Chapter 4- The Hidden Scar

  “Yo, generals!” thinking that hiding was no longer possible, the man finally talked, “strange for you, no?! Just a day ago, I was with you people…”

  “So you betrayed us after all…” Mira stated in a serious tone, “Just like that jerk Selric…”

  “Selric?!” Smoker stood surprised, “With whom in the world did he team up?!”

  “None of your business,” Faeron, the royal guard, stepped forward coldly. “You’re the enemy now. We don’t owe you a word.”

  “Come to think of it, how’s Rina doing?!” Malrik chuckled, his voice laced with venom.

  “You…” Smoker turned red, “Don’t you dare speak her name with that filthy tongue!”

  For the first time, the silent, cold man was consumed by pure rage. His aura flared — not from power…but pain.

  “Watch your words, Malrik!” commanded Izak, finally coming back to his senses “You know Rina went into a coma five years ago!”

  “I know it, Mr. Guard!” Malrik smiled, “I was just trying to revive some wounds…”

  “If you speak any more of her, you’ll have to deal with me in person!” Izak roared, radiating his aura, enough to cause tremble.

  “So, why’re you here, Flame?” Taren came straight to the point: “Are you here to fight us?”

  “What an irony.”

  Rai’s voice broke the tension like a crack of thunder.

  “I’m here to stop the fight.” Rai gazed at the vast, empty, dark sky, “I hate wars after all, especially if they’re uselessly fought”

  “Listen to me!” Rai snapped, his voice cutting through the wind.

  “This war has no meaning left. Let us take the guild chiefs and vice-chiefs back. Treat your wounded. Bury your dead. But stop this madness.”

  “Screw you!” Kael snapped. “As if we’ll just hand over these criminals!”

  “Don’t underestimate us,” Malrik scoffed, puffing up with pride — though he hadn’t thrown a single attack since he arrived.

  “Very well,” Faeron spoke firmly. “We’ll return them.”

  “Smartest move here,” Izak added, nodding once.

  “But Faeron—!” Malrik protested, clearly disappointed.

  “We’re the highest authority here, aren’t we?” Izak cut him off, voice laced with arrogance. “Our word is final.”

  Smoker exhaled a cloud of smoke, eyes narrowing.

  “You’re the only wise one among those imperial dogs, Faeron,” he muttered.

  “Why don’t you join us? Join The Eagles.”

  “The Eagles?” Mira echoed, confused.

  “That’s right,” Saera stepped forward, voice proud and unshaken.

  “Black robes with golden wings — we are The Eagles, under the command of Rai, the Flame Emperor.

  We’re the ones who’ll burn the old system to ashes.”

  A gust of wind swept through the battlefield, stirring dust and ash into the air.

  For the first time, the old world trembled — not from war, but from the weight of change.

  “Join you?” Faeron chuckled, “Don’t insult my loyalty to His Majesty.”

  “That’s fine. I wasn’t counting on you anyway,” Rai replied, calm and confident. “We’re done here. Let’s head back.”

  A cold wind howled across the silent battlefield as The Eagles vanished into the shadows.

  “We’ve suffered far more losses than expected…”

  The generals, royal guards, and Commander-in-Chief stood amidst the ruins, the wind whispering past them like ghosts of the fallen.

  “We’ll need a full report on the war,” Malrik ordered.

  “Given our positions,” Faeron muttered, “we can conceal the casualties… and much of what happened here.”

  “But The Eagles... they need to be watched closely.”

  Two days passed — no movement, no shift — only the slow, heavy silence of recovery.

  In the west, an ancient city was reborn—Velmora — the new capital of Anderus.

  Inside their base, Saera sat across from Smoker, unable to hold back her curiosity.

  “Tell me... why do you fight?”

  The moment she learned he was the former Commander-in-Chief, the question burned on her tongue.

  Smoker exhaled a breath of smoke, eyes distant, gazing out the wide window at the cloudy blue sky.

  “Because there are scars I buried long ago... and I never want to see them again.”

  He remembered that tragic past — five years ago...

  It was raining that day in Bergia.

  “You forgot your umbrella again, Noel!” a young woman called out to a tall, young man standing near the shopping mall. She jogged over, offering him her umbrella.

  A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  Raindrops splashed against the road, forming wide ripples.

  “You’ll catch a cold like this,” she scolded, clinging to his arm with a worried smile.

  “I’ve told you so many times, Rina — call me Smoker!” the man barked back, stepping into the mall. “Noel feels so weird!”

  “So what? It’s your name, right?” Rina shot back, raising her soft, delicate hands in protest. “The military calls you Smoker to mock you! Don’t take pride in that!”

  She teased him, playfully poking his cheek.

  “No matter what they call you… You’ll always be my Noel, honey.”

  Noel flushed red, unable to hide his blushing.

  “W-Well… fine. Call me whatever you like…”

  Rina laughed — a soft, sweet sound that echoed through the mall — and after a moment, Noel joined in too.

  “You remember your promise, right?” she asked as she examined a row of dresses on display.

  “This is our last date… before marriage.”

  “Mhm… I quit the military, just like I promised,” the man said calmly. “I’ve joined the bank now… got a decent job there.”

  The woman gasped in delight. “I never thought you actually would! You really love me, huh, Noel?!”

