Novel Full Chapter 357: Cling to me and close your eyes, I’ll do the rest.
Chapter 357: Cling to me and close your eyes, I’ll do the rest.
“We won’t be fighting.”
Lavinia spoke, and Kael…
“Hah…?”
He had no clue what she was thinking.
“We will not be the ones who will break the Treaty. We will not wage war.”
“Then how will we be on the frontlines?”
“We will be the third option.”
Lavinia answered. Kael tilted his head in confusion, and Lavinia continued her explanation.
“As time passes and the situation deteriorates, the people of Nerathis will have three options ahead of them:
Continue to live under their rulers while being constantly pressured and suppressed.
Stand against them, risk their lives for a better future for themselves and their children.
Or…”
“Choose a different ruler.”
Suddenly, Kael spoke up. His thoughts finally started to align with Lavinia’s, and the Princess smiled.
“Correct.”
She nodded, satisfied.
“And you want me to be that ruler?”
Kael questioned, and once again, Lavinia nodded.
“You will be the ’Good King’ Nerathis desperately needs.
You won’t fight, you will follow the treaty signed 1200 years ago. What you will do, however, is turn this dying island that is currently considered banishment into a paradise.
A place that is safe from the outside world.
A place where the very concept of corruption does not exist.
A place where hard work is rewarded.
A place where no one is left behind—elderly, children, disabled, everyone is valued and cared for.
A place where justice is swift and fair.
A place where people work with purpose, not fear.
A place where art, culture, and learning thrive.
A place where disagreements are resolved peacefully.
A place where resources are shared, not hoarded.
You will create a place so ideal that when the people outside the Ashen Heights hear about it, they will have no choice but to give into their curiosity and come here.
The people with revolutionary thoughts—you will attract them all and use them to grow your powers even further.”
“Is that even possible?”
Kael frowned.
That seemed… too good to be true.
“Let’s not even talk about creating a paradise. Can we even accept people from other nations without any consequences?”
Kael questioned, and Lavinia just shrugged.
“Didn’t the Velmourns accept us?”
“…”
Kael didn’t know how to answer that.
“The entire reason we came here was because we wanted the Velmourns to accept us. The Treaty only stops the Velmourns from trading with the outside world and waging another war.
Other than that, they could do whatever they wanted, and this does involve accepting people who wish to join them.
Of course, before—because of how harsh the conditions here were—no one wanted to join them, but we are going to change that, aren’t we?”
Lavinia chuckled.
“…”
Kael was silent. The plan seemed doable, especially with his Ants. Creating the ideal world Lavinia mentioned didn’t seem impossible. Of course, there were still many factors that played a part here, but for now, Kael decided to listen to Lavinia.
After all, it looked like the Princess had planned everything a long time ago.
“The Treaty that was used to limit the Velmourns—
We will use it to strengthen ourselves and your Kingdom.”
Lavinia then grabbed Kael’s hands and looked into his eyes.
“You, the Hero, will become a King the people will be attracted to. A King people will accept on their own. A King people will submit to. A King they will be loyal to. A King they will bleed for.
A King… all of Nerathis will need.”
“Those are some high expectations.”
Kael laughed lightly. The words were overwhelming, especially when it seemed like everything depended on him. Lavinia, who sensed his hesitation, just chuckled.
“Of course, you don’t have to worry about everything right now. You are not even a King yet. The Velmourns have barely accepted us as their own yet, let alone crowning you as their King.
We need to work on that front right now, and it will take some time.
The good thing is that we do have time. Our enemies still do not know where we are. Even if they spend all their resources searching for us, it will take months before they find anything. Not to mention, they would need at least two weeks to actually come here, even if they somehow do realize we are here.
So at the very least, we should have about six months before the enemies show up an—”
“Father.”
Suddenly, Imperia called out, instantly attracting Kael’s and Lavinia’s attention.
The Ant didn’t come out of Kael’s pocket. First, she was too comfortable to move. Second, she didn’t want people seeing her.
