SON OF THE HERO KING

The silence was deafening. Now alone in the room with the king, the crown prince did not know where to look. So he simply chose to keep his head pointed down.

Because of the culture in Greed Dike, children and parents were generally very restrained in their feelings of affection for one another. It was a highly toxic culture, no doubt. A culture that the king had been trying to change but his efforts had been futile.

Now, even his relationship with his son had become estranged.

The Supreme Daughter did not make them wait long. She had already guessed that she might be called when she heard the harrowing news of the fallen dwarves and did her due diligence.

“Your Majesty. Your Highness.” She greeted them with a light smile and took a seat opposite the king of Greed Dike. As a supreme daughter, she was in no way inferior to the king in authority alone. However, now did not seem like the right time for the supreme daughter to flaunt her authority.

“Your Holiness, I will not waste your time with futility in such a grave moment. Do you know of the situation?” The king promptly asked, his voice grave

“I was and I made my own judgment on the matter. The deaths were unnatural. Someone twisted the laws of Time and Fate simultaneously, bringing forward the Destined Death of the victim to the present. This way of killing is unprecedented. Not even a full-fledged demigod should be able to do something of this caliber.”

The crown prince groaned out loud, eliciting a side-long gaze from the supreme daughter. But when the king proceeded to explain the common factors between all the victims, she couldn’t help but sigh.

“I am not one to believe in coincidence. Fate is a very fickle thing and as a Blessed, we need to always think of it as a force that can go against us at any moment. There is no proof, no way to know when, but I am willing to bet that the culprit is related to Theresa.” Her words were clear. Inwardly, she also decided to cut all links she had with the crown prince and wash herself clean.

“For one, as long as we, Blessed, are not reaching the end of our grace, we are the Darling of Fate. Whoever made this move must have decided that it was not worth risking a backlash from Fate just for you. Or perhaps that individual wishes for you to live in fear. There are many possible reasons for the individual to choose not to harm you. How could I guess the thoughts of such a powerful individual?”

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What she was sure of though was that the crown prince was now nothing but a dead man walking. Theresa was an extremely vindictive woman. She never forgot, and definitely never forgave.

She might also be in danger, but she had long since prepared for a countermeasure. By now, a messenger of hers should have reached Lustburg with a letter to explain the plans of the crown prince and warn Theresa.

She didn’t anticipate the situation to turn so grave so fast, but it was better than doing nothing at all. All she had to do now was to promise a few gold mines as an apology and make some concessions.

The king observed everything with a keen eye. He was far more informed than many could even wager a guess. After all, he had a direct means of communication with Theresa.

He knew who the killer was.

He knew his son had thrown his lot behind the angels.

He even knew about the traitors who joined Chaos.

But he would say nothing.

He was weak. He did not have the might, nor the ambitions, so many other kings seemed to be bestowed with.

This era was an era of great upheaval. Heroes would be born and the landscape was destined to change. In such an era filled with the dangers in all corners, the only way for him to actually protect his kingdom was to keep it divided.

He would bet on Lustburg.

His son would be on the side of the angels.

Others would bet on Chaos.

At the end of this long ordeal, the loser would definitely be wiped out, and he was ready to die as well if he made the wrong bet. But… at the very least, the dwarven race as a whole would survive, no matter who the victor was.

After a few more minutes of discussion about how they should handle the situation and what they should do about the dead dwarves and other related matters, the king now found himself alone in the room.

“I am tired.” He sighed, his body sagging against his throne and his brows furrowing heavily. The last few months have been more stressful for him than all the years before this combined.

Everything started that night when the witches fought near the border of Greed Dike. From that day on, events more astonishing than the prior kept happening and now here they were, at the cusp of what could be a world war.

What choice should he make as a King?

Was it truly possible to continue walking on such a tightrope? Should he decisively cut down his son now and all the traitors and bet everything on Sol, or would it be wiser to bet on the angels?

He groaned to himself. He might not have powers related to Fate, but he knew that he was at a crossroads, and he needed to make a choice.

He had been able to stall until now, but things were rapidly coming to a close. He needed to decide by the time the four months were up.

Whether he would continue like this or go all in.