Chapter 25: Honeyed Words

Sky Mountain — Castle of the Great Ruler

The Golden Clock looked at Rwan with a warm smile, almost grandmotherly smile.

It was a strangely friendly expression for someone who had just entered the throne room of a person who should, by all reasonable standards, have been her enemy. She did not appear concerned by the silence that had fallen over the hall, nor by the wary gazes following her . She simply smiled for a moment before her attention shifted toward the throne.

She walked forward.

Her steps were slow and unhurried, the sound of her staff occasionally touching the floor as she approached. There was no hesitation in her movements. She stopped at the bottom of the stairs leading to the throne and raised her head.

Rwan was already looking at her.

Neither of them spoke.

They simply stared at each other for several moments.

There was no hostility in the silence, at least not the kind that would normally exist between two people standing on opposite sides. Rwan knew this woman. More importantly, he knew her well enough to recognize when she was deliberately saying nothing.

The Golden Clock was waiting for him.

Rwan let her wait.

Eventually, she spoke first.

“After all this time, you still call me your teacher?”

Rwan studied her for a few moments.

The question was almost absurd.

So much time had passed that most of the people who had once known either of them were long gone. clans had risen and disappeared. The world itself had changed in ways that would have been difficult to explain to someone from their distant past.

And yet, apparently, this was what she had chosen to ask first.

Rwan's lips curved into an amused smile.

“My dear teacher. It’s been a long time. It warms my heart to see you alive and well.”

The Golden Clock did not answer.

She simply looked at him.

Her expression was completely blank, and somehow that made her silence more pointed than any response could have been.

Rwan gave a quiet laugh.

“Come on. You know I’m not rude enough to deny the bond with the person who taught me, even if we happen to be standing on opposite sides.”

One of her small eyebrows rose.

Then she laughed dismissively.

“It’s been a long time, my student. You’re still as sane as I remember.”

Rwan remained silent.

She waited for an answer.

None came.

The Golden Clock shook her head with a faint laugh.

“But aren’t you even going to stand up to welcome a guest into your home, my dear student? I’ve been away for a very long time.”

Rwan looked at her.

Then, rather than standing, he leaned back against his throne and shrugged.

“Looks like your mind has grown smaller with age, just like your appearance, old woman.”

The hall went quiet.

The Golden Clock stared at him.

Rwan stared back.

For a moment, neither seemed inclined to give the other the satisfaction of reacting first.

Then the Golden Clock's expression tightened.

“It seems my disobedient student has grown more arrogant beneath that lazy exterior as well.”

She raised her staff and struck it against the floor.

The sound rang through the throne room.

The impact was loud enough to send an echo racing through the vast chamber, bouncing from the walls before finally fading into silence.

Rwan did not so much as blink.

Instead, he looked at her with an assessing gaze.

There it was.

The same temper.

The same impatience.

After all these years, there were apparently some things even thousands of years could not change.

A crooked smile appeared on his face.

“It seems the years couldn’t change the most irritating thing about you.”

The Golden Clock's eyes narrowed.

Rwan continued before she could interrupt.

“Still, there’s nothing wrong with getting a little emotional when reunited with someone dear to you.”

His smile widened.

“That’s simply what old people are like.”

The Golden Clock's eyelid twitched.

Rwan almost expected her to strike him again.

Instead, she remained silent.

He took that as a victory.

Rwan placed the pitcher in his hand on the tray Liz was holding. Then he rose from the throne and descended the stairs.

He did not hurry.

The Golden Clock remained at the bottom, watching him approach.

When he reached her, he stopped only a hair's breadth away.

For a moment, he looked down at her.

She was still exactly as irritating as he remembered.

That thought brought another smile to his face.

Then he slowly raised his arms.

The Golden Clock's eyes narrowed.

Rwan ignored the warning and pulled her into a warm embrace.

He lowered his head toward her ear.

“Of course... no matter how much time passes, some bonds are impossible to forget, aren’t they, Teacher?”

This was his teacher.

Seraphina Valmont.

An Origin-level witch known as the Golden Clock.

She was also the oldest witch still alive.

An Origin witch normally lived for around two thousand years. Ancient dragons were naturally longer-lived, capable of surviving for as many as twenty thousand years.

