Super Righteous Player
Chapter 663 - 204: The Cursed Fate_1

Chapter 663: Chapter 204: The Cursed Fate_1

Annan had fully understood.

If the sinking of the Aesirland Empire was directly related to the loss of control of one or more Great Calamity Curios... then the shattering of the grand barrier and the subsequent collapse and plummet of the imperial capital were explicable.

But in explaining the principle behind the empire’s sinking, another problem emerged...

"Has our Winter clan always been the guardian of the ’Three Sirens’?"

Annan asked Ivan.

Contrary to his expectation.

Ivan shook his head, "Our Winter clan is indeed a family with an extremely long history. But we were not in existence from the beginning... It was not until the late third era that we began to act as wardens of great artifacts.

"Before us, the ’Frost Speech’ clan, which has an even closer relationship to our grandmother, was in charge of these artifacts. You know the ’Hairdresser’ of Razor Ridge, right? He is a member of the Frost Speech clan."

The late third era?

Annan furrowed his eyebrows and pressed, "Was it the period when the Elves stopped using spell energy?"

"It was after the end of the era of spell energy. At least, it was after spell energy completely ceased in the vicinity of the Frost Speech province."

Ivan was very certain in his answer, "Because the Blood of the Frigid Winter has never been contaminated by spell energy, not from a thousand years ago until now.

"We have been the guardians of the ’Three Sirens’ since the empire era... In fact, when the imperial capital collapsed, the ’Three Sirens’ were still being held as the scepter of the Duke of Winter by that generation’s duke."

"Then, besides me, is there anyone in the Winter clan who has reversed the ’Winter’s Heart’?"

"Absolutely not."

Ivan shook his head and answered in detail, "You should understand by now. The ’Winter’s Heart’ has two functions, one is that our grandmother wanted to create more of our kind this way, and the other is to use—at least to guard—this curse. So she would never allow others to tamper with the ’Winter’s Heart’ lightly.

"The only ones who can interfere with the ’Winter’s Heart’ are those with equivalent power. Therefore, the ones who inscribed the Reversed Inscription were only those two ladies. But grandmother’s relationship with them is distant, neither hostile nor friendly.

"Thus, just on grandmother’s face alone, it is not enough to have them directly help; nor would they deliberately sabotage her Winter’s Heart out of opposition to grandmother—you are the only exception, but that is because of the ’Book of the Celestial Chariot,’ not because you are ’Frost Speech’.

"To step back a bit, even if one wished to find those two ladies, it would be anything but easy. That is a realm of mystique and darkness. If they do not wish to meet someone, that person could spend a lifetime unable to reach the ’Land of No Light’."

"So that means," Annan said gravely, "the ’Tyrant’ posture has never actually been used, right?"

"Correct."

Ivan affirmed, "The history of ’Frost Speech’ is too ancient, and I do not know how the Dragon Race guarded the Great Calamity Curio back then. But at least in Winter’s history, none of us ever received the power of the ’Tyrant.’ Because the Winter’s Heart sealed off that choice for us.

"—You are the first ’Tyrant.’"

"...Don’t put it that way, it feels awkward."

Annan cracked a smile.

For some reason, he felt that Ivan’s praise was somewhat awkward... almost like a curse.

"That also means..."

He muttered quietly to himself.

From this perspective, the three "Divine Arts" of the "Blood of Madness" had yet to be activated by anyone. And from the "very beginning," the Winter’s Heart was not permitted to use the power of the Tyrant...

Could this... not be a coincidence?

Because Winter’s Heart is indeed a power granted by old grandmother—at least as the general public understands it, lacking positive emotions was supposed to restrain the Frost Beast.

But Annan now knew this was a lie.

Because his "Winter’s Heart" was reversed, yet when he interacted with the wolf girl, he still felt he could tame Frost Beasts.

Which meant, the ability to tame Frost Beasts was related to his own bloodline and had nothing to do with his emotional state.

And the old grandmother herself was very partial to her descendants—even to the point of being biased. Outstanding descendants would not even be allowed to die. Or rather, even after death, she would have them accompany her.

—Then would the old grandmother not be aware that after the Winter’s Heart blocked positive emotions, it would greatly increase the likelihood of an early demise?

Grandmother must have known.

And yet despite this, grandmother still chose this way...

