My Soul card is a Reaper-Chapter 1039: Dreams of the Past: The Night talk

Later that night, Eon climbed into Rael's room, and both of them lay in their bed as they always had, their fingers intertwined under the blanket.

Eon stared at the ceiling for a long time before turning her head slightly toward Rael. "You've been quiet, Bro," she said, her fingers tightening around his hand. "Not just tonight. Ever since we got the letter and started returning, you've been uneasy, and I can feel it even when you pretend you're fine."

Rael's lips curved into a small smile, and he turned his head toward her, but his eyes looked tired in a way that made the smile feel forced. "It's nothing," he said softly. "I'm just thinking about the engagement ceremony."

Eon stared at him for a second, then her expression shifted into something playful, though her eyes still carried concern. "Oho," she murmured, her voice teasing and light, "so you're already fantasizing about my future sister-in-law? Artaigne would be on the moon if she heard this..."

Rael let out a quiet laugh, the sound breathless, and he squeezed her hand gently. "It's not what you think it is… we share the same dreams in our sleep. You know that I don't have such fantasies," he admitted, his voice low, "I was just thinking about how things might change after it happens, and I don't know if I like that."

Eon blinked slowly, her teasing fading slightly as she listened.

Rael continued, his words spilling out more honestly now that the darkness gave him privacy. "I like how things are now," he said, his tone softer. "And I know this is supposed to be good, I know it's normal for nobles, but I can't stop thinking that once she becomes engaged, once she becomes tied to the palace, everything will feel different, and I don't know how to deal with that."

Eon's gaze softened, and she didn't interrupt him, letting him speak the way she always did when she knew his thoughts were tangled.

Rael swallowed and added, almost in a whisper, "And honestly, I don't think I'll be as calm as you if you were the one getting engaged. If someone tried to take you away, I don't think I'd handle it well."

Eon let out a long sigh, and the sound carried a strange mixture of relief and exhaustion, like she had expected this conversation but still didn't want it. "Yeah," she admitted quietly, "I sensed the topic would come from Father sooner or later, and I actually thought it would happen right after my second awakening ceremony, because that would have been the perfect excuse for the nobles to pressure him."

Rael frowned slightly. "But he gave you time."

Eon nodded, her grip tightening around his hand as if she needed to feel his presence to stay steady. "Fortunately," she murmured, "he did, and I'm grateful for it, even if it still feels like someone placed a clock above my head and told me to smile while it ticks."

Rael turned slightly, his face close to hers now, and his voice softened. "You're not scared?"

Eon stared at him for a moment, and then she smiled faintly, the kind of smile that was small but real. "I am," she admitted honestly, "but I've always been scared of different things than you, Rael. You fear losing people. I fear being trapped, and the funny thing is, those fears are basically the same."

Rael's throat tightened.

Eon squeezed his hand and spoke gently, her voice carrying the kind of reassurance that only twins could give each other. "Don't worry, bro," she whispered. "Whatever happens, happens. We can't control everything, but we can control one thing, and that's that we stay together, no matter what kind of future they try to force on us."

Rael's eyes stung slightly, but he blinked it away quickly, and he turned his head to press his forehead lightly against hers, as if that contact could silence all the noise in his mind.

"Yeah," Rael murmured. "We stay together."

Eon smiled. "Exactly. And besides, if anyone tries to marry me off to a boring noble, I'll make their life so miserable that they'll run away on their own."

Rael let out a quiet laugh, this time more genuine.

"That's my sister," he whispered.

They stayed like that for a while, hands intertwined, breathing steady, until the quiet of the estate finally pulled them into sleep.

But even then, Rael's dreams were restless.

Because Raphael's eyes kept appearing in his mind, cold and watching, like a shadow that had returned to the house for a reason.

*

The next morning, the sun rose clean and bright over the duchy, and the Garcia estate felt sharper under daylight, less mysterious but more intimidating in its grandeur.

Servants moved quickly through the halls, and the training grounds outside were already prepared, the wide open space cleared and polished, with knights standing at the edges like silent witnesses waiting for something important to happen.

Aurelius stood near the center of the training grounds, his cloak fluttering slightly in the morning wind, and when Rael arrived with Eon and Artaigne, he saw Raphael already there, standing with his arms behind his back, his gaze forward, his posture calm and controlled like he had been waiting for an hour.

Aurelius did not waste time with greetings.

He looked at his children as if he were assessing weapons rather than people, and his voice carried clearly across the open air. "Tomorrow, the three of you will undergo the ceremony," he said, his tone calm, but the words carried a weight that made Artaigne's expression grow serious immediately. "Before that happens, I want to see your progress."

Artaigne nodded silently, her face composed, though Rael could see she was tense, and Eon's eyes sharpened as if she had already entered a battle mindset.

Raphael and Rael, almost instinctively, glanced at one another.

The moment their eyes met, the air seemed to shift slightly, as if old tension resurfaced without either of them needing to speak.

Aurelius noticed it, but he didn't comment, and instead, he took a slow step forward.

Then the atmosphere changed completely.

A pressure descended on them like a mountain dropping from the sky, heavy enough that Rael's breath caught in his chest, and even Raphael's expression tightened faintly, while Artaigne stiffened and Eon's fingers curled as if her body was resisting an invisible force.

It wasn't just strong.

It was overwhelming.

It wrapped around them like chains of air, pressing against their skin, their lungs, their bones, forcing them to feel the difference between a duke and children who still believed they were growing.

Aurelius' gaze swept over them, and his voice became colder, sharper, as if the father had disappeared and only the Duke remained.

"Today," he said slowly, "all of you will fight me together."

Rael's eyes widened slightly, and Artaigne's lips parted in shock, while Eon's expression hardened instantly, and Raphael's gaze sharpened as if he had just been handed the first challenge worth taking seriously.

Aurelius raised his hand slightly, and the pressure increased, making the air vibrate with invisible power.

"Do not hold back," Aurelius ordered, his voice steady and merciless. "Give me everything you have."

Rael swallowed, his pulse pounding in his ears, and he could feel Eon's hand brush against his for a moment as if she was grounding him even now.

Raphael took one slow step forward, his arcana rising like a silent storm.

Eon inhaled, her eyes narrowing with focus.

Artaigne steadied her stance, her expression turning sharp, noble, and determined.

Rael, standing there with the weight of his father's power pressing down on him, finally realized that this was not a test meant to encourage them.

And around the wide circular arena of stone and packed earth, knights and household guards stood at a distance, arranged in disciplined lines, their armor gleaming faintly.

Several noble attendants and senior retainers watched from behind them, silent and careful, because even spectators understood that this was not entertainment.

This was House Garcia witnessing the future of its heirs.

Aurelius stood at the center like a statue carved from war itself, his sleeves rolled slightly, his coat loosened as if he had stepped out of court and into a battlefield without needing to change.

He didn't summon a weapon, didn't call a spirit, didn't chant a spell, and yet the ground beneath his feet seemed to accept him like a throne.

Raphael's eyes narrowed.

Rael's fingers tightened around the handle of the Death Scythe.

Eon's Hourglass shimmered faintly in her grip, the glass chamber catching sunlight as if it was filled with liquid time rather than sand.

Aurelius looked at all three of them, calm, composed, almost bored, and spoke in a voice that carried across the entire training field.

"Begin."