CHAPTER 85

THE PRINCE OF PARV

  Hans was done measuring Arat and now he craved direct answers. As he contemplated the different scenarios, he arrived at a conclusion: "The involvement of these people marked the beginning of a game where his life was at stake. Those who coveted his father's power would come at him from all sides. The Parvians were among the first to make a move." With a bone-chilling intensity that could make anyone tremble, he turned to Arat and demanded, "Who's after my head?" His attitude had taken a complete turn; no longer the petulant child but exuded the dangerous vibe of a killer who was suppressing his rage.

"Is it Parv, Clandor, or some other shit?" he said fixating his gaze on Arat's face.

"My dear Prince," Arat responded to him in a composed tone, "such crude language does not befit your status."

Hans let out a sigh and shot back,

"You just informed me that someone is targeting me. How do you expect me to take it lightly - "

"You're just a child. Allow the adults to handle this issue." Arat interrupted, attempting to pacify him, "I only informed you to get rid of suspicions"

As Arat glanced past him, he noticed Delimra silently eating and replenishing her mana.t his attempt made Hans to be on guard more, he obstructed Arat's line of vision with his hand, and pointed to himself, firmly stating,

"Look here, only here."

Arat chuckled at the sight of the child attempting to protect Delimra. "I have no intention of harming her," he reassured him but Hans gazed past the mage, who had been the most active member of the group that evening and locked his sights on a particular knight. With a sneer he said,

"Why don't you say that to the Jackpot guy, who's eyeing her?"

The rest of the group burst out laughing at the knight again, and feeling embarrassed the knight whined to Hans,

"Come on, my prince. I've never seen an elf with silver hair before. Please don't make me out to be a pervert."

Ignoring the knight's plea, Hans turned his gaze back to Arat and said sternly,

"You only talk to me, nobody else. Got it?"

"Understood," replied Arat, sighing and not wanting to ruffle the child's feathers any further.

Hans summarized his understanding of the situation thus far. "So, someone has put a hit on me, and the hit was scheduled to take place at Dead Gorge. You somehow intercepted the message and called us here in the middle of nowhere. The adults, meaning my grandpa, is taking care of the assassins in Dead Gorge. Is that correct?"

"Correct, Prince," confirmed Arat.

Hans somewhat sighed in relief,

"So, I'm not in the middle of any stupid survival exercise, right?"

"I don't know what you were going to do there but it probably is not what you should do here," confirmed Arat again.

With a grin, Hans stood up from the rock

"So, I don't need to hold back anymore." he said adding a question, "When are you going to send us back?"

Arat hesitated for a moment before responding, "Our god does not favour me as much as your father, so I cannot simply use SpaceJump on a whim. It will take some time, approximately another twenty days before I can initiate the process."

Hans looked at the old man in disbelief,

So, we don't have to search for a Space Door or create one?

"No", Arat prompted, replying with pride in his voice, "that's for low-level countries, not for us Parvians."

Hans shrugged off the boasting, saying,

"Says the people who closed their borders out of fear - "

  Hans realized belatedly that he should not have mocked the Parvians in that way. It was probably a sensitive subject for them, as they had suffered greatly in the war, and the memory of the tragedy made them visibly upset. And Delimria, quick on her feet appeared from behind Hans and placed her hand over his mouth, closing it shut before it could do more damage. "Please understand, he speaks without thinking," she said, attempting to salvage the situation.

Arat snapped out of his thought and replied,

"You must be Aredhel’s daughter."

Hans didn't want Delimira to talk to the Parvians, but he knew it was his fault that she had to. The Prime minister looked at Hans, "To be honest", he said taking a pause, "we don't know which of you is the real target since you both were high profile. Xandor before and now this, things sure are chaotic..."

As he listened to Arat, Hans's eyes shifted to Delimira, lost in contemplation. He recalled his sister's advice about his friends sharing similar values as his, and the possibility of Delimira being the target gained momentum in his mind. He gently removed her hand from his mouth and asked, "Are you okay, Winters?"

Delimira simply replied,

Mhm.

  Hans had been expecting a day like this ever since Samwell's visit to Ghost Isles, but he didn't know how Delimira had been living her life. As she retreated to her place, she was thinking if she is the real target, then who was aiming for her, her mother was only rich and lived a humble life giving others like a pushover sucker, in short, she did not have enemies but there were still some people who hated her.

Stolen story; please report.

She started mumbling nonstop so Arat had one of his mages put Delimira to sleep to ease her worries, while Hans kept a cautious eye on her. When she had fallen asleep, Hans asked Arat the real reason for summoning him.

Arat quickly replied,

"I told you, I wanted you to avoid the ambush."

Hans wasn't satisfied with that answer.

"Then you would have sent us somewhere else or just informed my gramps but you did not, so spill it."

  Arat asked if Hans was just acting naive in front of Delimira, but Hans denied it, explaining. "a scared ally is far more dangerous than a strong enemy." His words simply meant that he didn't want to scare her even more, pointing out throwing her into a dangerous situation and then suddenly an entourage of "Scary Parv" had shown up with news that someone might be after her. He was giving excuses but Arat interrupted him.

