SON OF THE HERO KING

"Heh~ So she said that? Well, it was about time."

Sol and Lilith were currently seated under the shade of a tree in the hanging garden.

No matter how many times he observed this garden, Sol never ceased to be amazed by the beauty of it. From what he knew, it was Persephone, the witch of life who created it herself.

It was incredibly ironic how most of the greatest and most beautiful things belonging to this kingdom were obtained thanks to the witches who were so hated.

After leaving Lilin's room, Sol was informed that she was relaxing in the garden, and here he was, now accompanying her.

"So you already knew?"

Hearing this question, Lilith smiled a little after giving a nod.

"She made the promise to marry you once you become adults."

"Sigh, I thought that it was just a joke or something she would forget."

He seriously thought so. After all, who would take seriously the promise of marriage made by a 7-year-old little girl to a 4-year-old boy?

A pearl-like laugh escaped Lilith's lips at his dumbfounded expression, "If she is anything like me, and she is. She would have never forgotten this."

"...I may be mistaken, but it seems like it's making you happy."

He was rather curious. He was expecting many things, but not so much happiness.

"Indeed. This is incredibly good news. I was always worried about who she would end up with. So many complications ahead. I even initially planned to make her one of your fiancee candidates."

It was then that Sol remembered the very first discussion that sparked all the madness surrounding him. Looking at his aunt, he couldn't help but sigh.

He could feel how alluring and beautiful she was. A beauty, unlike any human. Looking at her, he knew that she would do anything he asked her of. Even if he asked her to make love with him she wouldn't refuse if he insisted. He could certainly Conquer her body rather easily.

But this wasn't what he wished for.

If it was just sex, Sol had hundreds if not thousands of willing partners possible.

But the matter of heart was something different.

Lilith, unaware of Sol's thoughts, was admiring a family of ducks who was happily paddling in the little lake in front of them.

"I am not a very good mother you know? Never was I a good aunt. This is one of the few regrets I still have, the result is the strained relationship between me and the two of you."

"..."

"But now I know that I don't have to worry anymore. I am sure that you will take care of her and Lilin became incredibly strong. She will without a doubt protect you with all her strength."

"..."

"The more time passes, the less needed I feel I am, once you obtain a basic amount of experience in matters of ruling and reach a sufficiently high level in terms of personal power, I will have completed my role."

"Sigh, Little Lilith, could you shut up, please? You have reached the apex in terms of destroying the mood."

A cold voice suddenly sounded before a black gate marked with the symbol of a snake eating its own tail appeared in front of them.

From it, two people slowly came out, one being a mix of white and black, the other being a bright and almost blinding pink.

They were without a doubt, the witch Freya and Edea.

The one who spoke was none other than Edea. Her expression, full of exasperation.

"Teacher! You finally came out!"

Smiling at him, Edea took two steps before Sol immediately reached her and pulled her in a tight hug.

Lilith, who was still seated, gave a frosty glare at Edea.

"I am happy that you finally broke your binding. But what do you mean by that? Know that my respect for you does not mean I will allow being insulted."

"Hehe~ She is angry."

Freya floated a few centimeters before reclining in the air as if she was sitting on a chair.

Meanwhile, Edea who had her hair ruffled and her breath out of order pushed Sol before facing Lilith.

"Oh please~. I thought I was bad, but you take the whole cake. At least I didn't play the hypocrite."

"Hypocrite?"

Lilith rose to her full height as she walked toward Edea. She was a head taller than her and her curves were undoubtedly way superior.

Raising her head a little, Edea continued, "Indeed. I thought I was rather bad in terms of personality and was too negative, but you take the crown. Never saw anyone like that."

"You-!"

"Me! What? Do you wish to fight?"

Feeling the fast deterioration of the situation and seeing how Freya conjured a bag of snacks and admired the scene with absolutely no intention to help diffuse the situation, Sol. Knew that if he did not intervene they would come to blow.

Covering his face with his hand, he sighed, "Please the two of you stop. Stop acting like children."

""Humph!!""

Thankfully the two of them listened to him and separated with a Huff.

Freya meanwhile looked at her snacks with a disappointed expression before shrugging her shoulder and popping one in her mouth.

Silence settled in the garden as Sol closed his eyes in thoughts. He wasn't dumb, once he clearly saw all the signals he managed to understand that Lilith was pretty much suicidal.

But here the question. What could he do?

He couldn't just jump in front of her while screaming to not kill herself right?

Yesterday, after his date, he asked Milia to put Lilith under complete surveillance to avoid any accidents. He understood that she wouldn't off herself as long as he wasn't officially made king, but better be safe than sorry.

Even now he could feel the seven maids skulking around as they were just doing their jobs.

But he knew that 3 out of the seven were members of the Crown's shadow. It was truly a staggering number.

'Sigh. I should face reality and stop letting my thoughts wander.'

He frowned at how he always began to think about many unrelated things when the situation in front of him was too complicated.

Lilith was suicidal, this was the undeniable truth. Then, how could he protect her from herself? The first idea he had was making her see someone akin to a psychologist.

Sadly, despite all the similarities between this world and his previous one, psychology-related studies didn't really exist and the few who existed used true hypnosis. No way he would let Lilith in such a situation.

Of course, he had the option of directly facing her. But what could he do? Force her to not suicide?

Scream that if she killed herself, he would follow her?

This could work. But it wasn't ideal. Someone suicidal had a reason for being so. Simply forcing them to stop could only work for a short time. You needed to understand and erase the cause of this.

'It is impossible to heal her mental issues as of now.'

Healing at the source would take time. So what he needed was time. No matter he had to be sure she wouldn't do something regrettable.

'I have heard that a Phoenix could resurrect anyone who didn't die for too long thanks to their tears. Though this could only be used once per person.'

He didn't want to think about it, but suicide or no suicide, death was an inevitability for mortals. Having a way to cheat it even if once was godly.

"My aunt, would you listen to me?"

"Sol…"

"Teacher may have exaggerated a little, but it's indeed the truth that you have been showing many signs pointing to a rather depressing conclusion. I wonder if there's some truth to it?"

Be it in this life or the other, Sol never had to deal with someone wanting to die. As such, he was very careful with the words he used.

Lilith, lost for words, stared at him silently. Still, silence was sometimes a better answer than any word.

"I see."

Falling silent, he sighed before continuing, "My aunt. You know, I understand your words of yesterday better now. You are a very selfish woman. Far more than I am."

Back then, Lilith soothed his worries about his selfishness. But now that he thought about it, she was also soothing her own guilt by saying those words.

Lilith stopped staring at him as she raised her eyes toward the sky. Despite that, Sol didn't let his smile slip a bit.

"Then, I guess this will be a match between our two selfishness. Mine, in wanting you to stay alive, and yours, in wanting to die."

It was a war. A war where he had to beat Lilith to save her from herself.