Loving The Mad King

Rion And Anwen Reconcile

Aathreya looked up at the randomly arranged clouds in the blue sky.

'I also sinned and I will pay for it one day,' he thought. He closed his eyes and the image of Knight Lucas appeared in his mind. The young man did nothing wrong, but he had to be dragged into the flow of Aathreya's revenge.

He kept his eyes closed until the sounds of many horse steps entered his sense of hearing his eyes opened.

Rion, who was still riding his horse, was quite surprised to see Aathreya standing at the forest exit. Trish and the soldiers wondered who the man in black was.

Rion got off the horse and then immediately saluted Aathreya. Hearing the king call the man by the name Aathreya, Trish and the soldiers were shocked.

They all knew about Aathreya, who was the great wizard, but they never saw his face. Trish immediately dismounted and saluted the great wizard, while the soldiers whispered in disbelief at what they were seeing.

"Go back to your palace. The man is gone."

"What?"

Rion didn't have time to understand the meaning of those words, Aathreya had disappeared from their sight.

Wow! He disappeared!

The soldiers opened their eyes wide and couldn't believe the phenomenon that had just happened before them. This was the first time they had seen a wizard and the wizard they saw was not an ordinary one, but a great one.

Trish asked Rion if it was really Aathreya, and Rion answered with a small nod, after which Rion walked away. He saw many horse footprints scattered on the ground.

"This … have Emperor Dario and his army arrived here earlier?"

"It seems so. I think this is what Aathreya said."

"Do you mean, Aathreya has blocked the Arcadian army and prevented them from entering Panthera territory any further?"

"It seems so." Rion felt that so was the case, but he had doubts, as Aathreya had not left the mountain for a long time and was involved in royal affairs.

Rion wondered why Aathreya suddenly came down the mountain just to confront Emperor Dario, because so far there had been many bigger wars that Panthera had experienced, and Aathreya had never come to help.

The soldier, who had brought the message from the border, approached the king and wondered what had happened.

"I don't know," replied Rion and then ordered the soldier and several other soldiers to continue their journey to the southern border to determine whether the Arcadia troops had really retreated. 

He also asked the soldiers to immediately go to the palace, to tell the other troops not to come if it was true that Emperor Dario and his troops had left Panthera.

Rion would return to Green Castle with the other soldiers.

***

Night had come. Everyone in the Green Castle was surprised to see the king and his troops returned in good condition. They were happy to see that, but at the same time, they were also confused because the king and the soldiers returned very quickly.

From the terrace of her room, Anwen watched her brother and the soldiers below.

"Don't you want to welcome your brother?" Odette came and stood next to Anwen.

"I want to, but I feel awkward," said Anwen then puffed her cheeks.

Odette sighed. Even though this morning Anwen had already spoken to Rion without hesitation. Was it because this morning Anwen panicked, so she immediately spoke without thinking about the situation between her and her brother?

"Anwen, one of you should take the initiative to talk first. If you two just wait for each other, your relationship will never get better."

Odette saw Rion, who was getting off the horse. "Rion doesn't talk much and looks stiff, so I think you should talk to him first."

Anwen looked at Rion, who was still in the courtyard while thinking about Odette's words. It seemed like she really had to follow Odette's advice if she wanted her relationship with her brother to improve.

"You're right, Miss Ody, but..."

"Come on." Odette immediately grabbed Anwen's hand, pulled the girl, and ran with her.

Moments later, they stopped when they arrived in front of Rion and Trish.

Anwen was immediately nervous when she met Rion, she wanted to talk but how and where to start. In her mind, she was constructing all the words to say.

"Um … I … um …."

Rion and Trish looked at the princess.

'Come on, Anwen, you can do it,' Odette said in her mind.

Anwen took a deep breath then let it out slowly, after which she looked straight at Rion.

"Are you alright, Brother?" she asked after fifteen seconds of gathering her determination. She felt a bit shy, but on the one hand, she felt relieved.

Rion didn't answer right away. He looked at Anwen silently before, finally, a smile spread across his face.

'H-he's smiling.' Odette was a little surprised when she saw Rion smiling. She could not remember whether she had ever seen such a beautiful smile before.

This was the first time Odette had seen Rion smile. Usually, Rion would smile at people who greeted or saluted him, but the smile he showed seemed hollow, and he did it only out of formality.

His current smile was like a crescent moon emitting a golden light that warmed the hearts of those who saw him.

"Yeah," he replied, then patted Anwen's head lovingly and motioned for Trish to leave.

Anwen looked at Rion, who continued to walk away with Trish, while touching her head which Rion had patted earlier. Even though it was very short, a hue of happiness was clearly visible on her face.

"Good job," said Odette, placing her arm around Anwen's shoulder.

"Um. Yeah, thank you, Miss Ody," Anwen said with a big smile.

Meanwhile, Rion, who was walking together with Trish, kept smiling. He felt as if dozens of butterflies were tickling his chest as he recalled how Anwen had tried to talk to him. His sister looked so cute and sweet.

"I'm glad to see Your Majesty smiling like that," said Trish who had been watching the king's expression for a long time then added, "I hope your relationship improves soon."

"I hope so."

'And I hope I don't mess up again.' Rion added his sentence silently.

The night was still not over. While everyone was asleep, Odette was busy checking the notes she got from interviewing Rion and Trish this morning but was startled when she heard footsteps.

For a moment, she was a bit tense at the thought of Lucifer, but she couldn't contain her curiosity. She got up from her seat and walked towards the door.

Through the c***k in the door, she peeked out and saw Trish walking with a rope.

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From the author:

Why do you think Trish brought a rope to Rion's room?