"She must be someone close to you," he said.

Hans denied it, explaining that he had made a promise to her mother.

"A man's words are as precious as gold," he added.

Arat complimented Hans on his credible nature, saying,

"At times like this, you resemble your father - "

"so what was the real reason" Hans interrupted.

"I didn't lie about the assassin part", said Arat adding "but you did not believe me completely right?"

"Of course, who would believe some stranger right away, assassins or whatever. You must have another motive for me to be here.

Hans acknowledged that he had been sceptical of Arat's claim. and the old man smiled in response, impressed by Hans's casual demeanour he said,

"I wanted to see if you were worth staking my country on, and I'm convinced now. I'm going to crown you."

Hans responded with indifference,

"I thought being the king's child automatically gave me the right to succession."

Arat's tone grew serious.

"I don't care about bloodlines. I saw a leader who could lift Parv out of poverty and Samson's shadow. That's why I supported him. And I see the same potential in you."

Hans interrupted him, realizing his previous words had been taken seriously.

"Hold on, you just met me and I never said I wanted to be king."

"It doesn't matter," Arat said firmly. "when you are my age you develop discerning eyes and now these eyes want you to be king, so I will make you one. Your choice is irrelevant."

"What if I insist?" Hans asked.

"Try your best to avoid it," Arat replied, "but I'll make you come willingly to claim the throne."

  Arat exuded confidence as if the idea of Hans becoming king was a foregone conclusion. He did not know how meticulous and scheming Arat really was. After all, Arat had managed to unify the nation in just a year after the fall of Samson and could crown a beggar if he deemed him worthy.

But Hans was unaware of these, he sighed and asked,

"Is that all?"

Arat shook his head, denying and took out a small glass vial. He started walking towards Hans and spoke with a hint of remorse,

"I held you in my arms when you came from your mother's womb first, not your father's. Who would have thought we would meet again like this? Please forgive me, an incompetent man who can't even protect his prince."

Hans only saw the sincerity in his eyes but his words were baffling to him, he thought and was told that he was not a human, an alchemical product made by Samson However, what the old man was saying was not in line with what he had been told, it was a completely different story altogether.

He interrupted Arat,

"What Mother?"

Arat looked surprised and replied,

"You didn't know about your mother?"

"Do I have one?" asked Hans, still in disbelief.

Arat nodded,

"Of course, how do you think you were born?"

Hans didn't feel like explaining all the details to this stranger, but he couldn't deny the truth he saw in Arat's words. He decided to clarify his own understanding,

"But I was created through alchemy, not born naturally."

Arat countered,

"It's true that you are not a typical human. You are better, more evolved, faster, and stronger, and you are meant to surpass the limitations of humans. However, that doesn't change the fact that you were born out of your mother."

"So is she alive?" asked Hans with a hint of curiosity.

Arat's expression turned crestfallen as he replied,

"I do not know. All I know is that you were not born out of love, but out of necessity. King Samson was determined to father a child who could surpass human limits, and despite his affection for another woman, he chose someone to bear you."

Hans was stunned by this revelation. While Arat seemed truthful, he couldn't be sure if the man was telling the whole truth, so he decided not to trust this information fully and to test Arat's knowledge, Hans revealed,

"I was dead as an infant. Granny exchanged her divine power to fuel life in me."

  Arat responded confidently, "Who says you were dead? We simply induced a temporary state of suspended animation to deceive our enemies, as per our king's orders. You could have been easily revived had you not been taken from Parv. Our medical technology is far more advanced thanks to Osiris. You were never meant to go to Sierra, and neither were they meant to go into seclusion. Everything fell apart when your father died."

  Hans didn't know what to make of this, but if it was true, then there was someone he could call his mother. Samson being his father was no longer just a metaphor. He had always felt distant after learning that he wasn't the real grandson of Sierra and Rudolf back in the Ghost Isles, which sometimes made him feel insecure. But this story could make all of his desires come true. A father, and a mother, he wanted this story to be true.

The reason for his wishful thinking was so he could say that Rudolf and Sierra were his actual family, as he had believed during his Ghost Isle days. swept in emotions he asked Arat about her,

"Where is she?"

Arat maintained his disappointed tone as he replied,

"I do not know. She appeared out of nowhere and disappeared after giving birth to you."

Hans was sceptical and said,

"Then you don't have anything backing you up on the story."

Arat clarified, "Yes, I do not have. That's why I don't have any reason to lie to you. I could have let someone pretend to be your mother so you could actively return to Parv. Fooling a blood relation is as easy as writing your name on paper with our mana technology."

Hans was feeling overwhelmed and decided to let go of the idea of finding out more about his supposed mother. He responded to Arat, "I do not wish to know more about this."

Arat respected his decision, replying,

"Yes, as you wish."

Hans then turned his attention to the vial in Arat's hand and asked,

"What is this vial?"

Arat responded, fiddling with the vial,

"Your birthright."

***