Chapter 219: "I Love You, Luke." Her Final Words

Luke didn’t answer.

He simply continued gently running his fingers through her long hair.

Feeling his quiet response, Aurielle naturally assumed he had accepted her request.

The corners of her lips gradually lifted into a relieved smile.

Her heart, which had been tense since the beginning of the conversation, finally relaxed.

What she didn’t know, was that while his hand continued caressing her hair.

Luke’s mind had already begun thinking about something entirely different.

’System, are you absolutely certain my clone can remain active regardless of how far away I am?’

The reply came without the slightest hesitation.

[Yes.]

[Although your mastery over Shadow of Nyx is still at the abysmal level.]

[Even in its weakest state, the ability allows your clone to exist without any distance limitation.]

Luke’s eyes lit up. That was exactly the answer he had been hoping for.

The system continued.

[Furthermore...]

[Because of the Nexus Titan’s compatibility, transforming into another Titan Form will no longer automatically dispel your clone.]

A smile slowly spread across Luke’s face.

Perfect! that meant everything would work exactly as he had planned.

He could leave a clone behind in Blackstone to handle daily affairs and company with Aurielle.

While the real him quietly traveled alone to Horizon Astralis Academy in the capital of the Eldric Sunborn Kingdom.

Aurielle would remain worry free.

Blackstone would continue functioning as usual. And he could still meet Selene.

The more he thought about it. The wider his grin became.

’Kekeke.’

Luke laughed mischievously inside his mind.

The system immediately joined in.

[Kekeke.]

Luke replied without missing a beat.

’Kekeke.’

[Kekeke.]

For a brief moment...

One human and one system laughed together like two conspirators who had just devised the perfect plan.

Meanwhile...

Far away from the mansion, atop a tall tree hidden among the branches.

Two figures quietly observed everything through the open bedroom window.

"..."

Aurora tilted her head.

"Why is Master grinning like that?"

She stared at Luke’s suspicious smile before asking with complete innocence,

"It looks like he’s about to have an affair."

Vaelira’s lips twitched.

She slowly turned toward Aurora with a speechless expression.

"Where exactly did you learn something like that?"

Aurora blinked.

"Lucy told me." She answered as though it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"She said whenever a married man starts grinning to himself like that."

"It means he’s about to have an affair with another woman."

"..."

Vaelira silently covered her face with one hand.

’Lucy! what on earth are you teaching this innocent girl?’

After taking a deep breath, she patiently corrected her.

"Our Master isn’t that kind of person."

She spoke with absolute confidence.

Then a certain notebook flashed through her mind.

The one containing Luke’s ever-growing womanizer record.

"..."

The corner of her mouth twitched.

She coughed awkwardly before revising her statement.

"I mean. He doesn’t go chasing after random women."

Aurora nodded seriously.

"That’s true." After thinking about it for a moment, she reached the same conclusion.

Master wasn’t going after some stranger.

Though, they didn’t knew, that Luke was planning to meet his second wife.

So technically, Lucy was wrong.

If Luke had known the two of them were secretly watching from a distant tree.

He probably wouldn’t have been embarrassed by their conversation.

Instead. He would have stared at them with a completely speechless expression before asking,

"Don’t the two of you have any work to do?"

"Why do you always end up peeping on me?"

Unfortunately...

Luke remained blissfully unaware of their presence.

Ever since Vaelira and Aurora had broken through to the Golden Knight realm, they had become much more cautious.

Whenever they stalk Luke from the shadows, they deliberately kept a far greater distance than before.

At that range. Even with Luke’s enhanced senses.

He couldn’t detect them at all.

Meanwhile, the two women continued observing the bedroom from their hidden perch, completely convinced that their surveillance remained as flawless as ever.

---

"Honey." Luke took out a potion bottle and placed it gently into Aurielle’s hand. "Here."

It was a Bronze Knight Breakthrough Potion.

Strictly speaking. Aurielle no longer needed this to advance.

With her talent, she could complete the breakthrough on her own.

However, system rewards were different.

They were perfectly refined. Completely safe.

And beyond guaranteeing a flawless breakthrough, they also helped stabilize the user’s cultivation afterward.

There was simply no reason not to use it.

Aurielle looked down at the crystal vial before raising an eyebrow.

"Hm?" Then she accepted it under Luke’s unusually expectant gaze.

When she looked back up. He was still staring at her.

Almost as if he wanted her to drink it immediately.

"..."

Aurielle couldn’t help feeling slightly puzzled.

’Why is he in such a hurry?’

Still...

She didn’t ask. She trusted Luke completely.

If there was one thing she was absolutely certain of. It was that he would never do anything to harm her.

Without another word, she stood up and headed toward the training room beneath the house.

Luke quietly followed her there.

Soon.

Aurielle entered the cultivation chamber alone.

After sitting down cross-legged, she uncorked the vial and drank the potion in one smooth motion.

Luke remained outside the room, calmly waiting.

There wasn’t the slightest trace of anxiety on his face.

After all with a System-grade potion. The possibility of the breakthrough failing simply didn’t exist.

