MORALITY

Even on Earth, where there was relative peace, no one could come to a perfect conclusion on it. Was there an objective morality? Was it relative, based on the situation or maybe the opinion of the majority? Was it based on religion or was it anti-religion? Were there some cases where the opinion of the majority should be overruled by a more well-informed minority?

Each discipline had their own fancy name, written by people who spent their entire lives studying philosophy, and yet none of them could come to a consensus.

There were too many variables, too many different cultures, too many differing life experiences.

Sometimes Leonel wondered how their views on morality might change in a world like this one. Would it scale up with the strengths individuals held and not change much at all? Or would their thoughts have to be overhauled for the sake of aligning with a new truth?

Leonel didn't know.

For quite a long while, he had been tugged around by those questions of morality, torn between what would satisfy his mind versus what would do him the most good.

He had come to feel in the end that most of it was bullshit. In a world like this one, created just to end one day, what good was there in some objective morality? Trying to find one had ended up causing him more heartache than anything else, and for what, exactly?

He could remember the feelings of his future self quite well. That endless void of loneliness, that gut sinking guilt, it was endless and vast.

If that was what chasing morality got him, he truly didn't want it.

But at the same time, that didn't mean that they would do nothing. The trouble was whether he was doing it for the right reasons or not.

His morality was originally based on logic. He couldn't understand what could objectively decide the worth of a life, so he didn't. Instead, he treated everyone equally and even believed that since he was granted talent, it was his duty to help to elevate everyone else.

Now, he understood himself a bit better than that.

While he was a selfish person, while he did rush out to seek cheap thrills or maybe even quite expensive ones that might come at the cost of his life, he also had a hard time ignoring the plights of others.

He was very empathetic in the sense he was able to read people's emotions like they were an open book. It was a quirk of having such power Dream Force.

And due to that, he often tried to project himself onto others, wondering why they didn't react the way he would in a given situation, why they were showing weakness when they should have some backbone, why they were breaking down into tears when they could pick up a spear...

Unbeknownst to him, he was always fielding in these emotions and the loneliness and guilt of his future self made him want to fix it, to put a stop to whatever that sinking feeling was, to stop that looming star in the distance from coming any closer.

He liked to help people, that was the fourth thing he had learned about him. © content.

But even then, it was a complex web, much like it was for everyone else. A person's character changed by the hour, let alone by the days and years. The constant weaving and push and pull of these base principles that built your personality was what it meant to be human.

And as such, that fourth principle of his lost out to the very first...

He was selfish.

He wanted those that made his wife cry to pay, he wanted to see nothing but her happy smiles, smiles that could light up his world.

And he would make sure to work toward that.

He rubbed Aina's back as she sniffled, seemingly feeling much better than she had earlier.

She could feel that Leonel wasn't lying to her. What she maybe feared the most was Leonel thinking less of her for still hating Anselma. However, with how connected the two were now, she could clearly feel her husband's thoughts.

There wasn't an ounce of him that felt that way.

It made her feel at peace, like she was protected while enveloped in his embrace. And after a long while, she released a gentle smile.

"When does the Gathering of Kingdoms start?" She suddenly asked.

Leonel chuckled. "So eager?"

Aina's little nose wrinkled. "I really want to bash some faces in. Who are they to try and seduce my husband?"

Leonel laughed uproariously, picking Aina up in a bear hug and swinging her around.

The two smiled and the chilled atmosphere gained its own bits of warmth.

"Are you going to tell me why you really want me to participate now?" Aina asked.

"Can't I just want to show off my wife? I think that's valiant enough."

"Maybe, but I doubt that's why," she replied with a sweet smile.

She knew Leonel too well. Showing her off was probably the last thing on his mind. He'd probably prefer to lock her in a basement somewhere only he could admire her.

"Hey, hey, what are you thinking right now?" Leonel said defensively. "Am I such a person?"

Aina blinked innocently, pretending as though she had no idea what he was talking about.

Leonel grinned. "It's just a little gamble on a snotty nosed brat."

Aina raised a brow in confusion, not quite understanding. Leonel also didn't necessarily have to hide things from her anymore either considering the recent breakthroughs, but he seemed to still have the habit.

Leonel looked to the side and found the distraction he was looking for. With a wave of his hand, the item Miel left behind flew up and he tossed it at Aina.

She caught it with a flickering light of complexity in her eyes, but ultimately, Miel was her father. So, she opened the ring up to see what was inside.