...IT HAS BEEN A WHILE, MOTHER.
I'M NOT SURE I KNOW WHO YOU ARE.
...YOUR FAME PRECEDES YOU.
TO THINK I ONLY HEAR NEWS OF MY SON THROUGH OTHERS.
I WAS AT MOND PALACE.
AS SOON AS I RETURNED, BY ROYAL ORDER, I WAS ASSIGNED TO GUARD HER HIGHNESS.
I REMAINED THERE UNTIL EARLY THIS MORNING, WHEN I WAS BRIEFLY PERMITTED TO LEAVE...
IS IT TRULY ALL RIGHT FOR YOU TO COME HERE THE MOMENT YOU'RE OUT?
...WHY DO YOU THINK THE KING SENT ME TO MOND PALACE?
HOW UNUSUAL. FOR YOU TO QUESTION AN ORDER.
THERE WERE TOO MANY THINGS I DIDN'T KNOW. I HAD NO CHOICE BUT TO THINK.
WHAT DIDYOU THINK ABOUT IT?
THIS TREATMENT IS UNJUST!
IT IS CLEARLY UNFAIR.
TO THINK WHY THE KING SENT ME TO MOND PALACE.
WHY I WAS TREATED THIS WAY.
WHY HE GAVE ME SUCH AN ORDER.
...AND WHETHER THAT ORDER WAS TRULY JUST.
TELL ME, CAPTAIN. YOU SAID IT IS HUMILIATING FOR A PERSON NOT TO THINK...
HAVE YOU EVER THOUGHT ABOUT THE KING'S ORDER THAT SENT YOU HERE?
WHETHER IT WAS A RIGHTEOUS ORDER OR NOT.
THIS ORDER IS UNJUST.
DESPITE ALL THE ACHIEVEMENTS I HAVE ACCOMPLISHED,
I STILL HAVEN’T BEEN GRANTED AN OFFICIAL TITLE.
YET I HAVE NEVER READ A BOOK THAT COULD EXPLAIN YOUR MAJESTY’S LOVE.
THIS KIND OF LOVE IS COMPLETELY FOREIGN TO ME.
SO I CANNOT KNOW WHETHER YOUR MAJESTY TRULY LOVES ME.
THE KING ABUSES HER HIGHNESS. AND HE HAS DONE SO FOR A VERY LONG TIME.
BEFORE I WAS THE KING'S KNIGHT, I WAS JUST A MERE HUMAN BEING.
SUCH SENSELESS ABUSE...
DO YOU THINK THIS IS THE FIRST TIME I'VE KILLED THAT BASTARD?!
...I COULD NO LONGER PRETEND NOT TO SEE.
...MOTHER.
WHOSE BLOOD RUNS THROUGH MY VEINS?
THAT LOOK IN MOTHER'S EYES HOLDS TWO MEANINGS.
EITHER AN AFFIRMATION—
OR A HIDDEN TRUTH CLOSE TO IT.
I'VE WONDERED BEFORE, BUT NEVER QUESTIONED IT.
AN ORDINARY KING WOULD GLADLY PRAISE A WAR HERO'S LOYALTY, NOT TREAT HIM WITH HOSTILITY.
YET HOW DID ANTON ACT?
HE DID WHATEVER HE COULD TO THROW ME TO THE FRONT LINES,
AND NEVER GRANTED ME A SINGLE TITLE.
HE ONLY ORDERED ME TO GUARD MOND PALACE.
DOMINIC, YOU ARE A ONCE-IN-A-GENERATION GENIUS.
THE BLESSING OF THE DRAGON BESTOWED UPON OUR XENOMES MANIFESTS AT RANDOM,
AND YOUR GIFTS BEGAN TO STAND OUT WHEN YOU WERE BARELY FIVE.
YOU WERE SO EXCEPTIONAL AT SUCH A YOUNG AGE, I THOUGHT I COULDN'T HANDLE RAISING YOU.
I FEARED DISASTER IF YOU GREW UP WITHOUT RESTRAINT.
SO, TO TEACH YOUR YOUNG SELF HOW TO OBEY,
I SENT YOU TO ALL MANNER OF TRAINING CENTERS AND MERCENARY GROUPS.
YET CONTRARY TO MY WORRIES, YOU WERE AN EXCEPTIONALLY UPRIGHT CHILD,
AND BECAUSE OF THAT, YOU LEARNED TO OBEY FAR TOO EARLY.
