The statue certainly represented the Great Dragon Cysphanian, who was also the First Queen of Kairis.
He remembered that she was said to have hair as black as the night sky and red eyes like sacred flames.
Black hair and red eyes. Just like Callian.
'Disgusting blood-like eyes.'
Planche's voice echoed in his mind.
'Has my mind become more vulnerable because my body is younger?'
Callian laughed at himself as he remembered those words.
Berne was a knight who had fought and perished alone, protecting the gates of his kingdom. Just a day ago his arm was cut off, and countless arrows pierced his body as he wielded his sword.
There was no reason for him to lose his head here.
The priority at the moment was not to kill Prince Planche. First, he had to figure out how he got in this situation.
So, Callian closed his eyes for a moment and cleared his mind of the new thoughts. Once that was done, he thought about what could have caused him to end up here.
'…The Axis.'
The Axis of Time.
It suddenly appeared one day in the Royal Palace of Secritia. It had the shape of a large hourglass, and the power to 'turn back time' once.
The Axis of Time must have been behind this. However, it was also the reason for the war between Secritia and Kairis.
Before the war started, the Kingdom of Kairis demanded The Axis of Time. Secretia rejected their request. It was clear to King Chase that it was a dangerous object, so he stood resolutely against them. Besides, he didn't know what 'Crazy King' Planche would do with such power, so he couldn't just hand it over to him.
As soon as King Chase expressed his refusal, they sent a large army to attack Secritia as if they had been waiting for it. Planche had skipped all formal war declarations and did not even attempt negotiations. He considered himself too superior for that.
The Secritia Kingdom was eventually defeated in that war, the result was its utter downfall.
'My brother must have witnessed my death.'
He thought Chase must have turned back time once he saw him die. He had been the last knight alive. Of course, Chase couldn't have known this would be the outcome, he would have just tried to save Berne.
Callian lamented to himself,
"If the Axis of Time is the cause of this… there's no way back."
It could only be used once, and if time had already been twisted, there was no way to return to the previous timeline.
'If that was the case… then what should I do?'
Callian pondered the question.
If this really wasn't a dream, if this was his new reality, then it was definitely a second chance. He couldn't waste the chance that Chase had given him.
Callian then decided to focus on how to survive. First he had to survive in order to find a way to prevent the end of his homeland.
Callian sank back into his thoughts.
***
Callian, who was currently fourteen years old, would die soon.
After his failed attempt to poison Queen Silica, he hanged himself out of fear of punishment.
Of course, no one believed that to be true.
When the news of his 'suicide' came out, rumors spread about his possible 'murder'. After all, Silica had enormous influence with which she could order his murder without problems.
This also had some connection to Freya, Callian's biological mother.
The concubine Freya was renowned for her beauty, but she was a commoner. She had won the king's love and given birth to Callian, but died soon after due to the 'aftermath of childbirth'.
Actually, after she drank the tea sent by the queen once she gave birth, she vomited black blood several times.
That's how Callian lost his mother.
Callian practically didn't count on anyone. It made no sense for the weak prince, who couldn't even obtain common poisonous herbs easily, to try to kill a queen who had greater power than the King.
Furthermore, Callian had been despised by the Queen and Prince Planche ever since he could remember. Under these conditions, the original Callian had felt suffocated.
No matter how large a beast is, it will grow weak if it was only fed milk and was trained to lick its master's feet from birth. That was why Calian grew up so pathetic, to the point where he could not imagine ever killing someone.
With a bitter smile, Callian said,
"She only got rid of him because she couldn't stand to see him."
He had heard that he looked like Freya, except for the color of his hair.
The Queen hated Callian's face, as it reminded her of his mother's, so she ordered his death and made up a story.
The King had turned a blind eye, mainly because the Queen controlled all three knight orders of the royal guard, except for one knight order under his direct command.
Callian was killed two or three months before he turned fifteen. Yan had said that he would be fifteen in four months.
"Someone will soon come to kill me."
Callian had about two months left before his death, which would be disguised as a suicide.
His red eyes reflected in the water shone sharply.
'I'll not die at the hands of the queen's side'.