If the Stars Remain, the Empire Will Endure

"The Empire sank, heaven-shattering, earth-rending."

"The Triumphant Capital, a city with over two thousand three hundred years of history since the Age of Kings, witness to the rise and fall of two empires, was buried utterly at the bottom of the Ending Sea as the Final Empire sank."

Gilbert's mournful words infected even the guards on either side. Tales could clearly see their hands trembling on their sword hilts.

Gilbert pressed a hand on Tales's shoulder and looked at the wall, at the young knight forever roaring as he charged, yet forever seeming unable to reach the end.

"And Tomond I... he wasn't king then. He was the Final Empire's last remnant."

Tales felt the weight in Gilbert's hand as the Former Foreign Minister spoke softly, reciting a verse from Cahill's Collection of Fallen Leaves:

"The Hero raised his banner, the King his spear. The Empire had fallen, heaven and earth were dark."

"Ten years of blood and fire, victorious in return, yet never again could he go back to the homeland he had fought so tirelessly for. The imperial house was gone, the nobles all dead." Here, Gilbert said absently:

"Tales, my little sir, can you imagine that feeling?"

Tales stared blankly at the fearless Tomond.

The young knight looked so brave and dauntless, shining brilliantly even on that brutal battlefield.

Back then, did he know he would never return home?

Before Tales could answer, Gilbert sighed: "No. At least, I cannot."

Tales said nothing, but a strange feeling stirred in his heart.

"The restless masses, where could they drift in their desolation?"

Tales calmly recited the last two lines.

The restless masses.

In his imagination, a magnificent and splendid city slowly sank. Everyone fled, crying out in panic, screaming in terror, but could only watch helplessly as the seawater swallowed everything.

At that moment, Tales suddenly looked up, his voice heavy and slightly indignant: "What about the people?"

"Hm?" Lost in his remembrance of the King of Revival, Gilbert turned his head, looking at Tales in confusion.

Tales met Gilbert's gaze, calming himself, his eyes steady.

"It wasn't just the imperial house and nobles, not just knights and soldiers—they were already participants in the war."

"But there were also countless people who lived on that land. Farmers, merchants, the old, the young," the boy said calmly. "Regardless of rank, regardless of status, regardless of race—people who were unavoidably dragged into this war. Everyone."

"When the war came, when the land sank, they were more innocent than the calamity, than the Emperor, than the nobles, than anyone."

"But they were the reason the Empire existed. None of them escaped?"

Gilbert stared at Tales, his eyes narrowing, as if seeing him for the first time, sizing him up anew.

"Just like your Grandfather, who cared for his subjects, Tales, little sir," Gilbert sighed. "You have a compassionate and benevolent heart."

Cared for his subjects?

Someone who could use the word "subjects" had probably never placed themselves on the same level as those "subjects" in the first place.

As for compassionate and benevolent?

Tales shook his head silently to himself.

But Gilbert lowered his head in gloom, his eyes full of disappointment: "No. The entire world—from the Final Empire's princes and nobles down to its common people—all sank into the sea."

"Only Tomond and his army remained, proof that the Final Empire, and even the Ancient Empire, were not legends, but had once truly existed."

Tales lowered his head, closed his eyes, and let out a soft breath.

Just then, Gilbert's hand on Tales's shoulder slowly tightened. He spoke each word deliberately:

"And at that time, Prince Tomond was merely the most disfavored bastard of the Final Empire's imperial house."

Tales's whole body jolted!

He whipped his head around, staring at Gilbert in disbelief.

He knew why Gilbert was saying this now.

"Forget titles, lands, or property—he didn't even have the right to inherit a surname. Even the title of 'Prince' was only a courtesy."

Gilbert looked at Tales with unwavering eyes:

"Compared to you now, he had even less. The situation he faced was a hundred times more perilous than yours."

Tales stared blankly at Gilbert, then at the bastard king on the wall.

Gilbert shook his head, took his hand off Tales's shoulder, and continued:

"The Ending War was won. Humanity and the entire civilized world celebrated the great victory. The political landscape of the world shifted dramatically."

"In the East, King Feng, Chen Sword, led the hopes of the Far Easterners to overthrow the old dynasty and establish the Suye Dynasty."

"Ama Mimo Hanbur raised his banner and began sowing the renown of the Hanbur Dynasty among countless followers."

"In the West, Hero Nekaroo Ekster was crowned king amid the cheers of the multitudes, and from this, the proud and powerful Ekster Kingdom was born."

"But compared to this..."

Gilbert looked at Master Colvin's painting with a solemn and pitying gaze:

"The Final Empire, inheritor of the Ancient Empire's glory, lost all its lands and people in a single night, leaving only its last bloodline."

