The Conquerors Path

Knock... knock!

"Just come in," Mira's voice was heard as I knocked. I entered her office and came face to face with her. Mira walked in front of me and looked me up and down. Walking forward, she even placed her hands and started to check around my body. The fact that I still haven't showered and looked like I came from a war was not affecting her at all.

"Didn't you already check me with your mana?" I said in a joking manner, but my feelings of 'happiness' and 'satisfaction' still moved towards Mira, whose cheeks I could see lighting up in a small blush, something extremely attractive due to her stunning face.

"I just wanted to make sure. You have no idea how worried I was," Mira finally spoke, seeing that I don't have any extreme level of injury. Her eyes leveled with me as my feelings suddenly started to overflow, most of them 'complex' but the extreme 'happiness' in it still existed from seeing the woman I love. But this time, I made a small difference.

The amount of 'happiness' produced from the love that I sent her was quite lesser than before. It's not very noticeable, but someone with a sharp mind like Mira could notice it, especially when I have been sending these feelings to her every day.

There's also the added twist of 'guilt' that I am sending to her, something very real - a guilt of perhaps starting to like someone else. Anyhow, the feeling I was giving her was more than enough to confuse Mira's mind with several theories.

Looking at her face, I could see a frown narrowing Mira's face. Seeing this, a small smile formed on my face before I hid it, looking at her with a concerned expression I spoke.

"Is something wrong?"

"No, it's nothing," Mira said before turning around and walking toward her seat. She slowly took the tea and poured it down. Just the smell healed my mind and body. I could see that it's some extremely rare and precious healing tea. I didn't say anything, seeing Mira's off behavior, as I walked to the chair and took a seat. My hands raised the tea as I took a slow sip.

"Good tea," I said.

"Thanks," Mira said lightly, much different from her sunny self when she was with me, and I couldn't help but feel a little happy at it. This just proved that she has already started to develop feelings for me, which was sprouting jealousy from deep within her.

'It's damn time...' Just getting to this point was a pain in the ass. It was a nonstop sending of emotions for me to keep her complete focus on me, and it didn't help with the fact that Mira was always looking into this connection, trying to find out the source of why this is happening. I had to go to some extra lengths to keep the secret of our connection hidden.

"Is something wrong? You don't look well," I asked again with a frown on my face, my feelings of 'care' and 'concern' filling Mira, who looked at my face deeply for a moment after which she shook her head. A small smile filled her face as she responded.

"It's nothing, just lost in my thoughts," she said.

"If you say so," I said with a face that clearly portrayed that I wasn't believing what she was saying. But in the end, I didn't go behind it as I just sat on the chair drinking my tea. A calm silence filled us as we focused on our drinks, my body quickly being healed. It was then that Mira suddenly spoke.

"I didn't expect that there would be so many traitors in the Academy. It's still giving me chills," As she spoke, I could see the concern in her eyes. It was quite understandable, as among the traitors, there were many from the academy itself, some even being teachers!

That's a huge matter, as each and every teacher has to go through strict screening and a background check before they can even get on the list for academy teachers. After that, there is another vigorous screening, so it's no surprise that the academy was entirely shaken by how many traitors suddenly showed up.

"This might not be all, there might still be some traitors left, hidden deeply," I said as I looked at Mira, who nodded her head at me. She shook her head with a smile as she spoke.

"Sigh... at first, when you brought up this plan, I thought it might never work..."

"But it worked, didn't it?" I countered with a smile, to which Mira looked at me with narrowed eyes.

"Yes, it did, but it's only entirely possible due to you. You took on all the impossible parts..." Reaching this point, Mira's eyes were extremely focused on me as I saw the spark of interest lighting up deep within her.

"You somehow knew about the secret function of the realm and how to access it, something only known to the highest level of authority..."

"You somehow spread the news secretly to all those traitors in a way that they completely believed..."

"You predicted the entry point of all those traitors and enemies..."

"You actually got an entire group of leaders, evil organizations, and powerful people to play within your palms..."

"You made all the necessary connections for a perfect conclusion..."

"And you did it while protecting everyone..."

"Without you, there would never have been any plan at all."

As Mira finished speaking, there was utter silence in the room. The sound of the clock ticking was the only thing heard, and our eyes clashed against each other. I could tell that Mira wanted an answer; she was dying for it. She knew that I would never do anything to hurt my family, but I must have suddenly looked a lot different to her in her eyes, somehow looking unrecognizable.

A smirk lit up my face as I placed the teacup down on the table. Relaxing myself, I leaned onto the sofa as I looked towards the ceiling. Ironically, the ceiling resembled the first ceiling I saw coming into this world.

"Aunt Mira, what do you know about my adventures?"

"Only what you told me," Mira immediately responded to my words. Seeing so, a 'sad' smile awoke within me. 'Pain,' 'sadness,' 'anger,' 'humiliation,' 'revenge,' all those feelings heavily filled my being as they flew towards her, and from the corner of my eye, I could see Mira trembling in her seat as she looked at me.

Even as I sent her those feelings, one feeling dominated everything else: 'protection,' a huge unbreakable will to 'protect' Mira, and the rest started to leave my body toward Mira.

"That's right, you don't know about the things I went through, the secrets I saw, and the evil that I had to run from."

Just thinking till here, I focused on the breakdown I had when I traveled with Vena, the dragon Empress. The time I spent doubting my existence and my goal, I took the extreme despair I felt at that time and sent it to Mira. Just as I opened my mouth to speak, a soft feeling filled my face.

Warm hands wrapped around my head, slowly tapping it as Mira whispered, "It's okay, I'm here." She said in a low tone as she placed my head between her breasts, her trembling sad eyes focusing on me as she kept whispering, "It's okay."

Slowly my trembling body calmed down, and I stayed in that same position for a few minutes, the silence between us becoming comforting. Soon, another minute passed as Mira suddenly spoke. "I'm sorry."

Hearing so, I lightly took my head off her breasts as I looked at her. "Why?" I asked.

To this, she lifted her right hand, placing it on my face. I could see great sadness in her eyes as she spoke, "For not being there, I can't begin to imagine the pain you must have gone through."

Each word Mira spoke was filled with guilt as she lightly bit her lips. Just then, I knew that the second part of my plan for Mira could begin. Taking my hand, I placed it above Mira's, a smile coming to my face as I spoke, looking into her eyes. "I will bear all the weight in the world so that I can see everyone smile, including you."

I am sure this time my words have shaken her heart as a small droplet of tears could be seen at the edge of her eyes. "Austin, it is not just your weight to bear," she spoke in a strong tone, but I shook my head at it, a painful yet strong smile still stayed on my face, as my 'stubbornness' and 'desire' flew to Mira. "I promised this to myself, Mira. I will never let others bear the pain. I will take all the pain so that I can see all of you smile, forever."

'Damn...the cringe meter might be bursting right now.'

"Austin..." That's all Mira said with a hurt and loving tone as she once again pulled me deep into her embrace, hugging me tight.

'Sigh...this is gonna be a long day.'