Everytime he is reminded that exact time and day, anger and hatred would come boiling inside him
"Damn it!"
Edle violently slammed the concrete railing with his fist.
For 5 years, he hated and blamed Castile, but that's all he could ever do. No one knows how or what caused the disappearance of Edle's Father really is except for Castile who only told everyone that late King disappeared.
Castile, the only person who knows what really happened to Reilaea's King. But Edle couldn't bring himself to talk to him or even approach him. Blaming everything on Castile that's all he could ever do. And so he felt defeated.
"If you really want to break something, do it so that it breaks completely."
"Huh?! You're..."
Edle didn't realize because of his emotions, but King Ordeus was on the left side of the balcony watching the castle grounds from above until the prince arrived.
The two looked into each other's eyes, only for Edle to awkwardly turned away.
"How did I not realized that this hot-headed and ignorant King is here? Damn it! This day is getting worse and worse every second!"
Edle was embarrassed after letting his emotion out in the open with King Ordeus actually just standing right beside him.
The prince of Reilaea was about to walk away from the balcony until Ordeus speaks.
"Sorry."
Out of Ordeus' mouth came a word that suddenly stopped Edle from walking away. He was baffled to hear an apology coming from a hot-headed and ignorant King.
"What?"
"I apologize for what I had said earlier. That was so distasteful of me. Also about that..."
Edle reminded of the time where they were about to clash with their fists.
"I lost my cool because of some certain people who invited me here. I apologize."
Edle was surprised even more, seeing that an ignorant and hot-tempered King who deliberately insulted his Mother in front of Everyone is apologizing. Although the way Ordeus said it doesn't sound so sincere and the serious expression on his face didn't change. But regardless, Ordeus still apologized, that is one thing. And with no reason to deny him, Edle let out a short sigh and responds.
"I appreciate the apology. Whatever happened it happened. I'm sure Mother didn't mind what happened back then, and so am I. So there's no need to worry, King Ordeus. Then..."
Edle spoke and forgives Ordeus. He then decided to leave the balcony afterwards. But...
"Hmph. Being too kind and too gentle, it's too laughable. It makes me sick."
Ordeus scoffed at Edle, stopping the prince from leaving.
"What?"
"Do you hate your Mother for marrying Castile? Are you afraid to make a move and find out that the man you condemned aren't the one who did it all? Or are you afraid of yourself?"
Edle's eyes bugged out as he was startled by Ordeus words.
"W..what do you mean?!"
"You hated your Mother. But you couldn't bring yourself to do that, because she was your Mother. So instead you used that anger to start blaming Castile for the disappearance of your Father."
Ordeus opened his eyes and looked directly to Edle.
"If my guess is right, you've been doing that since Elena and that Castile got married. During those years, you've been telling yourself to blame Castile for everything, but you never did anything to prove your claim, to prove that Castile is the one at fault."
Edle curled up his upper lip.
"I'm trying to find out everything I can use against him, but Castile is..."
"Will you stop with the lame act? It's so sickening just trying to listen to someone telling stupid lies."
"Ah...!"
"You know more than anyone that even if Castile is the real reason for your Father to disappear or not, what really matters is the fact you that unveiled the truth. But that's what you're trying to keep from happening. Because you're AFRAID of what will happen once you learn the truth."
Edle went to grab and violently pulls up Ordeus' black and white surcoat.
"Quit fucking with me! I'm the only one who cares about my Father, I'm the only one who wants to know what really happened 8 years ago. Not the people, not my Mother, just me! I'm not afraid of learning the truth! So don't you dare talk like you know everything about me!"
After Ordeus' remarks about Edle, the prince eventually lost his calm and raised his voice as a result. The people near the balcony beneath them were startled to hear his loud and angry voice.
"I don't know everything, but I know a lot about you."
"Huh...?!"
Edle stuttered and his tight grip on Ordeus surcoat loosens after hearing the King of Cartha who claims that he knows a lot about Edle, the Prince of Reilaea.
After Edle's grip loosens, Ordeus began to talk once again.
"The reason why you never tried finding out what happened 8 years ago, and the reason why you couldn't talk to your Mother about what you feel is not because you're afraid to know the truth, nor because you're afraid to talk to your Mother about it. It's because you're afraid of what you're going to do next after that."
"What?!"
Edle was shooked to hear that from Ordeus. Yes, Edle is not afraid of learning the truth, he's not afraid to say what he really wanted to his Mother. Edle is afraid of what he's gonna do next.
"Let me tell you what you're afraid of."
"You..."
Edle released his tight grip on Ordeus' robe and slowly walked away shakingly.
