Foundation of Smoke and Steel

Chapter 113

CalebCaleb woke with a hangover that felt like iron weights behind his eyes. He sat cross-legged, forcing his breathing steady, circulating mana through his meridians. Each cycle burned the alcohol out of his blood and dulled the ache in his temples. Slowly, he began to feel like himself again.

That was when Claire walked in and dropped a bomb.

“Caleb, I’m pregnant.”

He froze. The words hit harder than any backlash of cultivation.

Her face was pale, stripped bare of all the careful polish she usually wore—as though the news had drained the very life from her. Caleb exhaled sharply, not from pain or hangover, but from something deeper.

“What did you say?” His voice came quiet, almost flat.

“We’re having a baby. I’m at least eight weeks along.”

He stared at her, unable to summon words. At last, he managed, “That’s… amazing news.”

“Is it?” she asked bitterly. “Because from where I’m standing, we’re barely speaking. And now we’re about to bring a child into the world, and I’m not even sure we like each other.”

Caleb considered that. Considered her. It was true. His focus on his so-called divine mission had driven a chasm between them. The easy affection of their courtship was long gone, smothered under secrets and regret.

Claire came and sat across from him, legs crossed, eyes locked on his. “We’re not good people, Caleb.”

He tilted his head. “What do you mean?”

“You know what I mean.” Her gaze narrowed. “We betrayed Ethan. We laughed at him—at his pain. I loved him. And somewhere along the way, I forgot that.”

“Do you love him now?” Caleb asked softly.

She hesitated, then shook her head. “I’ve been having dreams. Terrible dreams. Broken skies. Black towers. Hordes of things I can’t even describe. Blood. Mayhem. Evil. And me… fighting through it all. Someone full of and , cutting down intruders until nothing remained. No one I loved was there. Not my parents. Not…”

She stopped, but Caleb knew she had nearly said Ethan’s name. He also knew what it meant. Somehow, echoes of their past life were bleeding through to her.

He remembered his own death—drifting in that strange, timeless void before rebirth. And Claire—in that life, she had fled, but she had returned. She had fought until she died.

His voice cut in, steadier now. “That doesn’t answer my question. Do you still love him?”

Claire’s eyes hardened. “Does it matter? Ethan’s married to Vivian. I’m married to you. And we’re having a baby.”

“It does matter,” Caleb said sharply. “Do you regret what we did?”

Her voice softened. “Of course I regret it. What we did was cruel. Unnatural. Stupid and selfish. Tell me, Caleb—do you even love me?”

He paused, giving himself a moment for the first honest reflection he’d allowed in years. “No,” he said finally. “I don’t.”

She nodded, as though she’d expected it. “Then I can admit I don’t love you either.”

A dry laugh slipped from him. The sound was strange in his own ears—half self-mockery, half release. “So where does that leave us? Two people, married, having a baby, who don’t love each other.”

Claire shook her head. “It means just what I said; we’re not good people, Caleb. But maybe we can try to be better. For the child, if nothing else. Whatever our old life was supposed to be—it’s gone. We have to build something different.”

He sat with that in silence. For once, he didn’t reject it.

At last, he spoke. “Claire.” He hesitated, then asked, “Have you ever truly wanted to cultivate? To climb, to reach the pinnacle?”

Her eyes lifted to meet his. "You know I Ethan hates that word."

He rolled hhis eyes. "Seriously."

Claire considered this.. “What do you mean, have I ever wanted to truly cultivate?”

Caleb hesitated. What he was about to say was insane. The information was dangerous. He wasn’t sure if it was the right step. He had come back knowing only that he had lived once before and that, somehow, he’d been given another chance. But he received no mandate or guidance—just the truth of a second life.

“Claire… what if I told you that you’ve lived this life once before?”

She stopped cold. “I’d say you’re freaking insane.”

Her voice was deadpan, but her eyes searched him.

Caleb smiled faintly. “Yeah. I know the feeling.”

He drew in a long breath and forced the words out. “In a past life, you married Ethan. I married Vivian. For about ten years, our lives were separate. In that time, you became an incredibly powerful cultivator—on par with the greatest in the Empire. I don’t know what stage you reached, but you had power, influence, and the entire world was watching you… especially after the Li family fell.”

Claire’s jaw dropped. “The Li family ? like they died? All of them??”