Which means, she consciously allowed her descendants to use the ability of the "Tyrant."

And its power, as part of the "Tyrant," continued to be passed down—at least Ivan knew of it. It couldn’t possibly be meant for Annan who would only appear who knows how many years later, right?

That’s impossible.

——So, this "Tyrant" power must be the Winter Duke’s final trump card.

It seems grandmother meant that the scepter should only be inverted in situations where the current predicament cannot be handled. But to this day, this power has never been used...

"What is the ’Despot’’s power?"

Annan asked, "Just tell me the power, there’s no need to mention the curse."

Ivan said gravely, "It was my intention to tell you anyway. Your descendants may not all have the Reversed Heart of Winter; some might return to our predestined path.

"Of the three powers of the ’Despot’, the most useful is that at least one of the holder’s descendants will outshine the holder. That is the cornerstone upon which the Winter family’s millennium-long inheritance rests.

"Among the other two powers, one allows the holder to control all kin within three generations... including parents, grandparents, uncles, children, great-grandchildren... as well as the Hands of Winter.

"In fact, this is how we control the Hands of Winter. The ’Hand of Winter’ Curse Binding is acquired by injecting a diluted, neutralized treatment of the Blood of the Frigid Winter. Anyone trying to steal the Blood of the Frigid Winter will ultimately fall under our control."

With a calm facade, Ivan continued, "As long as the command is issued whilst holding the scepter and is successfully received by the other party, the order must be carried out. It’s as if they have received an equivalent Decree spell—even if it’s a command to commit suicide, it must be carried out immediately.

"This is also the power of ’Tradition’... the authority belonging to a ’family head’, and Divine Arts of a similar effect exist within the traditional domain. Hence, I suspected that the birth of this scepter might directly involve grandmother, but I have no evidence."

"What about the third power?"

"The third power is the most meaningless... Its curse aspect is much more significant."

After a moment’s silence, Ivan answered, "It’s a curse known as ’Fate of Inescapable Defeat’. In this life, whatever you most wish to obtain, you are doomed to never have... as a compensation, merely things within the scope of ’interests’ tend to be accomplished far beyond expectations."

"...Huh?"

Annan was momentarily stunned.

But Ivan was clearly an exceptionally outstanding duke, even possibly the most distinguished of all the Winter dukes.

Could it be...

Annan couldn’t help but ask, "Father, what is it that you wanted most to have?"

"...My grandfather died when I was very young; he died of overwork."

Ivan did not answer directly but after a long silence, he murmured softly, "My aunt dedicated her life to the Tower of Storms. My uncle was disowned by the family for being a traitor.

"My father was a man of gentle disposition but weak character. He was born in a bountiful year, so when the severe winters came, he became irritable and wept daily.

"My closest brother and I were kidnapped once, and he ultimately died at the hands of our rescuers. My elder brother, unable to bear the pressure, had a fallout with my father, and chose to run away from home at the age of sixteen, taking refuge in the underground. I haven’t seen him in nearly thirty years.

"After the death of my brother and the departure of my elder brother, my father too took his own life under the unbearable burden.

"...So, I never wanted to be a duke at all."

The greatest, most wise duke in history lamented in a low voice.

"All I hoped for was that my family could live safely and happily, nothing more. I never understood why I was the one trained to be the next duke... until I took it. Until I took up this authority, this curse."

A rare sarcastic smile appeared on Duke Ivan’s face.

It wasn’t mockery of others, but of himself.

He was mocking his own fate.

"——It was only the night before my father’s suicide, on the day I took up this cursed responsibility, that I finally understood everything. I was fated to kill my own family... This is my destiny.

"Anya had far more talent to be a duke than I did. Because I never wanted to be the cursed Winter Duke... It was only after Anya was killed by the curse that I wanted to inherit her will, and that precisely triggered the ’power’ of this authority."

I did not desire this power.

I would rather my love, my family, live safely and healthily.

"So... I’m sorry, Annan."

Ivan stated emotionlessly, like a sculpture made of ice, "I know I should not have passed this burden onto you. You are still very young... much younger than I was, and I am aware of the pressure you bear.

"And perhaps all the misfortunes you’ve encountered so far, and all the suffering you will endure in the future, are also the destiny I’ve cast upon you...

"This scepter is a terrible birthday present. So——

"I’m sorry."