Chapter 39: The Zalasar's POV
[King Thenerras]
(Leonora) then I leave, it is a pleasure to have been able to have this conversation.
(King) don't forget your promises.
(Leonora) I won't.
That girl who called herself Leonora, went out the window and disappeared into the darkness of the night.
I do not know if I can trust her, from the little that I could notice her actions, she could cause greater damage to the kingdom or the entire world, than Eris would ever have done, but I am still a man before a King, and the gift that she has left me is more valuable than my entire kingdom, I just hope I was not wrong.
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I got up quickly from my chair and went to the hall, she said I had two hours, I just hope they are enough.
The corridor was completely empty, so I walked a bit to find someone, soon after I heard voices of people arguing.
(Woman) how many times have I told you to be more careful !! ??
(Girl) I'm so sorry, it won't happen again.
Upon arrival I could see how a servant was scolding a younger one, in the scene there was a broken vase on the floor, it was obvious what had happened.
I was not able to recognize the young maid, that squeezed my heart, I was always proud to know the names of everyone who works in the castle, but the scene helped me to recognize the older maid.
A memory came to me, in which there was a young maid with short brown hair named Lucia that was being scolded by the chief servant of the castle, a fearsome woman named Dorothea, it seems that she had dropped some plates.
(Dorothea) how many times have I told you to be more careful !! ??
(Lucía) I'm very sorry, it won't happen again.
In the memory I approached them and intervened.
(King) Lady Dorothea, don't be so strict with the girl, at this rate she will end up resigning like the others.
(Dorothea) my king, she has to learn, and you too should stop being so forgiving of everyone, if I don't have a heavy hand, the castle would fall apart.
Dorothea turned around and continued with her duties, Lucia for her part kept her head lowered, as she gathered the pieces of the broken dishes.
(King) head high girl, what would your father say if he saw you like this?
(Lucia) my king, did you know my father?
(King) of course little one, Count Wilskins, a great soldier, a better person, left as the great ones leave, protecting his own.
(Lucia) then you remember him? That makes me happy, I thought that people had forgotten my family.
(Rey) The Wilkins are a family with a great responsibility, they have taken care of the southern border of the kingdom for generations, that people can sleep peacefully is thanks to them, believe me when I tell you, your family's work will never be forgotten.
Now as a superimposed image, that 17-year-old girl has become a woman of about 30, reminding me of the years that I have lost.
I approached them and spoke to them.
(Rey) you shouldn't be so hard on her Lucia, when you first arrived, you also dropped things.
(Lucia) my King, you... You... Remind me...
Tears began to fall from her eyes that I hasten to wipe with a handkerchief.
(King) just look at you, you were just a girl when you arrived, you've grown a lot.
Lucia wanted to speak, but her tears would not leave her, although it is sad, I have little time, and I cannot spend more time with her.
(Rey) Lucia, I want to see my children, bring them before me.
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[Maxwell]
It seems that everything he told me was true, indeed, he was being modest.
In recent days I have been reviewing everything related to the Lazaruz company, between the inventions, the workshops, and the affiliated companies. It's creating a true revolution, the people who benefit from it are reaching the thousands.
But while the people benefit, there are many nobles whose businesses are affected.
While there are more plantations that use the new cultivation system, there is more and cheaper food, but at the same time, the old plantations that used the magic system have become unsustainable.
As long as there are inventions like the printing press, which makes it possible to make dozens of books in a day, why use magicians? Which are more expensive and slower.
As long as the Lazaruz company exists, which continues to provide stable and well-paid jobs. Why would people want to be exploited by some egomaniacal nobleman who pays them a pittance for long working hours?
The Lazaruz, even though they are a foreign family, have brought great prosperity to the most unfortunate of the kingdom.
And I, for my part, am ashamed of having worried because a couple of nobles stopped winning the thousands of lilies that they were used to.