Caleb nodded. “After several years into my marriage with Vivian, they were struck by a blood sickness. It was magical, agressive and completely devastating. It wiped out the Li sons. Nathan Li barely made it a month. General Li himself was dead six months after infection. Vivian survived somehow, but she was broken—her cultivation gutted. Eventually, I was cast out. Not long after, the demon horde invaded in ernset.”

His voice faltered. The memory of that end still felt too close. “That was about the time I died. But… in that space between death and rebirth, I saw things. Fragments. I saw you run. I saw you fight. I saw you die.”

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Claire’s voice had gone thin. “What about Ethan?”

Caleb’s throat tightened. “By the time I passed, Ethan was a broken man. I don’t know what happened between you, but I know he was forgotten.”

Silence stretched between them. Claire’s fingers tightened against her knees. “So… the reason you married me—”

“—was because in that last life you were the strongest cultivator I’d ever seen. And I wanted that strength.”

Claire considered this, then gave a humorless laugh. “I’ve never had much talent for cultivation. I was never interested. But if I had been given the chance… yes, I can see how I’d let that feed my ego. Like I said earlier—we’re not good people.”

Caleb leaned forward. “So how did you do it, then? How did you reach that kind of power?”

She shook her head slowly. “I have no idea. It wasn’t our tempering techniques; that much I know. It wasn’t resources—we never had enough. No ancient ginseng, no divine pills, nothing.” She stopped. A realization flickered in her eyes.

“Ethan,” she whispered.

Caleb stiffened. “What about him?”

“If I became a legendary powerhouse, Caleb… the most likely way it happened was because of Ethan. Because of his research. His mind. His obsession with cultivation theory.”

Horror dawned on him.

Claire gave a sharp, broken smile. “So the fact that you seduced me, thinking you’d steal my future, was doomed from the start. Because Ethan was probably the reason.”

Caleb laughed. At first, it sounded bitter, but then it spilled over, ragged and genuinely amused. “Holy shit got to love that plot twist. We’re pathetic. My genius younger brother was the reason for your strength.”

Claire laughed too—brittle and hysterical. Somehow, in their madness, their hands found each other. They laughed together—two broken people finally seeing the absurdity of their choices.

Caleb looked at her, really looked at her. Not as a prize, not as a tool, but as a mirror of his own arrogance. His hunger. His hubris.

“So what now?” he asked.

She shook her head, then stilled. “Caleb… you said I was a powerful cultivator. Cutting down demons. Did you mean…?”

Caleb froze.

“Yes. Demons ones from the Crimson Wastes. They .” His voice dropped to a whisper. “Nine years from now.”

Claire’s face paled. “No offense, Caleb… but if that’s true, why would they send back? And who would do something like that?”

Caleb turned the question over in his head: why him?

It was a fair question—one he had considered in his drunken stupor. He was supposed to be the hero, the one who saves the world. Or so he thought. But was that true? It was what he told himself. What he wanted to believe. But was it actually true? Because the truth was, he wasn’t a natural prodigy—strong for his age, yes, but nothing that should make gods or fate single him out. If he was honest, he’d never been exceptional at cultivation good with the sword but no the culivation part or mana application. So why had someone sent him back? And who were ?

He’d known of gods and miracles, of divine bargains and impossible rites. History, legends, and oral traditions were full of them—though he didn’t know any of that personally. What he did know—even a fool such as him—was that to be reborn ten years before the end, that was a violation of time itself. Time moved forward. Or at least he had thought it did.

So why was he here? With memories of the past? If he wasn’t the hero?

Caleb shuddered.

He wasn’t even that special. Shit. He wasn’t even a good person… like Claire said. He pictured his wrongdoings. How he stole Claire. How he treated Vivian. How he undermined and hurt Ethan.

The self-reflection stung. Was he wrong?

A knock at the door cut through the spiral of thought. Claire and Caleb still sat with their hands clasped when a servant arrived—Christine, a wide-eyed, mousy girl no older than twenty, breathless as if she’d run half the manor.

“Lord Caleb,” she said, bowing. “I’m sorry to interrupt, but there’s someone named Spencer here. He claims he’s from the southern property and says he needs to speak to you urgently.”

Caleb frowned. The southern property—off the City of Solcrin. He hadn’t been there in years. He’d loved that place once, exploring ruins with his father and Ethan, but he knew the family had kept the house maintained. “Send him in,” he told Christine. “Bring Spencer to me.”