Anyways, as the two turned their attention towards her, she reported.
“The Ants positioned at East spotted ten approaching ships. Each of them has the Drakthar Royal Family’s crest on their sails.”
“What…?”
Kael’s and Lavinia’s expressions changed.
“The Dragonborns are here.”
Imperia nodded in a solemn tone.
“How?”
Kael did not understand.
He knew Drakthar constantly received reports from someone in the Ashen Heights. According to Lavinia, these reports are given to various Drakthar men working undercover as merchants and visiting Ashen Heights to ’trade’ in exchange for goods from the outside world.
Yes, there was corruption even in the Ashen Heights, and Kael wasn’t surprised by it. Rather, to avoid this, he had positioned the Ants at the boundaries of the Ashen Heights to make sure the reports aren’t exchanged in any way.
Heck, ever since they came here, no merchant had visited. There was no opportunity to exchange the report, unless…
The report was sent without any direct contact.
“The Artifacts?”
Kael wondered, looking at Lavinia. With Artifacts like the scribe he was given when he first came here, daily reports were definitely possible.
But…
Kael didn’t understand.
1200 years have passed.
Daily reports…
Even if he ignored the fact that Drakthar cared about this place—for there to still be a Drakthar spy in Ashen Heights…
It made no sense.
Even if the first spy passed the mission to his family, with what his family saw and had been through, would they still be loyal to Drakthar?
Both Lavinia and Kael had the same line of thought. Even if the spy did exist, a direct contact with a merchant and a confirmed exchange of information and goods seemed like the most plausible way to do things.
An even more likely theory would be that there is no spy and it is actually the merchants who stay in Ashen Heights for a while to exchange goods who report their current situation after their return.
But…
Since no merchant visited them after they appeared…
It was clear that this theory was wrong.
A spy did exist.
And he had revealed Kael’s and Lavinia’s information to the enemy.
After all, the Dragonborns had no other reason to come here—especially when they hadn’t done something like this for 1200 years.
“What do we do?”
Lavinia questioned as she glanced at Kael.
This was something completely out of her expectation. Her mind had been so occupied with thinking about ways of making Kael a perfect King and taking over this place that she never once thought about the enemies already knowing about their location.
And… once she realized her family was coming for them…
Her body started to tremble as her mind started recalling the day she was betrayed by her father and sold as a slave.
“Lavinia, calm down.”
Kael spoke in a reassuring tone. He had no clue what they were going to do here. What he did know was that calming Lavinia and being there for her took priority. He pulled the Princess close to him and started gently rubbing her back.
Lavinia clung onto him, wrapping her arms around his neck while she buried her face in his chest. Her mind had already stopped working.
She was in no state to face the Dragonborns.
But then suddenly, Kael, who had been rubbing her back, trying to calm her down, suddenly stood up with Lavinia in his arms and then—
He jumped into the air and disappeared.
His destination?
East.
He wanted to see it on his own and… he wanted Lavinia to see it as well.
“…Kael.”
The Princess called out in a weak voice when she realized that they were heading to the East, but—
“Calm down.”
Kael spoke, his voice much more solemn than before.
“I am here with you. Nothing will happen.
You do not have to face them on your own.
Put all your trust in me and stop thinking whatever you are thinking.”
The confidence oozing out of him momentarily took Lavinia aback. She moved her head back and stared at Kael’s face, not knowing how to react.
He looked completely different from the underconfident student who was hesitating when they were talking about him being a King.
Now, when it all came down to it—when they were forced to face something out of their expectations—he looked…
He looked like a knight prepared to face anything the world throws at him in order to protect the people he cherished.
He looked like a… King.
A truly powerful and confident King.
And when Kael saw Lavinia stare at him with such a lost look on her face, he just smiled,
“Cling to me and close your eyes,
I’ll do the rest.”
He instructed, and Lavinia…
She did as she was told, hugged him like a koala, buried her face in his chest, and…
And then she closed her eyes, letting him take over.