For the Time to Live On
Belianus frowned slightly, clearly uncomfortable uttering the king's secrets.
World Tree offered two futures.
Protect the elves and the world would not fall into crisis.
Or, if you sought to save the world from crisis, the majority of elves would die alongside the Elf King.
Belianus had likely found it difficult to raise his hand for either path.
“At the time, I believed the king had made the best choice for the survival of the elves. In reality, he often led the charge at the front during the war against the demons.”
Sometimes Belianus showed his desire to champion the elves.
By bending his arm inward.
Rune had no intention of blaming him now, yet he displayed an uncomfortable gaze.
“You didn't suspect? Maybe he didn't tell you everything about the prophecy.”
“I couldn't have imagined such a thing. I've discussed the elves' future prophecy with him, so I couldn't have thought there would be lies in it...”
“Are you out of your mind!?”
Fer dikion's outburst was understandable; Rune's first thought upon hearing the explanation about the Elf King was the same.
'It wasn't the complete truth.'
Belianus possessed both ability and unyielding faith and resolve for the elves.
That faith was sometimes blind.
That was the problem.
Overly blind faith had turned into a blind spot, covering Belianus's eyes.
The elves Rune had seen until now were already strongly dependent.
Seen in a good light, they were pure and kind, but conversely, it was also a bad sign.
Because of this flaw, they couldn't even recognize the bad things properly and easily avoided and turned away from them.
Rune raised his head slightly.
“The Elf King probably... didn't reveal his true intentions properly.”
Fer dikion turned sharply to look at Rune.
“You think that too?”
“No one dared doubt the king and stop him. Naturally, the probability was high.”
Belianus mulled over the prophecy he had heard.
“However, the prophecy was not wrong. Although there was no face to it with the other clans, he did not lie.”
Jenuar Mille had died.
And the majority of the elves had survived.
It could be seen as choosing to maintain the majority of elves and the ruling class.
Although the king's choice had been selfish, he had not lied.
“By using the advantage of knowing the future, at least a better way could have been chosen.”
Rune's reply implied there was still something unsettling.
Belianus sensed important things he knew were crumbling.
Anxiety began to grow in his heart.
“Then, what does the successor of Darkness think?”
Rune calmly looked at Heungmi.
If Heungmi met a partner she liked, and after that the world faced a crisis of extinction.
Heungmi would sadly not be able to stay together after everything ended.
What would you do then?
“Look at what the Elf King did.”
Rune began to voice what he had thought.
“Even the reason he permitted the marriage was after receiving the Word of Power to protect the princess's direct line. During the war, leading the way? He had received the dragon's protection Word of Power, so it wouldn't be scary. Belianus, you may not know, but dragon's Words of Power are not simple promises. It is a contract made by staking one's abilities as a dragon and one's life. If Rand had thought even one arrow might reach the Elf King, he would have thrown himself to block it.”
As Rune sensed the Elf King's true nature, he felt an instinctive repulsion.
“Promising that much protection and stepping forward isn't bravery or sacrifice. It's the most cowardly act in the world.”
“...!”
Belianus was too shocked to speak.
The sincere admiration he held was born from seeing the king lead the elves as the vanguard in the war.
That appearance was no less magnificent than the world's greatest heroes and was envied for his arrogant look that even received the dragon's favor.
But all of that, knowing the future and being able to survive with the dragon's protection?
Belianus finally opened his mouth after several seconds.
“It sounds like an excuse, but... I never imagined it.”
Rune found it increasingly uncomfortable and bitter the more he voiced it.
“Belianus, since you have an opposing disposition to the king. You have already proven before my eyes that as an elf, you should have chosen an honorable death to protect your pride.”
When trying to kill Aquir, who was turning into a demon.
That one who had kept his son locked underground without deciding until the very end.
But rather than allowing his son to become a demon and live harming people, he had chosen to die as an elf of the forest.
As someone who had lived all his life exterminating demons, it was a cruel yet unyielding choice that would never let him turn to demons.
“No one thinks like you, and the elves don't hold their honor and pride sacred. I can't guarantee that even the Elf King has the same disposition as you.”
Within that stubbornness was a wealth of desire that demons would find perfect to exploit.
That was why the Elf King himself had fallen for the demon's scheme left behind at the World Tree and created this situation.
Fer dikion looked at Belianus with dissatisfaction and commented.
“You just looked at whatever caught your eye.”
Rune sighed lightly and shrugged.
“...No choice. Our dragons must always journey to meet various races, but originally elves barely interacted with other races at all. They were incredibly closed off.”
