BXBX NOVEL Chapter 286 - 286 From the Other Side
But as Garet spoke, he was thrown off by the confusion he saw in William’s eyes. Garet couldn’t recall anyone with that face in the empire’s embassy or the staff committee established by the duke.
“He’s my esteemed guest and I’ll explain the details later. Let’s focus on the current situation.”
Garet’s gaze caught Floral’s attention and she stepped forward to introduce herself before getting to the point.
“Garet, I know it’s not my place, but I hope you can show a little more patience, especially when it comes to your son and other matters.”
Floral’s gaze flickered to Quayle who was tied up in front of the shrine.
Their eyes met and Floral’s icy blue gaze sent shivers down the other man’s spine, forcing him to turn away.
“But don’t worry, I won’t back down on my promise to you,” Floral continued.
“Just not today,” she added and looked at William.
He was talking to Ebony.
“Lord William, what’s going on here? You wouldn’t go back on your word, would you?” Ebony asked with a dark expression.
“The situation is complicated, I need to sort things out first,” William replied.
“You could always choose the easier route, like taking care of the woman standing next to you first.”
William didn’t know how to respond. He turned to look at Floral, their eyes meeting once again.
“So, what about this evidence you mentioned?” William urged.
William had been to the temple before, and if there was something strange about it, he should have been able to pick up on it during his previous visit.
The other party didn’t answer William’s question directly. Instead, she asked, “Did you have any contact with Ebony?”
William simply nodded.
“I learned a lot about Emerald Province and about you from him, including how you kicked him out and…”
“And how I cruelly killed the dissidents?”
Floral spoke first.
William shrugged and gestured for the other party to continue.
“The promotion of Camilla to the Lady of Starvation caused a power surge that ripped through time in Ravenwood,” Floral said. “Her power created two separate timelines with two distinct origins. And you should know that the moment a Void Sovereign is born, She will transcend the confines of both the past and present, becoming an eternal being.” Floral continued their conversation.
“I’m aware.” William nodded at her question.
In the grand scheme of things, Eternality was nothing more than a mere afterthought to the immense power of the Void Sovereigns. Rebirth Sovereigns rose from the ranks of mere mortals, and what made these beings so enigmatic was the fact that once They reached this level of power, They left Their mark on both the past and the future, preventing anyone from finding any concrete evidence of a Void Sovereign’s true origins.
Think of it like this—imagine God in our world. Despite the fact that his image was solidified in the records of the Old Testament since 1200 B.C., He has always existed, from the beginning of time itself.
The essence of a Void Sovereign was no different. They have always been there, lurking in the shadows. But it’s only when a mortal was reborn as one of these gods that Their true power and form were revealed to the world. This was the true meaning of ‘rebirth.’
“It was a pivotal moment when the Lady of Starvation was born. She had the power to single-handedly pull the entire Ravenwood area into the Moon Realm and make it the cornerstone of her domain. The history books would have recorded Camilla, the successor of the Matriarch’s authority, as being promoted to Void Sovereign and causing Ravenwood’s inevitable pull to the Moon Realm.”
“But there was a twist,” Floral continued. “Camilla, now a Rebirth Sovereign, still had remnants of her previous life as a mortal. And so, she made a calculated decision. She chose to leave Ravenwood in Currere as a small compensation to her former kin or as a foreshadowing for her future return. But this decision resulted in a conflict. On one hand, she was the Lady of Starvation in the Moon Realm, and on the other, she remained as the Matriarch in Currere.”
“Are you saying that the Forest Elves’ contract with the World Tree is actually with the Lady of Starvation? That the Matriarch and the Lady of Starvation are two sides of the same coin?” William interrupted and asked.
But Floral shook her head, indicating that this was not the case.
“The Matriarch and the Lady of Starvation are two entirely separate entities. Picture this: you’re writing two different endings for your novel, and then, when you write the sequel, you have to write two completely different books for those endings. Can readers still see the protagonist as the same person in both books? And can the protagonist in the story even accept that?”
William’s palms began to sweat.
He’d been grappling with this question for some time now—if his characters from different saves existed, should he see them as himself or someone else?
“So what’s the answer?”
William asked.
“The conclusion is that the Forest Elf civilization has been fueling Her return to Currere for thousands of years. She didn’t bring Ravenwood to the Moon Realm back then because she wanted to flip the script and bring the Moon Realm to Currere someday. It wasn’t to open a Moon Realm rift, nor was it some plane fusion. She wants to rewrite abandoned history, controlled by Her, into the Currere timeline by replacing the truth of the Forest Elves’ development over the years.”
In simpler terms, it’s a save override?
William immediately thought of this.
“And the proof is right in front of us,” Floral said, pointing at Ebony.
“Everything he told you about my supposed tyranny and killing of innocents happened in another timeline. Ravenwood doesn’t have a tribe named Ebony. The ritual of selecting the Father of the Wild’s heir through the Blood Moon Game was canceled a thousand years ago. Most importantly, after you seriously injured the core of the World Tree more than a thousand years ago, the Holy Tree Matriarch has been in a semi-comatose state. Up until now, it can only passively respond to prayers and can’t initiate giving prophecies or omens.”