Chapter 58
After a few minutes of dealing with Hyron’s loud chatter while repeating complicated thoughts, Hyron, who was walking ahead, stopped abruptly.
“We're here. It's my room.”
An arched doorway with thick tree roots tangled in a tight knot. Hyron ran his hand over it, and the knot in the thick roots loosened, soon leaving a gap large enough for a man to pass through.
There was no throne anywhere. No ornate decorations, no fine art, no polite courtiers.
Hyron's room was literally a room.
A double bed, a large window with a view of the forest, and a bookshelf filled one side of the wall. Except for the huge crystal ball that openly occupied the center, it was a common interior that could be seen everywhere.
For someone who was expecting a fancy interior, the simplicity was enough to make Cadel disappointed. Sure, there was a lot of care put into each piece of furniture, but it still didn't live up to his expectations.
“I wonder what you want to say to me.”
Cadel sat down in the chair next to the crystal ball. Hyron leaned against the window and stared at Cadel, while Lydon was fiddling with the crystal ball and trying to appeal that he had no intention of interfering in the conversation.
‘Now that I've said it, I realize that…….’
What should he say? Please give me your son? From now on, your son is my knight? Whatever it was, it wasn't pleasant for either the listener or the speaker.
‘What if he suddenly gets angry and tries to attack?’
It was unknown whether Lydon could stop him. First of all, Hyron was the king, and Lydon was merely his heir.
Looking at Cadel, who was carefully choosing his words, Hyron smiled softly.
“Are you going to be my son's Prince Charming? Cadel.”
“Pardon……? No, that's not it…….”
“Lydon looks like he's expecting something.”
Reflexively, he glanced back at Lydon, but he was still rubbing the crystal ball. Cadel cleared his throat, his conscience pricked for no reason.
Hyron seemed to have a rough idea of why he came here. Then it was easier to bring it up.
And just as he was about to open his mouth to say it.
“I can give Cadel permission to stay in the forest. The elders may be against it, but first of all, I am the king. I can be stubborn like that.”
The last thing Cadel expected to hear was uttered. Staying in the forest? It was the exact opposite of what he wanted.
No matter how shrewd he was, hadn't he thought of Cadel’s plan to get his son out of the forest? Cadel looked at Hyron again, feeling his confidence plummet.
And.
‘Ah…….’
The moment Hyron's dark red eyes met his, he could realize.
Hyron did not misunderstand their intentions. He had already figured it out. The fact that Cadel was trying to steal Lydon, and that Lydon wanted it.
Hyron was giving Cadel a chance. That he could only give Cadel this much, so Cadel should make a choice worth it.
“You don't have to. If I wanted to stay in the forest in the first place, I wouldn't have cut off the fairy wings or burned the forest.”
But he came with a clear purpose that could not be bent. He didn't want to have a negotiation where he called 200 and they called 190, then he called 180 and they called 150 to find an appropriate compromise.
What Cadel was trying to do was to make a full declaration. It was a persuasion close to a declaration that Cadel would take Lydon and Hyron would let Lydon go willingly.
“Please allow me. I want to get out of this forest with Lydon, Lord Hyron.”
“Umm……. I expected it, but it's hard to hear it in person.”
Smiling bitterly, Hyron cast his gaze out the window. The soft outline of his exposed side profile stood out in the setting sun.
“Maybe a week or so? That's enough time for Lydon to bask in the joy of deviation.”
“It's not enough.”
“A month?”
“It's not enough. I have no intention of becoming a tour guide for Lydon. I want to be his comrade.”
“Is that so…….”
There was something sad about Hyron's voice in response, so Cadel felt strangely diminished in combat power. Even if he wanted to keep his head straight, how should he say it……. He felt like he was taking something precious away from a creature weaker than him.
It was ridiculous. Such sentimentality in the presence of the Fairy King.
“My son, he can't be anyone's comrade. No one's friend, no one's lover. He can't be a special being for one person.”
“Is it because he is the only heir carrying the fate of his race?”
“Haha…….”
A weak laugh bounced off the transparent window, muffled. Cadel stared at Hyron, then blurted out the question he'd been asking all along.
“What is the value of this forest?”
A land granted only to fairies, especially the Pinhai Tribe. No one was allowed to enter, and those who did would be ruthlessly eliminated.
As far as Cadel knew, the seal that appeared as soon as the heir left the forest was given directly by the current king the moment he was born. It was to tie the fate of the beloved bloodline with his own hands.
Why did he have to go that far? What was the meaning of this forest?
Hyron smiled at the abrupt question. He rubbed his eyes lightly as if in trouble, and soon opened his mouth slowly.
“What would Cadel do if there was a land that granted powers only to one race, and that race could become stronger just by standing and breathing on it?”
“……If possible, I would like to live in that land.”
“But then you realize you're not of that chosen race. What do you think happens then?”
What did he think? He thought he would hold his stomach in envy, and then he would resign himself to what he couldn't change. And that was what happened in the real world.
As Cadel thought that, he looked at Hyron, raising his hand to the window with a wistful expression.
“Envy is jealousy. Jealousy is envy. Envy turns to resentment. The more you yearn for the power you cannot have, the greater your resentment toward those who have it. As a result, the forest fell again and again. It was the price of dreaming of harmony. Cadel. Believe it or not, but know this.”
“…….”
“You humans are the ones who created the current closed forest. The value of this forest lies in the survival of its people, itself. If not here, we have nowhere else to run. So, more firmly, more stubbornly, we cultivate and strengthen this power that contains the power of Pinhai.”
Hyron slowly lowered his eyes. A wistful voice drifted through the silent room.
“Because I want to live. There is no other reason.”
“Lord Hyron, I’m―”
“The freedom of one cannot be traded for the lives of all. Before I am a father, I am the King of the Fairy Tribe. Can you understand my feelings of having to sacrifice my beloved son?”
“I…….”
“Cadel. Please give up Lydon.”
A voice that was neither loud nor powerful. Cadel was left speechless.
He felt like his brain had stopped working. Before coming here, he had imagined various situations while making various plans.
Nowhere in his imagination was this reality. The Fairy King's fragile appearance, his words as delicate as his appearance, the bitter air surrounding him.
‘……I can’t do it.’
For the first time since transmigrated, Cadel had such a thought.
He couldn't. He couldn’t convince this fairy. This fairy was the one who confined himself to a small piece of land and lived for his people all his life. Even though he knew how painful the loneliness that life would bring, he was determined to enslave his beloved son in that eternal chain.
To live. It was all for the sake of living.
If he took Lydon away, the heir to the throne would disappear. What that meant, Cadel already knew.
‘I'm the only heir to the power of the Great Spirit Pinhai, Cadel. If I don't become king…… the power to protect this forest will cease to exist.’
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