Chapter 292 – First Virtue
"What did my brother do again?"
The words were simple, and the voice was calm, almost soothing. But Sora didn’t know why she felt like she was facing a completely different being than the Kaden she usually knew.
Her heart wavered, and only through the golden fire coursing through her veins did she manage not to fold, aided by her pride.
Her eyes hardened like tempered steel as she glared at Kaden. One soldier near her broke away from the formation and stood slightly behind her.
It was Ro, wearing golden armor and an armored casque hiding his face.
And at that mont he was going through intense moral turmoil. His inside churned viciously at the sight of Kaden. He couldn’t help but think of their first eting. He was deeply ashad to point a sword at the man who had let him go with his life back in the Forest of Eternal Sunshine.
But here... at that mont, he was no longer Ro.
He was the Knight of Princess Sora, his Lady. And he could only swallow the disgust coiling at the tip of his tongue and obey orders.
Kaden watched them all without even moving from his seated place, then his eyes settled on Sora, who had just opened her mouth to speak, her voice colder than she wanted it to be.
"You heard correctly, Kaden Warborn," she said, eyes glowing.
No longer ’blackmailing bastard,’ Kaden noted, feeling a subtle discomfort in his chest.
"I asked you why your brother would steal sothing from us," she repeated, now on guard for any attack, her soldiers straightening themselves.
Kaden’s face didn’t waver. "That’s a good question, golden voice," he said. "Why would my brother steal from you?"
"I want to know that too, but first tell ," he smiled faintly, "what did he possibly steal?"
"An artifact," she said, then, "an artifact," she repeated, putting emphasis on the word.
Kaden imdiately understood, his eyes went solemn instantly, but before he could inquire further about the situation, one of the soldiers behind Ro interjected,
"My Lady, a waste of ti talking to a barbarian," he intoned, voice condescending. "Let us capture him and bring him before The Sun for trial and eventual punishnt for directing killing intent toward your esteed self."
Ro instantly snapped his head toward the speaker, his eyes flashing through the slit of his casque, murderous in their stare.
The latter sneered, clearly not taking him seriously. But if he didn’t take Ro seriously...
"If you speak again without my permission," Sora growled, her anger visible in the air like a whistling pain, "I will burn you to death and your family will follow after you."
Her golden eyes bore into the man, who froze in shock, the gaze briefly reminding him of the Eyes of The Sun, and oh...
What a dreadful sight it was.
He recoiled, terrified by the authority and power in Sora’s blood, and bowed his head until it kissed the ground in supplication.
The other soldiers barely reacted, their focus remained on Kaden. Clearly, the one who’d spoken was a novice who didn’t know the first virtue of being a soldier:
To never speak without orders.
Sora returned her attention to Kaden and found him wearing a faint smile.
"So you’re here to capture ?" Kaden inquired, acting like the incident just now hadn’t happened. His eyes briefly glanced at Ro, who subtly took a step back.
’Did he recognize ?’ Ro wondered in quiet horror. But Kaden’s attention was already back on Sora, and also on the increased number of eyes that were watching them.
The mbers of The Tycoon’s rchants. The masters. And among them, Old Smith. The black dwarf watched the scene with obvious fear. She clenched her jaw tightly around her smoking pipe, her eyes clearly hesitating for sothing.
"Kaden," Sora said, forcing herself to say his na, though she hated it. Blackmailing bastard was better... it was hers at least. Sighing inwardly, she continued, "We need you to find your brother."
Kaden arched an eyebrow, Sora’s words confird his suspicion. He laughed.
"And you think I’m going to happily lead you to my brother?" he said. "Without even knowing anything about the whole situation?"
He shook his head. "Please, golden voice. I thought you knew better than this."
"I do know you," Sora retorted, "and that’s exactly why I didn’t co here alone."
Kaden’s lips curled into a humorous smile as he looked at the soldiers around him, only one of them at Grandmaster rank, all the rest Masters.
A terrifying force if it were sent to capture any Master-ranked being.
But against Kaden?
