“You can trust us, Hero Kael.”
The King spoke as he looked into Kael’s eyes with a meaningful look on his face.
“Father-“
Edric wanted to say something,
“Silence.”
The King glared at his son and Edric clenched his fists and he did what he was told. He glanced at Kael for a moment before he turned away, as if he didn’t want to be part of this meeting any longer.
Kael, whose plan had worked, smiled gleefully in his head. His face, of course, stayed normal.
“I can ask anything?”
He questioned, tilting his head as he showed some suspicion.
“You can.”
The King nodded, not going back on his words.
“The Princess, I want to know more about her.”
“What do you wish to know?”
“Something doesn’t add up.
You said that Twilight only chose weak Tamers who couldn’t grow any stronger, Tamers who were desperate for Power. Then why would they reach out to the Princess, who had nothing but a bright future ahead of her?
No matter how I see it, I cannot wrap my mind around it.
The Princess had nothing to gain from falling into corruption. Rather, it would only put someone like her in a bad position.”
“It is something even we do not understand.”
The King answered.
“The Princess was known for her pure heart. She loved her Bonds to the end, so much that when she was a child, she refused to participate in a duel because she was afraid her Bond would get hurt.”
A small, gentle smile appeared on Alden’s face as he talked about his daughter and recalled those times.
“Even after she grew up, she avoided battles, not because she was weak, but because she didn’t want her Bonds or anyone else to get hurt.
It came as a surprise to all of us when it was revealed that she fell to corruption.”
“And no one questioned it? No one asked her why she did it? You must have done some sort of investigation, didn’t you?”
“We weren’t given time.”
Alden shook his head.
“The matter of the Drakthar Prodigy Princess falling to corruption blew up much faster than anyone expected. It had already reached the ears of outside forces by the time I could contain it.”
The King took a brief pause and,
“It was… suspiciously quick.”
He commented, looking at Kael’s face. His eyes looked like they were trying to say something.
“I was pressured by other nations and had to make a decision without being able to get to the bottom of the matter.”
“So you just gave into political pressure? How could you not investigate?
What if she only did it because she found out a way to use the Power of Corruption without harming her Bonds, like the Xenthalor Empire?
Or…
What if she was framed by someone else?”
Kael questioned, staring at the King as he barely held the urge to stare at the Crown Prince.
He couldn’t even look at the face Edric was making right now, so he asked Igni for a description.
‘He is staring at you with narrowed eyes.’
‘Got it.’
Kael nodded.
“A Tamer’s Bonds can only be corrupted when the Tamer allows the Bond to consume the Power of Corruption. No one could frame her, especially considering the political power she held in her hands.”
The King answered, discarding Kael’s theory.
“As for her finding a way to use the Power of Corruption without harming her Bond, that doesn’t seem to be the case because, unlike the Bond the Xenthalor Empire presented today, her Bond showed all signs of a Corrupted Beast. It even went out of control when she got caught and had to be slain.”
“…”
Kael momentarily turned silent at those words.
He trusted the King’s words. This was common knowledge, and even Elira and Arlan had told him the same thing.
From all this, Lavinia indeed looked like a Corrupted Human, but…
She was the only person he could trust, the one who would be by his side during the final battle.
Her words are the only thing he could trust with absolute certainty.
“Where is she right now?”
Kael questioned directly.
He had to meet her.
But…
“I cannot answer that, Hero Kael.
She was sold as a Slave. I do not have the means to track who sold and bought her, so even I do not know where she is right now.”
The King answered, and Kael narrowed his eyes at those words.
A Lie.
The King just lied.
After all, even Arlan knew where the Princess was.
Arlan told him that the Princess was still inside the Slave Market because the King was using his power to prevent her from being sold.
‘He loves his daughter too much to let anyone buy her. She is being kept inside the deepest floor where no one can see her, let alone buy her.’
That was what Arlan told him, and this matched with the Vision he had seen before.
The King would obviously know where his daughter was. Then why…
Why would he lie…?
Soon, Kael’s realized it.
The Crown Prince.
The King was being mindful of the Crown Prince.
‘So even he is suspicious of him…’
Kael muttered inwardly.
Since he couldn’t meet her right now, he decided to ask another question.
“What did she say?”
“What?”
“When she was caught, what were the last words she said?”
“She said she doesn’t know how her Bond got corrupted and that she is innocent.
It was something all the corrupted humans say, so her words weren’t taken into consideration.”
“…”
Once again, Kael turned silent.
Obviously, he believed Lavinia’s words.
This was all getting clear now.
She was framed.
He didn’t know how her beast was corrupted without her knowing about it, but she was definitely framed.
‘Igni, what’s Edric doing?’
Kael questioned.
‘He is clenching his fists and has lowered his head. He looks frustrated and angry.’
The Hero nodded at those words. All his suspicions were now directed at the Crown Prince.
“And I didn’t lie before, Hero Kael.”
Suddenly, the King spoke up again.
“The Power of Corruption is inherently evil. Putting a Seed of Corruption inside a Bond, even if it seems like they have everything in control, doesn’t make them right.
They are on the wrong path, and the Drakthar Kingdom’s stance on this will be clearer after a thorough discussion.”
Kael was about to nod at those words, not thinking much about it, but suddenly,
“Actually, since Hero Kael seems so interested in this topic, how about you participate in the meeting as well?”
Kael’s expression changed.
“Your presence there will be important, considering your title. Not to mention, you were the one who recognized that their Bond was Corrupted with your ability. You could provide valuable insights to us during the meeting.”
The moment Kael heard those words, he understood what the King was trying to do.
Power.
The King was trying to give him some say in the meeting so he could sway the meeting to his advantage, without having to worry about the hidden enemies coming together and pushing their agendas.
It was just like Elira had predicted. The King was trying to use him to reinforce his own strength.
Kael realized he was being used and at that revelation, he…
“I would love that.”
He smiled.