Chapter 1606: line with translation of chapter title

NO．220：Then pulled back to the ground

Born as a king, for the Holy Terra Federation with its long-standing divination tradition, it was hardly unbelievable.

Many couples are willing to spend the amount an ordinary person would earn in one or two months to seek out those diviners with higher reputations to divine the future of the fate heir.

Moreover, the Symboli family even had its own cultivated diviners, who could early on pinpoint the emperor capable of pushing the family, which had shifted from decline to resurgence, to the next height.

SymboliRudolf/Ludaofu Xiangzheng.

That child must bear this name.

The name of the former Holy Roman Emperor, Rudolf I von Habsburg.

It is also the name that likewise claimed the title of emperor on the arena of another world.

With just a little connection among the transmigrator circle, one can learn of the name's illustrious deeds in the horse‑racing arena; even earlier, locally, about a thousand years ago a same‑named horse girl achieved a winning streak, all of which speaks to the glory of this horse‑soul name.

Thus, in the year that child was born, the entire Symboli family was invigorated.

Men, women, old and young all looked forward to it; even the family's perpetually gloomy, heavy atmosphere was once eased, especially after the child indeed displayed the intelligence and running talent worthy of the name, the clan members became more willing to believe.

They believed she could replace her mother, who had achieved nothing on the arena, and run to fulfill the expectation of inheriting the patriarch's deeds.

Those years were, in the memory of the vast majority of Symboli family members, the most relaxed time, even for the Symboli known as Moon‑Chase.

At that time, everyone's hearts were full of expectation.

There was hope for a better future for the family, hope that the mother‑in‑law's character would improve and the family atmosphere would get better, and also hope that the mother might show a hand, to set an example for the child and pass on that brilliant glory.

And more importantly, the children looked forward to school life.

In the period when the Symboli family was like a harmonious big family, the child born as a king was also allowed to have the nickname Luna—inherited from the mother—while the family remained harmonious even if it was just the moon; moreover, even though the curriculum was heavy, covering liberal arts, sciences, and martial arts, they could still persist thanks to outstanding performance and praise, fueled by enthusiasm and perseverance.

Being allowed to play with Sirius, the uncle would secretly bring a deep‑immersion device; after being discovered, they would together be scolded by the speed Symboli (who is called grandmother directly, not grandmother); then next time they'd still dare.

Comics, novels, and the like—that uncle named Moon‑Chase, who clearly can't even keep up with anime topics, each time he comes to visit Mom and Dad, clumsily loses one or two books in my and Sirius's room; then I and Sirius secretly hide them, and when we regroup we can both read them together.

Fantasy, games, adventure, romance—he's into everything; that uncle has eclectic tastes, and even Mom scolds him for being so old yet still watching Ultraman and Kamen Rider.

Does he really watch? Even when asked to demonstrate a transformation, he's unwilling.

Luna expressed doubt about this, but more often she had no time to think about it.

She is very busy, always having too much to be pulled away to study, so busy that she often can't meet on time with the other star.

But the other star is always willing to wait, even if waiting in the secret base past the parents' set curfew.

Luna will always come, even if late into the night; Sirius is also willing to wait.

When Luna pokes her head in, in the pitch‑dark like a ghost, she always manages to scare her into shouting twice; then the two kids, in tacit understanding, flee, avoiding the adults coming toward the sound, and they are not blamed for being late or causing trouble—only the giggling laughter after evading the adults.

The frightened memory doesn't last long; after hiding and regrouping, they occasionally still cooperate in covering, and that tacit understanding becomes increasingly obvious.

But no matter how many weeks, months, or even years pass, the child called Luna is always passive and shy, while the child called Sirius becomes ever more active and rough, not matching the adults' expectations.

But that's where it ends.

But since we speak of 'those years,' that time lasted only those few years.

However, after just two months, the mother died in an accident that was absolutely not an accident.

However, after half a year, the father who had married into the family also disappeared without a trace.

Fewer people call me Luna, while more people forbid others from calling me Luna.

The title Rudolf is regaining its accustomed place of response, just as everyone awaits an emperor's arrival to bring the family back onto the proper course.

They always say we must work harder, always say the family's situation is not optimistic, always say the father just went far away, and say the mother is just watching me from another world.

They also get angry seeing me play with Sirius, see my comics and novels in my room and file petty reports, and even make Sirius start calling me Rudolf, until finally everyone calls me Rudolf.

And I, too, have grown accustomed to that name which accompanies a downcast, obedient reaction; I have grown accustomed to summoning some courage to be a bit more proactive and straightforward, so those people won't point fingers at my actions——

——to using such behavior to stop their poor judgments, beginning to realize what kind of person I am gradually becoming, and further realizing that the education I received since childhood was trying to shape me into what kind of person……

In the end, she indeed became that kind of person.

