The World After Death

After a long silence, Iver slowly closed the diary.

Isabel let out a soft "Huh?": "You... aren't you going to watch anymore?"

Her voice held a mixture of surprise, delight, and regret.

"I'm not watching anymore."

Iver turned back with a gentle smile, "Because I understand the root of your fears and know where your heart begins."

"Do you not want to watch anymore, or... is it unnecessary to watch?"

"No, it's not that. It's that we won't look at it this time."

Iver corrected, "Understanding your hidden heart and your past is different from digging into your secrets and spying on your thoughts..."

"You want me to read your diary only because of your fear and anxiety. Your emotions are too complicated right now... and I don't want to take advantage of you."

Iver said with a smile, "I want to see you tell me your secrets wholeheartedly and earnestly... tell me them yourself, not this half-truthful diary."

Upon hearing this, Isabel's cheeks immediately turned red.

As I always say—who keeps a diary if they're a decent person?

Can what's written in a diary truly be considered one's innermost thoughts? Not to mention, the Du Lac Family Diary * are essentially a will. Curses and Curse Poison can be slow or acute. At worst, it might take months to die; at worst, it could be too late for rescue, resulting in instant death.

In such circumstances, it's extremely difficult to leave a will. That's why the first Prince chose to have everyone else keep a diary. After his death, these diaries would be seen by others, allowing them to understand his thoughts and what he wanted to do.

Reading diaries together and sharing secrets can also foster a sense of unity within the royal family. They can understand each other, are on the same page, and are less likely to engage in internal strife.

That Prince must be Queen Sophia's eldest son. Being the first to realize this, he is indeed fit to be King.

And similarly... under such circumstances, there would naturally be nothing too secretive in the diary.

Just like Klea's husband and Philip's father, his diary shows traces of restraint in his emotions.

But they all made a mistake based on their assumptions.

Writing a diary is indeed a process of releasing fear and venting anxiety. However, there is a problem here... If the diary will definitely be seen by others, then the negative emotions contained within will inevitably be conveyed to the next person through the words.

Within a closed system, this cycle repeats itself. The negative emotions accumulated in the writing will continue to pile up and grow.

Hatred, confusion, fear, anger, escape, sorrow...

By the time it reached this generation, Isabel couldn't handle it anymore.

This wasn't her fault. It was because she was under too much pressure.

Unlike doctors who would hide their illness from terminally ill patients, the Du Lac Family did the exact opposite, with everyone constantly saying, "I'm going to die," and "You're going to die too."

Then witness one person after another die, until the rooms of the Silver and Tin Palace become empty one by one.

This is like an intensive care unit, which can easily lead to depression.

The only one who probably realized this was the last person quoted in Isabel's diary.

His words carried a power that befitted a true Old Knight. He knew what he had to do, and so he chose to comfort others—he didn't vent his fears and pain in his diary, but instead gave them the strength to live.

A knight who is recognized by the Silver Crowned Dragon will surely become His apostle after death.

This is quite rare.

Even though the royal family of Avalon are descendants of Lancelot, who once served the Silver Crowned Dragon, not all of them can become the Crown Lord's knights. The Silver Crowned Dragon is quite selective.

After all, there is no concept of reincarnation in this world; it generally respects the natural cycle. But death is not the absolute end.

The soul of a mortal is born at the same time as the physical body; it is a gift from the world. After death, the soul enters one of nine different rivers according to its affinity, flowing into the domain of the Nine Pillar Gods.

The Pillar God and Celestials can use their power to temporarily intercept and preserve the souls of others, or to allocate a portion of their essence and power to elevate them to the rank of Apostle. If they do not do so, the souls will rejoin the world at the end of the river, forming a great cycle.

The soul is most often trapped on the Path of Adaptation, the Path of Love, and the Path of Twilight.

Those Path of Adaptation die, and their souls are transformed into various strange and grotesque beasts in the forest and wilderness of the Lord of Scales and Feathers. They fight, devour, and evolve in the boundless dense Dense Forest and wilderness until they become strong enough. Then, they may be chosen by the Pillar God or the Celestial God and taken away to become their apostles.

