Secrets of the Silenced War

Noah POV

I opened the third book I chose and the last one for tonight. The name of the book was <WAR RECORDS>. I already know that this book is full of nonsense to manipulate the public, but I also don't know anything about this war. At least I should try to learn something.

My knowledge is also limited to common knowledge. I know that the war ended three years ago and began eleven years ago from today's date. The result is the Empire's victory, but no evidence has been provided for this, so there are many theories regarding this matter. 

It has become taboo to speak, interact, or even slander anything related to predicting the future, from large to small, under the pretext that the matter has affected many of the inhabitants of the empire and that they need time to recover. It also became forbidden for both commoners and Sorcerers to cross the border between the Empire and the Astrolies Kingdom. 

The border between the two is a river border, and the town of Frostwell, ruled by the Borderward Family under the leadership of Garrett Borderward, is the main post of the Empire's northern border guards.

I returned to the book in my hands, trying to extract some facts from it.

The book, <WAR RECORDS>, was divided into several chapters.

The first chapter, under the name of

'The Seer's Prophecy,'

'The seers of Astrolies have revealed a mysterious prophecy foretelling the fall of the empire. Their words reverberated through the corridors of power, sowing fear and uncertainty.'

Well, this is completely a lie. The empire did not fall; Astrolies Kingdom fell instead. 

Why would they say that? The Imperial Academy has always tried to bring Astrolies Seers to the academy to teach their knowledge to the Empire younger generation, of course the chosen ones, but the Kingdom of Astrolies has always refused. Why will they now give something like this prophecy? I knew From the beginning, I've been wasting my time with this book, but regardless, I still have to try. 

The first chapter was short, just the announcement of the Astrolies Kingdom and how the Empire dealt with this news.

The second chapter was the empire's response, and it was called,

'Emperor's Declaration,'

'The Emperor, driven by duty to protect his people, declared war on the Astrolies Kingdom. His armies marched toward the castles clad in silver, banners fluttering in the wind.'

Another lie. Let's say what the Astrolies Kingdom said was true. Doesn't that mean that they only warned you? but no, what I must do to protect my people is declare war on them to protect my people after they warned me about the fall of my Empire.  

Even if what they say is wrong, isn't it enough to cut ties? and that if they said anything in the first place, he probably declared war out of greed after their knowledge. 

This seems closer to the truth.The Empire had always coveted the knowledge of the Astrolies kingdom, but it was exclusive only to them, and this latter always thwarted the Empire's greedy ambitions.

The third chapter was about the battle between the empire and the kingdom, under the title,

'Battle of Falling Stars,'

'The Knights of the Empire fought against the Seers of Astrolies. Spells lit up the night sky, and the earth trembled. Official records painted vivid pictures—the flash of steel, the glint of magic, the cries of wounded warriors.'

This chapter is only a tribute to the heroes and victims and the records of their valiant fighting and deaths, and how they were the reason for the defeat of the Astrolies Kingdom. 

I hate to ruin your joy and death, but you were deceived. Even the war hero, Garrett Borderward, was completely deceived. Seeing him now planning and scamming like a real noble, It's pathetic. He's already forgotten that he was once a commoner. If I reminded him of what he once was, he'd probably feel insulted. 

The empire has an iron grip on its subjects. No one breathes without permission, even if you rise above your position. Like Mr. Garrett, you are still in control. 

It is truly terrifying. Whoever created such a class system and made people accept it deserves a reward for deception.

I returned my focus to the book in my hands. The title of the fourth chapter is,

'Evasion of the Seer,'

'Even with the Empire's victory, the Seers of Astrolies proved to be elusive. Their silver masks hid their true intentions.'

This was a short chapter that did not share much with us. Do they mean that they did not get their hands on the secrets of the Astrolies Kingdom? 

Well, they completely prevented divination from existing in the empire. Do they want to monopolize it, or did they not get anything? 

In the end, they are fighting people who predict the future. Maybe they didn't get what they wanted, but I am sure they did get something; otherwise, why would they stop the war? 

They might say they won the war, but I don't believe it, and I'm not the only one. Everyone has their doubts. Why didn't they annex the lands of the Astrolies Kingdom if they had won the war? 

What they did was the opposite; instead of annexing it, they strictly prohibited anyone from entering it. What did they find there to make this decision? 

The silver masks are a reference to the royal families. 

Yes, in the Astrolies Kingdom, there is more than one royal family. I do not know the details because they were withheld from the public at the beginning of the war. I was still five years old, and all books containing knowledge about the Astrolies Kingdom were confiscated.

The more I think about this kingdom, the more the mystery about it increases. 

A kingdom that is considered a barren desert, but it is one of the richest kingdoms. There is more than one royal family, and Seers predict the future through the movement of sand and stars. 

and the silver masks. Each royal family wears silver masks that are different from those of the other families. Even their people don't know what their kings look like.

'Strange and terrifying.'

These were my thoughts on the matter.I went back to Chapter; I don't know what number.

'Whispered secrets:'

'The spread of rumors among the common people. They said that Seers manipulated the knowledge they spread. Trying to destabilize the Empire's security, the Seers were acting as puppeteers, pulling the strings for a planned rebellion in the Empire's lands.'

I do not know why the Empire would spread such knowledge, because according to what is said, the Astrolies Kingdom has never, in its long history, published any knowledge about the future, and there are many who doubted their ability to predict the future from the beginning. 

But what this news did was divide the people. Some say that the empire is in tremendous danger from an unknown party. 

Some say the danger is coming from the neighboring lands. 

and there are those who say that factions within the empire are planning a coup and that these factions are the ones receiving visions from the Astrolies kingdom. 

Some people believe that this news itself is false. and it was manipulated by the Astrolies Kingdom to spread division among the people, and that is exactly what this news does. 

No matter how you look at it, there is something missing. Why would the Empire publish this news to the public? I do not believe any of the theories, because these theories are based on the fact that what is narrated in this book is the truth, but I don't believe it. 

The further I go, the more confusing it becomes.

I continued reading, and with each chapter I became more and more confused, until I reached the last chapter.

'Treaty of the Veiled Dawn,'

'After eight years of conflict, the Emperor felt the burden of casualties, so he ended the war.He then declared that anyone who claimed to be a Seer would be punished by the law of the Empire, and the enemy kingdom was marked as a forbidden land from which entry was prohibited.'

'I don't know anything,'

I don't know anything; why exactly eight years? He not only prevented everything related to divination and entering the land of the Kingdom of Astrolis, but he also prevented any information about this war from being leaked to the public, especially from the armies who participated in it, and that there would be consequences if any news spread. 

What does this mean? Eight years of people's lives, it will just be kept secret. I am sure that there are many facts about this war that have come to light, but they have disappeared with many expectations and rumors from different people. 

Was this done intentionally? If this was a plan to obscure the truth, then my hats off to them. This is just genius. Who could think of something like this, mixing facts and lies like this? 

I have a lot to learn.

I took a deep breath and closed the book in front of me. Every day I spent in this world, the more it became real; there is no denying it. Only humans could do such acts of violence, deception, theft, and so on.

I got up from my desk with my head full of the nonsense I learned today. Well,  I'm also considered a commoner, so for now the truth will remain hidden.

It's long past my bedtime.

So I threw myself on the bed and immediately fell asleep.