"In a single night, an insignificant bastard became the sole highest leader of an empire that no longer existed."

With no land, no people, no supplies, no wealth—Tomond had nothing. Aside from the six Knights at his side, he had only two thousand isolated troops, wandering in unfamiliar lands, hope cut off, the road ahead bleak.

"At twenty-four, he maneuvered among countless powers and lords, using every means—from groveling to arguing on principle, from honeyed words to outright plunder—for even a bit of grain, a bit of supply, a patch of ground, a batch of weapons, sustaining his men's independent survival and the empire's last shred of dignity."

"The lonely Prince Tomund struggled daily amidst war, schemes, ambition, and power, striving to survive amid ridicule, mockery, exploitation, and malice. By just twenty-six, his hair was already streaked with white."

Gilbert clasped his hands behind his back, his eyes full of reverence.

"'The Final Prince of the Final Empire'—that was what people on both continents called him, in mockery and scorn."

Tales stared fixedly at the dashing prince, saying nothing.

"Ten years passed. Their numbers dwindled, their hopes shrank. Finally, after a bloody battle with heavy losses, his despairing men, clutching the corpses of their comrades, surrounded the haggard Prince Tomund and wept as they pressed him:

What meaning was there in fighting on? The empire was gone, not an inch of land remained. They were like rootless duckweed, the embers of history, destined to vanish without a trace."

"Why keep fighting!"

"Why not just give up?"

Tales shuddered slightly, looking at the prince—at his ancestor—with different eyes now.

When you have nothing, when everything is gone, what do you fight for?

Gilbert watched Tales's expression, sighed with pity, but then his face hardened with resolve:

"Tales!" For the first time, he addressed Tales by name without a respectful title, his tone grave. "Listen carefully to what I'm about to say."

"That night, facing his men's accusations, Tomond wept as he unbuckled his scarred armor, pointed at the countless stars in the sky, and spoke the most important oath of his life!"

At that moment, Tales saw the guards on both sides stand at attention, chests out, the clatter of armor filling the empty hall.

Gilbert, his face firm and his voice solemn, spoke the words:

"As long as the stars shine, the empire shall endure."

Tales drew a deep breath.

Stars—as long as the stars shine?

The empire—Tales pondered the meaning—shall endure?

The moment the Middle-Aged Noble's words fell.

The soldiers and guards throughout the hall stomped their feet in unison with the phrase.

"Thump!"

Then, in unison, they swung their fists and slammed them against the shields bearing the gold-and-silver Nine-Pointed Star!

"Boom!"

The empty hall was filled with crisp echoes!

Tales, still stunned by the history he had just heard, stumbled back a step.

"Tales!"

Before he could react, Gilbert suddenly crouched down, took the boy by both shoulders, looked him in the eye, and said sternly:

"Don't underestimate yourself—your bloodline and what it represents."

"You and the existence of the Crescent Star Family are the most powerful proof that the Golden Age of humanity, the great Ancient Empire, and the heroic Final Empire still live on in this world!"

By now, Gilbert's eyes were brimming with emotion, his hands trembling, making Tales inexplicably uneasy.

He continued, his voice loud:

"That day, the 27th of September, in the 10th year of the End Era, was the day the Starfall Kingdom was founded."

"Prince Tomund, who swore by the stars, took 'Radiant Star' as his surname and became the founding king of the Starfall Kingdom: Tomond I."

"In the decades that followed, the Starfall Kingdom became the strongest nation on the Western Continent! It was called, alongside Exeter, 'the Shield and Blade of the Western Continent.'"

"The empire was reborn from the ashes, standing again in the world under the name of the stars! Glory renewed, greatness restored!"

"When people spoke of Tomond Radiant Star, no one remembered the 'Final Prince' anymore."

"They only called him the 'King of Renaissance.'"

Gilbert's mustache quivered, flames seeming to burn in his eyes: "And thus was born the motto of the Crescent Star Family!"

Tales felt uneasy.

He, too, was moved by Tomond's story.

But looking at the fervent Gilbert before him, he found it hard to share that emotion.

Did the stars exist only for the sake of an empire long past?

There was something wrong with that founding spirit.

Something was off.

A sense of dissonance and discomfort crept into Tales's heart.

But seeing Gilbert's burning, expectant gaze and the noticeably heavier breathing of the guards on either side, he could only grit his teeth and nod firmly.

Frowning deeply, Tales forced the words out through clenched teeth:

"The Star Kingdom endures... the Empire... shall last forever."

Just then, a furious, feminine shout rang out!

"Enough!"

Tales and Gilbert turned in unison to see Jinnie Bakerville standing atop the steps, her face cold and dark, glaring at the pair of teacher and student with displeasure:

"Dinner time."

She said flatly.