Chapter 106: Certain Buried Truths (3)
“……Wha, what do you mean? Me, your daughter-in-law.”
Jana’s pupils trembled violently.
“Oridion, he doesn’t have parents. He said they died, caught in the ravages of war when he was young. He had no other blood relatives, so he lived a difficult life alone……”
Jana, looking confused, lost her usual calm demeanor and rambled.
She looked like a traveler lost in a deep night forest.
“He’s a commoner and a doctor, but he’s not very wealthy because he always covers his patients’ treatment costs himself. Naturally, he doesn’t have much inherited property either.”
“…….”
“Wouldn’t royalty grow up in an affluent environment, lacking nothing? So, Your Majesty couldn’t possibly be his father……”
Jana, who had been speaking slowly, suddenly turned her head sharply and looked at the king.
Her trembling eyes darted around, examining the king’s face.
Despite her obvious scrutiny, the king did not rebuke her for the rudeness and accepted it with composure.
“…….”
No. The agitated Jana did not notice that the old, frail body was trembling faintly.
Only Elwin, who had noticed, quietly averted his gaze.
‘Thick eyebrows. A prominent nose. Cobalt blue eyes.’
Jana’s gaze then turned to the king’s hair.
Though it was white, she could easily imagine it.
The King of Batevil, Albinious II, in his youth.
Blonde hair that would easily sway in the blowing wind, like the scene of a ripe wheat field in autumn.
-Jana!
It was truly not difficult to recall…….
“Ah, no way. Really, this is unbelievable.”
Jana’s face contorted as if she were about to cry.
Her throat tightened with a sense of something welling up from within.
But she managed to squeeze out her voice and speak.
“……They resemble each other, don’t they?”
To the extent that she wondered why she hadn’t noticed sooner, the king’s wrinkled face bore deep traces of her beloved Oridion.
“It’s a very old story. A secret history passed down only to the direct bloodline of the Batevil royal family.”
At last, the King of Batevil opened his mouth heavily.
“You need to know this story first to understand the relationship between me and that child, and why we had to live apart.”
“Please tell me. I absolutely must hear it.”
“……Yes. You have the right to hear it.”
The agitated Jana looked at him.
The king did not avoid her gaze.
“Please don’t mind me, continue your conversation.”
“……Ah, thank you.”
The king’s gaze briefly met Elwin’s and then fell away.
Since he was the one who had brought the ‘daughter-in-law’ whom even he hadn't known about, he presumed Elwin also knew all about the Batevil Kingdom’s secret history.
“About 500 years ago, the Batevil Kingdom was a kingdom jointly ruled by LAMPASians and Beastkin.”
“……Jointly ruled, you say?”
Jana asked back, puzzled.
If such a history existed in the world, she, a member of a minority group, couldn't possibly have been unaware of it.
“Oh dear. I misspoke. Let me correct myself. It ‘almost became’ a kingdom jointly ruled like that.”
“……!”
“That attempt, which could have made a mark on LAMPAS history, failed. Regrettably, quite perfectly.”
The King of Batevil’s eyes darkened.
“Because the representative of all the Beastkin who had declared joint rule…… the Beastkin King, Balan, assassinated the king of the Batevil Kingdom at that time.”
“Assassinated……? But why?”
“Well, now. That much was not written. After killing the Batevil King at that time, the Beastkin King declared war against the entire world. That was precisely……”
“……The Beastkin King’s Rebellion!”
As Jana spoke, unable to contain her surprise, the King of Batevil quietly nodded.
“The situation spiraled out of control, and a sea of blood and mountains of corpses covered the entire continent. When it reached the point where it was faster to count the living than the dead…… a great savior emerged from the World Hunter Association.”
Albinious II said, closing his eyes gently.
“That person was the Top Hunter of Black, ‘Skya,’ who in the past killed the Beastkin King and placed a binding on all Beastkin worldwide.”
“……Skya?”
Jana, who was listening to the story, expressed her doubt.
It was the first time she had heard the name of that Top Hunter.
‘Come to think of it, it’s strange. When I was young, in Depicio, I heard that story over and over again until I was sick of it.’
At that time, she had no idea what the ‘name’ of the Top Hunter of Black was.
No one wondered about it.
Even she, before hearing the king’s story just now!
At that bizarre phenomenon, Jana felt a chill run down her spine.
“Besides, isn’t that…… the same as the name of the Batevil Kingdom’s capital? Is there perhaps some connection?”
“That’s right. Your assumption is correct.”
The king nodded his head again.
“It’s about placing a binding on all Beastkin. No matter how much of a Top Hunter one is, it’s impossible for there not to be a price to pay, wouldn’t you agree? That person…… received the punishment of not being able to leave their name in history as the price.”
“Ah…….”
At the exclamation that burst out as if in pity, the King of Batevil smiled faintly.
“You have a kind heart. That child was right to cherish you.”
“……No, I.”
Jana couldn’t continue.
How could she say it?
‘Your Majesty. Actually, the person who killed your son is…….’
Guilt that couldn't be hidden instantly enveloped her.
Like a shadow darker than the jet-black night.
“You asked why that person’s name was left in the kingdom’s capital, didn’t you?”
However, the benevolent king did not press her for details.
He merely continued speaking calmly.
With a detached face, like a monk who continues his ascetic practices at all times.
“We, the Batevil royalty, are descendants of that Skya. The reason the capital’s name could be left as her name is thanks to the fact that the price, fortunately, did not apply to the bloodline that inherited her blood.”
