The Lord of the Seas - An Isekai Progression Fantasy [ Currently on Volume 2 ]

Lukas stood outside Velena's room, his back resting lightly against the cold wooden wall.

The corridor was quiet, save for the faint creak of floorboards under shifting weight and the low hum of the wind outside the shutters. Lukas could hear the muffled clink of glass and the measured sounds of someone working behind the door.

At last, the latch clicked and the door opened.

Elion stepped out, closing the door partway behind him with the care of someone afraid to let too much noise slip inside. The sharp smell of alchemical herbs lingered on his robes, mixed with the faint bitterness of brewed potions. The man looked as though the years had caught him in a sudden rush—eyes bloodshot and sunken, hair a tangled mess, an uneven stubble darkening his jaw. There was a heaviness about Ellion that had nothing to do with the satchel slung at his side.

Through the small gap before the door shut, Lukas caught a glimpse of Rosalia and Jesse at Velena's bedside. The princess was smiling again—genuine, but soft—as she held the older woman's hand.

Whatever pain Rosalia had endured had certainly changed her, but it had not robbed her of empathy. The girl knew, perhaps better than anyone now, what it meant to watch someone you love fade away. It was also why Rosalia knew how important it was for her to be by Jesse's side as the young dragonborn watched Velena's time among the living slip away.

When the door closed, Lukas lowered his voice. "How long does she really have?"

Elion's tired gaze flickered, then dropped. "I...don't know. Two weeks. Maybe three? And that's being generous."

The words landed with the weight of inevitability. There was no curse to lift, no miracle to bargain for—just the slow erosion of time.

Elion rubbed the bridge of his nose. "I've tried everything I can think of. Nothing stops Father Time, Lukas. Not even the strongest of potions."

"You shouldn't blame yourself," Lukas told him.

A faint smile tugged at the corner of Elion's mouth, but it was a sad, brittle thing. "I'll try."

Lukas wanted to let the man rest, to offer him that mercy—but there was something Lukas needed from him. It was something Lukas had put off for far too long now.

Lukas had still not been able to make sense of Varian's records and there was nobody else he could go to except for the man who stood before him now. "We need to talk, Elion."

The man raised an eyebrow, the faintest flicker of curiosity cutting through his fatigue. Elion studied him for a moment, then gestured toward the far end of the hall. "Step into my office. Let's talk."

Inside, with the door shut behind them, they finally began to speak.

"You still remember Varian's final letter?" Lukas asked.

Elion folded his arms, nodding slowly. "I do."

Varian's former apprentice had been one of the few people Lukas had went to, trying to see if there was some kind of message that Varian had hidden that was meant to be uncovered. There was no way Elion could have forgotten how urgently that Lukas had made it seem, convinced that Varian's letter could not have just been a simple recipe for a sleep potion.

Lukas hesitated, then leaned forward slightly. "Elion. What if I told you that I was right? What if there was something Varian hid in that letter, a final message that he left?"

A long silence settled over the study, broken only by the faint ticking of the wall clock.

Elion's gaze stayed fixed on him, his brow furrowed as he tried to wrap his head around what Lukas was trying to say.

Then Elion drew in a sharp breath. "You found something," he concluded. "Something the rest of us missed."

Lukas did not answer right away.

Elion's mind was already turning—if this was true, it meant that the clue had escaped even Magnus Elarion, Jesse, and himself, Varian's only apprentice. "You're not pulling my leg, are you? Well go on then, what was it? What was the hidden message?" The Merchant Guild's Heat Physician asked, half wary, half disbelieving.

Lukas extended a hand, palm open. His voice dropped, steady and deliberate. "What I've found isn't for the weak of heart."

"I do not care," Elion interrupted, cutting him off before Lukas could say more. "I need you to tell me what you found. I deserve that much, you know that. You, of all people, know that. You have to tell me, Lukas. Please."

Lukas studied him for a moment. He knew why the man wouldn't back down.

Elion had never been able to learn the truth behind Varian's death. No matter how hard Ellion had tried, he could not find what it was that had killed Varian. That unanswered question had weighed on him for years, an invisible chain that refused to break till this very moment. Now there was a possibility that Elion could at least know why Varian had had to die.

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Whatever danger there might be in knowing, Ellion was going to take it.

From within his coat, Lukas pulled out a folded parchment—its edges worn, the ink faded with age.

It was the letter that he had found in Vault 56. Varian's true final letter.

Elion took it in both hands, his fingers brushing across the rough paper as though it might vanish if he wasn't careful.

