Slowly, I returned to a state of semi-consciousness, and the first thing I noticed was the faint light of dawn beginning to color the sky. Oh no, I had been unconscious for hours, and Thale had been in control of my body the entire time.

  The next thing I was aware of was the sensations pervading my body. I was still exhausted, but the feeling was muted somewhat. Thale must have found someone to use healing magic on my body, staving off collapse for a little while longer. This was only a temporary cure, however, since no amount of healing magic would stave off the need for sleep. The fact that I was still conscious could not be good for my long-term health. Sleep was necessary to heal the unseen scars held within the body and mind.

  I noticed that my pockets had become much heavier, and the pounding pain in my head told me that I was very close to running out of mana. Somehow, Thale had burned through two hundred points of mana in the hours I had been unconscious. After this, my mana battery was completely drained. I wouldn’t be able to use another mana potion for a week, and it would take me a few days to naturally fill my mana cores again.

  My vision returned, and the image that entered my vision filled me with fear. I was walking down an alleyway somewhere in Etron, and Prince Tancred Polaris walked a few meters in front of me. The kid couldn’t be more than ten years old, and he periodically cast fearful glances back at me.

  What are you doing, Thale!?

  You’re awake. How unfortunate. What do you think I’m doing?

  He’s just a child!

  If you have seen the future, Johan, then you know that House Mandelbrot will use him to legitimize their claim to the throne. You’re the one who’s always whining about “morality.” Is it not moral to kill one child to save the lives of a million others?

  Prince Tancred Polaris only became involved in the Etronian Civil War in a minority of possible game states. If either Rosa or Erasmus won the war too early, then the Mandelbrots would get involved to keep the civil war going for long enough so that the [War With Mitrikova] event could activate. Evidently, that happened in Thale’s future.

  Thale reached for my wand, but I held my hand in place, stopping him from gripping my wand’s handle.

  Killing a child will never be moral, Thale!

  The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

  Nyx’s tits, Johan! Just wait another five minutes, and let me do the things that you’re too weak to do!

  This is wrong, and you know it’s wrong! You can feel the guilt, can’t you!?

  Yes! Of course I can! The weakness of this body has disgusted me ever since I first awoke all those years ago, but this is necessary. Our only option to prevent the civil war now is to kill every one of the King’s children except for Haydith and rule the Kingdom ourselves as the Prince Consort.

  I didn’t dare to say it out loud at that moment, but that plan could theoretically work. To prevent a civil war, the belligerent factions would have to be removed, and a strong centralizing force would have to be put in place. I had planned for that centralizing force to be strong civil institutions and ironclad alliances held together with a copious amount of blackmail.

  Of course, I could simply take the King’s place as the centralizing force. The rest of Etronia would fall in line due to the implicit threat that I would kill them myself if they didn’t. The downside of this plan is that I would have to convince Haydith to marry me after killing two of her brothers.

  I won’t kill a child, Thale.

  It’s not up to you.

  My left hand spasmed once more, and Thale grabbed the wand from its holster. The wand flew forward, and Tancred fell onto his side as he saw the blur of movement. Mid-swing, I regained control of my arm and altered the wand’s trajectory. Instead of pointing the wand at Tancred, I swung its point and pressed the wand against my own neck.

  “What are you doing?” Thale said through clenched teeth.

  If my body is going to be controlled by the most heinous villain on the planet, it might be better for everyone if I died right here.

  There’s no need for that.

  I regained full control of my body in an instant, and all feelings of resistance disappeared in an instant. A sigh of relief escaped from my lips as I was freed from the horror of not being in control of my own body. Though I was relieved, I did not remove the point of my wand from my neck.

  “How do I know this won’t happen again? If you’re going to use my body to kill people, maybe I should take both of us out right now,” I asked out loud, and Tancred looked at me with acute confusion in his eyes.

  If you’re going to be like that, then I’ll tell you. I have spent the past five years slowly building energy, and I expended all of that energy tonight just to hold control of our body for a few hours.

  When Thale spoke, his voice was slow and distant as it had been many times before. He was losing energy, and he was fading back into unconsciousness.

  I’m about to fall asleep again, and I don’t think I’ll wake back up for a long, long time. Before I go, I have some requests.

  Why would I listen to your requests?

  Suggestions, then. One: if you want to save Beltane, go to Hinnom and speak to Rector Blueshade. Her notes served as the basis for my research into becoming a lich. Two: start doing research into golems. It would benefit both of us if you figured out how to transfer my soul into a golem. Three: find Nina and…

  Thale’s voice became so muted that I could barely hear him.

  Nevermind, I’m out of time. The last thing I have to say is…

  I thought Thale’s voice had faded completely, and he had failed to finish his sentence. Then, I realized he had just paused to build up enough energy to say those last few words.

  …I killed Princess Rosa.