SON OF THE HERO KING

"A woman?"

He echoed out loud in absolute bewilderment.

'What does she mean?'

From the situation, he could somewhat guess what she meant but he wanted to hear her explain it, without that there was no way he'd be able to believe the presumptions his mind reached on its own.

A sad smile, full of melancholy and pain, formed on Lilith’s face; saddening further seeing his incredulous look.

"Do not underestimate the means of a woman. Do you know this saying? Beauties are the bane of heroes.”

Lilith didn’t dare to enter into details, just thinking about this wretched memory made her heart hurt, and made it hard for her to breathe.

"I do not wish for you to meet such a stupid end like your father. Your father was very poor at handling women. How to say this… He was too dense? Too easily flustered by women? I never understood why despite all his power he became a total mess when facing a person of the opposite gender."

She sighed sadly, remembering about Mars and his foolish antiques when it came to women, she continued her explanation, “Since your father succumbed because of such a stupid reason, there’s no way I would let you commit the same mistake.”

She took a deep shuddering breath, the pain she was feeling apparent in her every action, then followed with several more, making her tantalizing cleavage rhythmically move up and down in the process, “Either way, accustoming yourself to women and their charms is an essential part of learning to become a King. Since ancient times, many kings have met their downfall in their lust. You must have a thorough knowledge of female sexuality. Please think of women as nothing more than a decoration for your bed.”

“But…”

Sol tried to protest her words. It was one thing to have a night of fun with women, it was another thing altogether to treat them as nothing more than tools for his pleasure, tools for him to use as he pleased.

Raising her voice further, with a chilling calm tone, she cut him off.

“First of all, as the future King and the only Heir to the throne, it is your duty to sire as many children as possible in case anything happens to you. Do you now understand why I have so many beautiful maids all over the palace? All of them are for you to use as you wish.”

Sol cringed a little at the way she worded that point. However, there was nothing he could say against those chilling words, containing nothing but the truth.

This wasn’t earth. The law and the way people thought were starkly different. This world was in no way safe and anything could happen at any moment. The royal family was only composed of Sol, Lilith, and her daughter with neither of the last two being Blessed.

If anything were to happen to him, the Kingdom would fall into a long period of unrest and they would most likely get invaded by neighboring countries like their sworn enemies — Wratharis.

“I understand. I believe everything you say. But…”

He promptly got up and picked up a slice of bread, as he trotted away from the dining room.

“...I also know that you are still hiding something from me.” With those words spoken, he left the dining room without turning back, his steps resounding in the dining hall.

He already got the answer he wanted and though Lilith had slightly changed the topic, she still gave him much to think about.

The very moment Sol left the room, a shadow converged and appeared out of nowhere before standing behind Lilith,

“Your majesty, was it wise?”

Lilith nodded without turning back, showing her awareness of the shadow all along, “Hiding everything would be detrimental. I do not wish to lose his trust while trying to protect him. Also, he is a smart young man. I believe that even if I don’t say everything, he will discover the truth sooner or later.”

“Your majesty…”

“I know, do not worry, I would never play around with the life of someone as dear to me, especially Sol. If he is unable to handle the waves that are coming, then he isn’t fit to be a King. And if that happens, I will simply take the throne from him and allow him to live the remainder of his life in such luxury that even the greatest kings would be envious of him.”

Lilith did not care slightest about the stability of the kingdom. She had already lost her brother because of his desire to uphold his responsibilities as a King. She would be damned if she let the same thing happen to Sol.

“...Those are traitorous words you speak, your majesty.”

A sickening chill seemed to cover the entirety of the room as the voice of the woman changed from apathetic to outright ferocious and the shadows began to move erratically, almost ready to devour Lilith whole.

“Traitorous?”

The chill was immediately drowned out by an even larger pressure, making the shadowy figure unable to move. Still, the figure emanated no fear.

“You have been serving the Crown's Shadow as one of the fingers for as long as I can remember. But, never and I say never again underestimate my love for Sol. This kingdom can burn for all I care. But I will do my best for Sol to live in happiness.”

The shadows stopped moving and the hostility in the air dissipated greatly.

“Understood.”

A large smile formed on Lilith's face replacing the previous ever-stoic and cold look, she routinely adorned.

“See? I knew we could understand each other.”

‘Two-faced bitch.’

“Heh. I am sure you must be cursing me inwardly, right?”

The shadow's face twitched as her thoughts were echoed out loud by Lilith.

“How could I?”

Lilith looked at the shadow coldly, but, even though she knew she was stronger, she didn’t act in the end.

Her relationship with the group known as the Crown’s Shadow was cordial at best. Ultimately, most of the current higher-ups were people saved by her brother from the hell that was their world.

Right now, rather than saying that they were loyal to the crown, it was better to say that they were loyal to Mars and by extension to Sol.

‘Brother. How could someone with such an unusual charisma be so stupid and weak when dealing with women?’

She ground her teeth in frustration before throwing the thoughts away, refocusing on the shadow kneeling before her instead.

“So? I doubt you disturbed me for just that. What’s the problem?”

“The supreme daughter of Castitas is on the move. It seems like she grew tired of you finding excuses to separate her from Sol and gave you an ultimatum.”

The shadow immediately vanished after stating the news. They didn’t wish to be currently in the same room as this woman after delivering this message.

"That woman again…"

-----

Sol was now on his bed, staring at the regal ceiling of his bedroom, lost in thought. He still had a long day ahead since his breakfast had just finished, but he didn’t have any drive to move anymore. In his mind, the whole conversation between him and Lilith was replaying over and over in his head.

‘Did I take this world too easily?’

He frankly didn’t know. But even if he had, who could blame him?

He was both handsome and talented.

He was born in the royal family and he was the crown prince.

He had no evil relatives and was supported by all those he met aside from one heinous exception.

His father was this world’s savior.

His mother was a friggin' dragon.

Who wouldn’t think that they were some kind of chosen one and that everything revolved around them? The so-called protagonist of the world.

However, he finally confronted his current situation.

‘Until now I was just a noob playing the damn tutorial.’

He was just a new player learning the basics and fighting rabbits while thinking they were werewolves. Now, he finally reached the necessary level and would soon face the true wolves.

*Knock* *Knock* *Knock*

“Your highness, may I enter?”

He immediately recognized the voice, and a smile crept up his lips.

“You may.”