She began to get used to others directly calling her emperor, on the arena, at school, and even……

It is in life.

She took up the leader's responsibility, not only leading and commanding the servants in the family, but also taking over the heavy burden of the student council that predecessors always complained about, undertaking the power that, being central, appears unusual, and taking the ideals expressed by the chairperson as her own goal, longing for each horse girl to obtain a happy future, solely because she bears their trust, expectations, and even worship.

Greater strength does not mean greater responsibility; power does.

And Rudolf Symboli, who had unknowingly grasped immense power, naturally took on that responsibility, but pushed it to a higher realm, solely because of the shackle called emperor.

The emperor of the racetrack, the president of the central student council, and Luna in the mouths of friends.

Yes, Luna, she once mentioned this childhood nickname to those hard‑won friends, and it was not a spokesperson for the childhood friend named Sirius.

But rather than saying it's because she hopes they'd call her that, it's more like when talking about childhood topics, she recalled using it as a topic, which instead sparked the friends' interest, leading them to decide to continue using that as a nickname.

They seem to think it's a cute name, while the emperor herself feels nothing about it.

But it doesn't really matter……

She accepts that title, only because it carries the friends' concern; as for the feeling of that time……

In Sirius's always complex gaze, she could only pretend to be nostalgic; actually her heart felt no softness at all.

She occasionally wonders if she's not quite normal, yet also feels she has no reason to seek normality; already years ago, she herself could only seek genuine feeling in life on the arena, and after retirement everything is just inertia, even when facing that deeply buried longing gaze, her heart remains silent.

Thinking about whether she can recover her original intention, she also feels she probably has a brain problem to think about these meaningless things.

Just watching the students run isn't enough?

Just looking at the results of my own busyness isn't enough?

Everything proceeds on the set track; even the result of the uncle's riot is remarkably ideal, letting me finally intervene in the family, finally straighten out that always poor state, making Sirius unwilling to return home.

Also finally awaited Qianming's renewed challenge, with the family head's added push, finally able to return to the arena again.

That's enough.

Watching everyone pursue happiness, even the friends in that small circle surround and envy the young person I also admire greatly; although as student council president I should oppose or even scold, but since we're on the path to happiness, I suppose I'll just pretend not to see……and sometimes, it's not that I can't understand why they disregard worldly notions……

Just why……that person's gaze always makes me silent.

It always lets me recall some past moments, recalling the qi trough, Bai Ren, Qianming, Tianlangxing and them, gazing at my own eyes.

Recalling that inexplicable feeling, bringing up that sense of being at a loss, it feels as if I am indeed doing something wrong, something that even as the emperor I would absolutely not do; yet once I think in that direction, it would make me become unfamiliar, weak, passive and shy, an attitude that absolutely should be discarded!

Why… am I feeling more and more fatigued?

At the Dream Cup, I still almost got caught up by Bai Ren…… Even though everyone was celebrating my victory, she also clearly knew that my condition was not good.

Is… the trainer doing something to me? After thinking it over, the only variable in these days, the only thing that has started to make my mood fluctuate, is just that one.

Clearly a fellow traveler on the same road, clearly entrusted with that trust by myself……

Should I just speak it directly?

Should I expose his trick, return to my original self, return to that state where fatigue is fundamentally impossible?

She doesn't know.

Just with the heart of an emperor who cannot show weakness, day after day interacting with him, day after day interacting with everyone, putting on the demeanor and reactions befitting that position, putting on timely humor and entertainment, telling those cold jokes whose funniness I don't know, joining in their affectionate and teasing behavior toward the trainer, pretending to be like them yet not really enthusiastic, in the end……

She, together with her childhood friend and companions, arrived at that theater with a delicate reputation.

What happened after that?

She can't remember.

All I know is that when I came to my senses, it seemed something had changed, but the scene before my eyes made it impossible for her to pay attention to that illusory, hallucinatory feeling.

She is now standing in a strange, eerie space, watching Aomo, whose forehead is beading with sweat, right arm twisted, slowly turning, constantly panting, and beside Aomo, Tianlangxing, who stumbles to her knees, looking at her and instead laughing extravagantly.

Listening to what she is saying……

"Haha, I said as much……"

"She will always meet up with me……"

"No need to make plans… whatever promises, whatever commitments…… fundamentally not needed."

"I will wait for her, it's just that the orbit… is a bit longer."

And that trainer, whose lips seemed to be twitching, also showed me a not-quite-steady smile.

"……Indeed, that's the case."