But all this makes me wonder, how did things end this way? Why is there such inequality? I didn't even had to search that far, how could I not have noticed before? Or was I the only one who didn't noticed?
Something simply doesn't make sense, tomorrow I will go talk to the Marchioness Johansen, if there is anyone who can know what is happening it's her.
It was then that loud knocks sounded at the door.
I had asked to be left alone and didn't know who might be calling so insistently, but the voice on the other end said something that puzzled me.
(Woman) my lord, answer quickly, it is your father, the king ....
Something had happened to my father, that's why I got up running from the chair and went to open the door.
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[Bruno]
I was in the courtyard of the castle training alone, it was already dark, and I knew that no one would bother me.
The night was silent, and for a while I only hear the blows of my sword on the training doll and my own breathing.
I completed a series and I got ready to rest for a moment, it was then that I noticed that there was a small scandal coming from the castle.
I'm just a bastard, they let me be there, but from everyone's gaze, I know very well that I'm not loved, that's why I ignored it and continued practicing.
But in the distance I heard a voice calling me.
A maid came running before me, she looked very tired and it took her a minute to catch her breath before speaking.
(Maid) young Bruno, I finally find you. Please, you have to accompany me.
(Bruno) what happens? Why are they looking for me?
(Maid) is her father, the king wishes to see him.
(Bruno) What does that senile old man want now? Is he challenging me to a duel again? Or now he thinks I'm a conspirator who wants to assassinate him?
(Maid) I don't know, they ordered me to look for you and bring you to him, everyone in the castle has made a big scandal, I don't understand what is happening, but it seems that the king wants to see his children.
(Bruno) I'm not interested in what that old man wants, say you couldn't find me or something similar.
I turned my back on her and started to train again, when I felt a little extra weight, when I realized it, the maid had hung on my arm and had accidentally dragged her, even though she should be several years older than she was a slim girl of only 1.50 at most, and despite my 13 years, I had already exceeded 1.70.
(Maid) please come with me, I was very insistently ordered to find it.
(Bruno) I already told you, I don't want to know anything, now let me go.
I wanted to make her let go of me but it only made her hold on tighter.
(Maid) no, I'm not going to let you go until you come with me, I've already made a lot of mistakes this week, and if I continue like this, they will fire me.
(Bruno) I don't care, let me go.
(Maid) no !!!
(Bruno) let me go !!!
(Maid) no !!!!
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[Maxwell]
The oldest servant of the house, an elderly woman named Dorothea, accompanied me to my father's room, that woman despite her advanced age walked at a fast pace, at times I almost had to run to keep up with her.
(Maxwell) I don't understand, his memory has returned? But how?
(Dorothea) I don't know my lord, but the king has ordered me to brought you before him, and that this fact remain as hidden as possible.
On the way to my father's bedroom, there were many people practically running in circles in general chaos reigned, I get the impression that the order to keep the secret has not been carried out to the letter.
(Maxwell) this is unheard of, if my father is cured you have to first invoke the Johansens and the rest of the council, I don't see why my father wanted to see me.
(Dorothea) no !!! The king was very insistent that the Marchioness Johansen doesn't need to find out about his situation, and to make it take as long as possible.
(Maxwell) I don't understand you, she's his trusted advisor, why does he not want to talk to her?
(Dorothea) I do not know, but for our luck, the Marchioness passed by the castle earlier, she called the castle magicians to cure her youngest son.
Younger son? I mentally went through my list of faces and names until I came up with a result.
(Maxwell) did something happen to Johan?
(Dorothea) from what I heard from the magicians when she left, it seems that nothing, but the Marchioness is convinced that her son requires attention, she forced the magicians to spend all their mana on healing spells, but she didn't seemed satisfied.
(Maxwell) had heard rumors that the Marchioness might be a bit ... overprotective, but until now he hadn't believed them.
