Unsealing Emptiness

“He or she knew when I entered and left your tower and was also able to communicate from that distance back to the Church’s people,” Ozul added, which made the two brothers frown.

“Did those bastards send their men after you!?” Raymond could not control himself as he shouted in anger.

“As a matter of fact, they did. But there were only a few Rank-8. They hadn’t known my rank,” Ozul answered calmly. He assumed that Raymond’s outburst was only because of his anger towards the Church.

“Damn them!” Although Raymond notably calmed down after his explanation, he still cursed the Church under his breath.

“Don’t worry. We will take care of whoever it was,” Alver assured Ozul with darkened eyes. The two had lost their sister before. Now they wouldn’t tolerate it if someone went after the only son of their late sister.

“Alright. That was it,” Ozul noticed that the two kept their silence for some odd reason. Since he had said what he wanted to, it was time to leave.

.....

He was just about to stand up when Raymond mustered up his voice and said, “Ha-ha... we have something to... say.” His voice started to thin out in the end till even Ozul had difficulty to understand.

Ozul nodded his head and sat back down. It had been a while since he noticed their mixed emotions as well. He figured that something must have happened. Though after he sat down, the two brothers could not muster up their courage.

What would their nephew think about them? Would he hate them for never searching for him? Would he ask them why they let their only sister die? Would he hate them for only telling the truth now? All kinds of thoughts tortured the two brothers from inside.

Meanwhile, Ozul did not disturb their thoughts as he calmly stared at their faces filled with worry. If there were anyone else in the room, they would be surprised since they were two Rank-9 Mages, and their current state was never seen before. Even in battles did they never worry so much as they did right now.

“I...” x2

A few minutes later, both of them spoke simultaneously and looked at each other.

“... Forgive us!” x

Raymond and Alver bowed their head before Ozul, who was more than surprised at their actions. He guessed that it could be anything from asking him some difficult favor or adding some unfavorable conditions in their partnership. But he never expected that the two brothers would suddenly bow their heads before him and apologize together.

“...For what exactly?” Ozul asked, unsure if they had done something wrong, and he hadn’t yet received the report from Irvin.

“I... we are your u...” Alver mustered up his courage to tell him, but his voice got lower with each word until no one could even understand what he said.

“You are my what?” Ozul was patient with the two because not only were they Rank-9 Mages, but also feeling their emotions made him not say anything harsh either.

Raymond, not being able to hold it any longer, decided that it wasn’t going anywhere. He took a deep breath and said whatever came first in his mind, “We are your uncle!”

“...”

“...”

“...”

Raymond and Alver kept looking at Ozul with nervousness growing with each passing second.

“What are you trying to say?” Ozul asked after staring at the two with a blank face for a while. How could that ‘father’ of his have two brothers all the way over here in the Ash-... Unless...

“Wait a minute!” it finally registered in his mind when he thought about how his own last name started with ‘Ash’ as well. At his sudden rise in tone, the two brothers, uncaring of their arrogance as Rank-9 Mages, straightened their backs in fear of what was about to come.

“You two are the brothers... of my...” Ozul did not need to finish his sentence as Raymond and Alver both nodded their heads slowly while looking down at the floor.

Getting his confirmation, Ozul leaned back on the couch, remembering the only memory he had of his mother.

“... my boy..... I won’t be there for you..... please take care of yourself. Be yourself... my ozul... Ozul Ashfall...” These were the last and only words his mother had said to him the moment he came into this world. He paid no heed to anyone’s thoughts about him and did whatever made him happy in all these years only because of those words that his mother had said to him. He was simply himself.

He thought that he wasn’t really attached to Sylvia, but the truth was, her only words to him on her deathbed had made the person who he was today.

Pushing those thoughts out of his mind, Ozul stared back at the two middle-aged men looking distraught at the floor.

To the surprise of both of them, Ozul did not get angry, nor did he lash out at them. Instead, he calmly asked, “What was she doing there in the Silverbird Kingdom?”

Raymond and Alver did not know what to say to his question at first. They were expecting many reactions, but not a calm and logical question about the situation.

“I-it is a long story...” Raymond muttered, not really sure where to start.

“I am listening,” Ozul had more than enough time.

Raymond noticed his young brother’s face. He knew that he was in no state to explain anything. So he started, “It’s been more than fifty years...”

“Sylvia was the youngest among the three of us. However, the fact that she even existed was known only to a few trusted guards and us two. Father and mother had died in a fight long ago when she was young. To protect her from any harm, we kept her hidden from the rest of the world. People only knew that there were two sons of the Ashin family.”

As Raymond narrated, Ozul noticed the softness and the gentle emotions from both the brothers as if they were reminiscing the past.

“Everything was going fine. Sylvia grew up to be a beautiful and kind lady. We were happy... at least that is what the two of us thought,” Raymond’s tone changed into more of a regretful one as he continued, “No matter what, we couldn’t replace the place of a parent in Sylvia’s heart. And even as brothers... we failed. We never noticed that she wasn’t happy inside these confined walls-”

“No, brother. We did realize it...” Alver spoke, cutting Raymond in the middle, which surprised the two of them since he respected him so much.

Alver remembered when they would find Sylvia looking outside her room’s window with anticipation and a bitter smile.

“We just ignored it...” They would ignore their sister’s wishes because it was what they thought was best for her. They had experienced the outside world, and they never wanted their innocent sister to face the same cruel world.

But it did not lessen their guilt since they were doing it forcefully.

“That little girl never complained...” Raymond muttered. He had seen many of those brats who would start crying at small things like no jewelry or expensive dresses. However, Sylvia never once complained about anything.

Her acceptance of everything as the way it was, made the two brothers feel even worse in their hearts.

“Everything was still fine until that day!” Raymond’s tone took a turn as he clenched his fists. A few sparks started to form around the room when he finally calmed down.

Ozul calmly listened to the story of the two. He could easily tell that both really meant what they were saying. Even if he assumed that the two were acting, their emotions could not lie.

Raymond took a deep breath and explained, “I was away on that day, and Sylvia insisted on going out of the manor. Since Alver was there with her, he did not deny her. After all, who could harm her when there was a Rank-9 Mage protecting her...”

“Another Rank-9,” Ozul added, already guessing what could’ve happened.

“Yes... It was one of the Church’s allies. Those conceited shameless cockroaches!” This time, the side of the couch was crushed under Raymond’s force. Only the sound of it crushing made him realize that he was in the middle of something.

“Alver had advanced not so long ago, so he wasn’t that person’s match. Before I got there, his men had taken Sylvia as a hostage and had run away. That bastard did not let Alver chase them, so only our men could give chase,” Raymond said with a sigh.

“It was all my fault...” Alver muttered. If only he hadn’t agreed to her request that day, things might have been much different.

“You couldn’t have known that someone had planned an ambush, Alver. No one could have ever guessed that,” Raymond tried to lessen the weight on his heart, but nothing seemed to work.

Looking back at Ozul, who showed almost no emotions on his face, Raymond could not even imagine what must he had to go through all that time.

Ozul was actually listening to everything carefully. He only had a hard time ignoring the emotional states of these two brothers. He also would’ve never thought that there was such a story related to his mother.