But he was tricked and treated so horribly.
Gramps’s words feel like nails striking my feet to the floor. He’s not speaking in jest or cynicism. He means every word.
I could never do that. I would want the king to suffer the same fate as me, or an even worse one, if nothing else. Maybe I’m too morally bankrupt for mercy…
“What happened to me is an everyday occurrence in our sphere,” Gramps goes on.
The king says nothing. Rather, he’s incapable of speaking.
Gramps continues, “Looking back now, I think it’s a good thing I lost my magic. It freed me from the pressure of expectations…though you had to pick up the burden I cast off.”
“……In my eyes, you were always the better of the two of us, Brother. I’ve always respected you, whether you could use magic or not. I wanted to be more like you, but that is beyond me.”
I figure this will be the first and last time I’ll see the king so vulnerable. One look in his eyes, directed openly and earnestly at Gramps, and it becomes clear just how hard he has worked all these years, despite what may have resulted from his efforts.
He created a facade because he idolized Gramps. No matter what sort of person his mother is, if nothing else, he worships his older brother.
There is no mistaking it—this reunion will be a major, history-shaking event. But in my eyes, Will shall always just be Gramps. Watching it all unfold is surreal.
“I hear you tried to rescue me many times,” Gramps says.
Huh? Did he? But during the last audience, the king acted like he knew nothing. If anything, he seemed to regard his brother as a dead man.
……Oh. Duke’s letter. Without seeing him in the flesh, he wouldn’t know for sure whether he was alive. But even without the certainty of his survival, as long as there was still the possibility, he must have wanted to save him desperately.
If anyone found out the king tried to rescue someone from Roana Village, his authority would come into question. It must have stayed a secret between Duke and his father.
Duke moves a little too freely behind the scenes, doesn’t he?
“I never thought the day would come when I would detest my mother so fiercely,” the king says, his voice shaking a little. “That’s why I hope the saint will save us.”
He’s right. With the saint around, this kingdom will be safe.
It’s a good judgment, compared to the decisions of foolish kings who only line their own pockets. Though he’s still shoving the problem onto someone else.
“You did your best,” Gramps argues gently.
His firm words clearly resonate in the king’s heart. He beholds Gramps without a word. Then he murmurs quietly, and with great strain, “Truly…I am so glad you survived…”
It would be no surprise if Gramps had died after his exile. The king kept looking for Gramps—kept trying to save him—with this fear consuming him.
Duke knew that was in his father’s heart. Although that was in part thanks to Alicia. That must have been why he threw caution to the wind and sent Gramps a letter.
Their story takes one miraculous turn after another… And none of it would have come together if Alicia had not acted.
“Is your mother doing well?” Gramps asks.
Stern lines wrinkle the king’s face. “I believe she’s doing well…”
So the witch who exiled Gramps is still alive!
“She’s a shrewd one—she never lets the mask slip. There’s no telling what she’s scheming.”
If Gramps is saying that about her, she must be quite a specimen.
“Alicia and that boy there…did you teach them both?” the king asks suddenly, as if he pieced something together.
“Yeah,” Gramps replies. “But they’re both far more gifted than me.”
And just like that, he’s my same old Gramps again. His voice is always so soft and familial when he speaks about us.
“They both resemble you a little,” the king says. “Like the sharpness I sometimes see in their eyes.”
“I’m honored.”
No, I’m honored! I scream silently.
“Brother—do you have any aspirations to be king of Durkis?” the king asks solemnly. The question surprises Duke just as much as it does Gramps. “Brother…you have the makings of a king. As someone who’s known you all my life, I know this better than anyone.”
He’s serious. From the tone of his voice, it’s obvious just how Gramps excelled when he was a younger man.
“Our late father would never approve.”
The king looks troubled by Gramps’s protest. “Actually…I have a letter from him. He died never knowing you were sent to Roana Village. I didn’t know, either, until Duke gave me the letter. I was made to believe you were killed as punishment for plotting to assassinate our father…and I blamed myself for it, believing it was my fault.”