Finally we reached the great door of my father's room, I have been here very rarely, and I could not help but get nervous, I put my hand to the door and when I was about to open it, the maid Dorothea stopped me.
(Dorothea) wait my lord, your father has ordered that he wants the two of you to enter together, you and your brother.
(Maxwell) Bruno? But what has he to do with all this?
(Dorothea) I have already told you my lord, but I do not know it, I only repeat the orders of your father.
Now more than ever I didn't know what to think, I have no idea why my father wanted to see both me and Bruno, he is my step-brother, a few years ago it was discovered that he was my father's bastard son, and that was confirmed with magic, that plus the fact that everyone says that he is the spitting image of my father when he was his age, that is why he lives in the castle, but I have never had a good relationship with him.
We spent a few minutes waiting and that helped me to calm my nerves a bit, but for her part the woman was increasingly tense.
(Dorothea) why do they take so long? I ordered them to find him, his father stated that it must be soon.
(Maxwell) I remember that at night he goes to train in the yard, I've seen him there a couple of times.
(Dorothea) I already ordered them to look for them there but ...
It was then that Bruno appeared in the distance, with a servant girl hanging from his arm...
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[Bruno]
(Bruno) I'm here, let go of me at once !!!
(Maid) noo!! If I let you go you will escape again, I will not fall into that again.
This girl had hung on to my arm to force me to come see that old man, she had told him that she would do it so that she would let go of me, so I took the opportunity to escape, but I never believed it was so fast and before I knew it the he was clinging to my arm again.
We almost reached the old man's room, there I saw an elderly maid, and that person.
(Dorothea) girl !!!! Can you explain to me what you do to prince Bruno !!!!! ???
(Maid) don't be fooled Lady Dorothea, if I didn't do this he would never have come, but I am much faster and more cunning than I look, and I managed to capture him.
The young maid was showing a big smile of pride, but instead the older maid did not seem so pleased.
(Dorothea) we'll talk later, when we're in private.
(Maid) if you want to give me a reward it is not necessary, I was just doing my job, but if you want to raise my salary, I will not complain.
The older maid looked at us and said.
(Dorothea) my lords I leave you, the king has ordered that he wanted to speak with you together, but now he is with someone, and this person is still inside, wait for him to leave and you can enter.
Then he gave the servant girl a serious look on my arm.
(Dorothea) you, come with me, we have to talk.
(Maid) of my raise right?
(Dorothea) yes, of course ...
The girl finally let go of me, which was a relief as my arm fell asleep, then I walked behind the head maid.
For anyone who sees the scene, it would be like a small animal walking to the slaughterhouse, but that girl seemed the only one oblivious to this fact.
(Bruno) It was a nice cute girl. I'll send flowers to your funeral.
I turned around and realized that I was left alone with that person.
Neither of us were comfortable being around each other, and I have no idea why that senile old man had called us both, we spent a very uncomfortable couple of minutes before he finally spoke.
(Maxwell) what do you think our father wants ... I mean the king?
(Bruno) not a damn idea, maybe he just wants to blame me for a ridiculous conspiracy.
(Maxwell) haven't you heard? They say the king has regained his sanity.
(Bruno) what ??? What the fuck are you talking about? That monkey-girl must have started with that.
(Maxwell) is supposedly a secret in the castle, but everyone I came across seemed to already know it, so I thought you should already know.
(Bruno) people don't like me very much, they don't usually tell me the news of the day.
That person was silent, I think he did not know what to answer, and cowardly changed the subject.
(Maxwell) and ... It's great news if the king has recovered, that means it will take longer to need a successor.
(Bruno) that only involves you, nobody sees me as a possible candidate for the throne, the entire ocean would have to freeze before even considering that I become king.
Again, that person was silent, as he is always a coward unable to speak of my origin, I really fear a lot for the situation of the kingdom if he becomes king.
Another couple of very long minutes passed, I really don't know what the hell I'm doing here, I have nothing to talk about with that old man, whether he is senile or not.
