Hosanna let out a deep sigh and lowered his gaze.

“Lord Nahan… was of noble blood in this land.”

For a brief moment, Yuder’s eyes narrowed slightly before returning to their usual calm state.

The man who hated nobles and the powerful more than anyone else was actually of noble lineage? And not just any noble lineage, but from the Empire itself. It was surprising, but not entirely inexplicable.

From his appearance alone, it was clear he had Southern blood mixed in. And it’s common for people to develop an even greater hatred for the very group they were once a part of…

Just knowing this about his origins was enough to make Nahan’s blind hatred seem more understandable.

“…You don’t seem surprised.”

Hosanna mumbled as he looked at Yuder, who showed little reaction to the shocking revelation.

“It’s easier and stronger to hate what you know than what you don’t.”

“That makes sense… I’ve never heard it put that way before, but it feels true.”

Speaking just above a whisper, Hosanna continued his story.

“It’s not a pleasant story. Lord Nahan was locked away from birth because his mother was a Southerner. And I… I was a child servant, hired to attend to him.”

“Where are you from, then?” Yuder asked.

“The South. I was an orphan. To survive, I worked as a runner for traveling merchants crossing the desert… But I guess they found it troublesome to take me back, so they just sold me off.”

Hosanna let out a bitter smile.

“At the time, I barely spoke a word of the Imperial language. I suppose Nahan’s family thought someone with no connections, who couldn’t even communicate, was the perfect choice to handle their secrets.”

I can already imagine the circumstances.

It was common for noble families to employ mute or foreign servants when they wanted to keep something hidden. In this case, it was likely that Nahan, the child of a Southern concubine, was being covered up, and they had deliberately sought a fellow Southerner who wouldn’t be able to speak out about it.

“He was a kind and good person back then. He was young but intelligent, and always composed. It must have been frustrating to be confined like that, but he never seemed to mind. He even treated me well. I learned Imperial speech from him. I truly… admired him.”

Hosanna himself didn’t seem to realize that he had unconsciously started calling Nahan Young Master.

He had used the word admire, but the depth of emotion in his eyes was different from someone like Nathan Zuckerman’s respect for Kishiar. It was deeper—darker. Something about it felt strangely familiar to Yuder.

“Young Master had a dream. He wanted to return to his mother’s homeland once he became an adult. And I… I wanted to follow him there and serve him to the end. But… we never got the chance.”

Hosanna clenched his fists on his lap, his eyes clouded with pain.

“There was someone who had taken care of him since childhood. Someone we trusted because they were always kind to us. But when they learned about his plan to leave the family, they reported it to the household without hesitation.”

“How did they find out?” Yuder asked.

Hosanna lowered his head further, his voice trembling.

“It was my fault… I thought the day of our departure was approaching, and that I should at least say goodbye to that person…”

It seemed Hosanna’s personality hadn’t changed over the years.

In truth, saying farewell to someone you believe to be a close friend wasn’t necessarily a foolish act. The only problem here was that the other person had no intention of keeping their secret.

If they reported it immediately, that means they were either a spy placed to monitor them from the beginning, or they simply didn’t care about their supposed friendship.

Yuder coolly analyzed the situation.

“The escape failed, and we were punished. I… I thought that once Young Master knew it was me who had revealed the plan, he would never forgive me. But… he did. He only wanted to know why that person had betrayed us.”

Hosanna covered his face with both hands, his shoulders trembling.

“We didn’t have to wait long for the answer. That person… the one who betrayed us… soon ended up in the same prison where we were held.”

“……”

“They said he had committed some other crime against the family and was thrown in there as punishment.”

That alone told Yuder what had happened.

A noble family that went to such lengths to erase their disgrace wouldn’t let someone with such ambitions roam freely. Instead of rewarding them, they likely deemed them disposable.

“…But he told us, ‘It would have been better if I had never done it in the first place.’ He said he regretted it. He told us never to stay with that family, no matter what.”

Nahan, despite everything, was willing to forgive and even offered to include him in their escape plan.

“That was only possible because… Young Master awakened his abilities while we were imprisoned.”

Are we really talking about the same Nahan?

He had been betrayed twice, and yet he still trusted the same person? If someone in Yuder’s past life had done something like that, he would have personally beaten some sense into them.

He just couldn’t picture Nahan acting so naïve.

Forget forgiveness—he’d probably drive the person insane instead.

In any case, according to Hosanna, Nahan had awakened an illusion-based ability while imprisoned, and they had devised an escape plan.

The plan was simple: create the illusion of a fire to cause panic among the guards, then use the ensuing chaos to escape.

“At first, it seemed to work. But before we could completely escape… we realized we’d been deceived again.”

Their plan had been exposed. And the reason was obvious—it was the same betrayer, once again.

Unbelievable.

“We were captured on the spot… and Young Master… was punished by having half his face burned. After that, they left us in a burning building and walked away.”

It was a classic example of ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) how nobles handled their problems—better to stage an accident and erase the evidence than deal with the scandal.

“But you escaped, which means you survived.”

“I awakened my own abilities.”

Hosanna gave a low, bitter laugh.

“I searched for a way out for so long… and in the very last moment, I finally gained power. If only it had come a little sooner… even just a day earlier…”

There were Awakeners who feared or resented their own abilities, wishing they could go back to the way things were. But there were also people like Hosanna—who regretted not having awakened sooner. Yuder had met many such people in his past life.

People with that mindset often used their powers recklessly, pushing themselves too far. Their abilities grew quickly, but they tended to live short lives.

“……”

“And yet… even after all that… Young Master still wanted to save that person. He said we couldn’t leave without him. He asked where he was.”

But when they found him, it was already too late.

The betrayer, having sold them out twice, had received poison instead of a reward. It was a tragic, foolish end.

“I dragged Young Master out of there… I think we must have run desperately. We wanted to make it to the South, but we were too weak. We collapsed somewhere along the way… and were saved by a passing traveler.”

Yuder’s instincts sharpened.

“That traveler… was it the Sage?”

“Yes.”