...FAULT? THANKS TO YOUR CARE, ALL THIS TIME, I-
DOMINIC, CONSIDERING THE TRUTH OF YOUR BIRTH, I CANNOT HELP BUT REGRET THAT CHOICE.
AS A NEWBORN, YOU WERE TERRIBLY FRAIL.
BORN TWO MONTHS EARLY, YOUR BODY WAS TINY AND YOUR CRIES WERE WEAK.
...WHICH IS WHY YOUR MOTHER, THE LATE KING, THOUGHT TO HERSELF.
«THIS CHILD WILL SURELY BE KILLED BY THOSE WITH CRUEL HEARTS.
SO JOANNA, PLEASE TAKE DOMINIC AND RAISE HIM.»
...YOU WERE THE ONLY CHILD OF THE MAN IN MOND PALACE WHOM THE LATE KING LOVED,
AND OFFICIALLY, THE LATE KING'S SECOND BLOODLINE WAS DECLARED STILLBORN.
YOU GREW UP FOCUSING ONLY ON WHAT WAS GIVEN TO YOU, RATHER THAN RIGHT AND WRONG.
HOWEVER, THAT IS THE WAY OF A SUBORDINATE.
...THERE IS ONE THING I WISH TO ASK.
THE LATE KING WAS UNDENIABLY A SAGE KING.
THE HEARTS OF THE PEOPLE WERE WITH HER,
AND THE NOBLES BOWED BEFORE HER AS WELL.
WHY WOULD SOMEONE LIKE THAT TOLERATE SUCH A CRUEL SUCCESSION LAW?
...I ONCE ASKED MYSELF THAT VERY SAME QUESTION.
WHAT IS CERTAIN IS THAT THE LATE KING DID NOT WANT THIS SUCCESSION LAW EITHER.
SHE FEARED HER CHILDREN WOULD KILL ONE ANOTHER.
YET ABOLISHING THE LAW RASHLY
COULD HAVE PROVOKED A BACKLASH FROM THE CONSERVATIVE NOBLES.
IF THAT HAD HAPPENED, THE FRAGILE BALANCE WOULD HAVE COLLAPSED.
THAT IS WHY SHE MADE THE CHOICE TO ENTRUST YOU TO ME.
SO, PRINCE, NOW YOU MUST MAKE YOUR CHOICE AS WELL.
JUST AS YOU HAVE QUESTIONED, PONDERED, AND JUDGED FOR YOURSELF AT THIS VERY MOMENT.
MOTHER.
THANK YOU FOR RAISING ME.
I KNOW I AM A POOR SON WHO BARELY VISITS, BUT YOU ARE ALWAYS IN MY THOUGHTS.
WHERE DID HE LEARN TO SNAP OFF STEMS LIKE THAT? GOODNESS...
THE TYRANT OF XENOMES, ANTON GERBEROTZ, HEMON II.
WHEN HE ENTERED MOND PALACE AND FAILED TO EMERGE FOR OVER THREE DAYS, THE MINISTERS GREW RESTLESS.
JUST AS THEY DEBATED WHETHER TO ENTER MOND PALACE,
WORD ARRIVED FROM THE TEMPLE.
«THE PROPHECY OF THE DRAGON HAS BEEN FULFILLED!
RECIPIENT OF THE BLESSING, THE HERO OF OUR AGE, DOMINIC LEGENON, HAS PROVEN HIS ROYAL BLOODLINE,
AND THUS, THE SLAYING OF HEMON II IS A LEGITIMATE SUCCESSION TO THE THRONE!
ALL OF THIS ALIGNS WITH THE ANCIENT PROPHECY OF THE DRAGON PASSED DOWN IN XENOMES!»
BY VIRTUE OF HIS LEGITIMACY, DOMINIC LEGENON BECAME THE NEW KING.
REVERED BY ALL NOBLES AND COMMONERS ALIKE, HE SEEMED THE VERY IMAGE OF THE LATE KING.
A FEW MONTHS LATER—
THE KNIGHT OF LEGENON, WHO HAD BEEN ON A LONG LEAVE, HAS RETURNED.
...I APOLOGIZE, CAPTAIN.
Dominic briefly leaves his duty at Mond Palace to meet his mother and questions the king's unjust orders. His mother reveals the truth of his birth to him: the frail-born baby is the late king's only beloved child and was entrusted to her for protection. The chapter closes with Anton's killing being deemed a legitimate succession, making Dominic the new king.