It was also a chronic characteristic of those who had limited experiences for too long in closed relationships.
Of course, it was also very important for them to live happily together.
Many thought everyone would want that.
But if there are those who want happiness, then naturally there are also those who want unhappiness.
“Christina, that is, my guardian was like that. The world is much larger and wider than we think. Perhaps that meant the world is wide enough to encompass even those who are difficult to understand.”
Thunder roared!
Crumbled!
Thunder cracked from inside the castle.
An ominous aura swirled around, and demonic energy began rushing in like thick blood.
For the suffering party, Rune pulled dark power to form a barrier around them.
Belianus, whose mood had grown complicated, muttered.
“Rand... was only used by my king and then discarded.”
“That's right.”
“Hoo...”
It was a remarkably clean tail-cutting.
How easy it would have been to discard Rand, who was deemed useless.
Even if kind in disposition, those who become gentlemen after experiencing war are rare.
The Elf King had only needed to throw Rand in front of the elves who wanted to vent their anger and grievance.
He would have been a good bait for them to chew and tear apart.
“Even in that situation, being bound by the Word of Power and having to protect the elves is a foolish position.”
Rand, half a dragon and no longer able to be a dragon.
But even if he seemed lacking in wisdom, there was no reason he had to live as the Elf King's slave.
Suddenly, Christina's words came to mind.
The words she had spoken to Rune: to live freely and beautifully as a dragon.
She had said that because she had seen Rand's situation, who had lost the life of a complete dragon.
“Even if the prophecy has set the results, the process of fulfilling the prophecy could have been chosen by the Elf King.”
Rune's every word stirred Belianus's conscience.
Belianus's face gradually changed to that of a criminal.
After the war ended, in his homeland he had lived happily with his family, the residents respected and envied him.
They celebrated together saying the war was over, and raised a toast.
He slept soundly with his wife and received healing through warm affection.
Though cold, he proudly shared the experience of standing shoulder to shoulder with the decisive and war-leading king at the battlefield around the dinner table.
And outside that life, Rand existed, exiled to the desert while receiving the elves' contempt.
“Rand who couldn't protect the protection Word of Power is now of a lower grade than even me and Fer dikion, the hatchlings. The king marked him as a dragon who killed the princess's and prince's children and banished him, saying he was no longer useful.”
Adding the last words, Rune felt a bit sorry for Rand's situation.
“Because of the promise, he had to hand over the Forest Insignia, which he naturally possessed as a forest clan member, and he could no longer mix with elves or dragons. Leaving aside whether it was a cowardly decision, at least minimal ethics could have been kept.”
Belianus listened in silence.
The only thing he could do was to try not to turn away from the uncomfortable truth.
He had not known, but it was also his sin that he had not tried to learn about Rand abandoned in the desert.
Belianus, who had been silently mulling over the story, opened his mouth.
“I will become the king.”
This time the weight was different.
As words from a young hatchling, it was too accurate in reading the king's appearance that sometimes appeared.
It was a time to even caution against wanting to turn away from him.
“I will live with regret, without forgetting gratitude to all who have shown favor to the elves, not just the elves themselves.”
The truth of ordinary lives that no one in the elves could even recall.
Belianus looked at the successors of the dragon clan that he was now teaching.
“And to my children and descendants, I will tell them the sins we turned away from, and record what kind of people we were who turned away from crises.”
To leave behind the most shameful thing imaginable as a wound.
That was the best he could do.
Clang! Clang!
“Ppyaak!”
The presence of Rand, Dullahan, and Baekya approaching was felt.
Belianus turned to look at Rand.
“?”
Rand stopped walking and stared fixedly at Belianus's eyes.
However, he soon tilted his head slightly and approached the party again.
“Were you discussing something?”
A certain aloofness felt from his slow and languid tone.
The young man who had once been happy with his love for the princess now looked puzzled at the gazes of the party pouring on him.
And Fer dikion strode over and gave Rand's back a solid slap.
“Idiot.”
“...What the hell is this sudden talk.”
Belianus approached the bewildered Rand and bowed his head deeply.
“I'm sorry. Though this alone may not be enough... your troubles and hardships. As someone who lived without knowing all of those, this is all I can say.”
“What... why?”
“Lord Rand, Heungmi. I'll give you the best strawberry parfait later.”
Rand's gaze, seeing Heungmi, Fer dikion, and Belianus, shifted to Rune.
“Kid. Explain what's going on.”
Rune shrugged.
“I'll tell you it turned out well for now. The detailed story can wait until after we handle the Elf King and the demons, so it's no problem.”
Even though it was late, it was also something he needed to do to live on into the future.