SON OF THE HERO KING

Waking up, Setsuna blinked her blurry eyes before inspecting the ceiling,

'A familiar ceiling.'

She could easily recognize this place. This was the infirmary. A place she woke up many times during her first year as a gladiator.

Thinking about that, a nostalgic smile formed on her face.

"I see that you are awake."

Shifting her gaze, she was surprised to see Sol smiling at her. She tried to straighten but winced a little and wisely decided to stay put.

'How is it possible? I did not feel him at all.'

Even now, as she concentrated, she still couldn't feel him, even though she was able to see him.

Seeing her reaction, Sol was a little startled as he remembered something before saying, "It should be alright now?"

As he said, even though outwardly nothing had changed, she could indeed feel him again. She was a little curious about what happened but she knew that Sol would tell her when it would be necessary.

"Hehe~ This current situation reminds me of our first meeting."

Thinking of this Setsuna couldn't help but blush in shame. Back then she had misunderstood his intentions and collapsed before finally waking up, with him next to her.

"To be honest I was very flustered when I saw you faint like that. I didn't think that my innocent question would be met with such a response. As a result during our first few days of interaction, you would always hide your tail and ears and flee the moment you felt my presence."

"Please, Your highness, stop!!"

Covering her completely red face with her hands, Setsuna screamed with a pitiful voice. Just remembering those events gave her the envy to bury herself into a hole.

"Hahaha~!"

Sol laughed happily at this sight. The usual Setsuna was an incredibly stoic woman. She was someone he both loved and respected dearly. She was also someone he wished to protect and give–No, share happiness with.

Finally stopping laughing, he lowered his head as he said,

"It was a draw."

Silence immediately filled the room. Setsuna stopped covering her eyes and looked at the clearly disappointed Sol.

"You know, I could tell you now if you wish… I have nothing to hide from you."

Sol clearly hesitated before ultimately sighing, "Ideally I would say to wait until the end of the week. After I will make my first contract. If after that I am still unable to beat you. Then I will obediently listen to you. But–"

Sol wasn't someone usually stubborn nor did he think that never listening to her past because of some misjudged pride was the best idea.

Still, he wanted to beat her. The next time they fought, he would go all out. He wasn't satisfied with it ending in a draw, he wanted to be stronger than her.

But he knew that this wasn't the kind of thing that should be pushed back. With the war against Wratharis on the horizon, he couldn't afford to have some kind of super-secret thrown at his face at the most important moment and freeze like in some cliche stories.

But more than anything,

"I'm listening."

Pride could go fuck itself. He wished to listen to her, he wished to know more about her.

Saying so, he took Setsuna's hand from under the sheets and clenched them tightly in support.

Clenching back, Setsuna gave a wane smile before beginning her story. Her full name, her being a princess, how her parents most likely died and her struggle to stay alive.

During all this, Sol stayed silent while smiling in encouragement whenever she would turn to look at him. Even when she mentioned how she killed the bandits, he didn't frown nor looked disgusted.

This monologue continued for more than thirty minutes before she finally ended with a hoarse voice by telling how she reached Lustburg.

".... After that, I met Camelia before you finally appeared and the rest is history. So–what do you think?"

She asked a little timidly. It wasn't the kind of secret one should keep for so many years, and besides that, with the war against Wratharis on the horizon, she knew that her presence could pose a problem.

Of course, while he lacked experience Sol wasn't clueless about the world. He knew what kind of importance Setsuna had. Since she was of royal blood, even though she wasn't blessed it wasn't impossible for her children to be blessed by Ira and as such obtain a claim to the throne. No, even before her children, if Setsuna made Ira happy, it wasn't impossible for her to be blessed and as such, have an official claim to the throne.

Be it one or another, Setsuna's existence represented a danger to the current king of Wratharis. But,

"But so what?"

"Sol?"

Giving a bright smile, Sol bent down and gave a kiss on Setsuna forehead,

"Your past doesn't matter. All that matters is that you are mine. You know–I am a very very selfish prince after all."

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While Sol and Setsuna were discussing, two people were watching the replay of the match. More precisely they were watching the moment when Sol used his dragon characteristics.

"As I thought. This little prince really inherited a large portion of the dragon's blood. Even though he did not manifest it, with him being able to use a bastard version of Dragon fear I can say with 90% certainty that he has a core. Now, what will you do?"

The one speaking was an astonishingly young woman. If one color could describe her, it would be red. A red dress, red cloak, red eyes, and long beautiful red hair as well as a red conical hat.

Watching her gave the impression that one was facing a sea of blood.

Even though her voice was beautiful, it gave an ethereal feeling. One of total disdain.

"I, I do not know. I do not know."

The one answering had most of his features hidden, but from his voice and frail hand, it was easy to deduct that he was a rather old man.

"Heh~ You are still hesitating after coming this far? Should I remind you that your granddaughter is only alive because of my care? Should I remind you that she does not have long to live? Finally… Should I remind you about the fact that the only way to save her is to have the core of a dragon or the heart of a phoenix?"

The man seemed to hunch further under the words of the seemingly young woman.

"But–"

"But nothing. I despite wishy-washy people the most. Make a choice. But know that I do not plan to indefinitely keep your granddaughter alive."

Closing his eyes in pain, he remembered all the moments he lived with his adorable granddaughter and all her life. As well as how much she meant to him after losing his daughter and son in law during the last war. Shedding a tear, he murmured painfully,

"I will do it. I will–take the core of his highness."

(AN: VOL 4: THE MAID)

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