Son of the Hero King

Chapter 7 CH 7: HEAVY DISCUSSION

Hearing his sudden question, Lilith, who was about to eat her meal, narrowed her eyes to slits; myriad emotions filtered through them before she elegantly put down her fork and knife, resting her gaze at a serious Sol, more serious than she had ever seen him before.

She knew for a fact that this question would be coming her way sooner or later and in fact, was surprised it took so long.

Silence settled between the two as Lilith searched for the right words to answer Sol, to explain what he desired to learn. She wished for nothing more than for him to understand her woes and the grounds behind her actions.

Before getting pregnant with her daughter, Lilith had never been interested in motherhood and she believed that she was far from the perfect example of what a mother should and could be.

Her life was a battlefield and she was a warrior, motherhood never came close to the nature of slaughter and destruction she cultivated throughout her life.

Thus, the inevitable happened when her child was born — her relationship with her daughter could only be called strained when put gently but near-freezing cold when told truthfully. Her daughter hated her, and everything she represented, to her core.

In Sol's case, however, Lilith tried to always be a little more partial and gentle, however, distances were always drawn between them, distances created by her and kept for reasons she only knew.

She knew, deep down, that Sol’s growth as the fine man he had now become had very little to do with her upbringing.

However, for that very reason, if not anything else, was why she had to do it — tell him what she's been hiding and enlighten him of the things that were his right to learn.

“I understand that my orders might seem a little incomprehensible to you, and truthfully speaking, perhaps I am reading too much into it, doing things for nothing in particular. Still, I have to do it because I believe this is a necessary step you must eventually go through. At least, I hope for you to know I have your best interest at heart...always.”

Sol merely nodded at her words. He had never distrusted Lilith in his life, that notion never came in his mind to begin with. Lilith was the Regent Queen of the nation of Lustburg — the queen of humanity. Even though she did not possess any legitimacy since she was not a Blessed, there were many alternatives she could've found or methods she could've created to keep the kingdom under her control or change him into her puppet.

But she showed no such actions or intentions. Lilith had always taken his well-being as the first necessity.

Gently taking his hand in hers, Lilith began to explain herself, her woes, her difficulties,s and the basis of her decisions.

"Sol, every time I look at you, I see the shadow of my elder brother. Be it your tall and muscular frame, or your long golden hair and beautiful crystal blue eyes. There's absolutely no mistake about you being his child."

Speaking those words in a doting tone, she slowly caressed his hair with a loving look on her ever stoic face.

She missed her brother. She really did. He was her rock, her shield, her light. The one who gave meaning to her life in this cold and merciless dog-eat-dog world. Sadly, she would never be able to see him again —

— One of the many many reasons why Sol was so important to her. He was the last memento of her brother, that she dearly loved, perhaps, the only person she loved...

Was he ready?

Sol wanted to say he was. He wished to say that she had nothing to worry about and that he would be able to handle everything alone. However, while his pride wanted to take control, the colder, more pragmatic, and calculating side of his mind that he cultivated over the years had already reached an answer, far before the prideful side of his could take reign of his emotions.

“No... I am not.”

Softly, he spoke, hanging his head low...

He had been training since he was young. Learned everything from politics to warfare and fights. His theoretical knowledge was at a level few could ever reach.

But that was all it was. Theory. Theory and practicality would always be different.

He didn’t want pride and arrogance to be his downfall.

Hearing him answer thus, Lilith showed a delighted smile, for the briefest of moments. She had no doubt that Sol would become a powerhouse. He was someone full of talent. But in this world, innate talent alone was never enough. The mindset was even more significant than any talent ever could...his father was an exemplary proof of that statement.

"Sol, I wish to see you stand at a height so high, that no one would ever compare you to your father again. I wish for you to live a life your father never had the chance to live. I wish for you to live in happiness. But more than anything,"

Her face clouded with immeasurable sadness and unreadable grief as she whispered the last painful words, "More than anything...I wish for you to never make the same mistakes your father did."

"Mistake?"

"Sol. Do you know why your father, a man so powerful that all the seven kingdoms feared him, a man who could saunter in and out from the spirit realm as if it was his own backyard, a man who even the goddess acclaimed, died?"

Sol gulped heavily, hearing her question. This was a blank point in history. Everyone knew his parents died during the war against the Chimeras while sealing all of them in an alternate dimension.

But no one knew why Mars had to die... The war was going so well that his death shouldn't have been necessary, even more so with someone as powerful as his mother by his side.

"All of this happened because of his naivety. All of this, because he trusted the wrong person...

"The almighty hero of the mortal world, died because of a woman."

Lilith uttered, and Sol, as he heard those words, felt that the earth crumbled underneath his feet...