The Crown Prince In Hiding

Arriving at the shores of Artheris.

Rafinya pulled off her brown cloak and followed Dan Burn back onto the land of civilization once more.

A place where life had order. Where things made sense.

Casca had not yet followed — she had stayed behind to return the boat.

Which left the two of them walking home together, just the two of them again.

Rafinya looked back across the water toward the other shore.

After everything she had come back from in Tampa — after all those sights, that grotesque society with no road back from what it had become —

Something inside Rafinya had begun to change.

Dan seemed to read it. He spoke.

"The world always holds things you never see coming."

"Will I have to face things like this... forever, Mr. Fury?"

"Or worse."

"!"

"Casca has far more human experience than I do. It would serve you well to ask her — though it depends on..."

"Whether she would be willing to talk?"

"She thinks you're too young for this."

"Then why don't you think so...?"

Dan was quiet for a moment.

"Because I believe you can handle it."

Rafinya's eyes slowly widened.

"It's nothing more than that. Nothing complicated."

The two of them walked in step from the dock into the heart of the city.

"Look around you and learn to appreciate the land you live on."

Rafinya did as he said and looked around.

People dressed well. Shops lining both sides of the street. Officers walking their rounds. Clean roads. Children running and playing with nothing but innocent intent in their hearts.

Her perspective had shifted entirely.

A feeling rose in her — safety.

A feeling of... belonging here.

"As I once told Nora — when your perspective grows wider, when your eyes and ears open further, you begin to see many things. And then you realize just how fortunate you truly are."

Yes. That was exactly it.

"Does the world truly need places like Tampa to exist... Mr. Fury?"

"It does."

He answered without a moment's hesitation, turning to face her.

"If there were no ugliness, you would never know beauty. If there were no fools, you would never know wisdom. If there were no death, you would never know the value of life."

Evil was necessary. The world must always have it somewhere on this earth — just as it must always have what is good.

"It comes down to you."

He pointed at Rafinya.

"Where you choose to place yourself. Whether you fight to claim your place — or whether you seize what is good and push the suffering onto someone else."

"Can we really do that second thing... Mr. Fury...?"

"Your life belongs to you. You have every right to do as you will."

But—

"You must bear the consequences of your own choices."

This was a fundamental truth every general understood well.

"...Which do you normally do?"

"Both."

Dan answered simply.

"There are no fixed rules. Everything depends on the situation and on who is standing on the other side."

But there is one thing I can say without question—

"I will never allow my own country to become what Tampa is. Not under any circumstance. You get blood on your hands but your home stays clean. This is how it works. Someone must do it. This is survival. Welcome to the machine Rafinya."

He placed a hand briefly on the young knight-cadet's back.

"Keep your head high. Go home and sit with it."

" Thank you... Mr.Fury"

"Get home safely."

Dan gave a small nod and raised his hand in farewell. Then the two of them parted, each going their separate way.

After leaving Rafinya behind, the scene shifted to Prince Fury — back at camp, sweeping fallen leaves from the ground. He had returned home alone, and not long after setting down his bag, he had gone straight to tending the household.

Even so, the next train of thought that moved through his mind was the Shadows.

By now, word had likely reached Diablo — and more specifically, his younger sister.

Ten years was enough time for them to have multiplied. But it shouldn't have been enough to restore their strength — the high-ranking ones had been wiped out entirely.

The survivors should be mid and low level... but then again, one could never be certain.

Time passed.

Casca returned.

Dan, hanging the last load of laundry out to dry, turned toward the sound of his wife's arrival.

"Today really did go by quickly."

"Come to think of it, summer's already starting."

"That explains why it's gotten warmer."

Dan nodded.

"Casca are you free?"

"I'm right here, aren't I?"

"I sent Freya with Benfiga. They won't be back for quite a while."

"And?"

"Do you remember what we agreed that we wanted time to ourselves?"

A " ! " appeared on Casca's face.

"Don't tell me..."

"I'd say this is one of those rare moments when we could finally..."

Dan turned to her.

"Go on a date?"

"And how on earth is a lady supposed to refuse an offer like that, my lord?"

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!