“……!! D-Does that mean?”
“The Batevil King of that era, who met his end at the hands of the Beastkin King, was Skya’s spouse.”
The king smiled, a little sadly, as he spoke.
“Skya merely…… avenged her spouse who was killed by the Beastkin King. That was truly all there was to it.”
“…….”
Somehow, Jana felt that the great Top Hunter’s circumstances were similar to her own.
Losing a beloved lover, and then trying to take revenge on those who killed him – wasn’t it like looking in a mirror?
“However, even after killing the Beastkin King and placing a binding on the Beastkin…… the followers who revered the Beastkin King did not disappear. Even after being annihilated and annihilated again, they endlessly crawled out, and at some point, they grew in power and formed an organization. The name of that organization is.”
Jana interrupted the king’s words, speaking as if chewing them out.
Her hate-filled eyes were bloodshot.
“……Depicio.”
Jana clenched her teeth tightly.
She bit down so hard that a thin stream of blood trickled from her gums.
“In the early days, the Batevil royal family was extremely wary of Depicio, but at some point, Depicio remained quiet for a long time, and they seem to have let their guard down. They had adapted to peace.”
“…….”
“Then, decades ago, the descendants of the Batevil royal family began to die off. Sometimes by accident, sometimes by incident. One by one, one by one…….”
Albinious II’s expression contorted as if in pain.
Jana couldn’t say anything.
“By my generation…… the number of royals could be counted on one hand. Even after I became king, the royals continued to die off…… and that was the same for my children.”
“…….”
“So…… I couldn’t let the last child I had die in vain. My wife, Mari, was old for childbirth and couldn’t have any more children.”
The king seemed lost in regret.
Jana opened her mouth, which she found hard to move, and asked.
“So…… what Your Majesty is saying is that Oridion is……”
“He is indeed mine and Mari’s son. The name we gave him was Endymion Oris von Batevil.”
“……Endymion.”
Jana unknowingly repeated the name.
So that was your original name.
“We smuggled the child out right after Mari gave birth. Without anyone knowing. We announced to the world that the child had died immediately after birth.”
The king smiled faintly.
“If they die because they are of royal blood, then if they don’t grow up as a royal child, they might be able to live a long, long life, that was the thought. ……Though even that doesn’t seem to have gone as planned.”
Saying so, the king carefully reached out his hand towards the necklace Jana was wearing preciously.
She did not refuse his touch.
The king, having brought the two rings on the necklace into the air, spoke.
“This is the last thing we left for that child. The rings passed down through generations of Batevil kings and queens……”
Clink, the rings that had swayed in the air returned to their original place.
Jana felt the intangible weight of the rings hanging around her neck.
She realized it anew.
‘It’s no different from the children of enemy families falling in love.’
What cruel trick of fate was this!
It was a forbidden love!
One that should never have come to pass!
‘Oridion…… should never have met me.’
Jana bowed her head and reproached herself.
She had brought misfortune upon the one she loved.
She had utterly destroyed him.
Just as Jana, unable to overcome that despair, was about to break down.
……Just then!
“We plan to have a decisive battle with Depicio soon.”
Elwin opened his mouth.
He stated coldly.
“Miss Jana, you will stay out of it.”
Jana instantly lifted her head.
It was a kind of shock therapy.
Sparks flew in her black eyes.
“No! I can’t do that! I will be the one to end Oridion’s revenge!”
Jana shouted, struggling desperately.
“To no one-! I won’t let anyone take it! No one can take that share away from me!”
Normally, Elwin, as an avenger himself, would have fully sympathized with another avenger’s feelings and tried to help…….
But this time, the situation was different.
Elwin said in a calm tone.
“Miss Jana. Do you know why I had Miss Nero disguise herself as you for this Depicio infiltration? To let you meet His Majesty?”
Elwin answered his own question without waiting for a reply.
“Of course not! I can just create an opportunity for you to meet after everything is over, can’t I? No matter how excellent Miss Nero’s magic is, it’s not as efficient as the real person going.”
“……Then why?”
“Do you really not know, Miss Jana?”
Elwin asked back instead.
“The changes happening to your own body?”
“My…… body?”
As Jana still looked bewildered, Elwin smiled bitterly and elaborated.
“That ring has a powerful ancient protection magic cast on it. The targets of the ring’s protection are limited to only two cases. Isn’t that right? Your Majesty.”
The king, realizing what Elwin was saying, widened his eyes.
After a brief silence, he finally spoke.
“……Either a descendant of the Batevil royal bloodline.”
The king’s trembling eyes turned towards Jana’s abdomen.
“Or a person conceiving that bloodline.”
“……!!!”
Only then did Jana realize.
Sobbing silently, she wrapped her trembling hands around her own stomach.
“Ah, ahhhhh-!”
She had no idea…… no idea at all!
Blinded by revenge, unable to forgive herself for killing her lover.
“Ah, baby……! Baby. My baby.”
To think that to such a Jana, the fruit of her love with Oridion, a new life, would have come……!
As Jana let out sobs that couldn't form words, a sudden warmth touched her.
“It’s alright.”
The king gently wiped Jana’s tears with his wrinkled hand and smiled faintly.
Jana, who once again found a piece of Oridion in that smile, finally burst into the tears she had been desperately holding back.
“It’s alright, it’s alright……. We will all be alright.”
Elwin glanced at the two people who were empathizing with and comforting each other through tears, and quietly slipped out of the room.
It was going to be a long night.