Those who Path of Love will enter different realms after death according to their different desires. Those who enjoy killing, violence, and savagery will enter the Shadow Domain to fight others endlessly, and will be reborn after death to continue the battle; while those who enjoy sex and food will enter the flesh realm to enjoy an endless, chaotic, and decadent feast.

Indulging in desires until the soul is completely lost, or completely controlling one's desires and being chosen as an apostle by the gods.

As for Constant Self, the Pillar God of the Path of Love — Constant Self never dances with others; He only dances eternally in sorrow with His own reflection in His dwelling on the moon. He is the Pillar God with the fewest apostles.

Those who die at Path of Twilight will turn into pieces of amber in the Amber Forest. Their past, memories, lives, and souls will be completely preserved in the amber, even if it is meaningless.

Aside from these three paths which have an "automatic distribution mechanism," the Pillar God and celestial chiefs of other paths will carefully select souls. After all, creating an apostle requires giving up a portion of one's own power, and only souls that are particularly favored will be taken—usually, the Pillar God will choose first, and then it will be the celestial chief's turn to choose. After all the celestial chiefs have chosen, the remaining souls will be recycled by the world.

The Silver Crowned Dragon is an extremely selective Pillar God, even more so than the Candle Master. Only those with loyal, upright, courageous, honest, reliable, tolerant, and honorable souls are chosen by Him to become His knights. However, He is also the best to His apostles. If an apostle is attacked in the Dream Realm by other Pillar God or apostles of the Celestials, the Crowned Dragon will launch a war of no return against the opposing side.

The Lord's knights are quite active.

Knights train, read, and sing in palaces at the foot of the sun-drenched Crystal Mountain Range, and gallop and battle across the boundless Emerald Grassland. Occasionally, they venture into the Material Realm to witness oaths or punish those who break them. Sometimes, they briefly transform into mortals, traveling the world and performing acts of heroism.

Knights typically do not appear in the temple in the form of apostles unless it is to warn a tyrant—the knights of the crown protect all rulers, ensuring their bloodlines are not severed, and also protect mortal rulers of the Material Realm from being arbitrarily attacked or controlled by other apostles from the Dream Realm, maintaining harmony and separation between the Material Realm and Dream Realm.

Together with them, guarding the balance between the two realms, are the apostles of the Hourglass.

However, the knights would withdraw their protection from the tyrant. This was partly because the "tyrant" was a domain held by Bear Angel.

The Crown Prince, meanwhile, silently watches over the world from the perpetually blizzard-swept mountaintop, though what he sees remains a mystery to Iver. Aside from this matter and the selection of knights, He interferes in almost everything else... relying solely on His knights as His agents. Much like King Arthur sending the Round Table Knights on their adventures.

That's why Iver felt confused and flustered when the Silver Crowned Dragon suddenly stared at him, a mere mortal.

Why are you looking at me?

If it were Hourglass, he certainly wouldn't panic.

Hourglass is the Pillar God most closely connected to the Material Realm, so good-natured that it can even bargain and trade with mortals who haven't embarked on the path of transcendence. If someone summons it, even if the ritual is flawed, it and its apostles will most likely respond. The power of the ritual to banish phantoms and exile them back to the Dream Realm originates from Hourglass.

If Iver dies, he might be taken away by the Serpent Father or by the Candle Master; Isabel probably doesn't even look at the Twin Mirrors right now, and if Sherlock grows up a bit more, Wei Zhe might take a liking to him, but right now he probably won't.

Bishop Mathers has strayed somewhat from the Path of Dedication, and Yulia is a complete newcomer.

Among Iver's friends... the only one who might be favored by the Pillar God is probably the Grand Guardian. Given George's personality, strength, and achievements, he would certainly become a knight of the Silver Crowned Dragon after death. And indeed, that is the case, which is why Iver calls him "Saint George"—because he ascended to become an Apostle after his death.

—Rounding it up, I'm actually making friends with an apostle.

Chapter Two will be a little later~