"Did you see any other person near the prince?" Asked Kratz, to see if this information was true or not, but he completely believes Lily and he knows she is telling the truth, after all in the journey she saved his life multiple times because he doesn't have the strength to fight monsters anymore, he even thought if she wants, she can live with him at his house and he would've raised her as his own daughter, bringing his daughter a strong friend is not a bad idea.
"Nn, someone called Tom." Better to say that her brother talked to him, but she didn't say it.
"He was one of the knights that survived until the end of the battle." Said Kratz as he closed his eyes, for all his years in his life, this was the most tragic thing that ever happened to him, all his brothers in the arm, his prince and also Arturio that he saw as a grandfather figure, were dead.
"Take this." King Alfred suddenly throws something at Kratz.
"This is." Kratz was shocked when he saw the thing that he was holding in his hands.
"With that medallion you represent me, gather the strongest force this kingdom has, you can leave the royal palace unguarded for all I care, no need to worry, also go to the academy and ask the duke to send 5 archmages and tell him that this time is an order."Said King Alfred as his body released a terrifying pressure but also constraining it, to not hurt the people in the room.
"You girl, do you know the way to get there." Asked the King
"Nn, I'll send you there."
"Good, tell everyone that she would guide you there, and after you gather everyone you can go home Kratz, even though you didn't save my son, you did even more than we can ask you, you all did." King Alfred said that by now he already calmed down, and with a majestic aura he waved his hand, indicating them to leave, Kratz wanted to say something but in the end, he didn't.
After the door closed, the King directly lost his entire majestic aura, and just stayed there, sitting in his chair unmoving, wife and husband stayed like that for a while in that silence that heals the wounds.
"My condolences." Said King Alfred without any expression, he had 1 year and a half looking for his child and also cursing at his wife every day, but now that he learned the truth, he was more calm, in the end, people that have family member missing for more than a year, they just need an answer.
"Same to you." The Queen answered, as always with a tranquil atmosphere around her, but her voice trembled a little, as she continued to say.
"In the end, Arturio came to me once, before I asked him to leave with our son to Empire oblivion, back then, he came to me and asked a strange question: can a person change his fate?"
"And what did you say?" Asked King Alfred
"If a person out there is trying to change his fate, then why not, I said to him."
"He insisted so much to go to this journey, to change it, to be close to our son in the times of need, I need to understand, he said."
King Alfred tightens his hand and looked ahead, his eyes look like they were penetrating space itself and was looking at fate. "It looks my fate doesn't change, no matter how much I try, look at how we are, our hands are soaked in blood, how are we going to wash our hands from this blood and all the blood that we will shed in the future."
"Hardly, if the God's doesn't forgive us, with all the bad things we have done, probably only the smile of an orphan might save us from our sins."
King snorted at her words. "Weren't the knights that protected our son all orphans? And how can a smile of an orphan, forgive us for all our sins?"
"My grandmother once told me this story." The Queen said, with a small smile on her face as she continued to say.
"On faraway land, one day a person died, and angel's showed up before him and said with smile on their faces: welcome to paradise, that person was surprised and said to the angel's that were around him: what paradise, a thief and a man with no honour I was, the angle's said to him: we also like you asked: this person to enter the paradise, what did he do?" The queen said with a slight smile, as she still remembered like it was yesterday when her grandmother told her this story.
"The answer was like this, one night after he robbed a house and made some money, he became so much drunk that he couldn't see even his legs when he walked, so he felled in the mud and passed out, when he wakes up after some hours, what he saw before was an orphan child who had a slave collar In his neck, he got up, caressed the hairs of the child, and continued his road."
"The man after it was told the story cried, and said: I remember, I remember but, I didn't have a purpose of caressing his hairs, but to clean off my mud for my hands."
"The angel's gave him an answer: This might have been your purpose, but even though you did it unintentionally, you gave to comfort to an orphan child and you bought back to the child a smile and hope for the future, that's why you were forgiven."
"Just like that man in the story, hopefully you will also be forgiven."
"Damn you, and your stories." Said the King as he wiped his eyes with his hand.
"If you allow me, I want to give my son a last prayer then hand it over to the ground." Said the queen with a trembling voice.
"As you wish, it seems like your fate is to bury your son's."
"Your fate also doesn't change." The King said as he walked out of the room.