  She hugged him tightly and kissed him. “I love you, too!”

  People around them stared, wide-eyed. Noel turned beet red, flustered by the sudden affection, and hurried off to the nearby café.

  The woman followed him in, giggling. “You’re as shy as ever, Noel,” she teased, sliding into the seat beside him.

  “We’re getting married soon… You need to get over this shyness!”

  She kissed him again, her soft lips brushing his cheek.

  Days turned into weeks.

  The couple soon got married and were blessed with a child.

  Early morning commutes, long hours at work, coming home to laughter — playing with her daughter, stealing kisses from his wife.

  That was Noel’s whole world — simple, peaceful, beautiful.

  Until the day came that took everything from the once-lively family man...

  It was raining that evening, with ripples being formed on the ground.

  Noel arrived late, his clothes soaked — he had forgotten the umbrella, as usual. Rina was in the living room, with her kid in her arms, cold–dead.

  “What the hell have you been doing all these years, Noe-Smoker!” The woman shouted, her eyes filled with tears.

  “What do you mean?!” Noel exclaimed, panic rising in his voice. “And—wait—what happened to our baby?!”

  “Don’t you dare touch her with those hands soaked in lies!” Rina stopped him, “and don’t act innocent!”

  The angered woman continued, looking at the poor little child, “She got really sick in the rain... I couldn’t reach you.”

  “I called the bank to send you back home,” she sobbed, “but they said...” her voice grew louder, “but they said they didn’t have any employee named Noel or Smoker!”

  She started to weep even more, “Tell me the truth… You never quit the military, did you?”

  The man stood in silence, looking down – he couldn’t gather the courage to face his wife. But his silence said it all – he really didn’t quit the military.

  “So you never kept the promise…” the woman couldn’t hold it now, “I hate you, Smoker…You lied to me…you lied to even her…” she whispered, as the last tear slipped down her cheek before she collapsed.

  “Rina!” The man immediately rushed. The woman fell into his arms, his tears drenching her beautiful face.

  “I’m sorry”, the man wept, “this is all…my fault”

  He immediately called the ambulance…

  “I shouldn’t have hidden anything…at least not from you…” The man lifted her in his arms and took her to the nearby bed. “My job was a lie, but at least the time we three spent together wasn’t…”

  The ambulance arrived, and she was urgently admitted. His one-year-old daughter was declared dead.

  The man sat beside his daughter, supported his head with his arms, “Amara!”, he sobbed “, I wanted to see you smile more…even if just once”

  The man looked upwards, on the roof, as tears rolled down his cheeks, “I hope you’ll forgive me there…in the afterlife”

  He buried her daughter, sobbing all the time, while her wife was in the emergency room.

  “Mr. Smoker!” the doctor called, “Your wife has gone into a coma,” showed some reports, “It seems… it was emotional trauma. The shock was too much for her.”

  “Once…once”, the man wept, standing near Rina’s bed, “this all gets over…Once you recover, I’ll tell you everything!”

  The man stared at the floor, “I was driven by my empty spirit of nationalism and hunger to fight”

  He clenched his fists, “I forgot what really mattered. It wasn’t the emperor. It wasn’t the war.”

  “It was you… and our daughter…”

  The man sat on the bed beside Rina, “Why was I fighting for this nation, one ruled by an absolute emperor, a nation that doesn’t care about lives?”

  He expressed his regret, “I should’ve fought for my family from the very start…”

  “But Rina… we’ll start over. I’ll fix this. I won’t repeat my mistakes again, so please…” his voice filled with pain and regret, “just wake up!”

  He stepped out of the hospital. It was still raining.

  His tears mixed with the raindrops — memories flashing before his eyes.

  He remembered the old days — the day he lied about quitting the army… it had rained that day too, but everything was different back then.

  He saw his daughter’s first birthday again — how she’d dropped cake on his new coat, laughing, while Rina scolded her with a smile.

  Their anniversary, the way Rina kissed him, the way he turned red — all those small, beautiful moments came rushing back.

  A lifetime of joy, undone by a single lie.

  By his obsession with fighting… he lost it all.

  The weight of it all—grief, regret, self-hatred—crashed over him like the storm itself.

  And then, it happened.

  The pain became too much.

  Something broke.

  And his light responded.

  A surge of evolution.

  Power twisted by sorrow.

  He fell to his knees as radiant energy pulsed around him—blinding, wild, pure.

  The world disappeared—only light remained.

  Light everywhere.

  A blinding storm, born not of hope, but of heartbreak.

  That was the day his light abilities evolved.

  From that day, he stopped letting anyone call him Noel.

  That name — that life — belonged only to her.

  The world would know him as Smoker.

  The man who abandoned everything… and lost it all.

  With anger towards the system and regret over his actions, he wore a cold mask, hiding his scars from the world.

  But he didn’t quit the military. He wanted to change the system from within, not abandon it like a scaredy cat. In five years, he worked hard, climbed up the ranks – enough to be appointed as the Commander-in-Chief after Malrik’s suspension.

  Rina hadn’t come out of the coma even after five years, but Smoker never stopped waiting — talking to her every night, believing…

  One day, she would wake up again.

  Next Week in Chapter 5 - Echoes of the War

  Taren’s voice trembled. “In other words… Hate is more powerful than our emperor.”