Seraphina had surpassed even the limits of her own kind.

She had lived for more than six thousand years.

But her age was not the only thing that made her extraordinary.

She had once been one of the Chosen of the World.

The Chosen were people selected by the world itself, much like the heroes of old fairy tales. They were blessed with the power and fortune necessary to overcome impossible trials, carry out missions beyond the reach of ordinary people, or prevent catastrophes from destroying the world.

Seraphina had once been one of them.

Once.

“Remove your hands, student, unless you want a fight.”

Her voice was quiet and composed.

No one else in the hall could hear her.

Well, almost no one.

Liz, who was standing beside the throne, certainly could.

And judging by the cold look she was giving the Golden Clock, she had not missed a single word.

Rwan released the embrace and took a step back.

“What a cruel way for time to pass. You’ve become much harsher with your poor student.”

He looked at her with exaggerated sadness.

Then his expression turned curious.

“I’m very strong, you know. I’ve endured plenty of hardships. What makes you think you’ll be able to hurt me more than those terrifying creatures beyond the sky?”

The Golden Clock gave him an impassive look.

“Have you ever met a creature capable of sealing you inside a tiny cage and locking the door?”

Rwan's smile faded slightly.

She continued.

“Something that could make you curse until you lost even the ability to curse?”

Rwan regarded her silently.

For several moments, neither of them said anything.

Then he glanced away.

A faint smile returned to his face.

“Ah.”

He sounded almost impressed.

“Still so kind, I see.”

The Golden Clock ignored the remark.

Rwan turned toward Liz.

“Liz, a drink, please.”

Liz remained still for a moment.

Her cold gaze was fixed on the Golden Clock.

There was something about the way she watched their guest that suggested she was waiting for an excuse. The Golden Clock had not made a hostile move, but Liz clearly had no intention of giving her the benefit of the doubt.

If the woman in front of her made one suspicious movement, Liz looked fully prepared to tear her apart.

The Golden Clock noticed.

She smiled faintly.

"What a hostile child."

Liz's expression did not change.

Eventually, she descended the stairs.

She approached Rwan while keeping the Golden Clock within her line of sight.

Rwan took the pitcher from her, poured the juice into a glass, and handed it to the Golden Clock.

“Here, Teacher. A refreshing drink for a productive conversation.”

The Golden Clock accepted the glass.

She looked at it for a moment before turning her attention toward Liz.

“Liz... isn’t it?”

She smiled.

“It’s been a long time since our last proper meeting. Ah, you’ve grown so much. You’ve become quite beautiful.”

Liz's expression did not change.

“Elizabeth.”

The Golden Clock blinked.

“Hm?”

“My name is Elizabeth.”

Her voice remained calm.

Then she added,

“Say my name wrong one more time, and I’ll make sure you can never speak again... ever.”

The Golden Clock stared at her.

Rwan watched the exchange from the side.

Liz had not raised her voice.

She had not changed her expression.

She had simply explained what would happen.

Apparently, that was enough.

The Golden Clock eventually laughed.

“You really have grown. You’ve become more mature... and you’re making threats now.”

She glanced at Rwan.

The look she gave him was unmistakably accusing.

Rwan pretended not to notice.

Rowan raised the pitcher to his lips.

He took a lazy sip.

"She learned from the best."

Elizabeth glanced at him.

"Unfortunately."

The Golden Clock laughed.

Then,The Golden Clock took a sip from the glass.

She immediately regretted it.

Her face twisted slightly.

She pulled her tongue out with a disgusted expression.

“Ugh. It’s sour and bitter.”

She stared at the glass.

“What kind of drink is this?”

Rwan smiled.

“The drink that makes your old mind a little younger.”

The Golden Clock slowly raised her eyes toward him.

Rwan added casually,

“By the way, I already drank from the pitcher.”

She paused.

Then she stared at him.

“Hm.”

Her expression became flat.

“You’re still entertaining, I see.”

She returned the glass to the tray in Liz's hands.

Rwan shrugged.

“Pity. It seems it doesn’t suit your taste.”

He took the pitcher from the tray, lifted it to his lips, and took another sip.

The bitterness did not bother him.

