Son of the Hero King

Recently, Duchess Arachne Milaris’ life had whittled to a steady stream of boredom and indolence. The only thing that helped her pass the time now was the preparations she was handling for Sol and Medea’s wedding.

Nothing else interested her at the moment.

In the past, Lustburg was in dire straits. They only had one true King rank in Camelia. Meanwhile, Lilith was constantly weakening and unable to use her full power and the witches were more akin to potential enemies than allies.

As if that wasn’t bad enough already, they were targeted by the Wings of Freedom, Wratharis, as well as minor traitors added into the mix.

Those times were very stressful and Milaris, alongside her friends, was forced to work hard, scheme, hide, and prepare for all potential dangers while they watched Sol grow.

Now, the young man she had once protected from the shadows was about to become the rightful King of Lustburg and even marry. He was now a bonafide man. Once that came to pass, the name of Mars Luxuria would forever fade into obscurity as a new, powerful, and worthy king would take on his mantle and replace him.

Milaris knew that if someone asked her whether she was happy or not, she would not be able to give them a good answer.

The only thing she could say was that it was complicated. Very much so.

She was happy to see the son of her departed beloved grow to such heights and yet she also felt a small amount of bitterness.

“Well, there is nothing I can do about it.” Sighing to herself, she observed the regal white and gold uniform she had just finished weaving.

This was very similar to the uniform she had once envisioned Mars wearing on the day of his wedding— their wedding.

But there were also many subtle differences added to the design. After all, Milaris accepted that Sol was not Mars, and giving him a design 100% similar to what she envisioned on his father would have been not only an insult to Sol but also a sign that she was still living in delusion.

Her eyes twinkled ever so slightly as she looked at her other creation. Next to the uniform was a white coat; The coat by itself was not anything particularly of note. But on it was the inscription of an eye in a sun.

Initially, she had planned to simply add the usual Phoenix or Snake insignia to the coat but Sol’s personal maid, Milia, had convinced her to add this design instead.

She found this new insignia to be quite creepy looking but it was definitely eye-grabbing. To say the least.

“So, how long do you guys plan to observe me?” She did not turn around while questioning. She had already felt the energy of a few intruders and she knew who they were.

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

She also knew that they intentionally released their energy to alert her of their presence. After all, she was not stupid. There was no way she could detect the presence of literal King-ranked beings without them explicitly wishing to be found.

The answer to her words was a few ripples in space before Sol and Nuwa, accompanied by all her old companions, set foot inside her sacred sanctuary.

Giving a look at Sol, she intoned quietly, “Your Highness. I know that I cannot stop you from doing as you please but don’t you think constantly entering my secret office is quite the faux pas?”

She ignored the way Theresa was looking everywhere while gawking like a little child. Milaris felt no shame about her collection. The only reason she even kept this place hidden was to stop people from pestering her when she was focusing on enjoying her time.

“I apologize. But this is quite an urgent matter and I believe you would like to hear it.” Sol gave the woman a slight bow and expressed his regrets, only for Milaris to wave her hand in dismissal.

“No matter. In fact, I believe your arrival now is lovely. After all, I need more exact measurements to finish my work. So, strip, now. We can talk about this important matter later.” She did not ask why all her friends were reunited here.

Even without saying anything, she knew that it had to be extremely important for all of them to be gathered here. But she did not want to know. She simply wanted to enjoy her life as a retired warrior and train her heiress before truly leaving the capital.

Sol did not need her anymore. So she would either focus on her career or focus on her hobby.

The choice was self-evident.

“Why don’t you take a seat first? We can talk about measurement later,” Sol politely asked her and Milaris had no reason to refuse. His smile seemed to be perfectly etched on his face, refusing to leave.

Thinking about it, it had been some time since she had last seen Sol become angry, raw anger without a hint of falsity to it. He seemed able to smile and stay calm no matter the situation.

This was a quality many young people lacked nowadays. Forbearance was not for everyone.

“Very well. But I hope it’s something truly important.” She reluctantly took the chair that was presented to her. Milaris hated being disturbed in the middle of work.

“Hum…” Sol scratched his hair gently. He was searching for the right words to say but his actions only served to confuse Milaris.

“Well, I guess I should be the one who explains the matter.” Theresa stood up, her usual mischievous smile absent from her face.

“I have two pieces of news. One good and one bad. The good news is that we have found one of the people responsible for Mars’ death. She is with a senior.” Theresa continued, not missing the way Milaris visibly straightened her back when she said those words.

“What about the bad news?” Milaris asked, not believing that good things happened without reason. She had a strong feeling that she was not going to like Theresa’s next words.

“Well, the bad news is that said culprit is now inhabiting the body of my little Nuwa.”

“This is…” Milaris started…

“Impossible. I know. I know. But yet here we are.” Theresa gazed at Nuwa with a worried frown before explaining the entire situation to Arachne. This was a great deal to digest in one go but the Duchess was anything but lost. She had great mental fortitude.

When the dwarf finished, Milaris stayed silent for a while, assimilating the information she had just received before gazing at Nuwa with a complicated look.

Her eyes held a clear struggle between pure killing intent and understanding of Nuwa’s strange circumstances.

“So… What do you want from me?” In the end, she took a deep breath to calm her restless and murderous heart. Nuwa was not the one who had caused her beloved’s death, There was no reason to affect the little girl directly.

Sol smiled, “I believe It’s time for all of you to make a decision.”