“Can’t have a deadweight holding me back.
You should go to any of the Kingdoms. With your talent, they will accept you, and as long as you do what the King tells you, you will live below one and above all. You will live lavishly.”
Kael smiled politely.
Lavinia narrowed her eyes.
“Did you just… call me a deadweight?”
“Hmm? I apologize. I wasn’t trying to be rude. I respect your decision not to stand against the one who wronged you because he is too strong. Any sane person would do the same.”
Kael nodded respectfully.
Lavinia, however, could sense his disdain.
“Any sane person would indeed do the same.”
She spoke, trying to make her point.
“Yes, that is what I said.”
Kael nodded again, but once again, Lavinia didn’t like his tone. She didn’t like how this man agreed with her, when in his mind, he couldn’t be any more disinterested. She didn’t understand what this feeling was, but it was definitely frustrating.
“What do you want me to do!?”
She burst out.
“As I said, I am not here to force yo—”
“You came to me for a reason, didn’t you? You wanted me as an ally, but you never said what you need an ally for.
Your goal is to survive, yet you freed a corrupted Princess, an action that would turn the entire world against you. You just made an enemy out of the King of the strongest Kingdom in all of Nerathis.
What fool who just wishes to survive does this?
Your actions have made you the centre of attention. Attention you now cannot escape no matter what.”
Lavinia raised her voice, letting a bit of her frustrations out, but Kael just smiled,
“Woman, I didn’t become the centre of attention.
I was always the centre of attention.”
“Huh…?”
“I am the Hero your people summoned to protect Nerathis.
I cannot avoid attention even if I want to.”
“You are… the Hero?”
Lavinia froze.
As the Princess of the Drakthar Kingdom, she obviously knew about the Hero. Even if he wasn’t summoned when she was in the Royal Palace, there were still talks about him, and since she was quite interested in the Hero from another world, she tried to learn everything she could about him.
“W-When were you summoned…?”
She questioned.
“About a month ago.”
Kael answered.
“Where were you summoned?”
“Drakthar Kingdom.”
The instant he said those words, Lavinia narrowed her eyes suspiciously.
“You were summoned in Drakthar?”
“That is correct.”
Kael nodded.
“Then why are you here?”
“To save you.”
“Why?”
“How many times do I have to say it? I needed you as an ally.”
“Why would you want a corrupted Princess as an ally?”
“Are you corrupted?”
Kael questioned directly.
“That is what everyone believes.”
Lavinia answered.
“I am asking you, Lavinia Dragonborn.
Are you corrupted?”
“I am not.”
“This is why I am here.”
“How do you know I am not corrupted?”
“You have a lot of questions, don’t you?”
“If you were in my position, you would too. For all I know, you might even be making up the story of being a Hero to fool me.”
Lavinia spoke up, still suspicious.
“And why would I want to fool you? You are a corrupted Princess. Even mentioning your name is a taboo in the Drakthar Kingdom. Being associated with you can only harm me.”
“Yet you are still here.”
“…Well, you are right about that. It does seem strange, I agree.”
Kael gave in.
“…”
Lavinia didn’t say anything, she just waited for Kael to explain, so he did.
“I saw a vision.”
“A vision?”
Lavinia frowned.
Kael paused for a moment, as if collecting his thoughts. Then, he began,
“Even before I came to this world…”
The story about how he saw the dream and then the dream turned into much more realistic visions began. Kael told Lavinia about different visions he had seen till now, and as the story ended, Lavinia raised her eyebrow,
“So you… came here because you saw a vision…?”
“What else could I do?”
“Not come here?”
“And let you rot in this place?”
“…”
Lavinia turned silent.
“Lavinia, the things I saw in the vision did happen. The vision showed me the slave building you were in, and the entire place was exactly like the one I saw in the vision. It also increased my strength and…”
Kael looked into Lavinia’s eyes and,
“It showed me the King’s true face.
Do you still think I can doubt the visions?”
Lavinia stared at Kael in silence, then, she spoke in a low voice,
“It all just… feels too convenient for me.
Too good to be true.”
“Holy hell, you are paranoid as fuck.”
Kael cursed. However, before he could say anything else to explain himself,
“I will follow you.”
Lavinia spoke up.
“Huh?”
Kael blinked.
That came out randomly.
Didn’t she say all of this feels too good to be true?
“Do not be mistaken. I still do not trust you.
I just have… nothing else to lose.”
The woman lowered her head.
She couldn’t lose any more than what she already had, so following the man who rescued her was the only choice she had.
“…”
Seeing her near broken state, Kael stayed silent. The woman had been through a lot, and there was nothing he could say that would help her.
So instead, he decided to skip the topic and jump to the good part.
“Would you like to bathe first, or should I order food? I’ll also order extra for your Bonds. You have been trapped for three years. They must be trapped inside your Sanctuary and hungry. Why don’t you call them out and meet them?”
Kael suggested, but the moment he said those words, he realized that the air around Lavinia had changed.
For the first time, she was showing a reaction.
Grief…
Hatred…
Anger…
The emotions her face was reflecting were so clear that it was overwhelming. Even her body started trembling. She tried to control it but failed miserably.
Kael’s expression darkened.
‘Father…’
Suddenly, Igni called out.
‘The Elementals around her…
They are angry.
They…
They want revenge.’
Even Igni himself seemed surprised by those words. After all, Elementals were said to be the purest entities in the world. They were thought to be incapable of having any negative emotions. The feeling of wanting revenge should be foreign to them…
But then…
Why were they being like this right now…?
“He… he killed them.”
Lavinia spoke up, her voice cracking more than once.
“What…?”
Kael’s eyes widened in horror.