The Grand Duke's Son Is A Heretic-Chapter 183

"It's you that happened?"

Kael blinked. His voice echoed around him like it was swallowed by emptiness. Just a second ago, he was standing on the cold floor of the ice palace—its shimmering walls and Alvera's cautious gaze still lingering in his mind. But now, everything was gone.

The air felt different.

He looked around.

Everything was dark.

No, not just dark and empty. It was like a void. A place where time didn't move and sound seemed afraid to exist.

"What… the hell…?" he muttered under his breath. His grip tightened around the glove, and his heart thumped a little harder.

Then the gems on the glove began to glow—slowly, like embers waking from sleep.

From them, a hazy light emerged, and then, as if breaking free from the stones themselves, spirit figures began to rise. Dozens. Hundreds. Their forms flickering like candlelight, blurry, ethereal. Among them, one stood out.

A woman.

Kael's breath caught in his throat. She looked like someone he had known—long ago, in pieces of dreams and fragments of pain.

"You all…"

His voice trembled, barely a whisper.

His lips opened again to say something, anything, but before he could speak, the ghosts raised their heads, and their voices joined as one. That voice—calm but ancient, filled with fatigue, sorrow, and something else. Hope?

[This is just a memory. Not us—not truly.]

[We know you have many questions. But it's not the time. We don't know how strong you are now… or what fate has done. But if you've found this… if you're holding the glove… we'll know.]

[If you're hearing this, Leonard… then your only task now is to survive. Keep moving. Keep breathing. Reach the Demi-God realm. Only then can we play our part. If you fail… cause and effect will collapse—and the snakes will awaken.]

[So survive. No matter what. And this time…]

There was a long pause. The air felt heavier.

[…You can't run from us...]

That last sound—half-snort, half-sigh—carried so much behind it. Bitterness. Resignation. A whisper of someone who once laughed freely, now reduced to a voice in stone.

Then silence.

The darkness cracked. Light flashed.

And Kael was back.

He stood in the icy palace once more, the cold wind brushing past him. The glove rested in his hand, but it felt heavier—like it carried centuries of voices inside it.

His body was still, but inside he was a storm. His chest hurt.

He couldn't even breathe for a second.

"…Damn," he muttered. "What a shitty way to leave a message…"

His lips twisted into a chuckle, but it wasn't happy.

It was broken and painful.

The kind of laugh you make when crying isn't enough anymore.

"…You girls…" he whispered under his breath.

The image of the woman was still burned into his memory. That spirit with eyes that begged for peace. Her face wasn't clear, but her sadness had stabbed something deep inside him. He didn't know her name. He didn't need to.

He just knew she had waited too long. Alone.

She had hoped… for him.

Then—

"Kael?"

The voice hit him like a bucket of cold water.

It was Alvera.

He turned, and saw her standing stiff, eyes locked on him, sharp with suspicion.

"What was that? Why did you react like that?"

'Shit…' Kael cursed in his mind. 'I forgot she was still here.'

He quickly forced a grin, eyes flicking with fake energy.

"Me? Oh… I just thought you were trying to scam me!" He laughed again, waving the glove like a toy. "I mean, seriously—what is this crap? You feel anything special from it?"

Before she could reply, he tossed the glove at her without warning.

"Wha—?!" Alvera squealed, catching it just in time, almost dropping it.

She stared at it, stunned.

Her hands trembled slightly as she looked at the black glove. This wasn't just any item—this was the treasure her mother had guarded for centuries.

So many years had passed. So much pressure.

She held it now with both hands, breathing shallow, and slowly poured her mana into it.

Nothing.

There was no response.

No glow. No sound.

"…This…" she whispered, her voice tight, unsure.

She looked up, eyes searching Kael's face for an explanation.

But he just snatched it back.

"I don't know what it is," he said, voice casual. "But it looks cool. I like the way it feels."

He smirked again, but his eyes were still nonchalant as if he didn't care. freewēbnoveℓ.com

"That doesn't mean it's useful, though," he added.

"I followed my mother's order," Alvera said quietly, her voice laced with pain and pride. "She believed in this."

"Yeah, yeah… whatever…"

Kael waved it off like it didn't matter, turning his back.

Alvera opened her mouth, ready to argue, to demand respect for her mother's legacy—but suddenly

Buzz.

Her bracelet rang.

She clicked it. A faint glow lit up her wrist.

"What is it?" she asked.

A voice answered on the other side, rushed and urgent.

"Your Highness… there's a problem."

A deep frown crept into Alvera's eyes. Her lips parted slightly but said nothing at first, her sharp gaze falling on Kael, who simply gave her a faint nod, as if silently acknowledging the storm to come.

"Let's go…" she said, her voice steady but laced with urgency.

She turned sharply, her steps echoing against the cold marble as she walked out of the chamber. Kael followed behind, silent at first—his fingers brushing against the glove one last time. Just before stepping out, he paused.

He raised the glove.

The gems embedded in it began to shimmer—softly at first, then brighter.

A slow smile twisted across his face—wild, amused, a little too excited.

"Interesting… Very interesting…" he murmured, eyes flicking with a flicker of something unstable. His voice echoed slightly in the corridor, and he chuckled under his breath like he knew a secret no one else did.

Outside the chamber, Alvera's eyes hardened the moment she saw Iris waiting for her. Her voice came like a whip.

"Explain."

Iris bowed, trembling slightly under her gaze. "Your Highness… the humans from the other side have arrived."

The moment those words left his lips, Alvera's eyes turned to ice—emotionless, sharp, cold enough to freeze flame.