Kael’s expression changed as he saw Lavinia kneeling next to a body. He rushed closer, his advanced senses picking up small sobs.
Crying.
And he recognised it in an instant—
It was Lavinia.
She was crying.
The voice made his heart ache.
He looked at her, her shoulders were shaking, tears were running down her face.
"Lavinia!"
He called as he landed on the snow.
"Kael..."
Lavinia looked up. Kael looked at her red eyes and his body froze for the slightest second.
"What happened?"
He asked as he looked at Edric lying on the snow with a pale body. There were no clear injuries on him, though Kael could see sliced clothes, which meant injuries had been there.
He looked at Eira, who was standing right next to Edric, giving all her attention to him and Kael realised it.
Eira must have healed him.
Though...
It didn’t seem like he was healed.
He couldn’t see any injuries on his body, but seeing Lavinia’s state, it was clear something was wrong. He looked at Eira, Igni and the others, they were all standing with solemn looks on their faces, even Vitaria wasn’t making any jokes like she usually did.
Something was definitely wrong.
He turned towards his children and—
"What happened?"
He questioned again, this time in a stricter tone.
"He won’t survive."
Igni spoke in a solemn tone.
"...huh?"
Kael frowned.
He glanced at Eira and—
"Can you not heal him?"
He asked.
He had seen Eira heal even the worst injuries, honestly, the Prince looked healthy compared to what he had seen.
But Eira shook her head.
"It isn’t that simple, Father."
Igni shook his head as well.
"This isn’t about injuries. It is about Life Force."
"...life force?"
Kael’s frown deepened.
"...you are finally here."
That was when Prince Edric spoke up. His voice was terribly weak. As Kael stared at him, at the man he had been doubting all this while, at the man he thought was one of the enemies, he couldn’t help but feel complicated.
All this while, he thought Lavinia did not have any feelings left for her family members, which he completely understood considering what she had been through, but seeing the state she was in when she saw her brother, it changed Kael’s perspective.
’Is this what it means to be a family?’
He wondered inwardly.
He himself wouldn’t know the answer, after all, the only family he had were Lavinia and his children.
"...you have created... quite an army of Bonds...
They are... quite skilled..."
The Prince’s words brought Kael out of his reverie. He stared at the Prince, then he noted Lavinia’s state and finally—
He made a decision.
"Eira, try to heal him again."
He ordered.
"...stop it."
Edric shook his head.
"You stop speaking."
Kael ordered but Edric—
"No."
He looked at Kael with a serious look and—
"You stop speaking and listen to me. I don’t have a lot of time."
"You will have plenty of thou—"
"Father."
Igni interrupted and stared at his father with a meaningful look on his face. Then, he pointed at Edric lying on the snow and nodded.
Kael understood what the Dragon was trying to say.
’He is right, you must listen to him.’
"What happened?"
He asked.
"It is the King."
Edric spoke up.
"What do you mean?"
Kael narrowed his eyes.
"The Alliance... is not failing because of politics."
The Prince began.
He already knew Kael was in contact with the Stormholds, so he must know about the current situation, even if he did not—
With the limited time the Prince had, he decided to reveal everything he knew to Kael and trusted Kael to make sense of it all later.
Not to mention his sister was with him, she would be able to connect the dots even if she didn’t know what Alliance he was talking about.
"The Alliance is failing because the King is sabotaging it from the inside."
Kael narrowed his eyes at those words, the Prince continued in a weak voice.
"All this while, he has been pretending to be against corruption, but in secret, he is working together with Xenthalor. He is purposefully buying time for them so they can continue their research further.
He is... not an ally."
Edric spoke with difficulty, he could feel his body shutting down.
"...how do you know that?"
Kael asked.
"I have been... investigating."
He spoke in a weak voice.
"When Father declared Lavinia was corrupted, I instantly knew that wasn’t true. I knew my sister, I knew how much she loved everyone around her, she couldn’t even bear to see her attendants’ pain.
How can a girl, who, at the age of eight, cried when one of her maids cut her finger while cutting fruits for her and did everything in her power to clot her injury, willingly hurt the Bonds she cherished so much?
It was bogus.
I knew that.
I even visited Father and demanded to see the proof. I wanted to use the Verdant Omen, but I was told that she attacked him, so he was forced to kill her Bonds.
That was another lie and I knew it.
Lavinia would never hurt Father.
I knew that.
I also knew Father was lying.
What I did not know was...
Why?
Why would a man who loved his daughter more than anything suddenly turn against her? He was the same man who had bent multiple rules for his daughter’s sake.
How could he possibly exile her so coldly? Why refuse every appeal? Why did he remain silent every time I asked about it?
And as I looked deeper—
I realised it."
Edric spoke, his hatred couldn’t be more apparent. Even when his body was in the condition it was in, he clenched his fists in anger and frustration.
The Prince, however, also knew he had little time left, so he did not waste time—
He continued—
"It was all a pretence."
"A pretence...?"
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