The moment Aengus's fingers connected with his skin, Vansing's vision blurred. A flood of images surged into his mind, vivid and overwhelming. They depicted a man whose face felt achingly familiar, yet distant, like a half-remembered dream.
Slowly, the man's face became clear—it was his father, the very man whose painting he had been gazing at just moments ago.
The man appeared lonely, wounded, and helpless, betrayed by the very allies he had trusted. He had been brutally ambushed, yet he managed to survive in a lower world. There, he met Aengus, whom he chose as his heir in the final moments of his life. However, the vision did not reveal how he had died—especially not by Aengus's own hand.
Everything was playing out exactly as Aengus intended.
Aengus could have killed Vansing right then and there, but he had made a promise to Emperor Dimitri—to protect his wife and child.
But for that to happen, Vansing needed to know the truth.
