Chapter 289 Volume V - Chapter 7: Reponsibility of Cevilians
It gets on my nerves... It gets on my nerves a lot...
This damn thing, no... things are getting on my nerves. I feel like everything that happens in a row seems like it's there specifically to make my life more difficult.
But I don't have a choice... and sometimes that makes it even more frustrating.
Yes, knowing that it's my duty at least eases that feeling a little. Especially knowing that the future of my kingdom is in my hands, knowing that after what Aiden has shown me, there is so much more I need to do, helps me to focus on my work.
Even if I find it hard to accept it... somehow, I do it, but... what should I do now?
This is no longer just about me, nor about Cevilian... the kingdom that I will rule in the future as the crown prince.
"Saligia, wiera, the gift... This is a terrorist organization, apparently a large-scale one. We must take this seriously and act quickly, these men are not a simple threat."
The Queen of Piarlin looked everyone in the room straight in the eye, her sunken green eyes betraying her lack of sleep and recent difficulties. Her hair, in shades of pink and gray, was not as vibrant and lush as it appeared in her past photographs. It was easy to see that she had been very tired lately, both physically and mentally.
Even for a moment, no one spoke. An intense silence enveloped everyone and I couldn't help holding my breath.
I was nervous, for the first time in my life I was so nervous. After all, in front of me were the leaders of every country on Lunerra. Except for at least two of them.
These two countries were the South Holar Republic and Akael. One was almost on the brink of collapse, constantly negotiating to unite with the country that defeated it. The other... was just so powerful that they didn't care about what was happening in Lunerra. They were ignoring even this incident.
"The speed at which the gates are opening has increased dramatically. There are not as many instant breaks as there were in the first few minutes, but there are still a lot of them, and even if they have started to diminish, almost all of Lunerra is covered with dungeons at this point. It is impossible to clear them all quickly... We will fall behind, most of the dungeons will break just as they did eighty years ago, and all of Lunerra will collapse again."
The President of the Synath Federation, also a hannya, spoke the truth again. With his graying black hair, eyes of the same color, slightly pale skin, and short horns on either side of his head, he truly resembled a demon. Add to that his well-built body and he really did look like a villain from a fairy tale.
"What do the seers say?"
At the words of Houdhin Gargel, President of the North Holar, all eyes suddenly turned in my direction. More precisely, to the person standing on my left diagonal... my father.
My father, also the current king of the Cevilian Kingdom, sighed deeply as his illness and his body made it impossible for him to even stand.
There wasn't a single spot in his hair that wasn't grey. The wrinkles on his face were so many that I felt I was looking at a man in the last stages of his life. Even his eyes, normally a vibrant shade of green, were pale.
He was only in his fifties. The average age of all human beings was in the nineties and hundreds, yet he looked like this at fifty. He was showing the world the absolute fate of the entire Cevilian Family.
He opened his mouth slowly. Although he hesitated for a moment because of his weak body, he continued in a weak voice.
"They say catastrophes are coming."
A deep silence once again enveloped everyone's bodies. But it did not take long for it to be broken.
"Catastrophes... So, what should we do to prevent them?"
My father narrowed his eyes and shook his head from side to side.
"Nothing. We can do nothing. At least according to them... Because we are not the ones who can prevent these catastrophes in the first place."
"What do you mean-"
My father didn't let him continue.
"A new prophecy has been revealed. The dark flame we talked about a few months ago, now a poem about what happens and what will happen in the future. The two seers both heard it whispered to them in their dreams."
He took a deep breath without letting anyone else speak, his discolored eyes briefly taking in everyone one by one. He continued, accompanied by the atmosphere he had made tense with his own hands.
"The time of impending doom draws near,
Catastrophes loom, and the end seems clear.
No one but six can halt the relentless plight,
Only slow its march, against endless night.
Six alone bear the world's desperate plea,
To avert the abyss, to set mankind free.
The First, in silver's glow, purity's embrace,
Strength and virtue, in this soul's grace.
The Second, a crafted weapon, beauty's bloom,
Amidst destruction, elegance in gloom.
The Third, a gray light, peering into reality's core,
Master of the present, and future, rewriting lore.
The Fourth, a demigod, keeper of all worldly knowledge amassed,
Yet devoid of power, wisdom's price firmly clasped.
The Fifth, akin to death, yet a bearer of the rainbow's grace,
Controls over its hues, in this perilous chase.
The Last, outcast, disavowed, the world's oddity,
Binding the five together, a fateful commodity.
Among them, the last holds the ultimate key,
Preventing destruction, or letting it be."
With the end of the poem, or rather the prophecy, some faces turned sour, others contemplative. There were other reactions, of course.
It was understandable. After all, this was one of the first 'big' prophecies to emerge in years. It spoke directly to the fate of the world.