When he lowered it, his tone changed.

“So, what brings me the honor of your visit?”

The Golden Clock glanced around the throne room.

Her gaze moved over the enormous hall before returning to him.

“Do you really want to talk here?”

She looked around once more.

“In this place that looks like a haunted house?”

Rwan said nothing.

She gave him a faintly amused smile.

“Won’t you invite me somewhere a little more pleasant? Not that I mind, really. Quite the opposite. I think I’d rather speak with my disobedient student somewhere comfortable.”

Rwan inhaled deeply.

There was no point arguing.

He turned and gestured toward the rear of the castle.

The ring garden.

The Golden Clock walked past him.

Liz followed.

Rwan came behind them.

They headed toward the back of the castle, where the garden was maintained by Liz as a side job.

The Golden Clock looked around as they walked.

Unlike the throne room, the garden had little of the oppressive grandeur of the rest of the castle. The flowers and plants gave the place a quieter atmosphere, and the further they went, the less the walls seemed to matter.

Her eyes wandered across the garden.

Then they stopped.

A cluster of purple flowers had caught her attention.

Their color was close to the shade of her own hair.

The Golden Clock stared at them for a while.

Rwan noticed the change in her expression.

The amusement had disappeared.

She let out a quiet sigh.

“You’ve accomplished a lot, my student.”

Rwan glanced at her.

She was looking around the garden now, but there was something distant in her eyes.

Something almost proud.

“No, really.”

She looked at him.

“You’ve surprised me more than once. You’ve gone far beyond what I expected.”

Rwan listened without interrupting.

“I expected you to reach the summit,” she continued. “But I never imagined you would go beyond it.”

Her gaze remained on him.

“And nearly conquer the world.”

Rwan frowned slightly.

There was no pleasure in his expression.

He had heard enough praise.

What he wanted was an answer.

“I’ll repeat myself.”

His voice was calm.

“What do you want?”

The Golden Clock looked at him in surprise.

“And what reason would a teacher have for visiting her student?”

Rwan placed a hand beneath his chin.

He thought about it for a moment.

Then his expression brightened as though he had arrived at the obvious answer.

“To hire me?”

The Golden Clock stared at him.

Rwan waited.

Nothing.

He tried again.

“A boy to carry out missions?”

Still nothing.

He looked at her.

She looked at him.

Rwan sighed.

“For the record, I don’t have a hobby of beating up old people. You’d better start talking before I destroy this copy of yours.”

The Golden Clock's eyes shifted slightly.

Rwan had known from the first moment he saw her.

This was not the real Golden Clock.

It was a copy.

There had been no need to test her or search for evidence. He had recognized it immediately.

If this had truly been Seraphina herself, he would not have spent all this time playing around with her. He would have grabbed her by the throat and forced her to tell him everything she knew.

But this was merely a copy.

That made the conversation considerably easier.

The Golden Clock laughed.

“Looks like your tongue has grown longer, too, my student.”

Rwan raised an eyebrow.

“So?”

She smiled at him.

Then, unexpectedly, she asked,

“Would you like to go outside?”

Rwan stared at her.

“Of course I’d like to go outside.”

He took another lazy sip from the pitcher.

“But you won’t let me.”

There was no accusation in his voice.

He simply stated the obvious.

After everything they had gone through to bring him here, did she really think he believed they would simply open the way and allow him to leave?

The opportunity had already passed.

The Golden Clock shook her head.

“No.”

She looked at him.

“I’m serious now, my dear student.”

The lazy haze vanished from Rwan's eyes.

His expression became still.

He looked at her without speaking.

For the first time since she had arrived, he stopped playing around.

The Golden Clock waited.

Rwan watched her.

There was something in her tone that had not been there before.

Something that made the question suddenly different.

She was not teasing him.

She was not reminiscing.

She was not trying to provoke him.

She was offering him something.

And if she was offering him something, there had to be a price.

Rwan's gaze sharpened.

“What’s the price?”

The Golden Clock's expression immediately brightened.

A broad smile spread across her face.

“Kill the Abyss Lord.”

Rwan remained silent.

The Golden Clock looked directly at him.

Then she added, almost as an afterthought:

“For good this time.”