Spencer entered a moment later, face pale and frank. “My lord, forgive the intrusion. I— I didn’t know who else to tell.” His voice trembled with worry. “While traveling in the north, I got a message from the Summer Tower Matron. Your sisters—the twins—arrived several days ago with Lady Vivian of House Li, Princess Sophie, and An-Mei from the Emberflower Pavilion in tow. They insisted on going to a active Gate near the Cliffs of Moher we thought dormant”

Caleb felt the floor tilt. Vivian. Princess Sophie. Liu An-Mei. His sisters… his sisters? Those beautiful, kind, warm little sisters… what the hell were the Princess and Vivian playing at?

“Why the hell would they do that?” he asked before he could stop the panic rising in his throat. “There are all sorts of mana beasts in that area. It’s dangerous. This is about an active Gate??”

Spencer swallowed. “I don’t know, my lord. I just have a bad feeling. There have been reports—unconfirmed—of orc activity in the north. The Matron heard from Young Master Ryan, who’s concerned. He says the girls told him they were taking a leave of absence from the academy, but he tracked them to the southern property. The Matron tried to have me reach the Second Young Master—he’s out on a training exercise with General Li and his brothers-in-law. I couldn’t reach your parents either; they’re supposedly in the north, procuring land for herb cultivation. I didn’t know who else to call. I apologize for imposing.”

Everything in Caleb that had felt steady in that room—the brittle new honesty he’d just shared with Claire, the fledgling attempt to understand how rotten he was—shivered. In his last life, none of this had happened like this. It had been months since their marriages, and in the past timeline Vivian should be at Lotus Peak, sneaking off to see that bastard Jun.

Jun. He hated that guy.

Caleb shook his head.

It was then he realized something profound. His knowledge was fraying; what had been true in the past timeline no longer mapped cleanly onto this present.

It was then that Caleb made a decision.

“All right,” he said, steadying himself. The words felt smaller than the fear behind them. “This might be nothing. I think it’s time to make a visit to the southern property—even if it’s just to check on my sisters. It might be nothing—but we should find out.”

He rose, the decision hardening in his chest.

Claire chimed in. “I’m coming too.”

Caleb froze. “Absolutely not.”

Her brows lifted, faint amusement crossing her face. “Excuse me?”

“You heard me. It’s not safe—and you’re pregnant.”

“I wasn’t asking if it’s safe,” she said. “I was telling you I’m coming.”

He felt his temper flare, the familiar heat that always rose when she pushed him. “This isn’t some trip to the capital, Claire. The imperial presence near Solcarin is almost non-existent. If there’s trouble, you could get hurt. This is not happening.”

“Caleb. You have Vivian Li, Liu An-Mei, your sisters, and a Princess on a ‘secret mission’ in one the wildest place in the Empire,” she countered. “I doubt they’re there to sightsee. You’ll need someone who can actually think while swinging a sword. That leaves me. Besides—”

She smiled at him sweetly. “I’m not asking for your permission.”

He clenched his jaw. “I’m not taking you into a war zone.”

Her smile sharpened, humorless. “You say that like I haven’t lived through one.”

“You don’t remember the last one. It doesn’t count.”

For a moment neither of them moved. The air between them was taut as drawn steel.

Then she took a slow step forward, voice softening but no less firm. “I don't remember this prior life and honestly it hard to beleive, but based on the look on your face this is something that hasn't happend prior."

He didn't answer and he knew that was answer enough.

Claire gave a sharp nod. " If this world is rewriting itself, if things are changing faster than your previous timeline then I need to to be part of it. History goes to winners to those who act. I will not sit still and let it act upon us.”

Caleb hesitated, the battle inside him scraping like stone on steel. Every instinct screamed to keep her here, out of whatever the south had in store. But another voice—a smaller, truer one—whispered that she was right. The old rules didn’t hold anymore. The past he remembered was gone.

Finally, he exhaled, slow and resigned. “Fine,” he said. “But you follow my lead, Claire and you do exactly as I say if something goes wrong. If I tell you run, you run. No "ifs". No "buts". No "ands" You run without looking back That is the only way I will agree to this.”

She smiled. “When do we leave?”

Caleb shook his head and reached for his coat. “Pack light. We leave before dawn.”