I was about to turn around and go back to my room, when the doors open, a man I didn't recognize came out of there, and told us that we could enter.
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[King Thenerras]
(???) Thenerras, both have already arrived.
(King) okay, make them enter.
I finished organizing a series of letters and documents on the table, I would have preferred to spend these two hours with my children, but each one was in very remote parts of the castle, so I got to work and organize things to protect my kingdom, but As I thought, Eris's influence is deeply rooted, I had to turn to a lot of old people like me, most of them already retired, but I knew I could count on them, although for their own safety I couldn't tell them very directly what That woman had done, so I devised a plan to play a trick or two on that woman.
Unfortunately I overestimated the time I had left, I felt very good and even thought that the effects would be permanent, and I wasted a lot of time talking to an old acquaintance, but again I started to feel slow and things were blurry.
I stamped the last letter when I saw them come in, they didn't have to introduce themselves, with just one look I knew they were my children.
I got up quickly from the chair and ran towards them.
(Maxwell) good evening sir, did you wish to see us?
The one who spoke in such a formal way must be Maxwell, I approached him and put my hands on his face to see him better.
(King) my son, you are the spitting image of your mother, Margareth would be proud if she saw you now.
Maxwell did not know how to react, so he just kept quiet, on the other hand I heard someone complain and a boy quite stocky for his age, was about to turn around and leave.
I grabbed him by the shoulder and stopped him.
(King) And you have inherited my appearance, ehh? I bet a lot of people freak out when they see you.
Bruno didn't know what to say either and he was silent too, so I kept talking.
(King) I'm very sorry son, you must have had a difficult time, I wanted ...
(Bruno) difficult !!! ??? You have a damn idea what my mother and me had to go through !!! You abandoned her, you banished her from the castle, you sent us to rot, my mother was on the verge of death and where were you !!! ???
(Rey) I'm sorry, I don't know what I was thinking, I can never regret it enough.
(Bruno) I don't want your apologies, by chance in life, my mother was saved and told me everything about you, and in some way that I still do not understand, I ended up living here, when I arrived I wanted to force you to speak but it turns out that the old king He had become senile, and now I finally have you before me, but I no longer feel like claiming anything from you.
Bruno turned and was about to leave, but Maxwell spoke up and said something he shouldn't say.
(Maxwell) Bruno, it wasn't hisz fault, my mother confessed it to me, she hid everything from me ... From our father, and it was she who banished your mother, if you are going to hate someone, hate me, but Our father is not to blame, he didn't know anything, and when he found out, he fell victim to an illness that took away his mental health.
(Bruno) you always knew that? Just when I thought you couldn't be more of a coward.
Bruno walked up to Maxwell and threw a heavy punch at him, but I stopped the blow midway.
(King) enough both, Margareth was not to blame for anything, I cheated on her and I regret it, if there is a culprit here it is me, I will not pass the blame to another ...
In mid-sentence I lost my balance, and almost fell, but Bruno caught me and held me.
(Maxwell) father !!! Do you feel good?
(King) heh.... time is running out, it was less than I imagined, I would have liked to tell you more things.
(Bruno) What are you talking about, old man? Time for what?
I took them both in my arms, Bruno tried to resist but it was only for a moment.
(King) there are things that I have to tell you, important things that I want you to never forget.
No one knew how to react, for my part, I felt like my time was running out, every time I felt more and more lost.
(King) first, I don't care who becomes king, I want you to support each other, you are brothers, no matter what, that's what you are and you can't change it.
Bruno wanted to reply, but I only hugged them harder.
(King) second, don't trust Eris, that woman keeps more secrets than you think.
(Maxwell) but father she is ...
(King) and third and most important of all, never forget that your father loves you two, and is proud of you both...
Tears fell from my eyes, I wish I had more time, but I told them what I had to say, they both tried to reply.
But my mind returned back to the void.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
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