Issho took deep breaths to calm himself down after that terrifying dream—no, flashback—about everything he had suffered through.
His chest rose and fell heavily while cold sweat clung to his skin.
Darkness surrounded him completely, but for Issho, that darkness had long since become permanent.
Technically, the real Elric had already died after around fifty lashes from the whip.
By that time, Issho had transmigrated into Elric’s body, and the remaining fifty lashes had fallen directly upon him.
Issho, even in his previous life, had been an extremely strong-willed person, otherwise he would have died right there from the sheer pain and blood loss.
But surviving did not mean escaping suffering.
The whip had torn apart his body again and again, each strike carrying enough force to rip flesh open.
Issho could still remember that horrifying feeling vividly.
The sharp crack of the whip splitting the air.
The warm blood running down his body.
The unbearable burning pain that had made his entire body tremble uncontrollably.
And then…
the moment darkness swallowed his vision forever.
That pain…
it still feels real.
Out of the total punishment of one hundred lashes, Elric had endured fifty, while Issho himself had suffered through the remaining fifty after taking over the body.
Not to mention the fact that he had felt the pain of becoming blind.
That was not inherited memory.
That was something Issho himself had personally experienced.
For Issho, who had suddenly transmigrated into this new world while inheriting all of Elric’s memories, everything had felt utterly despairing at that time.
Clearly, Elric had become the victim of brutal family politics.
Even among the countless noble families, Elric was an extremely rare existence because he possessed two mana cores—one located in his head and another in his abdomen—and both of them were extraordinarily powerful.
This meant Elric could not only train to become a terrifyingly powerful knight, but at the same time, he could also become a top-tier mage.
Such a thing was almost unheard of among humans.
Only dragons possessed both overwhelming physical power and immense magical capability simultaneously.
Dragons were beings blessed with monstrous bodies while also being naturally gifted in magic.
Because of this, there had been an extremely high possibility that Elric would one day be acknowledged and chosen by a dragon.
And if that happened, then his future would have been almost guaranteed.
Elric would inevitably become the next head of the Pendragon family and inherit the title of Duke of the Duchy of Pendragon.
So naturally, such a future would attract jealousy.
Duke Austin had five wives, and each wife had given birth to two children.
Altogether, there were ten siblings within the Pendragon family.
Elric was neither the youngest nor among the eldest.
He stood somewhere in the middle.
But among all of them, his talent had shone the brightest.
Even Duke Austin himself had paid enormous attention to Elric in the past because everyone understood what Elric’s potential truly represented.
A future powerhouse capable of carrying the Pendragon family to even greater heights.
Yet someone had cleverly exploited Duke Austin’s obsession with family law and ancient traditions.
The Pendragon family had existed for over a thousand years, and throughout those centuries, countless harsh laws and punishments had been established by different ancestors.
Among those ancient records, there had apparently once been a similar incident, and the punishment given back then had been the same—one hundred lashes and blinding.
And Duke Austin, obsessed with preserving the dignity and authority of family law above all else, had mercilessly enforced that punishment upon Elric.
He did not care about Elric’s future.
He did not care that Elric could have become one of the strongest members in the entire history of the Pendragon family.
He did not care that such talent appeared perhaps once in centuries.
In the end, Duke Austin had still chosen the family’s rigid laws over his own son.
Issho slowly clenched his fists while sitting there in silence.
His nails dug slightly into his palms.
What a ridiculous family…
Elric had even resented his father deeply while he was still alive, before Issho had taken over his body through transmigration.
After all, Elric had heard certain rumors within the family—quiet rumors that nobody openly discussed, yet everyone seemed to know about.
It was said that during Duke Austin’s younger days, around the age of seventeen or eighteen, he himself had once committed a similar incident involving Elric’s aunt.
Yet despite that, he had never suffered such a cruel punishment.
And now the same man had personally ordered one hundred lashes upon his own son.
That was nothing but hypocrisy.
Ruthless hypocrisy.
Because of that, Elric had once believed his father was deliberately trying to remove him from the family.
After all, with Elric’s monstrous talent, it would not take many years before he naturally rose to become the next family head.
Eventually, he would likely become a transcendent-level powerhouse and gain recognition from a dragon itself, maybe even the golden dragon.
Such a future alone was enough to make many people fearful.
But later on, even Elric himself had rejected that idea.
After all, the golden dragon did not choose just anybody.
A person acknowledged by the golden dragon had to stand on the side of pure justice.
Someone whose character and heart were worthy of recognition.
Because of this, Elric could never fully convince himself that Duke Austin had truly acted out of selfish ambition alone.
Perhaps there were intentions hidden underneath everything.
Perhaps there were reasons Elric himself never understood.
Or perhaps Duke Austin truly was just a cold-hearted man obsessed with family law.
Neither Elric nor Issho knew the complete truth.
And in the end, Issho was the one who had inherited all the suffering after transmigrating into Elric’s body.
A faint sigh escaped Issho’s lips.
Still, after being banished from the Pendragon family, Issho honestly did not feel much regret or remorse about leaving that place behind.
In many ways, it was better for him.
Issho had never been someone who desired authority, fame, or power for the sake of ruling others.
He simply wanted a quiet life.
A peaceful life.
If possible, he wanted to live normally and peacefully somewhere far away from all that chaos and noble politics.
It was not as if Issho feared death.
In his previous life, he had already experienced enough hardship to understand how fragile life truly was.
But if he had the chance to live comfortably and happily, then naturally he would choose that path instead.
That was simply the kind of person he was.
Completely different from Elric.
Issho did not burn with thoughts of revenge against the siblings who might have conspired against Elric.
He did not care whether one of them had plotted behind the scenes.
He did not even care if Duke Austin himself had secretly been involved somehow.
He simply did not want to drown himself in hatred over a life that was not originally his.
Revenge…
what a tiring thing.
Issho did not want to live carrying Elric’s resentment forever.
He wanted his own life.
A new life.
A peaceful life where he could simply live well.