[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-absolute-god-an-immortal-soul-among-nobles":3,"chapter-absolute-god-an-immortal-soul-among-nobles-absolute-god-an-immortal-soul-among-nobles-chapter-59":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"english","Absolute God: An Immortal Soul Among Nobles",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},1401754,1855,"Chapter 59: The Price of Freedom","absolute-god-an-immortal-soul-among-nobles-chapter-59",59,"\u003Cp>\"Astrid...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I don’t remember us being that close,\" I stated coldly, watching the water drip from her black cloak.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She stood completely still, trembling slightly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"If I remember correctly, these were the last words you said to me: ’I can’t associate with someone like you. In Lucratis, there’s no place for the weak, and even less for someone useless.’\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Her eyes began to cloud with tears.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"They’re going to kill me, Cassian... Prince Bastian is dead.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A heavy silence fell over the room after her words. I simply stared at her without saying anything, letting the sound of the rain be the only thing filling the space.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That uncomfortable silence stretched on, marking the insurmountable distance that now existed between us.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Right at that moment, Adela seemed to hear something and entered to check.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The instant her eyes met Astrid’s, sparks flew immediately.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"What is this woman doing here?\" Adela asked, her voice dripping with venom.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She began gathering mana in her hands, ready to attack the princess. Astrid dodged in surprise; she knew Adela wasn’t much older than her, yet she felt she could barely withstand even a brief exchange with her.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Adela, stop,\" I said, trying to prevent my sleeping quarters from turning into a battlefield.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She didn’t seem to want to listen.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When I saw Adela starting to pour even more power into her attack on Astrid—knowing the disastrous consequences it would have on the surroundings—I stopped her cold.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I made it impossible to use mana in this room; a technique I had learned shortly after arriving in this world, one I knew would prove useful.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Astrid, feeling her mana suddenly vanish, began to panic. She looked around desperately, searching for the cause of that sudden emptiness while keeping a wary eye on Adela in case she regained the initiative.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Adela froze, staring at her own hands in frustration. The silence that followed was absolute, broken only by the sound of rain hammering against the glass.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Now, without the noise of magic, the tension in the room became purely physical.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Enough,\" I declared, my voice ringing with an authority that allowed no argument.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Finally, I regained the attention of both women in the room.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Adela, prepare a bed for Astrid,\" I ordered, cutting through the tension. \"We’ll talk about this more calmly in the morning.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Adela looked at me with a grimace of disgust, clearly unhappy about having to serve the woman who had once despised me.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She turned around with a heavy sigh and began looking for clean sheets, throwing one last icy glare at the princess of Lucratis.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Astrid, for her part, collapsed into a chair, exhausted and soaked, as the weight of Prince Bastian’s death and her own escape seemed to crush her now that the immediate threat from Adela had passed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Thank you, Cassian...\" she murmured, her voice barely audible.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I didn’t reply. I simply continued watching the rain beyond the glass.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Meanwhile, in the throne room of Demor.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"What did you say? Repeat what you just said,\" roared the Emperor, his voice echoing off the marble walls.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"My lord... Prince Bastian was assassinated during the night.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"You’re telling me someone dared to kill an imperial prince inside this very palace...\" The pressure of the Emperor’s mana began cracking the floor beneath his throne. \"Who did it?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"It appears to have been the princess of Lucratis, Your Majesty.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Upon hearing those words, the Emperor began to lose control in his rage.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"And where is she? I assume she’s already been captured,\" he said with murderous coldness.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"About that...\" The informant lowered his head, trembling. \"She managed to escape the palace under the storm. There’s no trace of her.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Emperor’s face darkened completely. At that moment, one of his ministers stepped forward cautiously.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Your Majesty knows what this means, don’t you?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Alric’s expression grew even grimmer.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In Lucratis, a couple sat upon two majestic thrones that looked as if they had been carved from dragon fire and the blood of a thousand battles.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The woman was a familiar figure: that cold presence who executed her officials and servants at the slightest mistake.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Your Majesties, urgent news has arrived from Demor.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Upon hearing the name of an empire far weaker than theirs paired with the word \"urgent,\" the man looked at the informant with obvious annoyance.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The speaker hesitated upon seeing his reaction, but knew that at this point, silence would be worse.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Princess Astrid... has killed the prince to whom she was betrothed.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Empress raised an eyebrow with interest. It seemed her daughter had found some courage somewhere.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Emperor, however, did not take those words lightly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Prepare the army and notify the mages and warriors of the eighth and ninth circles who are currently outside the empire. A war is about to break out.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A minister who was listening to the order dared to interrupt:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"But, Your Majesty, the Legacy is drawing closer. Even though we only control a few entrances, shouldn’t we focus on that? A war right now...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"We are eliminating competitors, Powell,\" the Emperor declared. \"The next one to reach the ninth circle—or even surpass it—will belong to our empire.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Unaware of the storm brewing outside, Cassian ate breakfast calmly while his companion shifted restlessly, forcing herself to eat something.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He had sent Adela away to handle other matters; he didn’t want a repeat of the previous incident.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"They’re going to start looking for me everywhere... it’s possible a war will break out because of this,\" she murmured.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Yes, and yet you still chose to do it,\" Cassian replied without stopping eating.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She lowered her gaze, overwhelmed by guilt, but her eyes soon regained a spark of determination.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"What else could I do? I wasn’t going to let others decide my future. Even if you decide not to help me, Cassian, I won’t turn myself in. From now on, I want to live for myself.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hearing those words, I couldn’t help but think about myself.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She had always carried the expectations everyone around her placed on her, always influenced by the people who raised her.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In my case, although there was no one in particular who raised me, there had been people who influenced me to take on an ever greater burden of responsibilities.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I’m not going to hand you over,\" Cassian said coldly. \"I don’t mind selfish people; I understand perfectly why you did what you did. But helping you...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He let out a long sigh, as if accepting an inevitable burden.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"You can stay here until you find a way to get out of the capital.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She looked at him, silently understanding that they would never return to what they had been three years ago.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He would help her now, yes, but it wasn’t the same as back then.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Observing him more closely, Astrid felt a strange emptiness: it was as if she had never truly known the person standing in front of her.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For Cassian, however, it felt as if he had returned to those moments. It seemed that one could never truly change, no matter where they were.\u003C\u002Fp>",1187,"2026-06-05T23:28:49.074Z",1,"novelbin.me","06ef799c0824de3b147c2026b6aee85a5f197aa1ce35bbb33defce9a01ac9707","absolute-god-an-immortal-soul-among-nobles-chapter-60","absolute-god-an-immortal-soul-among-nobles-chapter-58",97,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fabsolute-god-an-immortal-soul-among-nobles-cover.jpg"]