Chapter 6. Eye Of The Rememberer

Valorth stood still in the room for a full minute, watching himself in the mirror as the golden glow faded from his eyes. Only once it vanished could he process exactly what the power did.

The Eye of the Rememberer. My heart tells me it’s a power that forces whoever I cast my gaze upon to relive their worst memories in a split second.

Whatever the demon remembered, it was enough to send it screaming. Who knows what happens in hell…

Despite still being affected by the lingering fear of the demon and drained from using the power, he was grateful to Angel Kacel. She had set him on a path towards power. Finally, he was starting to understand himself.

Still, this didn’t change the fact that the demon had chosen to hunt him. Housemaster Gandrid had been wrong about the demon’s intentions; it did not hunt the nobles, but rather the servant with a corrupted heart. He could only be thankful that the demon was weak and pray it was a once-in-a-lifetime occurrence.

His intuition told him he was being optimistic.

Valorth looked around the room. The paint that had splattered during the battle had now vanished, but the picture on the wall no longer showed the man once painted on the canvas. Realising there was nothing to clean up, a thought suddenly struck him.

“Shit, Finance Minister Cleon’s tea!”

Without another word, Valorth dashed out of the room and down the hallway with the same fearful expression he’d worn earlier, heading back to his abandoned cart. By the time he arrived, he realised he was too late. Outside the room stood a red-faced Cleon, shouting at Housemaster Gandrid, who bowed apologetically.

“It is utterly unacceptable that you have a servant in your ranks who would dare defy the orders of such a powerful man,” Master Cleon said, turning towards the approaching, breathless Valorth. “There’s the peasant now. I demand he be punished!”

All Valorth could do was stand there, huffing for air. The embarrassed Gandrid shot him a glance before turning back to the Finance Minister and bowing deeply.

“I’m sorry, Master Cleon. I will see to it that the hall boy is duly punished.”

Harsh punishment was common for the servants of the Uradesh Palace, but it wasn’t mandated by law, rather, it was enforced by Housemaster Gandrid himself. Being in charge of the servants, if one misbehaved or failed in their duties, he would often take the blame from the nobles of the house. For that reason, he ensured his punishments were harsh enough to make the servants regret their actions.

Gandrid dragged Valorth to the palace gardens and switched his role from working the hallways to pulling weeds. This task had been temporarily cancelled due to the threat of the Lurker, but a servant in need of punishment was hardly a priority for safety.

“I don’t think you’ll be hunted, but if you are, so be it,” the Housemaster said sternly before returning inside, leaving the servant to his duties.

Valorth wasn’t afraid of the demon, having defeated it moments earlier. His only worry was that the winter winds might give him a cold as he served his punishment.

———

Later that evening, the basement bells rang, signalling it was time for the servants to eat their final meal of the day. Valorth returned to the bustling dining room, and after collecting his small meal, he sought out Adion, who was already halfway through his.

Stolen novel; please report.

Taking a seat across the table, Adion looked up and noticed the sour expression on his friend’s face. “I heard you were punished. That doesn’t sound like the well-behaved Valorth I’ve known for years,” he teased before returning to his bowl of stew.

That “well-behaved Valorth” died the moment his heart became corrupted.

Valorth struggled to keep the day’s events to himself. He explained the reason for his punishment and recounted how he came face to face with a demon, though he altered certain details, such as the demon calling him ‘corrupted’, and was specifically searching for him.

By the end, Adion sat with his jaw dropped. “By the angels, you faced a demon and lived! It must have been weak, after all, they say demons have many stages of power.”

After his rambling, Adion paused and looked at his friend with sharper eyes. “Wait a minute,” he whispered. “Does that mean…”

Valorth knew instantly what his friend was asking. He couldn’t keep the smile from his face. “Yeah, it does. I’ve discovered my heart type and even awakened its first power. Judging by your words this morning, you seem to have done the same?”

A broad smile spread across Adion’s face as he shovelled the last of his food into his mouth. He glanced around the hall, noticing how packed it was.

“Let’s go to your room,” he said in a hushed tone. “We can share the details of our powers. Shit, I can’t wait.”

After the final meal, night fell, and the servants not on night duty were allowed free time. They could spend it in the underground basements or outside the palace until their midnight curfew. Valorth and Adion always used this time to chat in their rooms. This was how they had formed their plan to purchase demon hearts from the dark markets, and become Hearteaters.

As the pair sat across from each other on Valorth’s bed, they began explaining their respective hearts and how they came to be.

“My heart is called the Rememberer. So far, it’s granted me the ability to gaze at a being with a golden eye, forcing them to relive their most vicious memory in a moment. I assume it only works on those near my strength level. I doubt I could look at someone above the first vein and have the same effect.”

After hearing this, Adion’s face first showed deep thought, then excitement. Neither had known about the Rememberer type before, so it was news to them both.

“Incredible… to think there’s a heart dedicated to memory. What do you think its more powerful abilities will be once you gain more strength?” Adion mused excitedly.

Valorth swallowed his guilt. Due to his corrupted heart, he believed he had already glimpsed the heart’s more powerful abilities.

“I’m not sure,” he responded casually. “Anyway, what about you? What type of heart do you have?”

At the question, Adion’s smile widened. He was clearly proud of his heart. “I’ve devoured the Promiser heart,” he said suddenly, confusing Valorth. “I discovered it when I promised myself I’d achieve my goals and rise above the rank of a servant. It was as though I’d made a pact with myself, and fate was ever so slightly rooting for my success. I found that the simpler the promise, the more fate helps make it come true.”

After hearing this, Valorth was taken aback. Though Adion had yet to discover a combat ability, his power was, in a way, far more practical. Valorth found himself momentarily lost for words.

“I don’t know what to say…” he muttered. “The world of Hearteaters is even more powerful than I expected.”

Adion clapped a hand on Valorth’s shoulder and flashed a smile. “Indeed it is, and we’ve barely scratched the surface. Just imagine what secrets the world’s rulers hold, or better yet, the angels in heaven!”

Guilt crept into Valorth’s spirit again.

Some of us don’t need to imagine. The corruption is already feeding them answers.

Before he could respond, Adion rose with a sigh and prepared to leave for his own room. “Make sure you try your best to learn more about your heart. At our current level, we’re above mere humans, but we’re still far from making a difference in our lives. We need powers that can make us more than just servants.”

Valorth nodded in agreement, promising to try his best. After a joke about promises, Adion left, leaving Valorth alone in silence. The young man changed out of his clothes and lay on his bed. The day had left him drained, and all he wanted was sleep. But before he did, he knelt on the floor and clasped his hands together.

The Angel of Swords might have abandoned me, but I was not left alone in my time of need.

Valorth spoke softly. “Oh, Angel Kacel, I give you my thanks for granting a mere human your attention. Without you, my life would have been lost to a demon. Your benevolence is admirable.”

After his short prayer, Valorth opened his eyes, expecting some change around him. When nothing happened after a moment, he concluded that the angel either hadn’t received his prayer or didn’t care to respond. A wave of sadness struck him, but he couldn’t place a finger on why. Either way, he returned to his bed and fell asleep instantly, not letting the thought bother him.

And in his sleep, he faced another vision of the past.