his voice breaking. "And the worst part? I didn’t even do anything bad! I swear on the ocean’s soul, I was innocent!" His eyes darted from Razeal to Maria to Levy, seeking sympathy. "Do I look like a man who deserved that?"

Razeal didn’t blink. His face remained stone, He wanted to say. You do, actually... but then again he didn’t.

"And then..." Yograj dragged the word out like a stage actor about to deliver his most heartbreaking line. His arms flew into the air, his old joints cracking audibly as he waved them around. "She tortured me mentally. Not just physically.. mentally with those weird skills of her’s!" His voice cracked as he pointed an accusing finger at the sky as though the heavens themselves were guilty of the crime.

He sniffled loudly, fake tears dripping down the sides of his wrinkled face. "Not only did she overpower me completely, not only did she make sure I couldn’t resist, but as if all of that wasn’t enough, she decided she would kill me. She decided! It was carved into her mind!"

Razeal stared at him flatly. He didn’t blink. Didn’t move. Just watched the old man put on a one-man theater performance on the deck of a ship.

"She dragged me out of Atlantis dragged me! like a sack of garbage," Yograj continued, his voice breaking. He clutched his chest dramatically, then threw his arms out wide again. "Do you know how? Naked! Absolutely naked! She stripped me of every single scrap of dignity and clothing, and you know how? With fire. With some weird, purple, blazing hellfire of hers that didn’t just burn the body but burned the soul! The pain ahhhh, the pain!"

Levy pinched the bridge of his nose.

The old man shivered and hugged his shoulders as if suddenly remembering it. His entire body shook like a wet dog in winter. "I can still feel it sometimes... that purple fire licking at my skin. I swear it haunts me in my sleep."

Razeal’s stare didn’t change. "...Continue."

"Yes, yes, I will!" Yograj cried, eager for his audience. He took a deep breath and spread his arms wide, his face contorted with exaggerated misery. "And then, after dragging me out of Atlantis naked, humiliated, half-burnt she marched me straight to the Empire. Straight to the main gates, boy! Can you imagine? The main gates!" His voice cracked as though the words themselves wounded him. "All the crowd gathered on both sides of the road, cheering, laughing, mocking, spitting. I was paraded like some criminal... like some wild animal on display. Naked! The horror! The shame!"

He shivered violently again, curling in on himself. "She overreacted, I swear. She overreacted far too much. It was scary... terrifying. She looked at me not like a man but like a bug she wanted to crush underfoot. My poor, poor dignity."

Razeal continued to stare, unamused. He said nothing, his face unreadable.

"She didn’t stop there," Yograj pressed on, his voice now quivering, his face covered in pitiful wrinkles. "No, she dragged me to the Empress herself And then asked her to kill me."

But Yograj puffed his chest with misplaced pride. "Of course... even she couldn’t kill me! The Empress herself failed. She was impressed, in fact, impressed with my immortality! So she offered me a deal: live, in exchange for pledging loyalty to her and apologizing to Lady Merisa."

Razeal’s brows lowered slightly. "And?"

"And?" Yograj repeated indignantly, slapping a hand to his chest. "Of course I refused! Why would I bend my knees when it wasn’t even my fault to begin with? What was I supposed to apologize for? Saying hi? HI?!" He jabbed a finger at Razeal’s chest as though the boy had personally wronged him. "She’s the one who overreacted! She’s the crazy one!"

Maria pressed her lips together to stop a laugh. Levy looked like he wanted to bury himself alive. Aurora sighed softly into her palm.

"And so..." Yograj slumped, his shoulders falling in defeat. "Because I wouldn’t bow, because I wouldn’t apologize for something that wasn’t my fault, the Empress sent me to Eternal Hold." His voice grew quiet, grave, as though revealing a deep, tragic secret. "Thirty years. Thirty long years in chains, frozen, immobile, left to rot in the void. All because of her."

He turned to Razeal, his eyes wide, his hands trembling as he pointed both index fingers at him. "So now do you understand? It’s not me overreacting when I say I’d rather jump off this ship than face her again. It’s her. She’s insane. She won’t spare me if she comes. That woman is pure madness wrapped in human form!"

For a long, weighted moment, Razeal simply looked at him. Then finally, his voice came, slow and judging. "So... let me get this straight. You spent thirty years in Eternal Hold... Just because of that?"

Yograj straightened, huffing. "It wasn’t my fault." His eyes flickered nervously. "She really overreacted. I mean it. Overreacted!" He jabbed his chest again. "I wasn’t the problem!"

Razeal’s face, however, remained unmoved. His expression was flat, unreadable. He let the man’s words hang in the air, not knowing what to do with them. A hollow silence stretched between them.

Finally, he spoke, tone even and detached. "It’s alright. Don’t worry. She won’t come here. I can give you my word for that."

He said it plainly, without warmth, almost mechanically as though his words were more obligation than comfort.

Inside, though, Razeal’s mind was turning. He had never truly known the old man’s background, and hearing it now felt absurd. His mother had gone into the sea? He had never even been aware of that. In the original novel, there had been nothing about this. Not one word.

Coming to Atlantis? That was news to him.

Good thing I wrote that letter,

he thought with a quiet flicker of relief.

If I hadn’t... if I had left it all under imperial law and their damned restrictions tied to the ocean... I might actually be screwed right now.

He frowned slightly, shaking his head at the thought.

Still, I know her too well. She’ll be stopped. Why would she bother with me anymore? I gave them the Virelans’ royal bloodline essence what more could they want? I’m worth nothing to them now. Taking me back would only humiliate the family. They’d rather keep their dignity than risk a scandal. Wasn’t that the reason they cast me out in the first place? To save their name?

The bitterness of that thought lingered as he studied the old man again.

[Host... the old man really had a tragic story. I kind of want to give him a hug.]

The voice of the System echoed softly in his mind, breaking the heavy silence.

Razeal’s lips twitched, almost into a frown.

"Oh, so you’re still alive?" he muttered inwardly. "I thought you’d gone silent forever. You don’t say a word for such long time, and now you finally poping up with commentary?" His tone was dry, tinged with sarcasm.

[It’s not me, host... it’s you. You’ve been too busy. That’s why it feels like I’ve been quiet.]

"Really...?" Razeal raised an eyebrow in his thoughts, genuinely surprised by that response.

Meanwhile, on deck, Maria, Levy, and Aurora were staring at Yograj with a combination of disbelief, pity, and exasperation.

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