"You're afraid to forgive them, aren't you?"
"?!"
Edle's eyes bugged out and his mouth fell open in surprise. After all, what Ordeus said is the complete truth. Edle is afraid of forgiving them.
"You're afraid to forgive Castile, you're afraid to talk and forgive your Mother."
"E..enough of your nonsense! Me? Afraid to forgive them? Quit messing with me! In the first place, I have no reason to absolve what they've done, because I know they did something unforgivable to me and my Father!"
Edle's fist began shaking furiously once again, his teeth clench angrily as he grunts, and his jet black eyes illuminated by the moon overhead were burning fiercely in anger.
"You would forgive Castile even if you find out that he is really the one at fault for your Father to disappear. You would forgive your Mother no matter how maddened you are after she married Castile."
"Shut up... Shut up!"
It's no surprise that Edle couldn't hold his own self, he's heard enough of Ordeus talking about his fear and decided to put a stop on it. Edle throws his fist filled with rage, but his eyes twitched for a split second before hitting Ordeus. The King noticed that split second and decided to take Edle's punch on his face.
Everyone from below the Balcony and the others who are scattered around the castle grounds heard Edle's voice. The people then looked on top where they can see Edle's right fist that hit Ordeus' face.
"What's happening?"
"Isn't that Prince Edle and the King of Cartha?"
"It's King Ordeus!"
"Prince Edle punched King Ordeus?!"
While the people from the castle grounds were rambling about what they've seen, while Kaien is surprised to what Edle did to Ordeus while he was hiding from them in the corner of the hallway. Edle took a glance on Ordeus face.
*Glare*
"Wha?!"
The prince was terrifyingly shocked when his eyes meets Ordeus' glare at him. What's more surprising is the fact that Ordeus took Edle's punch head-on. It was powerful enough to bring someone over their knees, but Ordeus took it as if it was nothing to him.
"You might've been able to knock me down if you put all your strength in that punch, but in that second, you suddenly pulled up your strength."
Edle retracted his arm and walks away. He holds his right arm with his left to look at his right hand.
"Why would I do something like that...?"
"Because you can't do it."
"Huh?"
"You're probably thinking why you did that, you probably think that you couldn't control your strength. Well, that's not it."
"...?"
Ordeus proceeds to fix his clothes Edle pulled up before. He wiped the blood coming out on the side of his mouth before looking straight at Edle with his usual serious face.
"It's because it's not in you to hurt someone. Even if that person did terrible things to you."
"Ah...!"
Edle's surprised expression immediately transformed into a grumpy glare.
"You... You're talking nonsense again!"
"Yes. I'm talking nonsense."
Edle pauses as he did not expect Ordeus' answer.
"You couldn't hurt someone because it's not on you to hurt people just because they aggravated you. You never tried to find the truth of what happened to your Father, nor even tried to talk things to your Mother because you're afraid of forgiving them for what they have done. So ridiculous! Talk about nonsense!"
Ordeus closed his eyes and he shrieked with laughter. Edle wordlessly stares at the King.
"You may say that all the things I said are nonsense and ridiculous. But the fact that you wouldn't hurt anyone, and the fact that you would forgive the people who have sinned is what makes you the son of the gentle and kindhearted King I know."
"Eh...?"
This entire night, Edle have seen Ordeus as someone who always looked serious and hard to talk to. He would ridicule at people, he would talk about people in a negative light.
However, even though he does all that, the smile Edle sees beaming out of Ordeus, is not a smile of someone sneering at people, it's not a smile of someone doing harm on anyone. It's a genuine delighted smile.
"It's seems that you're concious about yourself being someone who is always forgiving and kind to others. It's why you're trying to keep things to yourself. Your feelings, your desire. It's not necessarily a bad thing but... Sometimes it is better to speak and let the others know what you think, what you want to know about them, instead of isolating your feelings and your desire to yourself."
Ordeus walks forward. Then he reach his arm and put his hand on top of Edle's black hair.
"Find out what happened to your Father, talk about whatever you want to talk to your Mother. Only then you can either forgive both Elena and Castile or not. What matters is that you won't regret not doing it in the future."
After Ordeus' words to encourage Edle to approach his Mother and to find out what happened to his lost Father, the balcony then went quiet.
No one talked after Ordeus whatsoever. Edle is motionlessly standing in front of the King of Cartha, Kaien stayed hidden behind the corner on the way to the balcony, and the people on the castle grounds already turned their attention away from the two as they each get their own red wine glass from the caterer who handed them out.
Finally, Edle who stood quietly in front of Ordeus decided to break the awkward silence.