"The prophecy speaks of six people. Our primary goal must be to find them."
When Houdhin Gargel broke the silence with his words, a heated discussion broke out again among the leaders of Lunerra.
Again, a different idea was coming out of each mouth. They were evaluating all these ideas, trying to decide what the best approach would be.
But all the while, my father, Henry Cevilian, just watched from a distance, not getting involved in the discussion. While everyone was still arguing, after making sure that no one could hear him, he slowly turned his head toward me.
In his discolored eyes, there was a glimpse of something akin to sadness.
"I'm sorry, Lucas."
I knew what he was talking about, so my response was quick.
"You have nothing to apologize for, Father."
"No, there's even more than you realize..."
He took a deep breath in and out. His expression twitched for a moment, even as he did so, but he ignored it and continued.
"Let alone being a bad father... I was a bad ruler, Lucas. I was forced to sit on the throne of this kingdom when I wasn't even heir, and I didn't have the chance to refuse because I knew I had a responsibility. And now... I leave you a kingdom even more decadent than it was thirty years ago."
Indeed, he was. As the youngest of the three princes of his time, he had never coveted the throne. But when both his older brothers had died in the drama thirty years earlier, he had inherited the throne. Although he did his best, he was not a ruler. Maybe that's why he worked harder than anyone else, but he still didn't achieve much.
Everyone spoke of him as the worst king of Cevilian, but he still tried. But... these were things I already knew.
More importantly... we'd had this exact conversation before. More than once.
I stared at the fragile figure of my father.
When I was a child, he was a man with an upright posture. He was strong, he looked young for his age. Yes, he couldn't have cared much for me because he was a king, but he was my role model.
Now he was like... a literal walking dead. He had aged and declined even faster than the humans before Lunerra's awakening. Just like all members of the Cevilian royal family.
But... despite this, he persevered. Even though he was walking toward his grave in front of everyone's eyes.
And I was the cause of it.
"I have to leave it in your hands, even if I don't want to, to turn this kingdom back into what it once was, maybe even better. I'm sorry... especially for making you heir to the throne at such a complicated time in Lunerra, when you, like me, had no eyes on the throne."
I narrowed my eyes and took a deep breath.
He was trying even harder than he should have because of me. He didn't want me to take the throne so soon, he wanted me to gain more experience and see more things. That's why he was still persistent, even on the brink of death.
With these thoughts in mind, I attempted to give him my usual answer... just like the times he had already forgotten. But then, I paused.
The previous times we had this conversation... I had always given him only one answer.
I was angry with him, angry that he thought this way, that he was giving me a hard time, that he was not a good father, because... he deserved so much better. He may not have been a good king or a good father, but I wanted to reject what he said because I knew there was a reason for it all.
And so far, I had done so.
But... now, when I think about it now and again... I realized that I was wrong.
Responsibility...
Ah, responsibility...
I don't know why, a smile appeared on my face. I don't know how many times we had this conversation... but for the first time, I realized that there might actually be a purpose to it.
Was he waiting for me to give the right answer? Was he deliberately forgetting our previous conversations... not because of his old age?
Okay... so be it.
I'll accept it. I'll accept my responsibility, his responsibility, for real this time.
"Just as you felt a responsibility when you took the throne, so do I."
Yes, most things are frustrating.
Yes, I really have a lot of things to fix when I take over from my father.
Yes... I don't really want to be the heir or anything.
But none of these excuses and many more are reasons to throw away the burden I have to shoulder. I may not want to deal with it... but I cannot shirk my responsibilities when the future of this kingdom, and the future of its citizens, depends on me.
I already knew that, perhaps not fully, but I accepted it.
But... did he want me to 'understand' and accept it as such, rather than to know it?
Maybe...
"After all, we are Cevilian, a royal family. The lives of millions of people hang on a thread we have strung. So... you don't have to worry."
I caught a glimpse of a sparkle in my father's pale eyes, his lips curled up slightly, a look of relief on his face. For the first time in a long time, he seemed to feel that the burden on his shoulders was a little lighter.
This was indeed the answer he was looking for.
"Thank you, son. I... thank you. I hope you don't make the same mistakes I did..."
In this way, we both refocused on the meeting ahead. After all, we were dealing with a matter that concerned the whole of Lunerra, so we listened for hours, interjecting when necessary.
Many decisions were made. Some of them had little impact on Lunerra, while others were important decisions that affected every living being on this planet.
In the end, however, this meeting came to an end. The date was set for the announcement of the decisions to all of Lunerra and the meeting was adjourned until the next session.
The next day... another organization, which no one knew existed, showed itself. Not openly, as Saligia had done, but only to the leaders of Lunerra. Not with a purple light in their eyes like they did, but with a blue radiance that felt comforting.
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