"It seems you don’t know well enough, then," he concluded, then slowly rose from the bench he’d been seated on. Imdiately the pressure and tension in the hall increased tenfold, making the wooden table creak under strain.
The mbers of The Tycoon’s rchant guild watched, clicking their tongues. So of them silently noted the damage done to be reimbursed later. A couple spat curses at Asterion for bringing their dispute into the workshop and disturbing their peaceful craft.
Clearly, they planned to protest later.
Sora, anwhile, didn’t care about any of that. She didn’t want to admit it, but she was afraid. Not of fighting Kaden, she could handle that, but of what would co if this ended in battle.
Her relationship with him would be irreparably ruined.
For now, she still believed there was hope.
There was still a way for this blackmailing bastard to remain her blackmailing bastard.
That’s why...
"Don’t make this difficult," she said, her voice colder and sharper than she intended. "You may survive us, Kaden... but you will not win."
She paused, then...
"And even if by so miracle you do..." she added, her gaze locked too deeply onto Kaden’s crimson eyes, so deeply she seed to seek an ocean of blood within them.
She continued,
"...do not forget you are in the capital of Asterion. There are Grandmasters everywhere, and Epithet-ranked beings enough to fill this hall," she said coldly, waving her hand to encompass the entire reception chamber before her.
"Do not forget where you stand, Kaden." She took a calm, asured step forward.
"You are in the heart of the Celestial Empire, one of the rulers of the North. You..." she stopped briefly, then finished slowly, "...you cannot win against us, no matter what you do."
"So..."
’Please...’ she wanted to say, to cry out, but the words refused to leave her throat. And because of that...
"So co with us before you aggravate your situation any further," she finished, now staring at Kaden, waiting for his answer.
He was surrounded on all sides, not a single path left open for escape.
Kaden fell silent for a mont, observing Sora and the soldiers calmly.
"I wonder what’s worse?" he said suddenly. "Being killed for rebelling against Asterion’s will, or accepting your shackles just to be used in finding my brother?" He smiled faintly.
"Tell , golden voice. What would happen if I chose to follow you? Would you use to find my brother, then imprison ? And once you found him..."
He paused briefly.
"...what would you do to him?"
"He is a thief, Kaden!" Sora said firmly. "We have the right to take back what’s ours and the right to uphold our justice! You cannot deny us that!"
She hated every word that left her lips.
"We will act accordingly, but I promise you..." her voice softened, her body trembling slightly, "you won’t be hard. And your brother won’t be killed. I’ll do my best..."
Kaden listened quietly.
"Who will decide our fate?" he asked at last.
Slowly, Sora answered, "My father..." she whispered. "The Sun will decide your fate."
At that, Kaden couldn’t help but recall the vision of the bleeding sun inside that cave, back in the dungeon with Asael.
He looked at Sora and sensed the distress radiating from her despite how hard she tried to hide it. Not only hers, he could feel the mixed emotions of the Masters above them.
One reaction, in particular, caught his attention, Old Smith’s. But he didn’t dwell on it.
He smiled at Sora. There were many things he could have done at that mont. He could have attacked. He could have fled. But instead, he slowly pointed toward the door.
"As you will, Princess. Please, lead to The Sun."
They all stared at him, surprised by his calmness.
Sora’s heart eased slightly, though a sharp ache struck her chest when Kaden called her Princess. She swallowed her unreasonable anger and turned to lead the way. Kaden flexed his fingers, his space ring vanishing instantly, unseen by all.
He was not bound, but flanked by soldiers on every side.
Soon, he exited the building, leaving behind a crowd of watching Masters.
"A courageous young lad," said one of them, an old woman with faint wrinkles, watching Kaden’s fading figure.
Another beside her, a slender man with round glasses, scoffed, disdain plain in his voice.
"Don’t you know the old saying, old woman?"
"Courage is the first virtue of fools."
He paused, fixing his green eyes on Kaden’s back.
"And this little boy is the biggest fool I’ve seen in a long ti."
—End of Chapter 292—
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