Reborn as the Last van Ambrose-Chapter 76: Ashes Everywhere

Grim stared at the contents scattered across the stone floor. What should have been scrolls were nothing but ash.

The scrolls had been burned. Not a single scroll left he could study. Everything was ruined.

Grim knelt, fingers trembling as he sifted through the remains. The ash left dark smudges on his skin, the remnants of his family’s legacy literally crumbling at his touch.

"Malaxis did this. He had a key to the vault, and used my father’s body to open the chest. But, I don’t know why the swords are still here."

He rose to his feet, ash falling from his fingertips like black snow.

"You said you could fix this," Grim said, turning toward the swords. "You’re telling me you can show me how to learn his techniques even though he’s dead and everything he recorded is ash?"

[Yes,] the voice replied simply. [But you must throw the tournament.]

Grim didn’t respond, his mind racing through the implications. Throwing the tournament meant abandoning his most viable path to power and influence in the empire.

But if the voice was telling the truth...

He walked over to Sunfire and Luna, their gentle radiance seeming to intensify as he approached. These, at least, had been untouched. Perhaps whoever had destroyed the scrolls hadn’t been able to touch the swords.

Grim reached for Sunfire first, his fingers hesitating just above the hilt. If the sword rejected him...

But Sunfire allowed itself to be lifted into his hand. The weapon felt balanced in his hand, its weight perfect, as if it had been forged specifically for him. The golden light pulsed once, then settled into a steady glow.

Encouraged, Grim attempted to draw the blade from its ornate scabbard. He was met with unexpected resistance. The sword wouldn’t budge, no matter how much force he applied. It was as if the scabbard had become part of the blade itself, fused by some force beyond simple physical constraints.

"What the hell?" Grim muttered, his earlier anger resurfacing.

[It thinks you’re worthy enough to touch now,] the voice observed. [But not worthy enough to draw out its true power.]

Grim carefully returned Sunfire to its place, frustration etching lines across his face. "And Luna?"

[Try it,] the voice suggested, an unusual curiosity evident in its tone.

Luna, it’s silvery light more subtle than its counterpart’s golden radiance.

Grim lifted Luna, surprised by the immediate difference he felt. Where Sunfire had been perfectly balanced but somehow distant, Luna seemed to respond to his touch. It’s light began to brighten.

There was a connection here that he hadn’t felt with Sunfire, a resonance that vibrated through his arm and into his chest. It felt right in a way that went beyond mere physical compatibility.

Without hesitation, Grim grasped Luna’s hilt and began to draw the blade.

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Liona paced the length of her mother’s private chambers, her slippered feet making no sound on the thick carpets. She had come directly from overhearing Julius and Draykar, her mind racing with the implications of their plans.

Empress Alexia sat calmly at her writing desk, her pen moving steadily across a document despite her daughter’s obvious distress. Only when Liona had finished recounting what she’d heard did the Empress set her work aside.

"You’re certain they mentioned attackimg Grim outside of the tournament?" Alexia asked, her voice revealing nothing of her thoughts.

"Yes," Liona confirmed. "They plan to send people to the Ambrose estate."

Alexia sighed, rising from her desk to stand by the window that overlooked the palace gardens.

"And you came straight to me," she said.

"We have to do something," Liona urged. "We can’t just let Julius...."

"We can do nothing," Alexia interrupted, her voice gentle but firm. "Not directly."

Liona stared at her mother in disbelief. "Nothing? But you’re the Empress. Surely you can...."

"I am the Empress," Alexia agreed, "but my power is not absolute. It never has been. And it has diminished steadily over the years since I supported the Ambrose family 17 years ago."

Liona’s expression shifted from disbelief to growing comprehension. "The Luminaris faction..."

"Has made certain that our influence has declined," Alexia finished for her. "Why do you think I agreed to your engagement with Max? It wasn’t merely a political alliance.... It was a necessity. The offer of making Max the next Emperor was the price of restoring some measure of our power in the kingdom."

Liona fell silent, absorbing the cold reality of her mother’s words. The romantic illusions she’d harbored about her engagement... That it was a strategic choice, but one she could eventually come to accept or even embrace... crumbled in the face of this stark truth. Her marriage wasn’t just politics; it was a surrender.

"So we just watch?" she asked finally, unable to keep the bitterness from her voice. "We do nothing while they destroy what’s left of House Ambrose?"

Alexia turned from the window, her eyes filled with a weariness.

"I didn’t say we do nothing," she corrected quietly. "I said we can do nothing directly. There are always other ways, Liona. Always."

"What other ways?" Liona demanded. "Grim is alone against all of them. He has no allies, no resources beyond what little he’s managed to scrape together since his return."

"Is he so alone?" Alexia asked, a familiar enigmatic smile touching her lips. "You gave him the vault key. Was that truly your only gift to him?"

Liona stared at her mother, suddenly uncertain. There was something in Alexia’s tone. A hint of knowledge that went beyond what Liona had shared.

"What aren’t you telling me?" she asked softly.

Alexia returned to her desk, her movements measured and deliberate. "There are currents beneath currents, my daughter. The game being played is far more complex than even Julius realizes."

"This isn’t a game," Liona protested. "These are people’s lives."

"All politics is a game with lives as stakes," Alexia replied, her voice hardening slightly. "The sooner you accept that, the better you will play. And you must play, Liona. For all our sakes."

"Be careful, Mother," she said as she moved toward the door. "The Luminaris family has already proven how far they’re willing to go."

Alexia’s smile was cold and certain. "Oh, I am well aware of what the Luminaris family is capable of, my dear. Far more aware than they realize."