The Extra of The Lunerra

Chapter 453 - 86: The Choice of The Aroniels

Are you sure?

This question had shaken the remaining supports holding Faelan Aroniel together. So, there was nothing left for me to do but wait. That’s why I left the room without saying anything to him. And he didn’t stop me.

I was going to go back to my room and wait for the fruits of the chaos I had created.

And so I did.

I waited, waited... and waited.

I didn’t do simply nothing, though.

Even though everyone else thought I was doing so... there was one specific thing I was doing.

And that was gathering information. Gathering information from my room, from where I was sitting. To find out what was happening, to have an idea of how the situation was progressing.

How?

The answer is quite simple, actually.

Spirits.

Spirits who show an abnormal interest in the prince, who are willing to do anything for him.

And for the same reason, they agreed to work with me.

"King Faelan told the queen everything!"@@@@

"They haven’t left their chambers today!

"The king’s intuition is too good, he tripled the security!"

"The princess is practicing to the point of fainting from exhaustion..."

"Prince Alith continues to wait in his cell."

"The King said he’s canceling the meeting!"

"He almost caught me, he sensed my presence! We have to be more careful"

And so on and so forth.

So I was constantly updated about what was going on.

Other than me... Adrian, Alysia, and Julian were a bit on the unlucky side.

I couldn’t tell them anything because of the prince’s position in the situation, and when the meeting was canceled... they were left with nothing to do but wait.

For a week.

With literally nothing to do...

It wasn’t much of a problem for Alysia, though. I never saw her frown or complain. She was content.

The real problem was Adrian and Julian.

They both had a certain amount of patience, but... there was a limit. And they were slowly approaching that limit.

Adrian had come here to take a very important step for his future.

Julian was excited about the many things he could learn.

So it was not surprising that they were a bit... disappointed.

But their turn would come, just as it had come with the first meeting. Their task here wasn’t over yet. We were just in the middle of something that was taking longer than I thought it would.

So, on the last day of the first week... there was finally a change.

"The Queen says she wants to see Prince Alith!"

The change I had been waiting for finally came.

And whereas up to now I had listened attentively to every report, but was a bit relaxed... this time I was particularly upright, focused on the spirit in front of me.

"Please tell me everything in real-time."

Today... this whole ’Alith’ situation will be resolved

The second time I found myself in front of Alith’s cell, I inevitably looked in the direction of Aranel.

She had been calm all the way here. Her eyes had regained their clarity. But now... she was going back to that again.

Even though she knew what was behind the door, she was scared.

And I could understand that.

"We can go back if you want, you can wait a little longer. We don’t need to hurry."

It’s... actually both.

And not just that, but more.

"I’m a failure, as a mother. I... I am so sorry for leaving you alone all this time..."

Alith... clenched his teeth even more, trying to get out of the shock. I saw him tear his lip slightly, but he didn’t stop.

He just...

"D- don’t..."

Continued to break himself apart.

"Don’t do this... Just hate me... that’s what you have to do..."

Both physically...

"I’m a monster in your son’s body. I killed him, I took his place! I pretended to be him all these years! I... I don’t even deserve to exist!"

And mentally.

"So... d- don’t do this. Just... just hate me..."

But Aranel didn’t even listen to him. Or she did, and chose to ignore him. She just... hugged him even tighter.

This, though, only angered Alith even more.

"Don’t hug me... Don’t! Stay away, look at me with disgust! Because... Because I’m a murderer, a traitor!"

His eyes trembled more than ever. Tears rolled down his cheeks and down his chin.

"Just... don’t do this..."

After a while, he couldn’t even look ahead. He just closed his eyes and buried his head in Aranel’s, his mother’s, shoulder.

"I... don’t... deserve... anything..."

And yet he got no answer.

And then... he fell silent too, just like his mother.

They both cried silently, trembling and shaking, and the silence was so deep... the air was heavy around them... that I couldn’t move from where I was for a while.

In the end, though... all the pieces came together one by one in my mind.

"Ah..."

Aranel... felt so much guilt that she could never hate him, never blame him... She just loved him.

Even if she hated him, even if she blamed him... she knew from listening to what he had been through that he was not a bad person, that he was not guilty of anything.

Even if the person in front of her was a... monster... implanted in the body of his dead son...

He was still her son, even now.

They had spent years together, just like I had thought before. They had laughed together, spent time as mother and son, and did so much more.

She knew that the last twelve years they had spent together were no lie. She knew that Alith... wasn’t pretending or fooling us in those moments. She knew that... even if he was not the real ’Alith’, even if her real son no longer existed in this world... he had no choice but to be ’Alith’.

And...

I swallowed slightly, slowly entering the cell that I was afraid to enter.

And, just like Aranel the first time, I approached them step by step.

Aware of the choice that Aranel had made.

Finally, when I was right in front of them, I paused.

I crouched down slowly and raised my hand, but they were so shaky that I hesitated for a moment.

And then... I just let it go.

I put one hand on Aranel’s shoulder and the other on Alith’s back.

I held them together... without saying anything... to the sound of both of them sobbing softly.

And, all the while... neither the ’father’ in me nor the ’king’ got in the way of my thoughts.

They were both... silent.

As if they accepted my cho-

No.

Our, choice.