“I see… It was probably for the best that he died never knowing the truth.”
“Please…don’t misunderstand. Our father believed more than anyone that you would never do such a thing.”
Gramps is clearly shaken by those words. “When I lost my magic, everyone treated me differently the very next day. I broke our father’s heart. He wouldn’t even look at me anymore.”
“I think he simply didn’t know how he should act around you after that. And the guilt he felt caused him to see you less and less… That sowed seeds of misunderstanding. Our father was deeply hurt by all of this, too.”
Nobody can hide their shock over the revelation. I’ve heard very little about the former king, other than the fact that he was a womanizer and useless as a leader. He, in fact, broke the law of the land and took a concubine.
I suppose rumors aren’t to be taken seriously. After all, rumor has it Duke is being toyed with by the evil Alicia.
“Even though you didn’t have magic, Father still had high hopes for you, Brother. He believed in you with every fiber of his being—I envied you for it.”
The king steps away and retrieves a letter from a tiny box beside his chair. The papers are yellowed with age. He hands them to Gramps slowly.
“Our father wrote this on his deathbed,” the king says.
Gramps nervously takes the letter from the king. The tension in the air is so thick that even I, an outsider, can hear my heart beating loudly against my ribs.
Gramps opens the letter hesitantly.
Will,
I must be going insane, writing a letter to a dead man. I just wanted to write this before I die.
I have no doubt that you hate me. I alone am the reason for your death. Rest easy, I’ll be joining you soon. When I get there, you may curse me to your heart’s content. I am well aware of what a horrible father I was. Nothing I say now could ever make up for that.
I wanted to tell you, though… I always loved you. The woman I have always loved and will always love most of all is your mother, Karen. Luke’s mother, Julie, knew that. It’s why she hated you.
Strangely enough, you never once complained. You did everything I said obediently. You were the backbone of this kingdom.
You were the only thing I had left of Karen in this world. It wasn’t until I lost you that I realized just how precious you were to me. I know it does little good to tell you this now, when you’re no longer alive.
Will, if I could meet you once more, I would like to see you as you were when you were a little boy. I’d hold you tight, and tell you how much I love you.
Gramps clenches the letter tight, shivering. The king is standing there, quietly observing. I don’t know what the letter says, but it must be something nice. Deep in Gramps’s eye, I see something release.
“Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.” Gramps chuckles softly, folding the letter closed.
That’s all you have to say? Now I really want to know what’s in that letter. I don’t usually hear him speak so poetically, either. It sounds rude, but I can’t even imagine Gramps talking about love or women, no matter how hard I try.
“Our father was terrible at relationships,” Gramps elaborates.
“He sure was,” the king agrees. “That might be why Mother’s heart became so warped.”
A short silence flows between them. I don’t have memories of my own parents. I have a bunch of memories with Alicia, though. I’ll never let anyone take them from me. No matter how old I grow, my memories with Alicia will stay in my heart forever as my treasure.
Argh…now I really miss her.
“Brother, I’ll ask you once more—do you have any intentions of being king?”
Gramps is clearly conflicted. “A man who can’t use magic has never been king here.”
“Why not set a new precedent, Gramps?” I interject.
I speak my mind, because I truly want him to be king. I know he won’t become a malicious dictator the moment he is enthroned. And even if he does, it’ll at least be amusing to watch him fall to the dark side.
No, stop that, Gill. Alicia’s a bad influence. My brain is starting to enjoy watching people turn bad.
“But I promised them when I was young that if I ever became king, they would be by my side,” Gramps said.
“And who are they?”
“The three exiled to Laval. Alicia’s grandfather is one of them.”
Alicia’s…grandfather?!
“They might be dead by now, though,” Gramps adds.
Uh, dead?
Well, yeah, I guess so… Once they’ve been exiled to Laval, there’s no way of confirming their status. Durkis doesn’t even try to have diplomatic relations with the outside world.
If those three were once this kingdom’s backbone, though, it stands to reason they would have managed to survive.