"You talk as if you're my Father giving me lectures."
Ordeus proceeds to take his left hand off of Edle's head.
"I know it may sound wrong to hear it from someone who is brash, cocky and arrogant, but teaching their kids is what every Father do."
Edle looks up onto the moon, illuminating the charcoal black sky with its brilliant light. As he gaze upon the giant ball of light, he is reminded of the times his Father teaches him:
"No matter what they do to you, you must never hurt them."
"If they realized that they've committed a sin, forgive them."
"When the day comes where you'll be the one ruling Reilaea, I want you to be a kindhearted King who will rule the Kingdom of Reilaea and its people in peace."
After that, the brightest full moon meets Edle's eyes. Before long, he closed his eye lids as he went back from his thoughts. He let out a sigh before speaking to Ordeus.
"I get what you're trying to say. I know that it's not wrong to forgive people for what they did. But I refuse to just approach and talk to them."
The King of Cartha wordlessly stares at Edle as the Prince turned to face him.
"You said that I'm aware of how I do things. Then if possible, I want to change it."
"Change it?"
"My Father once told me, when the time I become the King of Reilaea, I should rule the Kingdom and its people in peace."
Edle once again looks at the palm of his right hand intently.
"But just now, I realized, a King who can't impose the right judgement to everyone is not the King who can bring Reilaea in peace. That's why..."
Edle's palm turned into fist, and his eyes were burning, not in anger but rather in determination. He looks at Ordeus once more.
"...I want to be someone who can do things equally, someone who can put the right judgement everyone deserved."
"I'm sorry, King Ordeus, but I can't do what you want me to do. Instead, I will do what I want to do. Only then I can become the King that brings peace."
"Oh..."
At that exact moment, the King of Cartha realized, he is not looking at the spitting image of the kindhearted King he called a friend. He is looking at the son of the King who brought peace to Reilaea once, and the Queen who keeps that peace from falling apart.
"Hmph. And here I thought it would take you to meet someone to realize it all."
"Huh?"
Ordeus pats Edle's shoulder with a smile on his face.
"If that's what you want to do, then no one has the right to stop you. But, don't think that you will not make the wrong decisions. You're a human, not a god. You're bound to make mistakes. But, if you can see what you did isn't the right thing and learn from it, you'll be able avoid doing the same mistakes in the future."
Ordeus took his hand off of Edle while the Prince then gaped at the King of Cartha in amazement. This time, he took Ordeus' speech for himself and took a firm stand to thank the King.
"Understood, I'll keep it in mind."
Edle proceeds to lower his head to give respect to Ordeus.
"I apologize for thinking awful about you without even knowing who you are, and thank you."
"Hmph."
Their talk ended with Edle showing his gratitude to King Ordeus, and Kaien who's been watching them up until now let out an exhale of relief.
"If that's what you want, then I'll support you till the end, Edle."
Kaien was about to walk away with motivation to do his utmost for Edle. Until he heard Edle's voice.
"Cloud...?"
Kaien was alerted, hearing Edle's baffled voice. The Knight looked outside on one of the glass windows. He got the exact position where he can see the humongous dark cloud hovering just above in the far eastern district. Then, an icy wind appeared beneath the same cloud. From what they can see, the icy wind seems to be moving in a circular path, it's like a storm wrapping up that very area in a hard rain.
"Prince Edle!"
"Kaien...?"
Kaien shouted at Edle as the Knight went back to call him. It hit Edle that Kaien knows what's up, and so he gave him orders.
"Something's going on, I'll go and see what's up. Go tell the others!"
"Understood!"
Kaien quickly takes the exit to tell the others of the sudden phenomenon happening in the skies on the eastern side of the Capital.
"Thank you, King Ordeus. But I must take my leave now."
Edle was about to make a run out of the castle, but Ordeus called him.
"If you're going to see what's happening out there, then I'll go with you."
"You're going, too?"
Ordeus then took his white cape off as he extends his right hand for Edle.
"Now, grab on!"
"Eh...?"
Realizing that there was no time to stand idle, the prince shakes his head and grabbed on Ordeus hand.
"Grab tight."
"Y-yeah!"
Edle tightens his grasp onto the King's hand. And...
"Fly."
The King flies above ground with Edle holding on his right hand. The two then flew straight to the direction where they can still see the mysterious cloud and the icy wind.
.
.
.
Meanwhile inside that storm of icy wind, in an open land between Selene and Itsuo's home, and the eastern wall of the capital of Reilaea.
"Crap, this looks really bad."
A young girl surrounded in flames stands.