*He jinxed it.*

"System." Luke folded his arms as he waited outside the cultivation room.

"What exactly does this milestone reward?"

His voice was filled with anticipation.

The system answered almost immediately.

[A surprise is only enjoyable when it remains a surprise.]

"..."

Luke let out a helpless sigh.

’Of course. Why did I even bother asking?’

Just as he was about to give up. Another notification appeared.

[However...]

[This milestone grants far more than a simple increase in the Return Rate.]

"What?!"

Luke blurted it out so loudly that he immediately covered his own mouth.

Fortunately.

The cultivation room was soundproof enough, and Aurielle was deep in her breakthrough.

Otherwise, he might have disrupted her.

Still his curiosity instantly skyrocketed. If even the system described it that way.

Then the reward was definitely extraordinary.

Now oddly enough.

Luke seemed even more excited about Aurielle’s breakthrough than Aurielle herself.

Unable to stay still, he began pacing back and forth outside the room.

One lap.

Then another.

Then another.

He looked exactly like an anxious father waiting outside the delivery room for news of his first child.

"..."

Luke stopped mid-step.

’0-0’

’That’s a terrible analogy.’

He immediately shook the thought out of his head.

Meanwhile...

Inside the cultivation room. Aurielle had already consumed the breakthrough potion.

The medicinal energy spread rapidly through her body.

After enduring several minutes of intense pain. She could already sense herself approaching the breakthrough.

Then—

"Huh?" A confused murmur escaped her lips.

Something unexpected had happened. Her S-Rank Origin suddenly stirred.

At the same time.

Her Royal bloodline began violently surging through her body, as though something buried deep within it had awakened.

It was trying...

To break free.

’Restrictions?’ Aurielle’s brows knitted together.

That single thought left her even more confused.

’Restrictions? What restrictions?’

Before she could think any further—

Another wave of agony struck.

"Ugh..."

The pain intensified with every passing second. Her thoughts became sluggish.

She could barely maintain her concentration.

’No...’

’It’s getting out of control...’

Panic flashed through her mind. She could clearly feel her bloodline and her Origin beginning to resonate with one another.

Not merely resonating. They were merging.

As though they were trying to awaken something that had remained dormant inside her since birth.

The pressure became unbearable.

Crack.

Tiny fissures suddenly appeared across her skin.

Then another.

And another.

Within moments, fine cracks spread across her arms, neck, and shoulders.

Yet. No blood flowed from them.

Instead. Dense shadow energy seeped out through every crack, slowly enveloping the entire cultivation room.

’Luke...’

The first person Aurielle thought of wasn’t herself.

It was him.

She instinctively worried that something might happen outside if this strange power continued to spread.

Then without any warning—

Her eyes changed.

The familiar color vanished.

In its place a brilliant radiance filled her pupils.

As though daylight itself had awakened within them.

The shadow energy leaking from Aurielle’s body suddenly came to an abrupt halt.

Then—

A completely different energy emerged.

From every crack across her body, brilliant daylight-colored energy began pouring out, replacing the darkness entirely.

"W-What?" Aurielle’s breathing became uneven.

She could no longer understand what was happening to her own body.

It was as if two completely opposite powers were fighting for dominance inside her.

Instinctively, she turned toward the cultivation room’s door.

Beyond it.

Luke was still patiently waiting, completely unaware of the terrifying transformation taking place inside.

For the first time in a long while. Fear gripped her heart.

Not because she feared death itself.

She still had unfinished promises.

She still had to rescue her mother.

She still had countless things left undone.

"..."

No.

That wasn’t the real reason. or only reason.

Aurielle smiled bitterly.

’I lied...’

’I’m simply afraid of leaving him.’

One memory after another surfaced before her eyes.

Luke’s carefree smile.

His embarrassed expression whenever she teased him.

His innocent face.

His determined gaze.

Every precious moment they had shared together.

She didn’t want those memories to become the last ones.

’Luke, I’m sorry...’

A gentle smile appeared on her lips.

By now the cracks had spread across her entire face.

Her whole body resembled a porcelain statue on the verge of collapse.

As countless glowing fissures covered every inch of her skin.

It looked as though. The slightest touch would cause her to shatter.

Then—

Her final thought echoed silently within her heart.

’I love you, Luke.’

BOOOOOOOOOOM—!!

A blinding explosion erupted from the cultivation room.

The entire bungalow vanished in an instant.

The terrifying pillar of radiant daylight burst upward, tearing through the house before continuing into the sky above.

The ground trembled violently.

The entire Time Chamber shook as if struck by a catastrophe.

A colossal pillar of brilliant light—

Over one hundred meters wide—

Shot toward the heavens, as though attempting to pierce the very sky of the Time Chamber itself.

Every person inside the Time Chamber froze.

Then—

Everyone horrified gazes turned toward the source of the explosion.

Where Luke and Aurielle’s home had once stood. Only that overwhelming pillar of daylight remained.

"MASTER!!!"

Aurora’s scream echoed across the Time Chamber.

"MY LADY!!!"

Margaret’s panicked cry followed immediately after.