He read the letter in silence.

Minutes passed.

When Elion finally looked up, there was no shock in his eyes, only a grim weight. Even if Elion might never uncover who had taken his master's life, at least now he could ensure Varian's death meant something.

"In my quarters," Lukas revealed, "are the records Varian had kept. I've tried to read them, but they're encoded in ways I don't understand. You were his apprentice for years. If anyone can break them, it's you."

"It is a great ask," Elion murmured, "but I will do it." There was no hesitation in his voice.

"Then it is in your hands now, Elion. I wish you all the luck in Hiraeth, my friend." Lukas said with a small smile.

"I'll do my best."

Lukas knocked softly on Velena's door, his knuckles barely making a sound against the old wood.

In the room, the air was warm, dimly lit by a single crystal lamp that cast its glow across the small room.

Rosalia and Jesse were seated side by side near the bed, leaning close to one another, their voices low and hushed. Velena slept soundly, her breathing slow and even, the blankets tucked gently around her.

When they looked up at him, Lukas met their eyes and asked quietly, "Could I have a moment alone with her?"

Rosalia rose first, giving his arm a reassuring squeeze as she passed, and Jesse followed after her.

The door closed softly behind them, leaving the room in a peaceful stillness.

Lukas stepped closer to the bed and eased himself into the chair at her side.

At her bedside, was a cup of tea that had gone cold long ago; half-empty and unfinished.

For a moment, Lukas simply sat there, taking in the sight of her.

Her hair, once dark and full, was now white as snow, her face lined deeply with the marks of a life long lived. Yet there was something unshaken in her expression, even in sleep—something steady.

Lukas reached for her hand, careful not to startle her, his fingers curling gently around hers.

Her eyelids stirred. Slowly, they opened, and recognition flashed instantly in her gaze. A weak but unmistakably warm smile touched her lips. "Would you like a cup of tea, Lukas? The leaves are grown in Linemall, a gift from Valkari. Hah. I would have liked to see Linemall with my own eyes. A shame."

Lukas felt something tighten in his chest.

Velena had been his first true human friend beyond the hidden borders of Linemall.

When Lukas had arrived here in Ilagron, nothing but a stranger, Velena had offered them all food, shelter, and kindness with no reason to expect anything in return. She had been there when they had no one to trust. And now, without either of them saying it outright, they both seemed to know—this would likely be the last time they would see each other.

Lukas needed this moment—not for politics, not for strategy, but he needed this moment to say goodbye.

The truth was, with Varian's records now entrusted to Elion, nothing else held him here in Ilagron.

His return to Linemall was no longer something that Lukas could delay. The Draconic Summit was approaching, and Lukas could not linger; no matter how much he wanted to.

Lukas felt the tears before he realized they had begun to fall, hot against his cheeks.

Velena raised her hand, frail and shaking, brushing them away with the motherly care of someone who had cared deeply for so many.

The old woman shook her head gently. "There's no need to be sad, Lukas." she whispered softly, her voice thin but certain.

But the tears did not stop.

"It won't be long before I see my husband again. My son. His family. But…" She paused, her own eyes glistening now. "I will miss you. I will miss Jesse. I will miss you all so very dearly."

Lukas smiled, though it trembled at the edges.

Velena Ilagron had lost so much, suffered so many blows in life, and yet she had never let bitterness take root. She had still welcomed him into her home when she had little left to give.

"You have been the greatest friend a dragon could ask for," Lukas whispered. "You, Velena Ilagron, will always be…a friend of Linemall."

Her lips curved into a smirk, faint but familiar.

"Well then I can die without regrets now. A friend of Linemall. What a great honor."

That drew a quiet, shaky laugh from Lukas. Even with so little strength left in her, Velena still carried that spark of humor; that stubborn warmth that refused to fade.

They talked for a long while after that—of the past, of the strange and unexpected road that had brought them together, and of the small joys still found in the present. Time passed unnoticed until Velena's eyelids began to lower, her voice trailing off mid-sentence. When the old woman finally drifted back into sleep, Lukas lingered for a few moments longer.

Lukas studied the lines of her face one last time, committing them to memory. He would never forget Velena Ilagron. Not till the end of his days.

Forever...a friend of Linemall.

Then, with a slow, steady breath, Lukas released her hand and rose to his feet.

Lukas had said his goodbyes.

There was nothing left keeping him here.

It was time.

It was time to return to Linemall where the Draconic Summit awaited.